2025-09-14 15:24:39The torches burned bright in the night wind.
Hunters stood tall in their beast-leather armor, scarred and confident. Their weapons gleamed beneath the moon. Clan youths of which Kael was among them grinned, puffed their chests, and spoke of glory as if it were already theirs.
“Tonight, we must return with blood on our blades,” Kael declared with fire sparking faintly at his fingertips. “Let the beast learn who the Darkveil are.”
The crowd cheered.
Arin, however, lingered at the edge of the gathering.
He wasn’t called. He wasn’t invited. No one expected the cripple to step forward.
But when the volunteers marched into the forest, Arin slipped behind them. He was as silent as night. The scrap of his mother’s cloth tied around his wrist.
His heart pounded. The system had chimed before he left.
“Ding! Special Quest Generated.
Objective: Witness a Spirit Beast Hunt. Optional: Land a killing strike.
Reward: Reputation +10, Meridian Repair Fragment
Penalty: –3 years lifespan.”
Arin couldn’t walk away. The deeper they went, the thicker the darkness grew.
Every branch stood like a warning as every rustle made hearts tighten.
The clan youths boasted loudly at first, but their voices faded as the night grew heavier. Only the hunters remained calm with their spears and blades at the ready.
Arin followed behind them from a distance. His breath measured and his steps were light so that their attention won't be called.
The system whispered instructions as he moved,
“Lower stance. Reduce noise. Focus peripheral vision.”
It was as if the forest itself sharpened around him. He could almost feel the weight of the danger before it came.
A roar suddenly split the silence. The trees trembled.
From the undergrowth burst a beast. Its fur bristled with spikes and its eyes glowed red like embers. It was a Razorback Boar. Its tusks were as long as swords. Its weight crashed into the earth like a boulder.
The youths froze.
The hunters stepped forward, shouting orders. They darted their spears and slashed their blades. The beast’s hide cracked beneath the blows, but it did not fall.
Then, a long panic came after a moment.
One youth’s strike faltered, leaving his guard open. The beast swerved making sure its tusks aimed straight for his chest.
“Move!” The hunters weren’t close enough.
Arin’s body moved before thought.
The system chimed coldly,
“Ding! Emergency Quest Triggered.
Save one life. Reward: Combat Instinct +1. Penalty: –5 years lifespan.”
He had no choice.
His feet slammed the ground. His body coiled, awkward yet precise.
He shifted his weight and then gather force through the arm.
The beast’s tusk gleamed as it drove toward him.
Arin’s fist rose in a motion that twisted through his torso, his shoulders and his bones. They were all aligning for one devastating release.
The air hissed. His fist crashed against the Razorback’s skull.
For a moment, there was a long silence.
Then, an impact.
The beast shrieked. Its body convulsed as the force rippled through his bone and brain. Its legs buckled. Its tusks cracked.
And with a final, shuddering cry… it collapsed, dead.
The forest held its breath.
The youths stared. Each of their eyes wide. The hunters froze, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.
A cripple. A boy with broken meridians had just felled a mid-rank spirit beast with a single strike.
The whispers began.
“That move…”
“It looked like the Dragon Vein Fist.”
Kael’s face twisted. It became pale with disbelief and then red with rage. His fists clenched so hard flames flickered unbidden with his teeth grinding audibly.
No one was cheering for him at the moment.
All eyes were on Arin.
“Ding! Quest Completed.
Reward: Combat Instinct +1. Reputation +10.”
“Ding! Optional Objective Achieved.
Reward: Meridian Repair Fragment.”
A fragment of golden light sank into Arin’s body. His broken channels stirred with tiny cracks stitching faintly, allowing the flow of qi to seep a little deeper than before.
Warmth filled his chest and his limbs felt lighter.
The hunters surrounded the Razorback’s corpse, murmuring in awe.
“How…?” one muttered. “How could a cripple strike with such force?”
“That was the Dragon Vein Fist,” another whispered. “But that technique hasn’t been practiced properly in years.”
Their gazes turned toward Arin. It was not with scorn, not with mockery but with curiosity.
Kael’s jaw clenched so tightly a vein bulged across his forehead.
“That trash… that trash!” His voice shook as he glared at Arin. “You think one lucky strike makes you someone? You are still nothing!”
But no one laughed with him this time.
Some looked away. Some glanced at Arin with guarded respect.
And that silence was worse for Kael than laughter.
That night, as the hunt returned with the Razorback’s corpse, the system whispered again in Arin’s mind.
“Ding! Hidden Quest Unlocked.
Objective: Prove Dragon Vein Fist again before elders.
Reward: Major Meridian Repair Fragment.
Penalty: –7 years lifespan.”
Arin’s heart pounded. “Prove myself before the elders?” His eyes widened upon realization that the system was forcing him out of the corners he had hidden for a long time.
As he walked among the group, dragging the weight of exhaustion in his limbs, Arin felt something strange… knives pointed at his back ready to stab him.
………..
……
When they returned, the elders convened in secret.
The Second Elder stood at the center. Kael lurked behind him with clenched fists.
“You all saw it,” the elder said grimly. “The cripple killed a Razorback. With a technique that should not be his.”
The council muttered uneasily.
The First Elder frowned. “Perhaps the Heavens have chosen to bless him.”
“Bless?” The Second Elder’s voice cut sharp. “A cripple who suddenly wields forbidden strength? That is not a blessing. That is danger.”
The chamber fell silent.
And in that silence, one word spread across their lips, “Danger.”
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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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