The charging man moved like a battering ram thick, fast, and confident.
A scar ran down the side of his bald head, and in his hands was a jagged iron cleaver that looked like it had been hammered from prison bars and sharpened on bone.
Kael didn't flinch.
He stepped sideways at the last second, letting the man's momentum carry him forward and looped the chain around his wrist as he passed.
Then Kael pulled.
Hard.
The big man's arm twisted unnaturally with a loud pop, and he staggered, roaring in pain.
[Adrenal Response active: +20% speed]
[Shadow Core charging: 94%]
[Skill Progression – Shadow Step (Fragment 78% → 81%)]
Kael didn't stop. He wrapped the chain around the man's neck and jumped onto his back, driving an elbow into the base of the skull.
The man went down, crashing face-first into the blood-slick arena floor.
Ash watched from behind a shattered column, eyes wide.
"He's… he's actually doing it."
Kael stood, chest heaving. Blood dripped from the chain and his knuckles. He didn't recognize himself in that moment didn't care.
The crystal orb above them pulsed with pale violet light. The Overseer watched in silence.
[Target eliminated.]
[EXP gained: 35]
[Shadow Core reached Tier 1]
[New skill unlocked: Shadow Step (Basic)]
[New trait acquired: Instinct Kill]
[Skill Tree Branch Available: Void Mutation (Locked)]
Kael staggered back a step as the system dumped raw power into his nerves. His veins felt like they were pulsing with shadow.
Then a sound behind him a scream.
He spun.
One of the other slaves a skinny woman wielding twin bone daggers had just slit a boy's throat. She turned toward Kael and Ash, her eyes wild.
"She's next!" the woman shrieked. "The girl! She's weak! Kill her for the bonus!"
Ash backed up, teeth clenched.
Kael's vision narrowed.
[Optional Objective Triggered: Kill Rival Test Subjects]
[Current Kill Count: 1]
[Bonus Upgrade Slot unlocks at 3 kills]
Kael didn't hesitate.
He darted forward faster than before and the world blurred for a split second.
[Skill Activated: Shadow Step]
[Distance traversed: 3 meters]
[Cooldown: 12 seconds]
Kael reappeared behind the dagger woman before she even realized he'd moved. The chain in his hand snapped out wrapping around her neck like a serpent and yanked.
Her eyes bulged. She tried to scream, but only choked.
Kael didn't stop.
He slammed her head against the pillar once. Twice. A third time.
Blood splattered the stone.
[Target eliminated.]
[EXP gained: 40]
[Kill Count: 2]
[New Shadow Trait Unlocked: Hemoflux – Small HP regen on kill]
He dropped her corpse without a word and turned back toward Ash.
She was staring at him.
Not with fear. Not exactly.
It was something else.
Recognition.
"You're not like the others," she said.
"No," Kael said, his voice hollow. "I don't think I ever was."
Two other combatants were left.
One had already dropped his weapon and was cowering near the arena wall. The other was trying to pry open a sealed door with a crowbar, screaming at the top of his lungs.
[Arena Timer: 02:44]
[Kill Count: 2/3 required for Bonus Upgrade]
[System Suggestion: Complete bonus condition to unlock Shadow Slot]
Kael looked at Ash.
"Stay here."
She nodded.
Kael walked toward the screaming man.
"Don't DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" the man shouted. "I have a wife I don't want to die here!"
Kael slowed.
He looked down at his own hands, trembling with adrenaline.
He didn't want to become a killer.
He hadn't wanted to kill anyone.
But this world wasn't fair. It wasn't built for hesitation. He'd died once because he hesitated.
Never again.
He raised the chain.
And then
A shockwave.
The arena floor split open beneath the last man and swallowed him whole. The screaming stopped in an instant.
The hovering orb above them pulsed.
[Survivor detected: Kael (System Host)]
[Companion detected: Subject Ash (Non-systemic)]
[Optional Kill Objective: Incomplete]
[Bonus reward withheld]
[Phase Two complete. Prepare for Extraction.]
The floor glowed beneath Kael and Ash's feet.
Ash reached out to him. Her hand brushed his.
"Wait," she whispered. "Don't leave me behind."
Kael grabbed her wrist as light enveloped them both.
They reappeared in a circular chamber made of dark obsidian and strange wires running along the walls. Cool blue flames hovered mid-air, casting faint shadows.
A single figure stood before them tall, robed in shimmering silk woven with bone-white symbols. His face was hidden behind a silver mask shaped like a skull with runes etched into the metal.
The Overseer.
[WARNING: Presence detected: Tier 4 Cultivator – Flesh Alchemist]
[Escape is not advised]
Kael's heartbeat spiked. The pressure coming off this man was unreal. Like standing next to a gravity well.
The Overseer's voice was smooth, almost kind.
"You're interesting," he said. "A slave with a System. That's rare. That's… valuable."
Kael stayed silent. He could feel Ash trembling beside him.
The Overseer stepped closer.
"I've been watching you. Your system is different. Ancient. Adaptive. You're not from this world, are you?"
Kael said nothing.
The Overseer tilted his head. "No matter. You will be."
[Protocol Triggered: Evolution Path Forked]
[Choose Mutation Type:]
A. Predator's Core (Physical boost, kill-based stacking power) B. Umbra Echo (Shadow clone/decoy utility, stealth-based) C. Voidborn Hunger (High-risk, high-reward growth – consumes enemies for permanent upgrades)
Kael stared at the three options, breath caught in his throat.
He had ten seconds to choose.
Ten seconds to define what kind of monster he would become.
Behind him, Ash grabbed his hand tightly.
[Timer: 10... 9... 8...]