The System’s Primal Heir

Episode 2: Tasting Divinity

"My soul isn't yours to take yet," Leo rasped, his voice sounding like grinding stones.

He gripped the edges of the obsidian altar, his knuckles turning a ghostly white against the black stone. The red interface hovered before his eyes, pulsing with an aggressive, rhythmic light that seemed to sync with his own erratic heartbeat.

"You already took my humanity by leaving me in this hole," Leo growled, looking at his graying skin. "Isn't that enough of a down payment?"

"The soul is the fuel of the Primal, Leo Thorne," the Ancient Echo resonated within his mind, the voice cold and ancient. "But for now, I will settle for the interest."

A low growl erupted from the shadows beyond the altar's faint glow. A second Shadow Sentinel, larger and more feral than the first, stepped into the light, its eyes burning like twin embers of spite.

"Is this the interest?" Leo asked, a sudden, sharp hunger clawing at the lining of his stomach.

"This is the feast," the System replied, the red screen flashing. "Devour it, or be reclaimed by the Abyss."

The Shadow Wolf lunged, a blur of obsidian fur and teeth that shimmered like shards of broken glass. Leo didn't move; he didn't feel the paralyzing fear that usually gripped his E-Rank heart when facing even a low-level goblin.

"Too slow," Leo whispered, his hand snapping out with a speed that cracked the air.

He caught the beast by its massive throat, his fingers sinking into the spectral fur as if it were solid meat. The wolf thrashed, its claws tearing at his forearms, but the deep gashes closed as quickly as they were made, leaving behind lines of glowing red mana.

"My turn to eat," Leo said, his eyes bleeding into a predatory crimson light.

"Skill Activated: Primal Siphon," the System announced.

"What are you doing to me?" Leo gasped as his arm began to pulse with thick, black veins.

The wolf let out a high-pitched yelp that turned into a wet, suffocating gurgle. Its physical form began to liquefy, turning into a stream of dark, viscous mana that flowed directly into Leo’s open palm.

"Mana density exceeding vessel capacity," the System warned. "Initiating physical restructuring."

"It burns!" Leo screamed, falling to his knees as the power flooded his nervous system like molten lead.

He clawed at the stone floor, the obsidian cracking under his new strength. He could feel his ribs snapping and reforming, his spine lengthening as his muscles knitted back together with a density that defied human biology.

"Stop! Make it stop!" Leo cried out, his voice now carrying an unnatural, vibrating resonance.

His hair turned the color of dried blood, and his fingernails sharpened into obsidian talons that sparked against the floor. The gray tint of his skin deepened, becoming as hard as the dungeon walls themselves, cold to the touch and devoid of warmth.

"Strength: 150. Agility: 180. Intelligence: 120," the System chanted as the levels climbed in a blur of red numbers.

"I can feel... everything," Leo whispered, standing up as the transformation finally slowed.

He looked at his hands, which were now larger and more claw-like, pulsing with a dark energy. The air in the dungeon no longer felt heavy; it felt like a tool he could manipulate, every vibration telling him exactly where the walls were.

"Is this what it feels like to be a god?" Leo asked the empty, silent chamber.

"You are a monster in the making," the Echo replied, its voice dripping with a dark satisfaction. "Do not mistake hunger for divinity."

Leo turned toward the massive stone doors, his mind focusing on the image of Marcus’s smug, traitorous face. The rage was no longer a hot explosion; it was a cold, steady flame in his chest, guiding his every movement.

"He won't get far," Leo said, stepping off the altar with a grace he had never possessed as a human.

Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the chamber, coming from the opposite direction of the main exit. It was high-pitched, desperate, and unmistakably human, cutting through the silence of the Abyss.

"There shouldn't be anyone else here," Leo muttered, his brow furrowing as he looked into the darkness.

"A survivor from the previous raid," the System noted. "Nutrients are rare in this wasteland."

"I'm not a cannibal," Leo spat, shaking his head to clear the intrusive thoughts of the Echo.

"The hunger will decide that, not your morality," the Echo countered.

The scream came again, followed by the sound of heavy, wet footsteps and the unmistakable crunch of bone. It was coming from the Forbidden Zone, a part of the dungeon even the Thorne Guild had been too cowardly to explore.

"Fine," Leo growled, turning his back on the exit. "I'll see who it is before I leave this place."

He moved through the dark tunnel, his new eyes seeing the world in shades of heat and mana. The walls were lined with pulsating veins of purple energy, illuminating a path of carnage that stretched deep into the mountain.

"Where are you?" Leo called out, his voice echoing like a thunderclap in the narrow corridor.

"Down here! Please, help me!" a woman’s voice wailed from behind a massive pile of fallen rubble.

Leo reached the debris and cleared the heavy boulders with a single, effortless sweep of his arm. Behind the rocks, a young woman huddled in a narrow crevice, her silver armor shattered and her face covered in soot.

"Who are you?" Leo asked, looming over her like a shadow.

The woman looked up, her eyes widening in pure horror as she took in Leo’s monstrous appearance and glowing eyes. She began to tremble violently, backing further into the darkness of the crevice until her head hit the stone.

"Please... don't eat me," she whimpered, her voice barely a whisper of breath.

Leo reached out a hand to pull her up, but he stopped when a red notification popped up over her head.

"Target: Human Survivor. Classification: Nutrients," the System stated flatly.

"I'm here to help you, so stop screaming," Leo said, though his voice sounded more like a threat than a comfort.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" she gasped, pointing a shaking finger at the glowing scar on his chest.

Leo looked down at the mark Marcus had left, which was now pulsing with an angry, rhythmic red light. He could feel the void in his stomach expanding, a gnawing vacuum that demanded he reach out and take the mana radiating from her.

"I'm a hunter, just like you," Leo said, his voice cracking with the effort to remain still.

"No," the woman whispered, her eyes filling with tears of absolute terror. "You're the thing that's supposed to be locked in here!"