Legacy of the Lost Sigil

Chapter 5: Blades in the Dark

The forest didn’t breathe that night.

Kael could feel it—stillness so absolute it pressed against his ears like cotton. Even the owls had gone quiet. The breeze, once playful, now moved in tight coils, heavy with scent: moss, wet stone… and ash.

He stood by the dying embers of their fire, sword strapped over his back, boots wet from collecting water at the stream. Seris knelt a few paces away, sharpening her blade with slow, deliberate strokes. The sound—metal over stone—was the only rhythm left in the world.

“Something’s off,” Kael murmured.

“I know,” she replied without pausing.

She didn’t ask how he knew. His senses had been heightening daily. Not just his eyes and ears—but his instincts, like whispers from beneath his ribs.

[System Alert: Abnormal mana fluctuations detected in outer perimeter.]

Hostile presence probable. Recommend combat readiness.]

He inhaled sharply. The pendant warmed.

[CRIMSON PATH – Battle Mode Enabled]

Pulse Cut: Live Usage Possible

Vital Edge: Charged

Stance Detected: Untrained Defensive

Kael dropped his hand to the hilt of his short sword. It still felt foreign, awkward. But his grip no longer trembled.

It happened fast.

A whistle through the trees—an arrow screamed toward his chest. Seris moved like water, deflecting it mid-air with the flat of her blade. The shockwave of her movement blew leaves into a spiral.

Three shapes melted out of the underbrush: masked figures clad in dark cloth, their movements coordinated and silent. One bore twin daggers dipped in green. Another carried a glaive etched with smoking glyphs. The third—an archer cloaked in night-thread—took position atop a boulder.

“Don’t speak,” Seris hissed. “They’re Shades of Vel’Drakthar.”

Kael’s stomach dropped. He had only heard stories. Shadow-bound mercenaries. Killers trained to silence bloodlines.

They moved in.

The first attacker lunged at Seris. Their blades clashed with a sound like cracking lightning. Sparks lit the dark. The impact reverberated through the clearing.

Kael turned just in time to parry a strike from the glaive-wielder. He barely caught it—the force sent him stumbling, sword rattling in his grip.

Another blow followed. His heel caught a root—he dropped low, rolling to avoid a lethal arc.

[Pulse Cut Ready]

He didn’t think. He felt.

As the glaive came down again, Kael twisted and slashed with a wide arc—not aimed at flesh but the angle of pressure. The blade hummed.

[Pulse Cut Activated – Damage + Disruptive Healing Surge]

The glaive struck—then jolted. The enemy gasped as their muscles twitched violently, hand seizing, grip faltering. Kael’s cut had struck near a tendon—and healed it mid-shear, confusing the body’s pain signals.

The Shade backed off, snarling.

Kael pressed his attack.

Meanwhile, Seris was a blur—steel and precision. She disarmed the dagger-wielder with a twisting flourish, then slammed the pommel of her sword into their chest, cracking ribs. The archer loosed a shot, grazing her thigh. She didn’t flinch.

“Kael!” she called. “Fall left!”

He obeyed instinctively—ducking as she hurled a dagger behind him. It caught the archer in the shoulder, spinning them from their perch.

But the glaive-wielder was back. Blood oozed from a self-inflicted cut over their neck. They were chanting now—dark mana swirling into the blade.

Kael could see it—a glyph burning along the edge. A curse.

[System Alert: Curse-type binding detected. Threat Level: Moderate. Recommend skill adaptation.]

“I don’t have a counter-curse,” Kael hissed.

[Suggest Targeted Pulse Cut to disrupt internal weave. Aim for inner wrist or neck arc.]

Kael darted in.

The glaive slashed—but slower now, blood loss and twitching muscles taking their toll. Kael ducked, then pivoted sharply, driving his blade up in a narrow line across the wielder’s wrist.

[Pulse Cut Precision: 91%]

The magic shattered.

The enemy screamed as the curse backfired. Their own blade cracked. They collapsed, limbs spasming.

Kael stared—half in awe, half in horror.

[Combat Rating: B+]

Adaptive Feedback: Pulse Cut mastering muscle-weave manipulation. Future potential high.]

Only one Shade remained: the archer.

They had disappeared into the trees.

Seris stood over the wounded dagger-wielder, breathing hard. “Let them run. They’ll report.”

Kael frowned. “We should finish it.”

“We can’t,” she replied, eyes narrowing. “We need them to carry fear back—to show them you’re not just a rumor.”

He understood. Part of him still wanted revenge—but another part… was exhausted.

He cleaned his blade quietly.

Seris approached and knelt, inspecting his arm. A thin gash ran along the bicep. Not deep.

“I’ve had worse,” he said.

“Good,” she muttered. “Because you’ll have worse again.”

As the adrenaline faded, the system pulsed a soft blue in Kael’s vision.

[Pulse Cut Efficiency: 89% – Live Combat]

Combat Instinct Improved. New Trait Unlocked: Wound Reading – Grants visual intuition of muscle and nerve lines in motion.

Skill Mutation Detected: Pulse Riposte – Strike-and-return method. If timed precisely, allows healing effect to rebound onto self or ally.

Crimson Path Evolution: 12%

Kael’s heart thudded harder at the last line.

“Twelve percent?” he muttered aloud.

Seris turned. “What?”

“The System… said something’s evolving.”

She grew still.

“What else did it say?”

Kael focused. Then the message blinked again.

[Warning: Mana-pulse anomaly detected]

Signal Source: Subterranean Rift – North Quadrant, 68 miles

Classification: Wyrmbound Awakening (Dormant Phase Ending)

Threat Assessment: Catastrophic (Region-Level)

Time Until Emergence: 72 Hours

Advise: Seek shelter. Gather allies. Prepare defenses.

Kael read it again. Then looked up, face pale.

“What’s a Wyrmbound?”

Seris’s silence was louder than any answer.

Finally, she spoke.

“There are monsters in this world, Kael. Not the kind with claws or teeth. I mean ancient, forgotten creatures—born in the rifts where mana collapsed and twisted the land.”

She knelt, drawing a symbol in the dirt: a spiral pierced by a fang.

“The Wyrmbound were once human. Warriors, mages—chosen for sacrifice during the first collapse of the Crimson Path. They were bound to sleeping titans beneath the earth. Fused in ritual. Made into… conduits of raw power.”

“Why?” Kael asked, throat dry.

“Because someone thought immortality was worth the price.”

She wiped the sigil away.

“They’re not mindless. They remember names. They hunt bloodlines. That pendant you wear—it’s like a torch in the dark to them.”

They returned to the glade, dragging the wounded Shade and collecting what little gear they could scavenge. Kael moved more steadily now. The fight had shown him what he was capable of—not in power, but control. Precision.

“I need to learn more,” he said, watching the stars emerge.

“You will,” Seris replied. “Tomorrow, we begin dual-stance training. Sword and pulse.”

Kael nodded. “And if the Wyrmbound comes sooner?”

Seris looked at him hard. “Then you kill fast. Or you die slower.”