HEAVEN'S FORSAKEN SON

Small victories

The yard was silent when dawn came across the Darkveil compound.

Children still slept in their quarters. Elders had not yet begun their morning routines.

Only Arin moved.

His body ached from the beating. His ribs were still tender, bruises painted his skin in ugly red stains. 

As the first light broke, the familiar cold chime echoed inside his skull.

“Ding! Daily Quests Generated.

First: Perform 200 basic strikes. Reward: +0.5 Strength. Penalty: –1 year lifespan.

Two: Practice meridian breathing for 30 minutes. Reward: +1 Qi Sensitivity. Penalty: –1 year lifespan.

Three: Survive one confrontation. Reward: Minor Stamina Recovery. Penalty: –2 years lifespan.”

Arin’s eyes widened at the last line. ‘I must survive one confrontation?’

It didn’t say win. It didn’t say defeat. Only survive.

The system wasn’t merciful. But it wasn’t entirely cruel either.

Still… if he ignored them, he said would lose years of his life. 

And he had only seventeen.

He began his practice in the corner of the clan’s abandoned storehouse, where no one usually came.

Each strike rattled his bones. Each breath felt like knives inside his chest. But with every blow, the system chimed faintly, recording and counting.

“Fifty… one hundred… one hundred and fifty…”

By the time he reached two hundred, sweat soaked his thin robe. His hands were blistered and his skin raw.

“Ding! Quest Completed.

+0.5 Strength acquired.”

A warmth spread through his muscles. His fists clenched tighter and steadier. His arms no longer trembled quite as much.

He sat cross-legged. The scrap of cloth from his mother tied around his wrist, and he tried to guide his breath through broken pathways.

His chest rose, fell and rose again.

At first, he felt extreme pain. Qi refused him of its use. 

But the system’s harsh words guided him, “Adjust diaphragm. Focus on dantian. Ignore outer flow and build inner circulation.”

And slowly, so faintly he thought he imagined it. A thread of warmth trickled into his meridians.

The fragment pulsed, knitting broken channels by a hair’s breadth.

“Ding! Quest Completed.

+1 Qi Sensitivity acquired.”

Arin opened his eyes but he couldn't really see anything because of the tears of joy that was forcing itself out. Arin had felt the real qi for the first time since he was born. 

The final quest came that afternoon.

Two boys blocked his path near the water well. One of them was stronger and older than him. The same one was the boy who had shoved him into mud as a child.

“Well, if it isn’t the clan’s curse,” one jeered.

“Do you think you can just walk here like you belong?”

Arin’s stomach clenched. His instinct screamed to lower his head, to flee and to take the blows and hide.

But the system chimed coldly.

“Quest Timer: 60 seconds remaining.”

If he didn’t face them, he would lose years of life. He swallowed really hard.

When the first boy lunged, Arin remembered the training from his morning practice.

He pivoted left and he countered with an elbow. He didn't block head-on. His body moved awkwardly, stiff, but guided.

The bully’s punch sailed past. Arin’s elbow cracked into his ribs. The boy yelped, stumbling back.

Shock froze the second boy. Arin didn’t hesitate. He ducked low, swept his leg, and the boy crashed into the dirt.

There was a long silence. The system chimed at once. 

“Ding! The quest has been completed.

Reward: Minor Stamina Recovery.”

A rush of warmth filled his weary limbs.

Arin stood. His chest heaving, staring at the two bullies sprawled in the dirt.

For the first time in his life… he won a real fight. 

That night, when the moon hung heavy across the sky. The system displayed a new quest.

“New Skill Trial Available: Dragon Vein Fist, Level 1.

The host is required to practice 100 repetitions under exhaustion state.

Reward: Unlock skill framework.”

Arin’s eyes widened in shock. Dragon Vein Fist was a technique talked about in clan tales. It was a style meant to channel qi through the body and bone like a dragon’s flow. It was impossible for someone with crippled meridians to achieve that. 

But the system had given him a path.

He began training. Each punch was clumsy and awkward. His balance slipped and his breath hitched.

But as the night dragged on, a path began to emerge. His fist no longer struck the air blindly. 

By the hundredth strike, sweat poured from his face. His arms trembled but the system chimed.

“Ding! Dragon Vein Fist Framework unlocked.”

Arin collapsed onto the dirt through exhaustion.

His body was still frail. But his fists now carried a better striking opportunity. 

The next day, murmurs spread about Arin through the clan. 

“I swear I saw him move differently.”

“Like a… like a dragon’s shadow.”

“That’s Impossible. He’s trash.”

Arin pretended not to hear, but inside, his chest swelled.

They were already noticing him. 

Kael had noticed too but he remembered just let Arin go that night. 

He cornered the same bullies Arin had beaten and demanded answers.

“You lost to him?” His eyes narrowed as flames gathered at his fingertips.

“He moved weirdly!” one boy stammered. “It was like a dragon coiling!”

Kael’s lip curled. Anger burned behind his eyes.

“That cripple dares to crawl from the dirt?”

The Second Elder, Kael’s father. His gaze lingered on Arin as he trained in secret, with his fists striking and sweat falling. 

His eyes gleamed with a mix of suspicion… and fear.

A cripple who began to rise was more dangerous than a genius.

That evening, the clan’s hunters returned with grim faces. A spirit beast had appeared near the outskirts endangering the clan’s hunting routes.

A meeting was called and the peo

ple that attended came with torches.

“We need volunteers,” the lead hunter announced. “Even the young must step forward. The beast threatens us all.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

And then came a cruel demand that spread like fire.

“Send the cripple.”

“Yes… send Arin. Let him be the food of the beast.”

All eyes turned toward him. Arin’s fists clenched. His heart thundered.

The system’s cold chime echoed in his ears.

“New Quest Incoming.”