The impact shattered every bone in Kael's body.
He lay in a crater of his own making, feeling his cursed immortality knitting him back together. Each snap of bone realigning, each tear of muscle reweaving, sent waves of agony through his consciousness. The gods had never granted him immunity to pain—only death. Sometimes, he wondered if that too was part of their cruelty.
"Ungh... lovely welcoming committee," he groaned, pushing himself to his feet. The world around him was unlike anything he'd seen in his centuries of existence. The trees reached higher than the tallest towers of mortal cities, their leaves shimmering with internal light. The very air hummed with raw magic, making his skin tingle.
A rustle in the underbrush caught his attention. Kael reached for his sword, only to find an empty scabbard. Of course—the gods wouldn't let him keep his weapons.
"Come on then," he muttered, falling into a defensive stance. "Let's see what this world has to offer."
The creature that emerged was pure nightmare. It moved like lightning given form, its body a constantly shifting mass of electrical energy and crystalline shards. Jagged teeth sparked with each movement, and its eyes burned with intelligence that should not exist in a beast.
"Well," Kael managed, "you're new."
The thing struck faster than thought. Kael's immortal reflexes saved him from decapitation, but the creature's claws raked across his torso, sending searing pain through his body. The wound crackled with residual energy, refusing to heal immediately like his injuries usually did.
Blood—his blood—stained the pristine grass. Kael staggered back, pressing a hand against the wound. "That's... that's interesting. Been a while since something could mark me."
The creature circled him, electricity arcing between its crystalline spines. Its movements were predatory, calculated. This was no mindless beast—it was a hunter.
"You know what?" Kael grinned, despite the pain. Or perhaps because of it. Pain meant he was alive, meant this was real. "I needed this. Centuries of being unstoppable gets boring."
The beast lunged again. This time, Kael was ready. He rolled under its attack, grabbing one of its crystalline spines as it passed. The electricity coursing through its body sent spasms through his muscles, but he held on, using the creature's momentum to snap the spine free.
Now armed with a crystalline blade, Kael felt the familiar thrill of combat surge through him. "Let's dance, shall we?"
The battle that followed was pure savagery. The beast was faster, stronger, armed with powers Kael had never encountered. But Kael had centuries of combat experience, and more importantly—he could not die. Each wound hurt, each strike sent fresh agony through his body, but he kept fighting, kept learning its patterns.
Finally, after what felt like hours, Kael drove the crystalline spine through the creature's core. It exploded in a burst of electrical energy that sent him flying backward into one of the massive trees.
Lying there, body broken and slowly healing, Kael laughed. "Is this meant to be punishment?" he called out to the sky, to the gods who had banished him. "Because I haven't felt this alive in centuries!"
The forest's only response was the constant hum of raw magic. Kael pushed himself up, examining his wounds as they slowly knitted themselves closed. The pain was still there, a constant reminder of his new vulnerability, but it was... refreshing. A challenge.
"Right then," he muttered, retrieving the crystalline spine—his first weapon in this new world. "Let's see what other playmates this realm has to offer."
As he set off through the luminescent forest, Kael felt something he hadn't experienced in a very long time: uncertainty. The gods had stripped away much of his power, yes, but they'd given him something precious in return—the chance to grow stronger again.
And this time, there would be no divine laws to hold him back.