2025-09-14 15:26:37The yard of the Darkveil clan glowed with solemnity. It was the inspection day.
The elders stood tall upon the raised platform. Their robes were lined with silver and crimson. Their eyes are sharp as blades. Before them, the clan’s youths gathered in rows with weapons in their hands. Each ready to display their progress. For Arin, it should have been another day of humiliation. He should have been invisible and mocked like before. But fate was cruel. And the system never allowed him to remain unseen. “Kael Darkveil, step forward,” called the First Elder. Kael walked to the front. His aura flared. Fire moved around him like a serpent of red flame. That made the crowd gasp. He executed a fierce strike, scorching the practice ground black. “Excellent,” the elders murmured. “Truly, the clan’s brightest star.” Kael smirked, basking in praise. “Next,” the elder barked. “Bring forth the others.” The names were called, youths performed, then applause rose and fell. And unexpectedly, “Arin Darkveil.” The yard was still. Laughter bubbled from the rows. “Why bother?” someone whispered. Arin froze. He hadn’t expected to be called. His palms sweated and his heart hammered. The system chimed coldly in his mind. “Ding! Passive Quest Triggered.Objective: Survive public inspection without humiliation.
Reward: Reputation +5.
Penalty: –2 years lifespan.”
There was no escape route for him. He stepped forward. The eyes of the clan pierced him like arrows. The First Elder raised a brow. “Show us your progress.” Arin swallowed hard. His meridians were still fragile, only fragments restored by the system. He had no dazzling fire and no radiant frost. Only the faint stir of qi and the Dragon Vein Fist. His body trembled. He thought of remaining still, of failing quietly. But then… a shout came from a reckless clan youth, eager to mock him. He lunged forward suddenly with his blade drawn. “Why not let the cripple try to dodge this?” Gasps erupted from the crowd. The strike was wild, but sharp enough to pierce flesh. It cut toward the elders’ platform. An elder, distracted, did not move in time. Arin’s body surged without thought. “Ding! Emergency Quest Triggered.Objective: Prevent injury to an elder.
Reward: Minor Meridian Repair Fragment.
Penalty: –4 years lifespan.”
His feet slammed the ground. His fist coiled and released the Dragon Vein Fist! The air cracked. The reckless youth’s strike shattered and the blade flung from his hand. The elder staggered back, unharmed. Arin stood panting. His fist smoked faintly with qi. The yard was stunned into silence. For a breath, no one spoke about what happened. Afterwards, people started murmuring about it. “He moved like a dragon…”“Impossible.”
“The cripple… did that?”
The elder he saved looked at him with astonishment, but his gratitude never reached his lips. Instead, his expression twisted into suspicion. The Second Elder seized the moment. He stepped forward with his robes fluttering and his voice sharp as a dagger. “You all saw it!” he thundered. “A boy with crippled meridians suddenly displays forbidden strength? That is not talent, it is unnatural!” The council stirred. “Unnatural…”“A risk…”
“A curse in disguise…”
Arin’s chest clenched. He had saved an elder’s life. But instead of gratitude and acceptance, all he saw was fear. The Second Elder’s words flowed like venom. “For years, this boy has brought shame upon us. Now, suddenly, he wields a long-lost technique? Who among us can guarantee this is not some demonic art? A danger festering within our walls?” Kael stepped forward. His eyes burned with false righteousness. “Second Elder is right. This cripple’s existence taints our honor. The heavens themselves crippled him. Should we now defy fate by letting him remain?” The words cut deeper than any blade. Murmurs rose one by one and heads began to nod. The First Elder hesitated. His gaze was conflicted. “Perhaps exile is…” The Second Elder struck the table with his palm. “Not perhaps. It is necessary! For the clan’s honor!” The vote was swift and the verdict was final. As the council declared exile, the system’s voice rang in Arin’s mind. “Ding! Main Quest Generated.Quest: Survive expulsion and reclaim your place within three months.
Reward: Major Meridian Repair + Unique Skill Unlock.
Penalty: –20 years lifespan. Immediate death if the timer reaches zero.”
A timer appeared in his vision. “89 Days, 23 Hours, 59 Minutes.” Arin’s breath caught and his heart raced.They didn’t allow him to pack. They didn’t allow him to stay a moment longer.
At sunset, Arin stood at the gates of the Darkveil compound. He had been stripped of all but the ragged clothes remained on his back. His mother’s cloth was tied around his wrist. In his palm, he clutched the faintly glowing fragment the system had granted him. The gates clattered open. Clan members watched from the walls. Some sneered, some whispered but none stepped forward. His heart ached. Betrayal pressed heavy on his chest. He had given his life to protect one of them just hours ago. And still, they cast him aside even though his father was in support of it. “Mother,” he whispered to the scrap of cloth, “I swear I won’t die like they want me to.” As he stepped toward the gate, Kael blocked the path. His cousin’s lips curled in a cruel smile. “Look at you,” Kael sneered. “Thrown out like the trash you’ve always been. Do you think the wilderness will spare you? You’ll be devoured within days.” Arin clenched his fists. His voice was steady, though pain laced every word. “One day, Kael, the name ‘trash’ will choke in your throat.” Kael laughed, stepping aside mockingly. “I’ll be waiting for that day… cousin. If you survive long enough.”……….
….
As Arin stepped into the night, the system’s voice echoed cold in his ear.
“Ding! Wilderness Survival Protocol Activated.Objective: Secure shelter, water, and food within 24 hours.
Penalty: –10 years lifespan per failure.”
The forest wind was strong. Arin tightened his grip on his mother’s cloth. His first steps into exile echoed in the air.
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Seventy-one hour war
Arin felt the Dragon Vein thrumming louder, not from defiance now but from recognition; the vein had found the tunnel’s old wards and answered them, and the resonance in his chest promised one more thing — a way through that was not wholly escape: a path to return.He stepped forward and met the Elder’s gaze. “You think yourselves saviors,” he said. “But your hands are just the same as the ones that once broke our doors open to steal grain and name.”The Elder laughed, a cold rasp. He gestured, and the courtyard filled with a shimmering lattice — not the Temple’s gold but the clan’s own binding marks, centuries-old magics reforged into instruments of control. “Then be bound as we see fit.”Arin’s body turned into motion. He didn’t plan a fight — he made one. It was not for trophies but for breaths. He caught the first binding thread in his palm and let the resonance shiver through it, then folded that power and flung it outward. The thread burned like paper and snapped. The Elder’s ey
Darkveil defiance
Arin didn’t wait for the envoy’s final decree. The courtyard was a pressure cooker of fear and fury; if he hesitated the Second Elder’s purge would swallow more than pride. He scanned the faces — some broken, some feverish with triumph — and made a decision that surprised no one who had ever watched him choose a blade over a bargain.“Scatter!” he barked, voice like iron. The command carried, because people still heard what they feared and what they loved in him.Lyra slid beside him, frost singing along her blade. “We hold them back. You get the innocents to safety,” she said, already moving like someone who didn’t like to ask permission.Arin’s palm met the earth. The Dragon Vein answered, a low hum under the skin of the world: a map not of roads but of old places where walls were thin and secrets older than the clan slept. Golden scales crawled across his forearms. When he moved they left brief afterimages, like burned calligraphy in the air.A shout rose — the Second Elder himself
War with the Darkveil soul
The wind blows with a lighting of situations, everyone got set for the show of the night. The clan ground that was once thrummed with celebration now lay uneasy and silent. There above the rooftop, gather much heavens themselves who are ready to witness the event.“ They have thought evil against me. Even the Darkveil which seems to be my path.” Arin who had sat with his legs crossed on a cold stone overlooking the courtyard.Then comes the faint blue light of the system which hovered before him, pulsing like a heartbeat. Incoming Events: Stormfang Clan Retaliation: within 72 hours. Heavenly Temple Summons: active for 7 days. Optional Directive: Survive both encounters. Reward: Path Advancement Spirit Core Ignition.He exhaled slowly. “Seventy-two hours,” he murmured. “So the storm comes early.”Behind him, footsteps approached—soft, deliberate.“Still here?” Lyra’s voice was quiet but carried a weight of concern. Her silver-lined robes swayed with the wind, and her dark hair
Duel & Thrones Cracking
The tournament grounds shook with the roar of the crowd. Sunlight was bright across the martial arena. It glinted off already clean weapons and the gilded through thrones where the clan elders sat in judgment.Youth after youth clashed upon the sand. Each duel was a combat of qi and sword. Cheers rose when fire erupted and when blades hit one another.Arin stood silent at the edges, cloak drawn, watching. His turn had not yet come, but people talked about him wherever he went.“That’s him, the exile.”“He dares fight in the tournament?”“Maybe he’ll collapse before he even takes a stance.”They sneered. But their voices trembled faintly now, for some had already seen his controlled strikes in the early rounds where he dispatched opponents without wasted movement.Arin never revealed the full breadth of his strength. Yet each clash carried a weight that made the crowd gasp in shock. His fists struck like dragons hidden in mist and his footwork impossibly fluid for a boy once branded cr
Return & Tournament Omen
The wind howled across the barren ridge as two figures made their way along the frozen path.Arin walked with steady strides now. He was no longer the broken youth who had left his clan’s gates in humiliation. His qi flowed smoother and his meridians no longer felt like chains of fire tearing through his flesh. Instead, his body pulsed with faint power, subtle and yet undeniable.Beside him walked Lyra Frostwind. Her pale cloak fluttered like a shard. She said little, but every so often her icy gaze drifted toward him, as if measuring the changes in his stance and the growing strength in his aura.The wilderness had carved him anew.Days bled into nights. Their journey toward civilization became a crucible.At dawn, Arin drilled Dragon Vein Fist until his knuckles split. The system chimed relentlessly, issuing quests that rebuilt him.“Ding! Daily Training Quest: Perform 500 Dragon Vein Strikes.Reward: Dragon Vein Fist Proficiency +5%.Penalty: –2 years lifespan if failed.”His arms
Wilderness and Lyra
The wilderness was merciless.Arin stumbled through a tangle of thorn-bushes. His breath ragged and his ribs ached from another close encounter. His clothes were torn and streaked with blood. The moon hung cold above him. Silver light poured over a land teeming with beasts.Every direction was like death itself Yet, the system would not let him stop.“Ding! Survival Quest Update.Objective: Endure wilderness trial, Shelter, food, water secured within 24 hours.Time Remaining: 2 hours, 17 minutes.Penalty: –10 years lifespan.”Arin’s pulse hammered. He had secured water from a muddy stream, but food and shelter? He had seen nothing. His stomach clawed at itself in hunger.If he failed and if the timer struck zero, he would lose years of his life in an instant.He staggered onward. Growls echoed in the distance. Every rustle of leaves whispered in the darkness. “Is this how they expect me to die?” he muttered, clutching his mother’s cloth at his wrist.The night deepened, getting cold
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