Beyond Caslan

Tales lay on the ground, his whole body trembling under the torment of pain, drenched in cold sweat.

He was almost completely numb.

It was not the most intense pain he had ever experienced, but it was definitely among the most unbearable, agonizing, and prolonged.

Needling, dull slicing, and even crushing pain alternated between his left wrist, left calf, and right knee, wave after wave, spasm after spasm.

He wanted to stand up, or at least move a few steps across the ground and escape the battlefield. Yet as soon as he made any sizable movement, the pain spread from his wounds into his brain and magnified without limit.

He could only squeeze his eyes shut and breathe with all his might, no longer caring about the two men's fight to the death.

Listening to the sounds of battle beside him, Tales twisted his face as beads of sweat slid down his forehead. It felt as though a century had passed—then he suddenly began to crave "unconsciousness" intensely.

Reality seemed to be moving toward that desire. Once the constant pain gradually exceeded his limit of endurance, Tales' consciousness began to blur. The muscles and tendons throughout his body, especially around his wounds, began twitching uncontrollably.

He was about to pass out from the pain.

But at that moment.

"Boom!"

A surging roar like a raging tide rang through Tales' ears, temporarily drowning out the sounds of battle beside him.

The boy, struggling through the pain in his daze, was startled and became slightly more lucid!

This feeling...

It was as if something had suddenly surged into his blood vessels.

It was here.

Struggling through his wounds, Tales forced himself to turn his face. His mouth and nose scraped across the ground as he inhaled a breath of dust-filled air and