The Forbidden System: Rise of the Last Martial God

The Secret Beneath the Clinic

“Sixty seconds,” Kael whispered.

The system’s warning remained suspended before his eyes.

[Hostile forces approaching.]

[Estimated time to contact: 54 seconds.]

Master Ren hurried toward a wooden cabinet and removed a small leather case.

“Take this.”

Kael accepted it.

Inside lay a folded document, a silver pendant, and a narrow vial containing dark red liquid.

“What are these?”

“The document contains the surviving record of your family’s investigation. The pendant belonged to your mother. As for the vial, don’t touch it unless you have no other choice.”

Kael looked up sharply.

“You knew my mother?”

“I treated her once, shortly before she disappeared.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Master Ren gave him a bitter smile.

“Because the last physician who tried to expose what happened to your family was found dead in his own home.”

A heavy knock shook the door.

“Master Ren! Open this door immediately!”

Lyra drew her blade.

“How many people are outside?”

“Enough to make fighting our way through the front entrance foolish,” Master Ren replied.

Kael tightened his grip on the leather case.

“Is there another way out?”

The physician glanced toward a shelf filled with medicine jars.

“There is.”

He pushed the shelf aside, revealing a narrow staircase descending into darkness.

Kael stared at it.

“You have a secret tunnel beneath your clinic?”

“I have treated dangerous people for thirty years. A man who survives that long learns to prepare for inconvenient visitors.”

Another knock rattled the door.

“Ten seconds!” someone shouted.

Master Ren pointed toward the staircase.

“Go. The passage leads to an abandoned drainage channel outside the southern wall. Follow it until you reach the old stone bridge.”

“What about you?” Kael asked.

“I will deal with my visitors.”

“They’ll arrest you.”

“Perhaps. But if you stay here, they may take everything you carry.”

Kael hesitated.

He had spent his life being helped by people who expected nothing in return. Master Orin had once protected him, and now Master Ren was risking his safety for a family he barely knew.

“I won’t forget this,” Kael said.

“Don’t waste time remembering me. Make certain my decision wasn’t foolish.”

The physician shoved the shelf back into place.

Kael and Lyra descended the staircase.

The moment they reached the bottom, the door above them burst open.

“Master Ren! By order of the city administration, you are to surrender all records concerning the Veyron family!”

Kael heard the physician’s calm reply.

“You may inspect my records after presenting a lawful warrant.”

“We have no time for your games.”

“Then perhaps you should learn patience.”

A crash followed.

Kael clenched his fists.

Lyra touched his shoulder.

“We have to go.”

He nodded and continued into the darkness.

⸻

The passage smelled of damp stone and old medicine.

Lyra produced a small lamp from her bag, illuminating the narrow tunnel. Water dripped from cracks in the ceiling, and the uneven floor made their progress slow.

Kael kept one hand on the leather case.

Inside it were answers about his family.

Possibly answers about Mira, too.

But every step away from the clinic made him feel as though he were abandoning Master Ren to the people who had threatened him.

“Do you think he’ll be all right?” Kael asked.

Lyra did not pretend to know.

“He’s survived this long. We should trust that he understands the risks.”

Kael nodded reluctantly.

A system notification appeared.

[Mission progress updated.]

[Veyron record secured: Yes.]

[Escape from clinic: In progress.]

[Bonus objective available: Preserve the physician’s testimony.]

Kael frowned.

“System, what does preserving his testimony mean?”

[Ensure that Master Ren survives and remains able to reveal relevant information.]

“That wasn’t part of the original mission.”

[Correct.]

“Can I return to help him?”

[Returning increases the probability of host capture.]

“That’s not what I asked.”

The system remained silent.

Kael’s expression hardened.

It could calculate risks. It could offer advice. But it would not decide whom he abandoned.

He turned toward Lyra.

“We need to get outside, then find a way back to the clinic.”

Lyra looked at him carefully.

“You heard the system?”

Kael froze.

She had noticed his habit of speaking to it, but he had never told her what it was.

“I heard enough,” he said.

“That isn’t an answer.”

“No. It isn’t.”

She studied him for another moment, then turned back toward the tunnel.

“Fine. You can explain when you’re ready. But if you have a way to predict danger, I need to know before it gets us killed.”

Kael considered her words.

She had risked her life to help him, and she had a right to know enough to make informed decisions.

“I have something that analyzes danger,” he admitted. “It gives me information about enemies and sometimes warns me about things before they happen.”

Lyra slowed her pace.

“Something you found in the ravine?”

“Yes.”

“Is it alive?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can it control you?”

Kael remembered the mission that threatened Mira.

“I don’t know that either.”

Lyra turned to face him.

“Then don’t trust it blindly.”

For once, the system offered no response.

They continued down the passage.

A few minutes later, the tunnel divided into two branches.

Kael stopped.

The left passage descended toward rushing water. The right passage was dry but partially blocked by fallen stones.

“Which way?” Lyra asked.

Kael activated Combat Insight.

[Environmental analysis initiated.]

[Left passage: Flood risk elevated.]

[Right passage: Structural instability detected.]

[Recommended route: Right passage.]

Kael studied the stones.

“How much of the ceiling can collapse?”

[Exact probability unavailable.]

“Of course.”

They chose the right passage.

Lyra went first, testing each foothold before moving. Kael followed, carefully stepping over broken masonry.

Halfway through, a stone shifted beneath his boot.

The wall groaned.

“Move!” Lyra shouted.

The ceiling collapsed behind them.

Dust filled the tunnel, and chunks of rock thundered down the passage.

Kael threw himself forward.

Something struck his back.

He crashed onto the floor, and pain shot through his injured arm.

For several seconds, he could not breathe.

Then he heard Lyra calling his name.

“Kael!”

“I’m here.”

He pushed himself upright.

A wall of rubble now blocked the passage behind them.

The way back to the clinic was gone.

Lyra brushed dust from her face.

“Tell me your mysterious ability warned you about that.”

“It didn’t.”

She stared at him.

“Wonderful.”

Kael managed a weak smile.

They had survived the collapse, but the experience left him shaken. The system’s predictions were useful, yet incomplete. Relying on them without thinking could be just as dangerous as ignoring them.

He opened the leather case and checked its contents.

The document was intact.

So was the pendant.

The vial had cracked.

A single drop of dark red liquid had spilled onto the cloth lining.

Kael immediately pulled the case away from his body.

[Warning: Unknown substance detected.]

[Do not ingest.]

“I wasn’t planning to,” he muttered.

Lyra inspected the damaged vial.

“Whatever this is, it was stored carefully. Master Ren must have considered it important.”

Kael wrapped the vial in the remaining cloth.

They continued until they reached a rusted iron ladder.

At the top, pale daylight shone through a circular opening.

Lyra climbed first and pushed the cover aside.

They emerged beside a drainage channel outside the city wall.

The air smelled of wet grass and distant smoke.

Kael breathed deeply.

They were free.

But Master Ren was still inside the city, and Kael had no idea what had happened to him.

The system chimed.

[Mission completed: Escape from the clinic.]

[Reward: System Points +5.]

[Current System Points: 22.]

[System Exchange unlock progress: 2/3 qualifying missions.]

Kael stared at the notification.

“Two out of three?”

[Correct.]

“Which missions counted?”

[Mission classification details are restricted.]

Kael rubbed his forehead.

“You are becoming increasingly irritating.”

[Statement acknowledged.]

Lyra gave him a curious look.

“What did it say?”

“That it has a terrible personality.”

She laughed despite herself.

It was a small sound, but it eased the tension between them.

Then Kael remembered the document.

He opened it carefully.

The paper was brittle and covered in faded handwriting. Several lines had been crossed out, and the bottom corner had been burned away.

Kael began reading.

Twenty years ago, the Seven Sects discovered an ancient inheritance buried beneath the northern ruins.

The inheritance responded to a bloodline believed to have disappeared during the First Martial War.

The Veyron family was ordered to surrender the child.

When the family refused, the Council authorized the sealing procedure.

Kael stopped.

The child.

His fingers trembled.

He continued.

The procedure was successful, but the subject’s core could not be destroyed. The seal must remain intact until the Seventh Gate is located.

If the subject awakens before the gate is secured, the Architect may recognize the bloodline.

Under no circumstances should the surviving children be reunited.

Kael read the last line twice.

The surviving children.

He had always believed that he and Mira were the only remaining members of their family.

Was there another?

Or had the document been referring to someone else entirely?

Lyra leaned over his shoulder.

“Does it mention the Architect?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

He looked at the silver pendant.

It was small and plain, with the same seven-line symbol engraved on its surface.

The moment his fingers touched it, the silver markings beneath his skin began to glow.

[Bloodline resonance detected.]

[Veyron pendant recognized.]

[Memory fragment available.]

A sharp pulse passed through his head.

For an instant, he saw a woman standing beneath a sky filled with burning stars.

She wore a white robe stained with blood, and a small child clung to her hand.

Behind them stood seven enormous gates.

A man’s voice echoed through the vision.

“Seal the child. If the Architect finds him, the world will have no second chance.”

The woman turned.

Her face was blurred, but Kael felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

Then the vision shattered.

He staggered backward.

Lyra caught him before he fell.

“Kael! What happened?”

He struggled to steady his breathing.

“I saw someone.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. A woman. A child. Seven gates.”

The system displayed a new message.

[Memory fragment incomplete.]

[Identity verification unavailable.]

[Warning: Unauthorized access attempt detected.]

Kael’s blood ran cold.

“Unauthorized access?”

The message disappeared.

For several seconds, the system remained silent.

Then a final notification appeared.

[The Architect has noticed your progress.]

Kael stared at the words.

Somewhere beyond the city, a distant bell began to ring.

Lyra turned toward Ashenfall’s walls.

Smoke was rising above the southern quarter.

The direction of Master Ren’s clinic.

Kael’s expression changed.

“They’ve started burning the records.”

Lyra drew her blade.

“Then we need to decide what matters more. Saving the physician or protecting the evidence he gave us.”

Kael looked down at the pendant.

His family had been hunted for twenty years. His core had been sealed. Mira was in danger, and the people responsible were now moving openly.

He had spent years wishing for power.

Now he understood that power alone would not be enough.

He needed knowledge, allies, and the courage to make choices the system could not make for him.

Kael slipped the pendant beneath his shirt and secured the document inside his bag.

“We’re going back,” he said. “But we’re not charging through the front door.”

Lyra nodded.

“Good. For a moment, I thought you had lost your mind.”

“Not yet.”

They headed toward the city through the fields.

Neither noticed the figure standing on the distant ridge, watching them through a narrow brass instrument.

The observer lowered it and pressed a black ring against his palm.

“Confirmed,” he said quietly. “The Veyron heir has obtained the record.”

A voice answered from the ring.

“And the girl?”

“Alive. Traveling with him.”

“Then bring them both to the Seventh Gate.”

The observer hesitated.

“And if the heir refuses?”

The voice on the other side became cold.

“Remind him what happened to his mother.”

The ring went dark.

Far beneath Ashenfall City, something ancient stirred in the darkness.

Seven stone doors stood in a circular chamber.

Six remained motionless.

The seventh trembled.

And from the other side came three slow knocks.