13 Heavens: Rise Of The Bloodline Dreg

The First Organ

Leo’s new room was a step up from his Reclaimer box. It was still small, tucked away in a run-down building that catered to independent Hunters, but it had a lock that worked and, most importantly, no Ironblood guards watching his door.

He sat on the thin mattress, the Razor-Wing Queen’s crystalline feather laid before him. It pulsed with a soft, rhythmic light, like a captured heartbeat. The air in the room vibrated with its sharp, clean energy.

“Alright, System,” Leo whispered, his voice tight with a mix of anticipation and dread. The memory of the Marrow Refining was still a fresh scar on his mind. “Let’s do this.”

[Initiating Organ Refining Protocol.]

[Target Organ: Lungs.]

[Catalyst: Razor-Wing Queen Crystalline Feather (Wind-Aspected).]

[Warning: The lungs are a delicate organ system. The refinement process will be excruciating and carries a high risk of catastrophic failure, including pulmonary collapse and suffocation. Proceed?]

Leo took a deep, steadying breath. It’s always a high risk, he thought. Proceed.

[Command Acknowledged. Consume the catalyst.]

Leo picked up the feather. It was cool and smooth. Unlike the Heart-Crystal, it didn’t feel like something to eat. But he trusted the System. He placed the tip of the feather against his lips.

To his shock, it didn't need to be swallowed. The moment it touched his skin, the solid crystal dissolved into a stream of cool, shimmering mist. He inhaled it.

It was like breathing in lightning.

A sharp, piercing cold shot down his windpipe and exploded inside his lungs. It wasn't the burning agony of the marrow purge; this was a thousand tiny, frozen needles expanding inside him, shredding the delicate tissues of his alveoli.

He gasped, but no air came in. His lungs were frozen solid, locked in a block of crystalline ice. He clawed at his throat, his eyes bulging. This was suffocation. This was the failure the System warned him about.

[Do not resist. The catalyst is purging the weak tissue. Guide the energy. Rebuild.]

Rebuild with what? his mind screamed. He was drowning on dry land.

Black spots danced at the edge of his vision. His Phoenix Marrow surged, flooding his body with oxygen-rich blood, fighting to keep his brain alive, but it was a losing battle. The core of his breathing was gone.

Then, a spark. Deep within the frozen wreckage of his lungs, a new sensation bloomed. A single, warm, pulsating point of energy. The purified essence of the Queen's feather.

He focused every ounce of his will on that spark. He imagined it growing, spreading, weaving through the frozen ruins like golden thread. He wasn't just repairing his lungs; he was rebuilding them according to a perfect, alien blueprint provided by the System.

The ice began to crack, not shattering, but melting into a million droplets of pure, liquid energy. Each droplet carried a fragment of the Wind aspect.

Where his old, fleshy lungs had been, new structures were forming delicate, branching networks that looked less like biological tissue and more like fractal patterns carved from light and air.

The pain shifted from piercing cold to a deep, resonant ache, as if his chest cavity were being used as a forge.

[Organ Refining: Lungs - Level 1... Achieved.]

[Level 2...]

[Level 3...]

He could breathe again. But it wasn't the same. Each inhalation was a shock. He wasn't just pulling in air; he was pulling in the concept of air. He could feel the individual components the nitrogen, the oxygen, the tiny traces of ambient aura. He could feel the flow of it, the currents in the room.

The process continued, a relentless, internal reconstruction. He felt his lung capacity expanding exponentially. The tiny, new structures multiplied and complexified, becoming more efficient, more powerful.

[Organ Refining: Lungs - Level 9 Reached.]

[Standard Human Limit Attained. Proceeding...]

“Push,” Leo grunted through gritted teeth, sweat pouring down his face. “Push it all the way.”

The System obliged. The refinement intensified, moving beyond mere efficiency. It was integrating the Wind aspect directly into the organ's function.

[Level 10...]

[Level 11...]

[Level 12...]

He felt a final, seismic shift within his chest. It was as if two miniature storms had been sealed inside his ribs, powerful but perfectly controlled.

[Organ Refining: Lungs - Level 13 Attained.]

[Trait Unlocked: Zephyr Lungs.]

[Aura Absorption Efficiency (Air): Increased by 1000%. Can filter out all known airborne toxins. Can hold breath for extended periods. Preliminary Wind Qi manipulation unlocked.]

Leo slumped forward, catching himself on his hands. He was panting, but each breath was a revelation. He could taste the dust in the air, the moisture from the street outside, the faint, metallic tang of the city's power grid. He took a deep, deliberate breath, and felt the aura in the room swirl towards him, drawn in like iron to a magnet.

He had done it. He had refined his first organ to the mythical 13th level.

A slow smile spread across his face. He felt incredible.

A sharp knock on his door shattered his euphoria.

It wasn't Lia's confident rap or the landlord's tired thump. This was hard, official, and impatient.

"Leo Kaelen. Open up. Aetherius Clan security."

Leo's blood ran cold. The Aetherius Clan. The most secretive and intellectually ruthless of the Five Families. Masters of Qi manipulation and precise, deadly techniques. Why were they at his door?

He quickly shoved the few traces of his cultivation under the bed and stood up, smoothing his clothes. He unlocked the door and opened it a crack.

Two people stood there. A man and a woman, both dressed in sleek, grey body armor that seemed to absorb the light. Their auras were so tightly controlled they were almost undetectable, but Leo's new senses could feel the terrifying power coiled within them. They were far beyond the Ironblood thugs.

The woman, her hair silver and eyes the color of a stormy sky, spoke. Her voice was calm, melodic, and left no room for argument.

"Leo Kaelen. I am Analyst Cora of the Aetherius Clan. We need you to come with us."

"Why?" Leo asked, his voice steady despite the chill in his veins.

The man, taller and silent, held up a small data-slate. It played a short, grainy video clip. It was from the Rusty Bolt Tavern. It showed Leo standing firm as the large Hunter shoved him, failing to make him budge.

"We have been monitoring anomalous energy signatures and... interesting individuals," Cora said, her stormy eyes boring into him. "Your performance at the tavern was flagged. Your successful retrieval from the Razor-Wing nest, confirmed by our satellite surveillance, was the confirmation we needed."

She leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"You see, Mr. Kaelen, the energy you just released during your... breakthrough... it caused a minor spike on our sensors. A very unique spike. One that doesn't match any known cultivation method of the Five Families."

She smiled, a thin, cold expression.

"So, here is our question. And think very carefully before you answer."

She paused, letting the tension build to a breaking point.

"Who, exactly, are you cultivating for?"