2025-05-09 22:27:03Ten years later.
Rhok stood in front of a well, gradually he pulled water from the well. Behind him were shouts of training.
“Harder!”
“Faster!”
“More precision. Lower your body and maintain defenses”
The other bastards of the Lord were training. Well, they weren't bastards, but Rhok preferred to call them by that.
He gazed at them with deep violet eyes and instantly saw their weaknesses. He scoffed a little and turned his attention back to the well.
He wasn't allowed to train.
His mother, San was a maid. A servant of the Vale family and as such she had no noble blood. The others, on the other hand, had mothers who came from prestigious families.
He glanced at the other bastards once more, his eyes met with one who sat in the ground. A girl.
He couldn't quite remember her name, but he knew she was less of a bastard than the rest were.
In the house of Vale. Only swordsmen were made. It was the only skill that was given preference above all. And the girl who locked eyes with him had not a lick of talent in Swordsmanship.
She was a mage.
Rhok turned away and hefted his bucket of water. His body was still weak and scrawny, but he had done what he could to strengthen his body as much as possible.
In the time Rhok had been alive. He had observed that this world was basically a fantasy world. The kind that existed on earth. Magic, spells, monsters, caves, and the lot…
He had taken the last decade to learn all that he could about this world. It's magic system, power balance, politics, and everything that mattered.
But what caught his attention the most were the attributes of magic that each person had. It was intriguing to say in the least.
Especially his. Rhok had manifested a rare attribute. He had the shadow attribute.
He felt it was a corny joke made by The Abyss Engine. Although he would have preferred a more destructive attribute.
Lightning would have been much better. He sighed outwardly.
[BORED? I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T LIKE THE OTHER BASTARDS OF LORD VALE?]
'I don't.'
He was almost at his makeshift cottage. He had made it himself in the depths of the forest, where he could train and be at peace. Away from the nagging and disturbances of the others.
[DON'T YOU FEEL LONELY?]
'I prefer being alone.'
He wished he could shut up the system that rang commands and gave demands whenever it wanted.
It was The Abyss Engine. But not exactly The Abyss Engine.
A fragment of his consciousness. It had been two years ago when he randomly saw a holographic message pop up in front of him.
He had been in the forest looking for fruits and herbs from the tops of trees and roots of bushes. He shook the memory away and focused on himself.
“Eiran!”
“Eiran!”
Rhok heard his name being called. The voice belonged to the only other woman who cared for him even though he had tried pushing her away countless times.
Fey.
“I'm here” he said tiredly as he dropped the bucket of water on the ground. He stretched his arm out, swinging them in slow circular motions.
His training was a bit too much for his fragile body, but he didn't care. He had to get stronger fast. And the system was doing everything it could to make that happen.
Although Rhok would wish he never had the system to begin with…
“Oohh, where have you been?” She rushed at him, pulling him into a tight hug.
“Where you hurt anywhere? Did they insult you or beat you up?” She checked his body for any marks of wounds or injuries. But nothing.
“I'm fine” he said pushing her slightly away. Fey felt a bit hurt by that gesture. But Rhok couldn't help it.
He had finally understood the reason he had been called upon this world. He couldn't bask around in Fey's comfort or be lazy in his training.
He also didn't want to be used. However... He was still too weak.
“Thank goodness you're okay. I've told you many times to avoid playing around with the other children of Lord Vale. It's not safe for you, they could….” Her voice broke.
“Could what?” He asked. His voice, stern and demanding.
Rhok immediately caught himself. Just now, he didn't sound like a ten-year-old child and that was a problem. He couldn't go around sounding like a grown man in his fifties.
“I just want you to be safe… Your mother” she began.
“I know, Aunt Fey. You've told me the story countless times. But I'll be fine. They beat me up just that one time and never again” Rhok said, his voice softened towards her.
“I promise” he added. He didn't want to remember the woman who birthed him. Neither did he want to remember being beaten up by a bunch of toddlers.
[QUEST!]
'Aah shit!' Rhok cursed.
[RAID THE CAVE OF GOBLINS IN THE EASTERN REACH OF THE FOREST.]
[TIME LIMIT]
[TWO HOURS.]
[FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE QUEST.]
[MANA REFLUX AND DIARRHEA.]
[GOOD LUCK!]
Rhok's face crumpled into a frown. He hated the random quests that the system gave him. They were absolutely unnecessary.
But the rewards were always worth it…
He smiled at himself and looked at Fey. He raised himself up, standing on his toes and kissed Fey on her cheeks.
"Can I go play in the forest? I want to pick up some fruits and berries" he pleaded.
Fey looked a bit taken aback by the gesture but smiled warmly. “Don't take too long, be back before sunset” she said as she straightened up.
Rhok ran away like a child happily would, into the forest until he was covered by trees and debris. He stopped abruptly and turned towards the east. His eyes darkened as the surrounding shadows moved.
They obeyed him and did as he willed. Wrapping themselves around his body and forming two little sharp daggers in his hands.
Rhok dashed forward.
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Chapter 198. The Fifth Fragment Calls.
The fire had long died down, yet Rhok remained awake, his back against the cold stone wall of the ruined shrine. The night was still, the kind of silence that gnawed at a man’s ears, making him believe there were whispers hiding in the quiet. The corpses of those he had cut down earlier still lay scattered outside, untouched by scavengers. Even they seemed unwilling to disturb the ground he now haunted.Veyra had already drifted into uneasy sleep, curled beneath her cloak, her chest rising and falling with sharp breaths. Rhok had almost envied her—her ability to slip into sleep even after watching him carve through men as if they were straw. He could not. His mind was too loud.He thought of the words she had said earlier. You’re not mortal anymore, Rhok. Stop pretending you are.It rang in his head like a bell struck too hard. She hadn’t meant it to wound him, but it had. Because sh
Chapter 197. The Echo of Mortality.
The room was quiet now.No chants. No pleading voices. No rattling chains or clashing seals of light. Only silence, broken by the faint drip of blood sliding from the stone altar onto the cracked floor. The cultists of Dawnlight had been reduced to nothing more than husks, their bodies scattered in the shadows like discarded garments. Some were frozen in mid prayer, faces twisted in devotion that had turned to terror the moment his black frost swept through them.Rhok stood in the center of the carnage. His breath came slow, steady, almost unnervingly calm. His hand was still raised, the frost lingering along his fingers, faint trails of smoke curling upward like ghostly incense.He stared at them, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he hesitated.The corpses looked different to him now, not enemies, not obstacles, not zealots blind in their worship. Just bodies. Human bodies. People wi
Chapter 196. Blood of the Dawnlight.
The fortress walls groaned as if alive, stone and steel whispering secrets of centuries past. Rhok moved through its hollow belly, shadows clinging to him like loyal dogs. The air smelled of burnt oil, rusted chains, and incense, a sickly sweetness that didn’t belong here. He could feel it before he saw them: faith, twisted and burning, pressing against his chest.The Cult of the Dawnlight.He hadn’t expected them here, buried in the bones of an old fortress. Dawnlight worshippers were usually loud, fanatical, building temples of gold and fire in the open. But these were different, quiet, coiled, and waiting.The first of them stepped forward. White robes painted with sunbursts, but stained with something darker. Their faces glowed in the flickering torchlight, eyes glistening as if fevered with holy fire. And then—one of them smiled, almost kindly, as though greeting an old friend.“At last,” the man whispered. “The Nameless walks into the heart of the sun.”Rhok’s hand twitched near
Chapter 195. The Silent Fortress.
Rhok walked through the jagged cliffs with the wind tearing at his cloak. The world here was always cruel, but this stretch of land felt emptier than usual. No carrion birds, no scuttling vermin, not even the soft hiss of sand moving across stone. It was silence, the kind that presses into your ears until you can hear your own blood.At first, he thought it was simply his imagination filling the void. But then he stopped, tilting his head as the air seemed to vibrate faintly. A sound, fragile as if whispered into the cracks of the world, drifted into him.It wasn’t the voice of the living. It wasn’t the echo of wind. It was something else entirely.Come…He froze. He had learned enough by now not to trust any beckoning in this realm. Still, the pull was undeniable, like threads tugging at the marrow in his bones. Rhok clenched his fists and exhaled.“Fine,” he muttered. “But if this is another trick, I’ll burn the ground behind me so no one else follows.”The whisper grew stronger the
Chapter 194. Whisper of Velmira.
The night stretched long, the silence heavy. Rhok walked the worn path alone, only the crackle of fireflies flickering in the distance to remind him that the world had not yet gone silent. His boots scraped across broken stone, every step echoing faintly, swallowed by the darkness of the underworld’s veins.He felt it before he saw it, her presence. Like a ripple in still water, Velmira’s essence crept into the cracks of his mind. His chest tightened, not in fear, but in recognition.The shadows stirred, and suddenly, shards of fractured light cut across the path. Each shard carried her face. Her eyes, grey, almost silver watched him from a hundred angles, reflections trapped in broken glass that wasn’t really there.“Velmira.”Her lips curved in a half-smile, voice dripping with mockery and allure. “You still remember me. I thought maybe you’d forgotten. You seem to forget things easily these days… like your humanity.”Rhok exhaled, letting the words wash over him. “Humanity? I burne
Chapter 193. Sky Weeps Ash.
The day began as nothing more than a quiet wander.The fields outside the ruins stretched wide, dotted with tall grass swaying in the wind. Veyra walked beside me, carrying a basket she had stolen from a village some miles back. She claimed it was for berries, though most of what she’d picked so far had already ended up in her mouth. She hummed as she walked, and for a moment it almost felt like peace.But peace never lasted long with me.The wind shifted. Clouds, heavy and low, began to roll across the sky. The sun dimmed, and in its place came something wrong, a glow like a furnace door cracked open far above. I stopped moving. The air tasted of smoke, dry and metallic.Then the first flakes began to fall.Ash.At first Veyra thought it was snow, lifting her hand up and laughing. “It’s summer, Rhok. How could it snow...” Her voice broke when the gray smear melted against her palm, leaving streaks like charred dust.She looked at me, fear crawling into her eyes. “This isn’t normal.”
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