The Choice In The Shadow
Author: Sueños
last update2026-01-30 20:32:00

Ronan gathered himself. Not with fancy thoughts, just raw focus. Legs locked. Body tight. One clean burst of force.

He didn’t aim for the skull this time.

Silas’s voice echoed in his head. Behind the shoulder. Go for the heart.

Ronan stepped in and drove his right fist forward.

The hit landed with a horrible, wet crunch. Not a crack, worse. His fist punched through thick hide and muscle, then slammed into something solid and burning hot inside.

The boar screamed, then the sound broke. The rage turned into a choking gurgle. Its body jerked once, twice, then sagged heavily against the stone wall and went limp.

Ronan ripped his arm free. Blood coated him up to the elbow, steaming in the cold air. His chest heaved. His hands shook. The sting from his burns came roaring back as the adrenaline drained out of him.

From the shadows, Silas stepped forward and clapped. Slowly. Once. Twice.

“Passable,” he said calmly. “Your opening move was smart. Your mistake nearly got you killed. Your recove
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  • The Forge Begins

    The Basilisk froze. It didn’t understand how something so weak had just pushed back.That pause was a fatal mistake.Something silver grey shot out of the trees like a missile on a hard deadline. It slammed into the Basilisk’s injured neck with crushing force.KRA THOOOM!The ground shook. The Basilisk’s head snapped sideways and smashed into the dirt.Someone was standing on its neck.Silas.He wasn’t calm anymore. He wasn’t clean. His clothes were ripped, his hands were bloody, and his face was lit up with wild, savage focus. Silver energy crackled around him like live wires.He drove one fist straight into the smoking wound Kaelen had opened and tore it wider.“YOU WANTED A CORE, BOY?!” Silas yelled, not even looking at the monster. His eyes locked on Ronan. “THEN PAY ATTENTION. THIS IS HOW YOU EXECUTE.”The Basilisk bucked and twisted, trying to throw him off. Silas stayed planted, riding its massive body like he owned the situation. No finesse. No strategy deck. Just raw power

  • The Heart Of The Tide

    The river wasn’t water. It was freezing, thick, and full of things Ronan didn’t want to think about.The second he jumped into the pipe, it took him.The current slammed him under and dragged him forward, spinning him in pitch black chaos. The noise was everywhere. The pressure crushed his chest. He couldn’t tell which way was up.Don’t panic. Don’t panic.He held his breath and braced. His Skin Refined body absorbed the worst of the hits as he bounced off the pipe walls, but it still hurt like hell.Warnings flashed in his head, sharp and urgent.[Oxygen critical.][Navigation impossible.][Distance to exit: 3.2 kilometers.]Three kilometers.That’s not survivable, he thought.His lungs burned. His side burned worse, the open wound screaming as filth rushed into it. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t slow down. He was going to die here, drowned in darkness like trash flushed away.So this is it. Fitting.Then something else kicked in. Not the system. Something older. Deeper.The Earthroot

  • The Choice In The Shadow

    Ronan gathered himself. Not with fancy thoughts, just raw focus. Legs locked. Body tight. One clean burst of force.He didn’t aim for the skull this time.Silas’s voice echoed in his head. Behind the shoulder. Go for the heart.Ronan stepped in and drove his right fist forward.The hit landed with a horrible, wet crunch. Not a crack, worse. His fist punched through thick hide and muscle, then slammed into something solid and burning hot inside.The boar screamed, then the sound broke. The rage turned into a choking gurgle. Its body jerked once, twice, then sagged heavily against the stone wall and went limp.Ronan ripped his arm free. Blood coated him up to the elbow, steaming in the cold air. His chest heaved. His hands shook. The sting from his burns came roaring back as the adrenaline drained out of him.From the shadows, Silas stepped forward and clapped. Slowly. Once. Twice.“Passable,” he said calmly. “Your opening move was smart. Your mistake nearly got you killed. Your recove

  • The Sewer, The Boar, The Choice

    The sewer air was heavy and foul, like breathing through a wet rag soaked in rot and chemicals. Ronan stayed low, moving slow and careful. Every step was placed exactly the way Silas had taught him.Dim green light pulsed from glowing fungus stuck to the brick arches above. It flickered just enough to show shapes, never enough to feel safe.Silas was behind him somewhere. Ronan couldn’t see him. Couldn’t hear him. Still, he knew Silas was there, watching, judging.This one’s on you.A quiet signal flashed across Ronan’s vision.[Target location: roughly 200 meters ahead. One life sign. Big. Angry.]Ronan swallowed and kept moving.The Voidfang Serpent skin hung over his shoulders like a cloak. It didn’t make him vanish, but it muted his steps and smeared his Aura until it blended into the damp air.“Stay calm,” Ronan whispered to himself. “Slow wins.”Then he heard it.A wet snort. Over and over.Something scraped hard against concrete.Ronan froze.He edged forward until the tunnel

  • Ruins

    Unknown HighLevel Cultivator Attacks Obsidian Line!Motivation Unknown. Extremely Dangerous.All civilians advised to report any suspicious activity.Below it, another, smaller headline:OBSIDIAN HEIR INJURED IN CENTRAL PARK BEAST TIDE BATTLE.Scion Kaelen Obsidian sustained significant injuries repelling Storm Glaive Raptor. Expected to make full recovery. Family vows retaliation against beast kin and any associated threats.So Kaelen had survived, but he was hurt. Good.Then Silas swiped to another page. A bounty board. Ronan’s own face, a pre Revival ID photo from a city database, looked back at him. The text read:WANTED FOR QUESTIONING: Ronan Burke.Last seen Central Park fringe. Suspected of looting unsecured antiquities.Reward for verified information: 5,000 New Yuan.Reward for live capture: 20,000 New Yuan.It was posted by the “Metropolitan Restoration Authority,” but everyone knew who pulled the strings. The Obsidian Line was looking for him, but quietly. They didn’t want

  • The Iron Fisted Lesson

    Ronan stared at the bodies. The street was eerily quiet except for the distant city thrum and the buzzing in his own ears. Five lives, extinguished with less effort than snuffing candles. They’d been enemies, but they were also just people following orders. Now they were cooling meat on asphalt, and Silas was smiling.“Why?” The word was torn from Ronan’s throat.Silas’s smile didn’t waver, but his eyes hardened. “Lesson five, repeated: Sentiment gets you killed. Their scanners had you. In thirty seconds, your facial profile and Aura signature would have been uploaded to the Obsidian network. You would have been hunted by every bounty hunter and junior scion in the city. This was the cleanest solution.” He nudged a corpse with his foot. “And now, they’re looking for a ghost—a high-level cultivator who kills with a touch. Not a Skin Refining street kid. Your trail just got much, much colder.”It was ruthless. It was logical. It made Ronan’s stomach turn.[Target Silas: Efficiency ratin

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