POV: Kael Darkflame (Age: 5)Location: Deathspine Outskirts, Lower Tier Forest Region
Garron had warned him not to wander too far beyond the forge's eastern fences — especially not alone, and especially not near Deathspine Forest, where stray monsters hunted just past the fog-line.
But Kael was not afraid.
He didn't understand why he should be.
Fear was something other children expressed. Not him. He was curious, quiet, patient — and lately, drawn toward the edge of things. As if something inside him was… pulling.
He crouched low behind a blackroot bush, eyes locked on the clearing ahead.
A Grayfang Direhound, roughly the size of a full-grown cow, licked blood off a snapped deer limb. Its jaw was twisted from past injuries, and bone jutted through parts of its ribcage.
Kael hadn't meant to find it. But now that he had, he wasn't going to run.
He gripped the sharpened wooden stake he'd carved the night before.
System Prompt: Host in Proximity of E-Rank Monster
Threat Level: ModerateBloodline State: DormantCombat Protocol: Initiated
⚔️ First Combat Detected. Do you wish to enter Observation Combat Mode?
[Y]
Kael didn't understand what the system meant by "observation combat" — but he felt his body stiffen, as if something around his limbs shifted slightly. A subtle tension. His mind cleared.
The hound's ears twitched.
It sniffed. Turned.
And locked eyes with him.
Kael leapt.
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POV: Selene Frost (Watching from Trees)
She knew it.
The boy was reckless. Smart… but reckless.
She crouched, already hidden among the upper trees, watching him circle the hound. No fear. Not even hesitation.
"Stupid," she muttered.
She reached for one of her bone-daggers, ready to intervene.
But something stopped her.
Kael didn't move like the villagers. He didn't scream or flail or cry for help. He ducked when the hound lunged, rolling beneath its jaw, jabbing his wooden stake toward its neck.
He missed — barely — but corrected in the same motion, kicking dirt into its eyes and scrambling back with a grace she didn't expect.
Instinct. Pure instinct.
And more than that… something deeper was waking in him.
System Notice: Weapon Recognition Updated
[Improvised Weapon – Wooden Stake]Class Compatibility Rating: 0.4%Weapon Master Trait: Activated
⚔️ Weapon Master Progression +2⚔️ Reaction Speed +1%⚔️ Bloodline Stirring Detected: 2.1%
The direhound growled and lunged again.
Kael gritted his teeth, slid under the beast's front paw, and stabbed his weapon upward — not toward the chest, but into the soft under-jaw, where Garron had told him the bone didn't fully seal.
The hound shrieked.
But not enough.
It shook violently, throwing Kael aside. He tumbled, bleeding from a torn arm and a bruised rib. The stake snapped.
The hound pounced.
Selene prepared to jump.
But just before she did, Kael's hand flared.
Not with magic — but with black mist.
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POV: Kael
The pain cleared something inside him.
The edges of his sight shimmered, as if his vision split briefly between two realities.
One of them was this forest — cold, real, dangerous.
The other was… a void.
Black. Endless. Peaceful.
And something inside him whispered:
"Take."
He raised his bleeding hand — and caught the beast's fangs with it.
The hound bit down — and screamed.
Its teeth began to rot from the inside out.
System Alert: Bloodline Surge — [Affinity Devour: Activated for 2 Seconds]
Target Monster Type: Beast – Shadow AlignedMinor Affinity Absorption Initiated…
Shadow Resistance: +5%Affinity Seed (Shadow): PlantedCore Absorption: Failed — Target Still Alive
Kael shoved the beast off with a feral yell, blood dripping from both palms.
He stood.
And his shadow stood with him — longer than it should be.
Selene blinked from the trees. "...What are you?"
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POV: Garron Ironclaw (Forge District)
He paused mid-strike, hammer raised.
His system buzzed violently.
⚠ Bloodline Resonance Detected⚠ Forbidden Trait Waking: Location: [East Ridge]
"The boy…"
He dropped his hammer and sprinted out the door.
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POV: Kael
The hound limped, black ooze leaking from its mouth.
Kael didn't have a weapon.
But he didn't need one.
He grabbed a broken rib bone from the deer carcass nearby — long, sharp.
He rushed.
One stab. Deep into the beast's eye.
It collapsed.
Kael stood panting, bloodied, shaking — but alive.
And victorious.
System Notification – First Kill Confirmed
⚔️ E-Rank Monster Defeated⚔️ XP Gained: +32⚔️ Shadow Affinity Seed Strengthened⚔️ Weapon Mastery (Improvised) +3⚔️ Growth XP: 89 / 1000
💠 System Trait Unlocked: Instinctive Adaptation I
Allows rapid adjustment to enemy rhythm and movement during life-threatening combat.
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POV: Selene
She watched him collapse to one knee, breath ragged.
And for the first time… she smiled.
Only a little.
Then vanished into the treetops, leaving no trace.
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POV: Kael
A minute later, Garron burst into the clearing and froze.
Kael looked up, bloodied and pale, and whispered, "It tried to eat me."
Garron stared at the dead direhound.
And said only one thing:
"…You're ready for real weapons now."
End of Chapter 6