Morning light filtered into the den, gentle and warm—but I felt nothing but fire inside.
It had been two days since our last hunt, and in that time, I'd only been permitted to absorb the monster cores I'd collected under strict supervision. My mother never let them out of her sight, handing me only three each night. Still, I made progress.
Now, I lowered myself into a resting squat, limbs tucked close like a hunting beast
, focusing on the core cradled in my clawed palm. A rush of heat surged through me as the last drop of energy dissolved into my veins.
[Devour Skill has leveled up: Level 3]
[Unique Core Absorption Slots: 3 → 5]
[New Ability Unlocked: Adaptive Mutation (Passive) – Minor stat gain per absorbed unique monster. Stacks.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Instinct Echo – Gain limited insight into abilities of devoured monsters for temporary use.]
A new window appeared, crisp and pulsing with faint golden light.
> [Sub-Quest: Hunger for Evolution]
Objective: Devour 10 unique monster cores
Progress: 2/10
Reward: Evolution Triggered
Note: Each Devour level unlocks +2 unique core slots.
Current Limit: 5 Slots
I exhaled slowly, something between a hiss and a laugh.
Ten unique monsters. And I had two.
The real hunt was about to begin.
I stepped outside the cave, the soft crunch of soil beneath my claws. The sun peeked over the treetops, but the air was crisp with morning fog. I wandered beneath the old hollowroot tree—its gnarled branches twisted toward the sky like claws begging for mercy. This was my thinking place.
I sat down, resting my back against its cold bark.
Ten unique cores.
That will be the cost of my evolution.
Two down. Eight to go.
But the monsters I'd need to face next… they wouldn't fall as easily. My strength, even with two cores absorbed and Devour at Level 3, wasn't enough to take them on alone. Not yet.
I clenched my claws.
If I ask Mother again, she'll shut me down. She knows I'm after something—she sees it in my eyes. This time, not even the 'innocent pup' face will work.
I needed a solution. Fast.
That's when I heard the dry rustle of leaves, light steps barely touching the ground. My ears twitched.
She stood near the edge of the clearing, half-hidden by ferns and the trunk of a bent cedar. Her small, wiry frame was covered in soot-marked fur, and her red eyes shimmered with quiet defiance. A burn scar curled down her left cheek, still pink and raw beneath the fur.
Rava.
She didn't move with the grace of the tribe's warriors, but with a kind of stubborn lightness—as if she'd long since learned to avoid the weight of unwanted gazes.
"Brooding under trees now?" she asked, her voice dry, but not unkind.
I turned my head, ears flicking. "It's quieter here."
She padded closer, settling beside me with a soft huff of breath. "Which means you're either scheming… or sulking."
"I don't sulk."
She chuckled. "Then it must be something reckless again."
I glanced at her. "I need to hunt eight more unique monsters. Fast. I can't ask Mother for help."
She looked at me, really looked, her red eyes narrowing. "You're serious."
I nodded.
"I figured you would be."
Because every one is about to have evolution they have already absorbed 8-9 cores , sometimes 10 also don't work for first evolution, She scratched at the dirt with one paw, thoughtful. "So… what's the plan?"
I stared up at the branches above, claw tapping lightly against the roots.
"I don't know yet. That's why I'm asking you."
Kael frowned, dragging his claws through the dirt. "Ten unique cores... and I can barely get one without being watched."
He glanced up at Rava. "What would you do?"
Rava crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. "You really want to know?"
Kael nodded.
She smirked faintly. "Then stop hunting like a newborn pup. Use your brain."
He blinked.
Rava leaned closer. "I know where three unique monsters roam. Forgotten paths, close to the sunstone gorge. No warriors go there because the terrain's cursed—or so they think."
Kael's ears perked up.
"You want to evolve, Kael?" she said softly, fire flashing behind her gaze. "Then let's do something the others won't."
"Then let's do something the others won't."
I didn't hesitate.
I nodded. "Lead the way."
Later that night, I waited until my mother slipped into the back chamber of our den. The sound of her claws scratching softly against stone faded, and the cave grew still.
Rava was already waiting near the rear path that curved past the elders' den—almost never used. I met her gaze and mouthed, "Let's go."
She nodded and crouched low.
We moved like whispers. Shadow Footwork dulled the sound of my steps, and Rava... she was just naturally quiet. Too quiet. Even the guards near the perimeter didn't hear us slip through the underbrush, where the moonlight barely reached.
We passed beyond the edge of the outer hunting grounds and slid down a ravine lined with bone-pale trees. "This path hasn't been walked in many moons," she whispered. "The grown-ups say it's cursed."
"That's why it's perfect," I murmured.
The first monster wasn't hard to find.
---
[Monster Encounter : Blighttail Stalker]
It was a quadruped—low and lean, like a panther, but with fungal growths covering its back. Its tail leaked black spores with every whip.
[Blighttail Stalker – Rank E+]
It noticed me first, a blur of rot and muscle. I dodged its first lunge, but barely.
From the shadows, a low growl echoed—and then a soft scrape. A small rock tumbled from the brush and skittered across the ground ahead of the monster. It turned, snarling at the sound.
I caught the flash of a red eye through the leaves—Rava. She didn't hurl the stone like a human. Instead, she flicked it forward with a quick jerk of her forelimb, launching it from the curve of her claws like a slingshot release.
and I used that chance to leap—teeth bared, claws extended. It ducked. I hit hard stone instead.
Then its tail struck my side.
It burned. My ribs flared with pain as the spores sank into my skin. My vision blurred.
"Kael!" Rava shouted, throwing another stone.
I growled, activating Predator's Instinct.
Everything sharpened.
I spun, baited the tail again—this time biting down before it could retract. Its screech tore through the night, and I pulled it in, slashing at its throat until the blight faded from its eyes.
"Got it," I muttered, coughing out a spore-choked breath.
We dragged the body to a crevice and hid there.
"Absorb it. We can't carry it," Rava whispered.
I focused. The core pulsed in its chest like a dying heart. Devour activated.
The rot-tasting energy slithered down my throat. My Devour skill pulsed again—
[Devour Skill – Level 3]
New Slot Unlocked – Unique Monster Core Absorbed: Blighttail Stalker (Rot Immunity: Partial)
+5 Energy, +3 Health, +1 Stat Point (Sealed)
---
[Monster Encounter : Splitfang Grizzor]
We traveled farther. Dawn was near, but the second monster came faster than we expected.
A Splitfang Grizzor—a bear-like beast with a jaw that opened in four directions—stood over a carcass near a dried riverbed. Its skin was like ironwood bark, covered in scratches and half-broken arrows.
[Splitfang Grizzor – Rank D]
It turned at our scent.
Too fast.
I shoved Rava aside as it lunged. Its jaw opened—horrifying and wet—and almost crushed my shoulder.
I ducked under and Shadow Footwork kicked in just in time. Rava shouted and slashed at its side with a carved fang-dagger. It barely flinched.
I baited again. This time I jumped onto its back, using my weight and claws to hook into the bark-flesh. I held on as it thrashed—
"NOW!" I yelled.
Rava stabbed its exposed throat with precision. Again. And again.
It finally collapsed.
---
I absorbed that core too, though this time it felt... heavier. Thicker.
[Unique Monster Core Absorbed: Splitfang Grizzor]
New Passive Acquired: Ironhide Skin (Minor – Level 1)
+10 Health, +2 Strength, +1 Endurance
Devour Skill Progress: 4 / 10 Unique Cores
I collapsed beside the second beast's twitching corpse.
"Let's rest," I said between ragged breaths. "Just a bit."
Rava didn't argue.
We found a thicket near the dried riverbed, where the scent of the Grizzor's blood still lingered and masked ours. An hour passed—maybe two. I couldn't tell. But my body ached less when I stood again.
And that's when the scent hit us. Fresh blood. Nearby.
I followed it.
---
[Monster Encounter : Skyrend Talonbeak]
A shadow darted through the trees above us—avian, but too large, with talons like curved blades. It swooped low, its cry tearing through the sky. A Skyrend Talonbeak—long-beaked, feathered in dark blue-black streaks, and too fast for a clean shot.
[Skyrend Talonbeak – Rank D+]
It was wounded, one wing half-dragging. Maybe from another fight.
I didn't wait.
I sprang into the air just as it did—our bodies colliding mid-air. Its claws raked my shoulder, but I bit down on its neck, locking in with a snarl. Rava struck it from behind with a thrown fang-spike.
It tried to fly again—failed—and I tore through its wing joint.
The fight didn't last long after that.
I Devoured it under the roots of a crooked tree.
[Unique Monster Core Absorbed: Skyrend Talonbeak]
New Skill Acquired: Wind Pulse (Basic – Short Burst)
+2 Agility, +1 Dexterity, +3 Energy
Devour Skill Progress: 5 / 10 Unique Cores
---
With the three today, and one from the Mirehorn Grunk, plus the Vexhorn Bowler before that, I now had five unique monster cores absorbed.
Halfway.
My blood surged. Something inside me felt closer—like a whisper beneath my skin.
Then the world shifted.
The wind stilled. The air dropped in temperature.
Then it appeared.
No sound. No warning.
Not a beast.
A presence—shaped like a monster, but covered in layered armor that bled shadow, and runes that flickered in unnatural hues. Its claws were too long. Its smile too human.
"Halfway," it said, though no mouth moved. "When the ten gather... the gate opens."
My body locked up. Rava tried to run—but the creature was already behind her. I jumped between them.
Its claw stopped inches from my chest.
"Not yet." It faded, as if never there at all.
But something tore through me the moment it vanished.
Agony.
Blood.
I screamed.
Rava was already bleeding. Something had lashed through both of us.
We were at the door of death.
And then—
A howl.
A blur of steel-fanged fury crashed down onto the forest floor. My aunt—Rhava—fur streaked with wind-burn and bloodlust, slammed into the creature that followed that thing.
It was a beast—but it wasn't.
Black-scaled. Red-eyed. Part spirit, part monster.
Rhava fought it like a demon herself—faster, angrier. Her claws lit with tribal fire, and her body crackled with kinetic energy.
She won.
Barely.
The thing screamed as it died. She didn't let it finish.
Then she turned to us.
Her voice broke the silence. "What were you two thinking?"
Neither of us could answer.
She threw us both onto her back, swore more than once, and vanished into the forest shadows.
Back home, after sunrise, she spoke with Mother.
But she didn't tell her everything.
She only said, "I found them near the outer grounds. They were fighting stupidly strong monsters, but I handled it."
Mother glared at me. But she didn't ask questions.
Not yet.
Far from the shadowed forest and whispering bloodlines of the Ferawyn, beyond the cold mountains that bordered the eastern wilds, a young man stood alone at the edge of an ancient ruin—its gates sealed by time, its walls breathing echoes of a forgotten war.
His hand rested on the hilt of a long silver blade. Not forged—but grown, from mana and memory.
He was a magic swordsman, born from decline.
Auren Vaelthorn.
At seventeen, his family was a name buried in debt and shame. At eighteen, he Awakened—lightning streaking across his flesh, the ancient gift of Arcane Pact flickering to life in his soul. And then the stars changed course.
Summoning circles answered his call.
Spirits bent to his presence.
And when the Oracle of Vaelthorn returned—a blind girl who spoke in riddles—they said the gods had not forgotten the old promise.
"The one who walks with monsters will come."
She said it in front of the High Council.
And to him alone, she whispered more.
> "Your blood carries a debt. In the first war, the Ferawyn tribe stood beside us when the demon tide swallowed the skies. One tribe. One pact. And now, when the gate trembles again... you must return the vow."
In his dreams, he saw a silver-marked badge. Fanged and sacred.
A tribal duel seal—known only to alphas and elders of the Ferawyn.
> "Seek the labyrinth near the crimson woods. When you find him, do not fight. Kneel. The pact will choose."
Auren didn't understand what it meant.
Not yet.
But as he walked toward the distant mists where the labyrinth waited, his blade thrummed with unseen purpose.