The Shadowfang roared.
Kael Veyron had never seen a beast hesitate before attacking its prey, but the creature standing before him seemed afraid.
Its pale eyes shifted between Kael and the silver markings covering the cavern floor. Its claws scraped against the stone as it slowly retreated.
Then the system spoke again.
[First mission activated: SURVIVE THE NEXT TEN MINUTES.]
[Remaining time: 09:47.]
Kael stared at the glowing words.
“Ten minutes? Are you telling me I have to survive this monster for ten minutes?”
[Correction: You must survive all threats within the designated area.]
“All threats?”
A second growl echoed behind him.
Kael turned his head.
A smaller Shadowfang emerged from the narrow passage through which he had entered the cavern.
His stomach dropped.
There were two of them.
“You have got to be joking.”
[Combat Insight is available.]
[Would you like to activate it?]
“Yes!”
The world changed.
Thin silver lines appeared across the larger beast’s body. Symbols and unfamiliar markings floated around its head, while several points on its body glowed faintly.
A message appeared before Kael’s eyes.
[Target: Shadowfang.]
[Cultivation: Iron Meridian, First Stage.]
[Danger Level: Severe.]
[Identified weakness: Damaged left hind leg.]
[Additional weakness: Exposed throat during forward attacks.]
Kael swallowed.
The creature was several times stronger than him. Even if he understood its weaknesses, he had no proper weapon and barely enough strength to stand.
“System, can you make me stronger?”
[Insufficient conditions.]
“Can you give me a weapon?”
[No suitable weapon available.]
“Can you open an exit?”
[No.]
Kael shut his eyes for one brief second.
“Then what exactly are you useful for?”
[Providing information.]
The larger Shadowfang charged.
Kael threw himself sideways.
The beast’s claws tore through his sleeve, leaving three bloody scratches across his arm. He stumbled against a broken pillar and nearly fell.
The smaller creature rushed toward him from the opposite direction.
He had no time to escape both attacks.
His gaze darted across the cavern.
Broken pillars. Loose stones. A narrow ledge. A deep crack in the floor.
And the larger Shadowfang’s damaged hind leg.
An idea formed.
It was a terrible idea.
But it was better than dying without trying.
Kael grabbed a fist-sized stone and hurled it at the smaller beast.
The stone struck its head.
The creature snarled and turned toward him.
“Come on, then!”
Kael ran toward the narrow ledge.
The smaller Shadowfang followed, moving faster than he had expected. Its claws struck sparks from the stone as it closed the distance.
At the last moment, Kael changed direction.
The creature tried to turn, but its momentum carried it onto the loose section of the ledge.
The ground crumbled.
With a sharp cry, the smaller Shadowfang plunged into the darkness below.
Kael did not stop to celebrate.
The larger beast was already coming.
He ran toward the broken pillars, forcing it to follow him through the narrow gaps. Each time it lunged, he moved just enough to avoid its claws.
His injured ankle screamed with every step.
He could not keep this up.
[Warning: Physical condition deteriorating.]
[Estimated remaining combat endurance: 01:12.]
“One minute?” Kael gasped. “I need more than a minute!”
The Shadowfang slammed into a pillar.
Stone fragments scattered across the floor.
Kael saw his chance.
He picked up a long, jagged piece of broken stone and waited behind the pillar.
The beast emerged.
Its mouth opened.
Kael stepped aside as it lunged, bringing its damaged left hind leg forward.
He drove the jagged stone into the exposed joint.
The Shadowfang howled.
Black blood splashed across the floor.
Kael barely had time to retreat before the beast twisted around and struck him with its tail. He crashed into the ground, losing his grip on the stone.
Pain shot through his ribs.
The beast limped toward him, furious.
Kael tried to crawl away, but his arms trembled.
He was exhausted.
His vision blurred at the edges.
Then the system displayed another message.
[Combat Insight: Pattern recognized.]
[Repeated forward attacks detected.]
[Suggested action: Exploit the target’s turning delay.]
Kael forced himself to focus.
The Shadowfang lowered its head and charged again.
This time, Kael did not run.
He waited until the final moment, then rolled beneath the creature’s snapping jaws. As it tried to turn, he seized the broken stone and drove it upward toward the vulnerable area beneath its throat.
The beast jerked violently.
Its claws scraped across the floor.
Kael pushed away and scrambled behind a pillar.
The Shadowfang staggered.
For several agonizing seconds, it struggled to remain standing.
Then it collapsed.
Silence filled the cavern.
Kael lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.
He was alive.
Somehow, he was still alive.
A moment later, the system chimed.
[Mission completed.]
[Survival time: 08 minutes, 36 seconds.]
[Rewards calculated.]
[Reward received: Basic Body Tempering Technique.]
[Reward received: 10 System Points.]
[Combat Insight proficiency increased.]
Kael let out a shaky laugh.
“I actually did it.”
He turned his head toward the fallen beast.
He had defeated a creature that should have killed him within seconds.
Not through strength.
Not through some miraculous transformation.
He had survived because he had observed, adapted, and acted when the opportunity appeared.
For the first time, Kael began to understand what made the system dangerous.
It did not need to give him power immediately.
It could teach him how to use whatever power he had.
And if he survived long enough, that knowledge might become more valuable than strength alone.
A new message appeared.
[Would you like to absorb the remaining martial energy from the defeated target?]
Kael frowned.
“Absorb it? What happens if I do?”
[The process may assist physical recovery and cultivation.]
“May?”
[Outcome cannot be guaranteed.]
Kael looked at the beast’s body.
He was injured, exhausted, and trapped underground. Refusing every opportunity because he feared the consequences would leave him with nothing.
“Do it.”
A silver thread emerged from the system’s markings and entered the Shadowfang’s body.
Faint grey energy rose from the beast and flowed toward Kael’s chest.
He gasped.
The energy was cold at first, spreading through his limbs like winter water. Then it became unbearably hot.
His muscles tightened.
His teeth clenched.
He felt as though invisible hands were pulling at something deep inside his body.
A sharp pain erupted beneath his ribs.
Kael screamed.
The silver light around him flickered violently.
[Warning: Martial core seal detected.]
[Absorption efficiency reduced.]
[Attempting controlled circulation.]
The pain intensified.
Kael curled forward, gripping his chest.
For three years, he had believed his martial core was broken. Every instructor had told him the same thing. Every failed test had reinforced it.
But now he could feel something.
A small, hard obstruction rested deep within his spiritual channels. The absorbed energy pressed against it, revealing its shape.
It was not a natural defect.
It resembled a lock.
A lock deliberately placed inside his body.
Kael’s breathing became shallow.
“Who did this to me?”
The system did not answer.
Instead, a series of faint cracks sounded from somewhere inside his chest.
The pressure suddenly released.
A thin stream of energy moved through his meridians before disappearing.
Kael fell forward, gasping.
For several moments, he could do nothing but breathe.
Then a message appeared.
[Partial circulation achieved.]
[Physical recovery: Minor improvement.]
[Martial core seal remains intact.]
[New information unlocked: The seal was artificially imposed.]
Kael stared at the words.
Artificially imposed.
Someone had sealed his martial core.
Someone had taken three years of his life and convinced him that he was born weak.
His hands began to shake.
He thought of Elder Garrick’s expression during the ceremony. He remembered Darius’s moment of fear when the symbol appeared on the Awakening Stone.
And he remembered Master Orin looking away.
Were they all involved?
Or had someone else been controlling his life from the shadows?
Before he could consider the possibilities, a loud cracking sound echoed through the cavern.
Kael looked toward the silver markings on the floor.
The symbol was fading.
Beyond it, a section of the wall began to move.
Stone scraped against stone as an ancient doorway slowly opened.
Cold air rushed from the darkness beyond.
Kael pushed himself upright.
The system displayed a new message.
[Hidden location discovered: The First Archive.]
[Entry requirement: Candidate must possess a functioning survival record.]
[Requirement fulfilled.]
Kael stared at the opening.
“An archive?”
[Confirmed.]
“What is inside?”
For the first time, the system took several seconds to respond.
[Information unavailable.]
Kael narrowed his eyes.
“You’re hiding something.”
[Statement not relevant to current mission.]
“That means yes.”
The system remained silent.
Kael almost laughed.
Whatever this thing was, it clearly had a talent for avoiding questions.
He collected his water flask and the remaining pieces of dried bread from his torn bag. Then he used a strip of cloth to bind his injured arm.
His body still hurt, but he could stand.
The doorway was wide enough for him to pass through.
He approached cautiously.
Beyond it lay a corridor lined with ancient inscriptions. Silver light flowed through grooves in the walls, illuminating symbols that seemed to shift whenever he tried to read them.
At the end of the corridor stood a stone chamber.
Inside, rows of sealed pillars rose toward a ceiling lost in darkness. Each pillar contained a faintly glowing object: a broken sword, a cracked jade tablet, a rusted chain, or a fragment of armour.
Kael stepped into the chamber.
The air felt heavy.
Not with danger alone, but with history.
He approached the nearest pillar.
A message appeared.
[Archive Entry: Severed Sword Technique.]
[Status: Incomplete.]
The next pillar displayed another entry.
[Archive Entry: Meridian Reversal Method.]
[Status: Sealed.]
Kael continued forward until he reached a pillar at the centre of the chamber.
Unlike the others, it was completely black.
No object rested inside it.
Only a single symbol had been carved into its surface.
Seven uneven lines surrounding an empty circle.
The same symbol that had appeared on the Awakening Stone.
Kael reached toward it.
The moment his fingers touched the pillar, the entire chamber trembled.
A wave of silver light swept through the archive.
The system’s messages appeared so quickly that Kael could barely read them.
[Emergency alert.]
[Ancient signature recognized.]
[Restricted memory attempting to activate.]
[Warning: Unauthorized access detected.]
Kael tried to pull his hand away.
He couldn’t.
The pillar had become warm beneath his palm.
A voice emerged from somewhere deep within the stone.
It was not the system’s voice.
It sounded human.
Old.
And unmistakably afraid.
“If you can hear this message, then the seal has failed.”
Kael’s blood ran cold.
The voice continued.
“They told the world that the Forbidden System was created to save humanity. That was a lie.”
The chamber shook again.
Cracks spread across the black pillar.
“The system does not choose the strongest candidate. It chooses the one capable of surviving its creator.”
Kael struggled to free his hand.
“Who are you?” he shouted.
The voice fell silent.
Then it spoke one final sentence.
“Kael Veyron, if the Architect has awakened, you must never allow it to reach the Seventh Gate.”
The silver light vanished.
The pillar became cold.
Kael stumbled backward, his heart pounding.
He had never told the system his full name.
Yet the voice had known him.
A new message appeared before his eyes.
[Restricted memory access terminated.]
[Archive status: Compromised.]
[New main objective unlocked: Locate the Seven Gates.]
Beneath it appeared a final line.
[Warning: The Architect has detected your existence.]
Far above the cavern, somewhere beneath the distant mountains, a bell rang once.
Then a second time.
Then a third.
The sound travelled across the wilderness and into the valleys surrounding the Iron Peak Sect.
In a chamber buried beneath a ruined fortress, a figure opened its eyes.
For centuries, it had remained motionless.
Now, silver symbols illuminated the walls around it.
A voice spoke from the darkness.
“The candidate has awakened.”
Another voice answered.
“Should we eliminate him?”
The figure slowly rose.
“No.”
Its eyes shone like polished metal.
“Not yet. Let him grow.”
A faint smile appeared.
“After all, the last candidate who survived the system gave us seven centuries of peace.”
The figure turned toward a sealed doorway.
“And I would like to know why this one has returned.”
Far below the mountains, Kael stood alone in the ancient archive, unaware that his survival had begun a chain of events that would reach every corner of the martial world.
He had wanted the strength to protect his sister.
Now he had a system, a hidden enemy, and a mystery buried inside his own body.
For the first time, he understood that surviving the night was only the beginning.
2026-10-21 02:11:01
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