"Now then," the ancient undead lord said, his voice carrying undertones that seemed to resonate in the bones of everyone who heard it, "let us discover exactly what manner of abomination you truly are—and how best to unmake it."

Jaenor scowled at the words, "Can you please not talk?"

"It's hella irritating, bone man."

The Lich King made a displeased sound, the shadows around him pulsing with a dark energy. "Your insolence will not save you from your fate," he replied, his icy gaze locking onto Jaenor with a chilling intensity.

Jaenor's body hummed with the dual energies he'd only just discovered—the raw, primal Origin power that felt like molten fire in his veins, and the refined aura that flowed like cool water around his form. The two energies should have torn him apart, yet they danced together in perfect harmony within him.

"You speak of me as if you know what I am," Jaenor called out, his voice steady despite the fear clawing at his chest.

"But I don't even know that myself."

The Lich raised one skeletal hand, and the very air grew cold. "You are an aberration. A mistake that should not exist. The balance of this world demands your removal."

Behind Jaenor, Odessa's gaze locked onto the Lich, her expression unreadable.

There was a sudden collapse of a building behind them, and Jaenor turned to see Odessa fighting the giant, but before he could move to protect her, the Lich said, "Your attention belongs to me, anomaly."

"Come then," Jaenor said, his voice feeling the energies burning inside him.

"Let's see what you're truly capable of."

The Lich smiled, revealing teeth like broken glass.

"Gladly."

The battle began with explosive violence.

The Lich thrust his hands forward, and tendrils of green energy lashed out like whips of pure death.

Jaenor barely managed to dodge the first strike, feeling the air turn cold as it passed inches from his face. The second tendril caught him across the shoulder, and pain unlike anything he'd ever experienced shot through his body.

It wasn't just physical - it was as if the very essence of life was being drained from that spot.

Gritting his teeth, Jaenor drew upon both his energies.

Origin power flared around his wounded shoulder, pushing back the death energy with raw vitality.

At the same time, his aura formed a protective barrier around his entire body, shimmering like heat waves in the air.

"Impossible," the Lich hissed.

"You should be nothing but bones and dust."

Jaenor didn't waste time with words.

He launched himself forward, Origin power propelling him faster than any normal human could move. His fist, wreathed in both energies, connected with the Lich's chest.

The impact sent shockwaves through the square, shattering windows and toppling nearby market stalls.

But the Lich barely staggered.

Instead, he grabbed Jaenor's wrist with fingers like ice-cold iron.

"My turn."

Green energy erupted from the Lich's grip, racing up Jaenor's arm like liquid fire.

This time, Jaenor screamed.

The death energy wasn't just trying to kill him—it burned him from inside, and he felt the sensation of a thousand needles poking at once.

Yet somehow, his dual energies fought back.

Origin power met the death energy head-on, neither giving ground, while his aura formed layers of protection that slowed the advance.

The two forces warred within his arm, and for a terrifying moment, Jaenor thought he might lose the limb entirely.

Then inspiration struck.

Instead of fighting the death energy directly, he began to weave his aura around it, containing it like a net while his Origin power struck at its foundations.

The technique came to him instinctively, as if he'd done it a thousand times before.

The death energy dispersed with a sound like breaking glass, and Jaenor broke free from the Lich's grip. He immediately backflipped away, putting distance between them while his energies worked to heal the damage.

"Fascinating," the Lich said, flexing his fingers as if they'd been stung.

"You truly are unlike anything I've encountered in my centuries of existence."

Across the square, Odessa was having her own battle with the bone giant. The massive construct moved with surprising speed for its size, its huge fists leaving craters in the ground where they struck.

She dodged and weaved between its legs, using her smaller size to her advantage, but her focus was on Jaenor and the lich.

Jaenor was already engaged again with the Lich, who had decided to press his attack.

This time, the undead lord didn't rely solely on his death energy. He moved with smooth, agile motion, his old body possessing a graceful curve that spoke of countless years perfecting the art of combat.

A skeletal fist whistled past Jaenor's ear, followed immediately by a knee strike that he barely managed to block with his forearm.

The impact sent numbing cold through his bones, but his Origin power quickly burned it away.

He countered with an elbow strike wrapped in both energies, but the Lich twisted away at the last second, the blow only grazing his ribs.

"You fight well for one so young," the Lich acknowledged, circling Jaenor like a predator.

"But youth is fleeting. Death is eternal."

The skeletal dragon chose that moment to join the battle.

Its massive head descended like a falling boulder, jaws gaping wide to reveal rows of teeth like broken swords. Green fire gathered in its throat, and Jaenor realized with horror that it was preparing to breathe on both him and Odessa.

Without thinking, Jaenor threw himself to the side, not away from the dragon but toward it.

His hands came together, Origin power and aura spiraling together in a way that felt as natural as breathing. The resulting sphere of energy was unlike anything he'd ever created—not the raw destruction of pure Origin power, nor the refined precision of aura alone, but something entirely new.

He hurled the sphere directly into the dragon's open maw just as it released its breath weapon. The collision was spectacular.

Green fire met swirling energy in an explosion that lit up the entire square and the town and the surrounding area too.

The dragon's head snapped back, and its breath weapon scattered harmlessly into the sky.

But the effort had cost Jaenor dearly.

Creating that hybrid technique had drained him more than he'd expected, and the Lich was quick to capitalize on his momentary weakness.

Death energy formed around the Lich's hands like claws of pure shadow.

He raked them across Jaenor's back as the young man stumbled, and this time there was no time to form proper defenses. The claws carved deep furrows through his shirt and into his flesh, each wound burning with cold fire.

Jaenor rolled forward, putting a destroyed fountain between himself and the Lich while his energies worked frantically to heal the damage. Behind him, he could hear Odessa's labored breathing as she continued to evade the bone giant's attacks.

"You're beginning to understand," the Lich said, walking slowly around the fountain.

"You may possess two types of energy, but I have had centuries to master mine. Your raw power means nothing without the experience to use it properly."

The skeletal dragon had recovered from the attack on its throat and now positioned itself to cut off Jaenor's escape routes. Its bone wings spread wide, casting deeper shadows across the square, while light blue energy continued to course along its spine in mesmerizing patterns.

Jaenor wiped blood from his mouth and struggled to his feet.

The Lich was right—he was powerful, but he had no idea what he was truly capable of.

Every technique he used came to him in the heat of battle, instinctive but unrefined.

But as he watched the Lich approach with confident, measured steps, something clicked in his mind.

The undead lord's movements, for all their grace, followed patterns.

Centuries of experience had made him deadly but also predictable. He fought like someone who had faced the same types of opponents over and over again.

Jaenor, however, was something entirely new.

"You know what?" Jaenor said, straightening up despite the pain coursing through his body. "You're absolutely right. I have no idea what I'm doing."

The Lich paused, perhaps expecting some desperate gambit or final plea for mercy.

Instead, Jaenor smiled.

"But that just means I'm not limited by what I think is possible."

He didn't attack with refined technique or careful strategy.

Instead, he let both energies flow freely through his body, not trying to control or direct them but simply letting them be what they were.

Origin power roared through his muscles like liquid lightning while his aura expanded around him in layers upon layers of protection and enhancement.

The transformation was visible.

His eyes began to glow with swirling patterns of light, and the air around him shimmered with barely contained force.

When he moved, it was with speed that made his earlier efforts look sluggish.

The Lich barely had time to raise his defenses before Jaenor was upon him.

This time, there was no elegant martial arts or careful energy manipulation.

Jaenor fought with pure raw strength, uncontrolled, primitive, and wild.

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