2025-09-14 15:22:17The 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.”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Arin's attending the contest
Preparations for the great contest filled the entire Darkveil stronghold with restless energy. Servants hurried through long corridors carrying banners marked with the Darkveil crest, while technicians adjusted the ancient projection pillars that would display every movement inside the arena. Warriors gathered in groups, whispering among themselves about the upcoming demonstration. Everyone had heard the rumors already. Varyn, the rising prodigy, was going to present the Kael system before the council of Darkveils themselves. But what made the situation even more intense was the fact that Kael had originally been created by Arin.The news traveled quickly through the fortress until it finally reached Arin’s chamber. When he heard it, his entire body stiffened with anger. He stood beside a glowing system panel, his jaw clenched tightly as the information repeated itself in his mind. Varyn was going to demonstrate Kael publicly. Not only that, he was presenting it as if it belonged to hi
The contest over Darkveil's
The letter arrived just before midnight.The messenger who carried it did not linger. He delivered the sealed parchment, bowed quickly, and disappeared into the shadows of the narrow street outside Varyn’s safehouse. The wind that slipped through the broken window carried the faint scent of rain, and the small lamp on the table flickered as though reacting to the tension in the room.Varyn did not rush to open the letter.Instead, he sat quietly at the wooden table, studying the wax seal pressed into the parchment. The symbol was unmistakable—Kael’s mark. The curved insignia of the Darkveil leadership was stamped boldly in dark red wax.Several of Varyn’s men stood around the room. They had noticed the seal as well. Their eyes moved between the letter and their leader, waiting.One of them finally spoke.“Master… are you not going to read it?”Varyn lifted the letter slowly but still did not open it. His fingers traced the edge of the seal as if he were feeling the intention behind it
The shocked on Arin
The fourth night descended over the city with an almost tangible weight, settling like a dark cloak over rooftops, alleys, and silent streets. Varyn’s safehouse, a narrow building at the edge of the northwest sector, felt heavier than usual. The scattered papers, maps, and coded correspondences that had once represented clarity now seemed like fragile armor against forces he had only begun to understand. A single lamp burned faintly in the corner, its light reflecting in the jagged shards of glass from a cracked window, creating a lattice of shadow that danced across the walls. The silence in the room was not comforting; it was expectant. It held a weight that pressed against the skin and tugged at the mind.Varyn moved carefully among the documents. Every map, every coded note, every careful mark he had made over the past days had a purpose. He traced fingers across lines that represented the tentative loyalties of Darkveil subordinates, noting the subtle deviations that marked hesit
The war in between Arin's, Kael and Varyn
The night had deepened into a velvet darkness, the kind that seemed to swallow both sound and thought. Varyn’s footsteps echoed faintly as he returned to the small safehouse he had taken in the outskirts of the city. The letter to Kael was gone, sent under the veil of pre-dawn stillness, but its impact was already rippling through the shadows. Somewhere in the distance, the Darkveil moved, but Varyn did not yet know the full scope of their observation. That uncertainty both terrified and thrilled him. He had survived so far only through instinct—but instinct alone would not be enough now.Arin, perched in his private chambers atop the tallest spire of the estate, did not sleep. The fire in the hearth licked the stone walls as he reclined against the carved balcony, gaze distant. In front of him, a series of glyphs shimmered across the floor in faint golden light—the System, his personal intelligence matrix, alive and aware. A soft chime echoed, and words formed in midair. [SYSTEM NOT
The Darkveil's regrouping
The shock did not just strike Varyn — it hollowed him from within.When Arin left his house earlier, calm and composed, Varyn had remained standing in the center of the room as though the ground beneath him had shifted. He had replayed every word. Every pause. Every measured glance.Keeping you back means exposing myself.That sentence had not yet been spoken — but Varyn already felt its shadow forming.He could not explain what he had done wrong.He had reported Kael. He had refused betrayal. He had remained close.So why did it feel as though Arin was preparing to let him go?The thought alone clawed at his pride.And pride, when wounded, rarely chooses patience.Without thinking further, Varyn strode toward Kael’s estate. The Darkveil banners fluttered against the iron gates — black cloth marked with a silver crescent blade. Guards stepped aside when they saw him, though their eyes lingered.Kael stood in the courtyard overseeing training. Warriors clashed in controlled combat, met
The deceit plan
A letter had finally reached Arin’s hands, a letter accusing Varyn of attempting to kill him—a claim so sinister it seemed almost unreal. The paper bore a signature in blood, unmistakably Varyn’s. It was a trap, a setup he hadn’t been aware of. Yet here it was, lying on the ground as Arin’s picked it up during his usual morning stroll.“Isn’t this Varyn’s signature?” Arin muttered under his breath. The question reverberated through him like a thunderclap. His heart tightened with suspicion and dread. For a moment, he let himself believe the words on the page. He had known danger was coming, but he hadn’t expected it to arrive in such a calculated way.Returning to his house, Arin’s walked slowly upstairs, a frown knitting his brow as he looked down from the balcony. Below, Varyn trained with fierce intensity, unaware of the accusation that now loomed over him. “I can’t allow such an evil being near me,” Arin’s thought, a cold determination settling in his chest. “I must protect Lyra.
You may also like
The Midnight Heir
South Ashan99.5K viewsSon-in-law: The Billionaire's Reign
Deliaha Shine108.5K viewsHidden Billionaire Son-in-law
Deliaha Shine125.3K viewsEthan Storm’s Dark Awakening
Magical Inspirations173.0K viewsRevenge Of The Student Billionaire
Christy I.3.0K viewsAMOS VOSS, RETURN OF THE TITAN
Dominant pen380 viewsUPRISING GENERAL
Healing-Pen381 viewsThe Rejected Son In-law Is A Dragon
Ayebaifiemi 420 views