Evolution Of The Broken Heir

Chapter One: The Black Reach

The Black Reach had always been a dangerous place.

Beyond the walls of Arkenfall, there was no safety. The land was filled with creatures that had been changed by the Rain of Fire, and every journey beyond the Citadel walls carried the risk of death.

Darius Veyne knew that better than most.

He stood among the Veyne soldiers, his sword firmly held in his right hand as he stared into the dark wasteland ahead. His armor was already covered in dust from the long journey, and a thin line of blood ran down his cheek from a small cut above his eyebrow.

The soldiers around him were all awakened warriors. Some had powerful bodies. Others could control fire, strengthen their weapons, or manipulate energy.

Darius had none of those abilities.

At seventeen, he had still failed to awaken.

For someone born into House Veyne, one of the twelve bloodlines that ruled Arkenfall, it was a shame that followed him everywhere.

A soldier standing nearby glanced at him and scoffed.

“Why is the useless heir even here?”

Another soldier laughed quietly. “Maybe the family finally found a way to get rid of him.”

Darius heard them, but he said nothing.

He had grown used to such words.

Ever since his parents died, his position in House Veyne had slowly disappeared. His inheritance had been taken from him, and the family members who once called him their heir now treated him like a burden.

He had learned a long time ago that answering their insults would change nothing.

Commander Garrick Veyne raised his hand.

“Everyone, stay alert.”

The laughter stopped.

Darius looked ahead.

Something was moving in the darkness.

At first, it sounded like distant footsteps.

Then the ground beneath them began to shake.

A soldier tightened his grip on his spear. “They're coming.”

A terrible roar suddenly came from the wasteland.

“Prepare yourselves!”

The darkness erupted.

Dozens of creatures rushed toward them.

They were large, twisted beasts covered in black scales and sharp bones. Their eyes glowed red as they charged across the ruined land.

“Formation!”

The Veyne soldiers moved together.

The first creature crashed into the front line, but three awakened warriors immediately attacked it. Flames burst from one man's hands while another strengthened his body and drove his sword through the creature's chest.

Darius moved with them.

A creature lunged at him.

He stepped aside and swung his sword across its neck.

The blade cut deep, but it didn't kill the beast.

It turned and attacked again.

Darius blocked its claws with his sword.

The impact forced him backward.

His boots dragged across the ground.

He gritted his teeth and pushed back before driving his knee into the creature's stomach. As it staggered, he brought his sword down with both hands.

This time, the blade pierced its skull.

The creature collapsed.

Darius quickly pulled his sword free.

Another one was already coming.

He barely managed to block the attack.

The creature was stronger than the first.

Its claws pushed against his sword, forcing his arms downward.

Darius's muscles began to ache.

He had no awakened ability to strengthen his body. Everything he had was the result of years of training.

He pushed the creature away and attacked its legs.

The beast stumbled.

Darius stepped forward and stabbed it through the chest.

It fell.

He took a breath.

Then he heard a roar behind him.

Darius turned.

A much larger creature was charging toward him.

“Darius!”

Commander Garrick shouted.

Darius raised his sword.

The creature struck.

The force sent him flying.

He hit the ground hard and rolled several times before stopping against a broken piece of stone.

Pain spread through his ribs.

For a few seconds, he couldn't breathe.

He forced himself to move.

His fingers searched for his sword, but it had landed several meters away.

The creature was already coming toward him.

Darius pushed himself up.

His legs shook.

He could hear the battle around him, but everything seemed distant.

The creature opened its mouth and rushed forward.

Darius grabbed a broken piece of metal from the ground and raised it just before the beast reached him.

The impact knocked him back again.

The metal broke.

Darius stared at the broken piece in his hand.

For the first time that day, fear entered his eyes.

He had no weapon.

No ability.

No awakened Core.

Nothing.

The creature slowly approached him.

Darius looked around.

The nearest soldiers were too far away to help.

Commander Garrick was fighting another group of creatures.

Darius swallowed hard.

So this is how it ends.

He had spent years being called useless.

He had watched his family turn their backs on him.

He had been abandoned after losing everything.

And now, after surviving all of that, he was going to die here.

The creature raised one massive claw.

Darius tried to move.

His body refused to respond.

The claw came down.

Darius threw himself sideways.

The attack missed his head but tore through his shoulder.

He screamed as he fell to the ground.

Blood soaked his clothes.

The creature turned toward him again.

Darius pressed one hand against his wound and tried to stand.

His vision was becoming blurry.

He took one step.

Then another.

His knees gave out.

He fell.

The creature approached slowly, as if it knew its prey could no longer escape.

Darius looked at it through half-closed eyes.

Something felt strange.

The pain in his shoulder was still there, but another sensation had begun spreading through his body.

Warmth.

It started in the center of his chest.

Darius frowned.

He placed a trembling hand over his heart.

His heartbeat was strangely slow.

Then he heard another beat.

It wasn't coming from his heart.

It was deeper.

Almost as if something buried inside him had suddenly moved.

Darius's breathing stopped.

The sound came again.

Boom.

He looked around, but nothing had changed.

The creature was still standing in front of him.

Another heartbeat followed.

Boom.

This time, Darius felt it.

Something was inside him.

Something that had been silent for years.

His body suddenly became cold.

The creature raised its claw.

Darius tried to move, but his strength was gone.

The claw came down.

Just before it reached him, the creature suddenly stopped.

Its entire body began to tremble.

Darius stared at it in confusion.

The beast slowly backed away.

Then another creature stopped fighting.

Then another.

Across the battlefield, the monsters began turning toward Darius.

The soldiers noticed.

“What is happening?”

“No idea!”

Darius could barely hear them.

His attention was fixed on the strange sensation inside his chest.

The heartbeat grew louder.

Boom.

Pain shot through his body.

Darius grabbed his chest and gasped.

He felt something spreading through his veins.

It wasn't his Bloodflow.

It wasn't mana.

He knew what those felt like.

This was something completely different.

Something ancient.

The pain became unbearable.

Darius screamed and collapsed onto his back.

Dark lines slowly appeared beneath the skin of his chest.

His eyes widened.

Then a voice entered his mind.

It was cold.

Mechanical.

And impossibly old.

Vessel detected.

Darius froze.

He couldn't understand what he was hearing.

Life force critically low.

His vision began to fade.

The battlefield disappeared.

The soldiers disappeared.

Even the creatures disappeared.

Only the voice remained.

Compatibility test beginning.

Darius's body suddenly went completely still.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then his heart stopped.

And something else began beating in its place.

Compatibility confirmed.

A powerful force erupted from inside Darius.

The ground beneath him cracked.

Every creature in the Black Reach turned toward him.

Darius opened his eyes.

They were no longer filled with fear.

Something had awakened.

Something that had been waiting for him long before he ever knew it existed.

Devouring Core awakening...