2025-09-14 15:27:12The 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 colder by the hour. His body shook and his vision blurred.
“Ding! Passive Quest Triggered.
Objective: Endure cold until dawn without fire.
Reward: Frost Resistance +1.
Penalty: –3 years lifespan.”
He bit back a curse. ‘Fire?’ He had no flint and no tinder. The system was merciless. If he failed, it would take away his life span piece by piece.
But it was also the only reason he was still alive.
A yellow rustle gleamed in the dark.
Arin turned just as a spirit-beast leapt from the undergrowth. It was a wolf with its fur lined with frost and fangs like shards of ice.
“Ding! Combat Trial Initiated.
Objective: Survive encounter with Ice Wolf.
Reward: Minor Meridian Repair Fragment.
Penalty: –5 years lifespan.”
The beast moved.
Arin ducked. He rolled through the leaves with his fists trembling. He clenched them letting out the dragon Vein Fist he had practiced until his bones screamed. The system pulsed in his vision.
“Now!” His fist lashed out.
The wolf’s jaw cracked sideways. It howled, staggering back. Arin staggered too, gasping. His body screamed in pain. But he stood gallantly.
The system chimed coldly.
“Quest Complete.
Reward: Minor Meridian Repair Fragment Acquired.”
The glow pulsed faintly in his chest. But he had no strength left. His knees buckled.
He collapsed near a frozen ravine. The bitter wind gnawed at him. Darkness pressed in.
The wolves closed in. A pack this time around. Their breath misted and their growls rumbled. Arin’s arms hung limp at his sides. He could barely raise his head.
When suddenly, a flurry of snow and a glint of light fill up the atmosphere.
“Frost Petal Bloom.”
The air cracked with frost. Shards of ice burst from the ground, spearing through two wolves instantly. The rest yelped, retreating into the dark.
Arin blinked with surprise wondering who owned that power.
A girl stood above him. She was pale with hair flowing like snow in moonlight. Her eyes were as cold as glaciers. She wore traveling leathers and white fur lining her cloak. Her palm shimmered with a frost qi.
She looked down at him with disdain. “Pathetic. You’ll die out here if you keep stumbling like this.”
Arin coughed. His body was trembling. “Then… Why save me?”
Her gaze lingered on him, sharp and curious. “Because you didn’t beg for it. Most people like you beg.”
She pulled him to his feet with surprising strength.
“I am Lyra Frostwind,” she said curtly. “And you?”
“Arin,” he rasped. “Arin Darkveil.”
Her brow twitched. Recognition flickered in her eyes. “The crippled boy cast out by his clan?”
His jaw tightened. The title cut deeper than any wound. “That’s what they call me.” He replied coldly.
Lyra studied him for a long moment. Her expression was unreadable. Then she turned away. “You won’t last a week out here at this pace and If you slow me down, I’ll leave you.”
Arin narrowed his eyes. “And yet you haven’t left me now.”
Her lips curved faintly. Not a smile, it was more like amusement. “Consider this a test.”
As they walked, the system chimed again.
“Ding! Co-op Quest Generated.
Objective: Form a temporary alliance with Lyra Frostwind.
Reward: Double Experience Bonus for Co-op Battles.
Penalty: –7 years lifespan if alliance fails prematurely.”
Arin almost stumbled. ‘An alliance quest? The system had never offered that before. Did it… recognize her?’ He thought in his head.
Lyra glanced at him sharply, as if she had noticed the faint glow in his eyes when the system window appeared. “What is that light?”
He froze. “It’s nothing,” he said quickly.
Her gaze lingered, icy and probing, but she didn’t press. Instead, she drew her blade and frost qi moved along its edge. “If you want to survive, prove it. A beast’s lair lies near. Help me kill it or we will die trying.”
The lair was a cavern built with ice. Growls echoed from within it. A mid-tier beast, an Icefang Boar emerged. Its tusks glowed with frosted qi and steam billowed from its maw.
Arin’s chest tightened. He had never faced something this strong.
“Ding! Co-op Combat Quest Initiated.
Objective: Defeat the Icefang Boar with Lyra.
Reward: Major Meridian Repair Fragment, Combat Skill Enhancement.
Penalty: –12 years lifespan if failed.”
The beast charged almost immediately. The ground cracked.
Lyra’s frost qi surged, creating icy spikes that slowed the boar. “Strike its flank!” she commanded.
Arin’s fists trembled. He inhaled, letting the system’s words flash before his eyes. His body moved as ducked, pivoted and strike!
Dragon Vein Fist roared from his arm. His blow landed against the beast’s ribs, cracking its bone. The boar howled, thrashing wildly. Lyra seized the opening, frost blade slicing across its throat.
The beast collapsed, blood steaming against ice.
“Ding! Quest Complete.
Reward: Major Meridian Repair Fragment Acquired. Dragon Vein Fist — Proficiency +20%.”
Arin staggered back, gasping. His chest glow warmly as the fragment melded with his meridians.
He felt it, the chains within him loosening. Qi flowed smoother than ever before. His crippled meridians, long broken, were repairing piece by piece.
Lyra eyed him. And her curiosity deepened. “A cripple couldn’t have moved like that. Who exactly are you, Arin Darkveil?”
He wiped blood from his lip, meeting her gaze steadily. “Someone who refuses to die.”
Lyra wasn’t a friend but she wasn’t a mocker either. She fought beside him, trusted him for a moment, and didn’t sneer when he stood his ground. Instead the believed in him at every stance.
The warmth of victory burned brighter than the cold wilderness.
“Maybe…” he whispered, clutching his mother’s cloth, “maybe trust isn’t entirely lost.”
As they prepared to leave the beast’s lair, Lyra’s expression hardened.
“Be on guard,” she said quietly.
Arin frowned. “Why?”
Her eyes narrowed, scanning the treeline. “Stormfang hunters are in this region. I overheard them earlier. They’re asking about someone.”
She met his gaze, her tone hardened.
“A boy the heavens cursed. A fate-defying anomaly.” Arin’s blood ran cold after he heard.
The system chimed mercilessly.
“Ding! Warning: External Hostiles Approaching. New Threat Level Detected.”
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 Rise of the Son-in-law After Divorce
Enigma Stone249.6K viewsRevenge of the Secret Heir
Belladonna84.8K viewsRise of Power: Return of The Pathetic Commoner
Iwaswiththestars75.6K viewsTrillionaire they never noticed
Alfred ifeanyi73.7K viewsAdrian Carter's Silent Dominance
Aeon Flux375 viewsThe Actor's Emperor System
Alex571 viewsThe reaper
skylar_evans231827 viewsThe Billionaire's Secret Identity
Raphael Asuquo 513 views