The group trudged up the worn dirt path toward the old cabin on the hill, their steps slow and wary. The air was thick with unease, the kind that crept under the skin and refused to leave. Sosuke lifted a hand, halting them in place.
"I'll go in first," he said, his voice firm, but his eyes scanned the cabin carefully. Something felt off.
The others exchanged glances, but no one objected. Finn let out a frustrated breath, crossing his arms as Sosuke stepped forward. The wooden planks beneath his feet creaked as he approached the door. He reached for the handle and pushed. The door swung open with a groan, revealing chaos within.
Furniture lay overturned. Broken glass crunched beneath his boots. Papers, trinkets, and useless debris littered the floor, but one thing stood out—every book was gone.
"Shit." Sosuke exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. No signs of struggle, no signs of him.
He stepped back outside. "He's gone."
"Seriously?!" Finn's frustration burst through as he threw his hands in the air. "This is why I should be leading!"
Sosuke barely spared him a glance. "Maybe the Blight that attacked us had something to do with it. I should've pushed for more answers."
"So what now?" Valerie asked, her voice steady despite the growing tension.
Sosuke rubbed his temples, thinking. "I can try to track the remnants of his mana. It might lead us to him—if it hasn't completely faded. Mana doesn't linger forever."
A quiet frustration bled into his tone. He hated grasping at straws.
"And if it's gone?" Valerie pressed.
"Then we keep moving. Explore. I haven't seen much of this world firsthand." He turned slightly, his gaze distant. "I never had the luxury of wandering."
Finn scoffed. "We did. While you and your group sat on your asses in what could be considered luxury, we were out there. Fighting. Starving. Surviving."
Sosuke's jaw tightened, but he let out a slow breath, forcing the tension from his shoulders. "I get it, alright? Can you try being helpful instead of complaining the whole way?"
Valerie stepped closer, leaning in to whisper near his ear. "He hasn't been the same since we lost our ninth member. They were childhood friends."
Sosuke's expression flickered—brief understanding, maybe even guilt. He turned back to Finn, his voice softer this time. "What did you and your team find while exploring? Anything useful?"
Finn hesitated before responding. "Monsters. Too many to count. And we found what looked like an abandoned village."
Sosuke frowned, tapping a finger against his chin. "A village? That means either Blights were intelligent enough to create one, or humans lived here once. If Blights built it, that means they've evolved beyond what we assumed. They used to be incapable of speech, but now every single one I fight talks to me. Could time move differently here?"
He began pacing in slow, measured steps, the wheels turning in his head. The implications were unsettling. If Blights were evolving, if time itself was distorted, what else didn't they know?
Ryoma grinned, breaking the heavy air with his usual ease. "Whoa! That was a smart deduction, brother! Didn't know you had it in you."
Finn barely reacted. Arms crossed, his gaze remained fixed on the distant horizon. "Pure speculation."
But there was a flicker of something else in his stance. Something that said he knew Sosuke was onto something.
Here's your rewritten scene, fully adjusted to match the pacing, style, and impact you're aiming for. The description of the Star Eyes' activation is more vivid, the city discovery hits harder, and the emotional weight behind Julius' name is much more intense.
The trail stopped.
The group stood in the middle of a wasteland—ashen soil, brittle plants curling in on themselves like dying embers, and a strange, grass-like substance swaying in a breeze that didn't exist. Scattered throughout were insect-like creatures, their iridescent carapaces reflecting dim light, skittering away at the presence of something foreign.
Sosuke exhaled, rubbing his fingers together. The mana trail had thinned out to almost nothing. This doesn't make sense. He wasn't gone that long—how did Shadow disappear so quickly?
Were they waiting for us to leave?
"The trail ends here." His voice was steady, but his brows furrowed as he looked around. He shut his eyes for a moment, reaching out with his senses. Nothing.
Finn let out an exaggerated sigh, crossing his arms. "Great. So our full-proof Plan B is wandering around aimlessly."
"Relax, Strawberry," Ryoma said, throwing an arm over his shoulder and clapping him on the back—hard. "My brother's a genius. I know we'll find a way out." He nodded to himself, as if that settled it. "They probably used a portal. I've seen other Blights do it."
A portal.
Something pulled at the edges of Sosuke's mind, something just out of reach—
Then his skull split open.
Or at least, that's what it felt like.
His knees buckled. A sharp, searing pain carved through his brain, his vision exploding into streaks of color. He clutched his head with a strained groan, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
"Sosuke!" Valerie rushed toward him, but Ryoma lifted a hand, stopping her.
"It's okay," he said, crouching beside Sosuke, resting a hand on his back. "It's probably the Star Eyes. After I activated mine the first time, I thought my head was gonna pop."
Sosuke could barely hear him. His breath was ragged, fingers digging into his scalp as something shifted. His world pulsed—deep purple light bloomed in his vision, swirling and cascading like stardust, and suddenly—
He could see.
He inhaled sharply.
The world was no longer just barren earth. It was woven.
Threads of mana twisted in elegant, intricate formations, interlacing like strands of an infinite web. The trail of Shadow's mana wasn't just fading—it had merged, tangled within another presence, another force—one so complex, so delicate in its design that it almost looked like art.
Sosuke stared, his chest rising and falling. I see it.
He lifted a hand, fingers tracing through the air as if following invisible lines. The patterns were right there—delicate structures, the very foundation of the portal.
A grin tugged at the corner of his lips. "I did it," he breathed, his voice filled with something new.
He flicked his wrist. The air rippled.
A portal carved itself into existence, spiraling outward with raw energy, fractal patterns dancing across its surface.
Finn took a step back. "…Does it actually lead to the same place?" His voice was skeptical, but there was an edge to it—something almost cautious.
"I guess we'll see." Sosuke stepped through without hesitation.
"Wait up!" Ryoma was right behind him. The others followed.
—
They emerged into civilization.
Sosuke's breath hitched.
Towering structures loomed over them—dark, jagged architecture that carried an unnatural beauty, buildings carved from obsidian-like stone, laced with glowing veins of energy. Streets sprawled beneath them, lined with shops and stalls, all made from materials that looked completely alien, yet undeniably structured.
This wasn't just a gathering.
It was a city.
Blights moved through the streets, appearing in all shapes and sizes—some humanoid, others twisted into monstrous forms, yet none of them attacked. Instead, they recoiled at the sight of the humans, stepping back, their eyes filled with something Sosuke didn't expect.
Fear.
"What the hell…" Sosuke muttered. His fingers twitched at his sides. "Could they all… not be evil?"
Finn was staring too, his expression unreadable. "Everything looks old," he murmured. "Like looking at a city from a thousand years ago."
Sosuke approached a nearby stand, reaching for something. It was… food. Or at least, something resembling it—crafted entirely from condensed mana, shimmering faintly. He turned it over in his hands, his mind racing.
"Oi!" Ryoma called from an alleyway. He emerged, dragging a creature into the open—something insect-like, its chitinous skin dull and rough. "What is this place?!"
"Ryoma, don't be so rough." Sosuke stepped in, pushing his cousin aside with a firm grip.
The creature trembled, its segmented body curling inwards as if to make itself smaller. "Get away from me! Please, let me live!"
Sosuke exhaled, his fingers resting against the hilt of his katana—not as a threat, but as a presence. A reminder. "Just answer my questions." His voice was calm, but sharp. "Why are you scared of us? Aren't you the ones feeding on my kind?"
The Blight hesitated. Then, almost whispering—"Wh-what? You people murder our soldiers! We do not feed on you people!"
A beat of silence.
"Well…" the creature swallowed, antennae twitching. "Some of us have strayed from the natural path."
Sosuke narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"We sustain ourselves on the mana in the air, in the food we cultivate," the Blight said hurriedly, as if desperate to explain. "But others… they hunger for the power your kind possesses. Human mana is—potent. They say it satiates their thirst, that it makes them stronger."
Finn's jaw clenched. "So you're saying the ones that attack us, that kill people, chose to become monsters?"
The creature flinched, stepping back. "Their minds have been poisoned. They follow him."
Sosuke's breath slowed. His pulse spiked.
The creature's mandibles twitched. "They follow King Julius."
Everything around Sosuke blurred. The world, the streets, the buildings—they all faded into static as one singular, all-consuming rage overtook his thoughts.
Julius.
That name was a scar. A wound that never closed.
Sosuke's grip tightened on his sword. His knuckles went white.
"Where," he said, his voice low, dangerous, "is he?"
The creature recoiled, fear striking its features. "I—I don't know! I swear!"
Sosuke forced out a breath, closing his eyes for a second before stepping away. His mind was storming.
This place… these creatures… everything he thought he understood—
It was all wrong.