The Forbidden System: Rise of the Last Martial God

“Kael Veyron, step forward!”

The command echoed across the training courtyard.

Hundreds of disciples turned toward the young man standing at the back of the crowd. Some watched with curiosity. Others exchanged mocking smiles.

Kael tightened his fists and walked toward the black stone pillar at the center of the courtyard.

Today was the annual Martial Awakening Ceremony of the Iron Peak Sect. Every disciple would place a hand on the Awakening Stone and demonstrate the strength of their martial core.

For most people, it was a chance to prove their progress.

For Kael, it was another opportunity to be humiliated.

“Look at him,” someone whispered. “Three years in the sect, and he still hasn’t awakened his core.”

“Why hasn’t he been expelled already?”

“Because his father supposedly died protecting the sect. Perhaps the elders feel sorry for him.”

Laughter spread through the crowd.

Kael heard every word, but he kept walking.

He had learned long ago that responding to insults only gave his enemies more reasons to laugh.

At the front of the courtyard stood Darius Thorne, the sect’s most celebrated young disciple. His silver-trimmed robes marked him as a candidate for the inner sect, and his martial aura made weaker disciples instinctively step aside.

Darius folded his arms.

“Try not to embarrass yourself this time, Kael.”

Kael stopped beside the stone pillar.

“At least I’ll be doing something,” he replied. “Unlike you, I don’t need to insult people to prove I’m important.”

The laughter that followed was quieter, but it was not directed at Kael this time.

Darius’s expression darkened.

“You have a sharp tongue for someone who cannot even circulate spiritual energy.”

“Then perhaps you should be grateful I have something you don’t.”

Darius took a step forward.

Before he could answer, a deep voice interrupted them.

“Enough.”

Elder Garrick, the official supervising the ceremony, stood on the raised platform. His long grey beard moved in the wind as he regarded Kael with open impatience.

“Place your hand on the Awakening Stone.”

Kael obeyed.

The stone was cold beneath his palm.

He closed his eyes and tried to gather the faint spiritual energy he had spent three years attempting to control. He remembered the breathing exercises taught by his first instructor. He remembered the nights he had trained until his hands bled.

Most importantly, he remembered his younger sister, Mira, waiting for him at home.

The medicine she needed was expensive. His meagre allowance from the sect could barely buy enough food.

If he awakened his martial core today, he might finally qualify for a better position.

He could finally give her a chance to recover.

“Please,” he whispered.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the stone flickered.

A faint silver light appeared beneath his palm.

Kael’s eyes flew open.

The crowd fell silent.

A light.

It was small, barely brighter than a candle, but it was the first response the Awakening Stone had ever given him.

“It’s working,” someone murmured.

Kael’s heart hammered against his ribs.

The light grew stronger.

A thin crack appeared across the stone.

Elder Garrick abruptly rose from his seat.

“Remove your hand!”

Kael stared at him in confusion.

“But Elder, I—”

“Now!”

Kael pulled away.

The silver light vanished.

A strange symbol remained on the stone, a circle divided by seven uneven lines. It appeared for less than a second before disappearing beneath the surface.

Nobody seemed to understand what they had seen.

Nobody except Darius.

For a brief moment, the celebrated disciple looked genuinely frightened.

Then his expression changed.

“Elder!” Darius shouted. “That symbol! I have seen it before!”

Elder Garrick’s face became rigid.

“Where?”

“In the sealed records beneath the inner hall. The symbol belongs to a forbidden martial technique.”

The courtyard erupted in whispers.

Kael shook his head.

“I have never seen that symbol before.”

“Of course you would deny it,” Darius replied. “You have spent three years pretending to be a harmless cripple. Perhaps you were waiting for the right moment to steal the sect’s secrets.”

“That is a lie!”

“Then explain the symbol.”

“I can’t explain something I don’t understand!”

Darius turned toward the elders.

“The sect has shown him kindness for years. And this is how he repays us?”

Several disciples began shouting for Kael to be punished.

Kael looked toward Elder Garrick, hoping the older man would demand evidence before accepting the accusation.

Instead, the elder’s gaze remained fixed on him.

“Search his quarters,” Garrick ordered.

Two guards immediately stepped forward.

Kael tried to move away, but one seized his arm.

“Let go of me!”

“You will remain silent until the elders have finished their investigation.”

Within minutes, the guards returned carrying a small black scroll.

Kael stared at it.

He had never seen it before.

“That isn’t mine.”

Darius examined the scroll with theatrical disbelief.

“A forbidden technique. How convenient.”

“You planted it!” Kael shouted.

Darius’s lips curved into a cold smile.

“Be careful, Kael. Accusing an inner disciple without proof is another offense.”

Kael struggled against the guard’s grip.

“I did nothing wrong! Search my room again. Question everyone who entered it. Do whatever you need to do, but don’t punish me for something I didn’t do!”

Elder Garrick raised one hand.

The courtyard fell silent.

“The evidence has been found, and the Awakening Stone reacted to an unknown forbidden symbol. Until the truth is established, you are a threat to the Iron Peak Sect.”

Kael felt the blood drain from his face.

“What are you saying?”

“You are hereby stripped of your disciple status and sentenced to exile.”

The words struck harder than any physical blow.

Exile.

Without the sect’s protection, he would lose his shelter, his food allowance, and the small income that helped him buy Mira’s medicine.

He could survive in the wilderness.

But Mira could not survive without him.

“Please,” Kael said, his voice suddenly rough. “My sister is ill. Give me time to prove my innocence. You can confine me. You can take away my privileges. Just don’t send me away today.”

For the first time, Elder Garrick looked uncomfortable.

It lasted only a moment.

“The decision has been made.”

Kael turned toward the crowd, searching for one familiar face.

Master Orin Vale stood near the courtyard entrance.

The old instructor had once told Kael that a person’s worth could not be measured by the strength of his martial core. He had given Kael extra lessons when other instructors refused to teach him.

If anyone would speak for him, it would be Orin.

“Master!”

Orin’s eyes met his.

Kael waited.

The old man did not move.

“Master Orin, you know me. You know I would never steal anything from the sect.”

Orin’s jaw tightened.

“Kael,” he said quietly, “do not make this harder than it needs to be.”

Kael stared at him.

“You believe them?”

Orin looked away.

Something inside Kael broke.

The guards dragged him through the outer gate before sunset. They gave him no chance to collect his belongings and refused to let him return to the small room where he kept Mira’s medicine.

At the foot of the mountain, one guard threw a cloth bag at his feet.

“Your punishment is exile, not execution. Consider yourself fortunate.”

The second guard pointed toward a narrow trail leading into the wilderness.

“Follow that path, and don’t come back.”

Kael picked up the bag.

Inside were three pieces of dried bread, a small water flask, and a few copper coins.

Everything he owned.

He looked back at the sect gates. Beyond them lay the only home he had known for three years.

Then he turned away.

He would find a way to survive.

He would find medicine for Mira.

And one day, he would return and force the people who had condemned him to answer for what they had done.

He walked until the last light disappeared behind the mountains.

The trail grew narrow, and the forest thickened around him. Strange cries echoed between the trees. Somewhere in the distance, something large moved through the undergrowth.

Kael tightened his grip on a broken branch he had picked up along the road.

He had no martial core, no proper weapon, and no one coming to help him.

Yet he continued forward.

An hour later, the ground beneath his feet suddenly collapsed.

Kael barely had time to shout before he plunged into darkness.

He struck a rocky ledge, rolled down a steep slope, and landed hard against the floor of a cavern.

Pain exploded through his body.

For several seconds, he could not breathe.

When he finally managed to move, he discovered that his left arm was bleeding and his right ankle throbbed with every step.

“Wonderful,” he muttered. “Exiled before sunset and dead before midnight.”

He tried to stand.

A deep growl echoed from the darkness.

Kael froze.

Two pale eyes opened at the far end of the cavern.

A creature emerged from behind a broken pillar. It resembled a wolf, but its body was covered in dark scales, and its mouth contained rows of jagged teeth.

A Shadowfang.

Even an ordinary martial disciple would struggle against one.

Kael slowly backed away.

The beast lowered its head.

He searched the ground for anything that could serve as a weapon. His fingers closed around a jagged stone.

It was pathetic.

But it was all he had.

The Shadowfang lunged.

Kael threw himself aside. The creature’s claws struck the rock where his chest had been a heartbeat earlier.

He scrambled toward a narrow passage.

The beast struck again, catching his shoulder and hurling him against the cavern wall.

A sharp cry escaped his throat.

His vision blurred.

He could not outrun it.

He could not fight it.

For the first time since his exile, fear overwhelmed his anger.

Was this how his life would end?

Not as a warrior. Not as a man who had cleared his name.

Just another forgotten body beneath the mountains.

The Shadowfang advanced.

Kael pressed himself against the wall, searching desperately for an escape.

His bleeding hand brushed against a smooth stone surface hidden beneath the dust.

A strange sensation travelled through his fingers.

The wall began to vibrate.

The Shadowfang suddenly stopped.

A low, unnatural whine escaped its throat.

Lines of silver light appeared across the cavern floor, forming the same seven-divided circle Kael had seen on the Awakening Stone.

His breath caught.

The symbol spread beneath his feet.

Then a voice spoke inside his mind.

[Ancient signature detected.]

Kael stared at the glowing lines.

“What?”

[Verifying candidate…]

The Shadowfang backed away, its claws scraping against the stone.

[Candidate confirmed.]

A blinding flash filled the cavern.

Kael raised his injured arm to shield his eyes.

Words appeared before him, glowing in a cold silver light.

[THE FORBIDDEN SYSTEM HAS AWAKENED.]

[Welcome, Kael Veyron.]

[Your martial core is not broken.]

[It has been sealed.]

Kael forgot about the pain.

He forgot about the beast.

He could only stare at the final message as it appeared.

[First mission activated: SURVIVE THE NEXT TEN MINUTES.]

[Failure penalty: DEATH.]

The Shadowfang roared.

And for the first time in three years, Kael saw a path forward.

But the system’s next message made his blood run cold.

[Warning: Your awakening has alerted an ancient enemy.]

[It is already searching for you.]