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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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.
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