Chapter 88: Proving Herself!

The hunters did not argue and quickly left, not wanting to waste more time than was necessary.

The farther they moved from the battlefield, the more the land felt bruised. Mana currents stumbled over themselves, flowing unevenly through roots and stone.

Patches of moss crumbled to dust beneath careless steps. The air remained thin and metallic, like the aftertaste of lightning.

Kael kept the pace steady but fast, leading them along winding animal paths that skirted dead zones and avoided the worst distortions. Mirela and Ssil flanked, alert but silent.

Dorg’s breathing gradually evened out, though his shield arm trembled faintly from exertion. Lysa checked the treeline constantly, finger never straying far from the trigger.

Ashanti walked among them still thinking of what Jax would do for her upcoming test, but Jax didn’t seem particularly fussed, walking beside her with loose hands and a relaxed expression.

Eventually, Kael slowed, then raised a hand. The group halted near a ridge where the forest thinned and the distortions faded to something manageable.

“We split here,” Kael said quietly, turning to Jax and Ashanti, “Village is that way. You two said you were heading deeper right, good luck on whatever you’re up to,”

Mirela crossed her arms, studying Ashanti with a look that was no longer merely curious, “Try not to do anything stupid while you’re at it.”

Ashanti smiled faintly, “No promises.”

Dorg chuckled. “Come back alive, yeah?”

Jax inclined his head, “You too.”

There were no drawn-out goodbyes. Hunters understood partings better than most. The group turned back toward civilization while Jax and Ashanti turned the other way.

The forest closed around them almost immediately.

The paths vanished and the light dimmed. They walked for nearly an hour before Jax stopped.

“This is far enough,” he said.

Ashanti felt it the moment he spoke.

The territory. The air here was wrong in a deeper way than before. The mana didn’t flow so much as circulate, spiraling inward toward unseen centers. The ground pulsed faintly beneath her feet, like a sleeping heart.

She swallowed. “How many?”

Jax looked around, eyes unfocused, seeing far more than what was in front of them. “Seven,” he said calmly. “Adults. Two juveniles. Spread across a wide hunting range.”

Her wings flexed once, then stilled.

“That’s… a lot.”

“Yes.”

He turned to face her fully now.

“And I want you to destroy all of them.”

Ashanti’s breath caught.

“All of them?” she repeated.

“Yes,” Jax said, unflinching. “But, ” He raised a finger. “Without collapsing the forest. No scorched earth. No cascading mana implosions. No permanent dead zones.”

He stepped closer, voice lowering—not commanding, but certain.

“You have the control now. You’ve watched them and picked up on a-lot of things. This is where you prove it to yourself.” Jax said and Ashanti closed her eyes.

She reached inward. Her mana answered immediately and the Fallen Angel exhaled slowly, preparing herself.

“…Alright.”

Jax smiled.

“Good. I’ll be nearby,” he said, already stepping back. “I won’t intervene unless you lose control. Which hopefully you won’t.”

She opened her eyes, the mirage removing to return her to her natural form, and she spread her wings.

The moment they unfurled, the forest reacted.

Leaves trembled constantly and light bent. The mana in the air shifted, drawn toward her like iron filings to a magnet, but it didn’t spiral out of control. Instead, it organized itself, responding to her intent.

She didn’t explode outward.

She listened to the sound of the forest, and the Star Panthers felt her immediately. One revealed itself atop a massive root arch, constellations flaring defensively across its hide. Another phased into view behind a cluster of trees, muscles coiling.

Ashanti didn’t move. She raised one hand. The mana around her stilled.

The first Panther lunged.

Ashanti stepped aside with casual grace, her movement barely disturbing the moss beneath her feet. As it passed, she laid two fingers against its flank.

She whispered a word of unbinding. The stellar mana holding the creature together unraveled. The Panther collapsed mid-stride, body dissolving into faint motes of light that drifted harmlessly upward and dispersed into the canopy, rejoining the natural flow instead of poisoning it.

Ashanti blinked.

“…Oh.”

The second Panther attacked from behind.

She didn’t turn around, as there was no reason to. Her wing snapped back once, feathers glowing faintly as they brushed the air.

The beast was pushed, redirected cleanly into a patch of empty space she’d already prepared, where she collapsed its internal mana loop with a precise twist of intent.

It fell silently all the while the others came for her. Three at once this time, coordinated, phasing in and out of visibility as they tried to overwhelm her senses.

Ashanti smiled. She expanded her awareness like water filling a basin. She felt every step, every breath, every ripple of stolen starlight in the surrounding area.

She moved like a dancer. A palm strike here that severed mana circulation. A soft pulse there that forced a Panther fully into reality before gently turning off the stellar anchor that sustained it.

One leapt from above, she caught it mid-air with both hands, eyes glowing faintly as she compressed

its excess mana into a stable orb, then released it harmlessly into the soil where it dispersed and nourished the roots instead of killing them.

The juveniles tried to flee.

Ashanti hesitated only a fraction of a second.

Then she closed her eyes and called with authority. They froze, instinct overwhelming their will.

She approached slowly, knelt, and rested her forehead briefly against the nearest one.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Then she ended it cleanly.

When it was over, the forest exhaled.

The oppressive weight lifted. The mana flow smoothed. Leaves settled back into place. The stars that had flickered between branches faded completely, returning the sky to where it belonged.

Ashanti stood in the center of it all, breathing steadily.

No devastation or dead zones, showing off her perfect control.

~CLAP~CLAP~CLAP!~

Jax stepped out from between the trees, giving her well deserved applause.

“Exceptional,” he said simply.

Ashanti turned to him, eyes bright.

Steady.

“I didn’t lose myself,” she said, almost disbelieving.

“No,” Jax agreed. “You found yourself.”

She laughed softly, wings folding back in.

“…What now?”

Jax looked deeper into the forest, where greater threats still stirred beyond mortal awareness.

“Now,” he said, smiling, “you’re ready for what comes next.”

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