The night air was damp with mist, clinging to Kael’s torn cloak as he staggered out of the shattered courtyard. The ground still smoked from the battle, the cobblestones cracked where his blood had spilled. Aelira walked at his side, one hand pressed to her ribs, her silver hair matted with sweat and ash.Neither spoke at first. The silence stretched, broken only by the groan of distant walls collapsing behind them.Kael clenched his fists, his breathing ragged. “Another leash,” he muttered, his voice low but edged with fury. “I cut the chains of gods, and still, something crawls out of the dark to bind me again.”Aelira slowed, her luminous eyes searching his profile. “You should not speak so carelessly. That… thing is not a man. You saw it. You felt it.”Kael’s jaw flexed, but before he could retort, the mist in the street thickened. Shadows stirred. From the veil of fog, the masked figure stepped forward as though he’d been waiting all along.His mask was pale bone, smooth but for

The world felt brittle under Kael’s boots.By dawn, the mark’s searing glow had dulled to a low ember, but its presence was constant, like a second pulse, alien and unwelcome.Every step he took through the wild forest sent it twitching beneath his skin, a reminder of the debt binding him.Aelira walked ahead, her silver hair catching the pale morning light. Her silence was a blade of its own. She hadn’t spoken since the night before, when crimson lightning tore the room apart. Kael had expected scorn, perhaps fear. Instead, she offered nothing. Nothing but the steady sound of her boots against roots and earth.He almost preferred anger.The path curved downward, and suddenly the forest broke. Kael stopped at the ridge, his breath catching.There they stood: the Obsidian Ruins.A vast field of shattered stone stretched before him, littered with broken spires jutting like blackened bones. Shards of obsidian caught the morning light, gleaming like fire-flecked glass. The air was thick

The ground split under Kael’s boots. He had barely managed to leap aside before the floor caved in, swallowing half the chamber into a roaring abyss. Heat surged from below, carrying the scent of metal and blood.Aelira’s voice cut through the chaos. “Kael! Up here!”He grabbed her outstretched hand, their palms slick with dust and sweat. She hauled him onto a ledge, her breathing sharp. “What now? The whole ruin’s collapsing!”Kael didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on the glowing fissure below. Through the smoke, something shimmered deep in the chasm, a chain, broken and blackened, yet alive with pulsing crimson light.The same light as the sigil burning on his arm.“The Relic,” Kael breathed.Aelira frowned. “You recognize it?”He hesitated, staring at the shifting glow. “It shouldn’t exist. I destroyed it.”The words escaped him before he realized he’d said them aloud.Aelira stepped closer, her tone low and dangerous. “What do you mean, destroy it? What are you not telling me?”

The Ashen Blades weren’t a sect. Not really. They were the remnants of one, a dying group clinging to the bones of old glory.Their gates leaned inward, the once-proud banners now gray and frayed. The courtyard smelled faintly of rust and smoke.Aelira glanced around, unimpressed. “You’re joking.”Kael stepped past her, hood drawn low. “No. This will do.”“This?” She gestured at the cracked statues and half-trained disciples sparring with dull blades. “You’re hiding in a graveyard.”“That’s the point.”A young man spotted them and hurried forward. “New recruits?” He looked Kael over, taking in the plain clothes and the faint scar near his wrist where the sigil still faintly pulsed. “You don’t look like much.”Kael met his gaze. “Good. Keep thinking that.”The boy blinked, unsure if it was a threat or humor. Before he could answer, a sharp voice cut across the courtyard.“Enough chatter, recruits line up!”A middle-aged man with a crooked blade and a limp strode toward them. His aura w

The forest burned red under the light of Kael’s sigil. The beast crouched low, muscles quivering, claws digging furrows through the ground. Its growl was so deep it felt like the earth itself was snarling.Aelira stood a few paces back, daggers drawn. “You can’t fight it alone.”Kael didn’t look at her. “Then run.”“I’m not leaving you.”He said nothing, but his jaw tightened. The beast moved first. charging like a thunderclap. Kael met it head-on, blade flashing. The impact tore through the clearing. Trees snapped like twigs, the shockwave hurling dirt into the air.Kael slid backward, boots carving trenches in the ground. His arms ached; the sigil’s light burned hotter.Warning: Physical limits exceeded.System Suggestion: Activate Vengeance Quest – Consume the Beast’s Heart.The words flashed crimson in his vision.Kael gritted his teeth. “No.”The System pulsed again, almost mockingly.Quest Reward: Core Reinforcement. Power_permanent.The beast roared, lunging again. Kael ducke