The first sound Riven heard was his own heartbeat.Slow. Heavy. Out of rhythm.
He opened his eyes to a sky painted in ash and smoke. The Divine Beast was gone — no, not gone. Its colossal corpse sprawled across the battlefield like a dead god, its wings impaling the ruins of the fortress walls.
He should've been dead too.His ribs felt shattered, his vision a storm of static. Yet something pulsed in his chest — a warmth unlike blood or magic.
[System Synchronization: Complete.][Hero Protocol Activated.]Remaining Lifespan: 5 Years, 0 Days, 0 Hours.]
The words appeared before him in light, not written, but etched across his mind. They glowed blue and silver, cold and alive at the same time.
Riven's breath trembled. "What… what are you?"
[Designation: Hero System.][Purpose: Preservation of Humanity.][User: Riven Kael.]
Riven blinked. His name. His thoughts. His heartbeat, all synchronized with the strange energy thrumming inside him. The battlefield around him had fallen silent; only the wind whispered through shattered armor and burnt corpses.
Then the System spoke again.
[Initializing Tutorial Mission.][Objective: Eliminate the Lesser Behemoth.][Reward: Stat Unlock — Hero's Heart.][Penalty for Failure: Termination.]
A deep rumble answered the words. From behind the ruins, another creature stirred, smaller than the Divine Beast, but still massive. A Lesser Behemoth. The same kind that had killed half his battalion.
Riven tried to stand, but his knees buckled. His sword was half-buried in the mud beside him, bent and dull.
He spat blood. "You've got to be kidding me."
[Warning: Lifesigns critical. Suggested action: Activate Hero Skill.][Skill Available: Divine Surge (Rank F). Activation Cost — 3 Months of Lifespan.]
He froze. "Cost? What cost?"
The System didn't answer.Instead, a faint ticking filled his ears, like the sound of an invisible clock.
Three months of my life… for one skill?
The Behemoth roared, shaking the ground. Its molten breath tore through the rubble.
Riven gritted his teeth. He had no magic left, no strength, no reinforcements. Just a dying body, and a voice offering him impossible power at an impossible price.
He remembered the faces of the soldiers he couldn't save. His captain's last words. The cities that fell to monsters while the gods watched.
His fear hardened into resolve.
"Fine," he whispered. "If this is the price… then take it."
[Skill Activation Confirmed: Divine Surge.][-3 Months Lifespan.]
The world ignited.
Blue light erupted from his veins. His heart thundered like a war drum. The broken sword in his hand gleamed with pure system energy, reforged by light. Every breath burned, every movement felt like it shredded his soul, yet power flowed through him, divine and wild.
The Behemoth lunged.Riven met it head-on.
Time seemed to slow. He saw every ripple of its muscles, every spark of molten drool. The System's voice guided his instincts.
[Weak Point Detected — Cervical Core.]
He drove the glowing blade upward, straight through the monster's throat. The impact threw him backward, but he didn't let go.
The Behemoth's death cry split the sky, a sound that echoed across the ruins like thunder.Then silence.
The creature collapsed, dissolving into fragments of ash and blue light.
Riven fell to his knees, gasping. His vision flickered. His hands trembled, not from exhaustion, but from something missing. He could feel it, a subtle erosion, like sand slipping through an hourglass inside him.
[Tutorial Mission Complete.][Reward Granted: Stat Unlock — Hero's Heart.][Lifespan Remaining: 4 Years, 9 Months.]
"Three months…" His voice was hoarse. "You really took them."
He reached up, touching his hair, and froze.A few strands were pale gray.
The realization hit harder than any wound.
[System Notice: Hero Skills draw upon user's Life Force to manifest divine potential.][This is the price of ascension.]
He laughed, dry, broken. "The price of ascension, huh? That's one way to say 'slow suicide.'"
The night stretched long over the battlefield.Riven sat among the fallen, staring at the faint silver glow pulsing beneath his skin. Every few minutes, the System whispered quietly, showing him fragments of its interface.
[Status Window Open.]
AttributeValueNameRiven KaelRaceHumanLevel1TitleAwakened HeroLifespan4 Years, 9 MonthsStrength12Agility10Vitality8Spirit14Luck3
Beneath the stats, another line appeared:
Skill: Divine Surge (F) — Burns lifespan to enhance all attributes temporarily.
He stared at the words until they blurred.A Hero System. Power that fed on life itself.
He couldn't decide if it was a miracle or a curse.
Hours later, Riven made a shallow grave for his fallen comrades. He didn't pray — the gods had stopped listening long ago.
Instead, he stared at the System interface one more time.Something new flickered at the edge of his vision.
[New Mission Available.][Main Quest: Ascension Path — Phase 1.][Objective: Slay 10 Class-B Monsters.][Reward: Stat Upgrade +1 (All).][Cost: 1 Month of Lifespan per Kill.]
His pulse stopped. "One month… each?"
[Affirmative.]
Ten monsters. Ten months. Nearly a year, gone.
He exhaled, eyes dim with exhaustion. "Why me?"
[Because you wished for power.]
He looked toward the horizon. The sun had begun to rise, pale and thin behind the ash clouds. In its light, the Behemoth's corpse shimmered before dissolving completely into blue motes.
He clenched his fist. "Then I'll use it. I'll burn it all, as long as I decide where the fire goes."
The System pulsed once, almost approvingly.
[Acknowledged.][Initializing Hero Protocol: Phase 1.]
Three days later, the remnants of his battalion found the crater where the Behemoth died. Only one man stood there, cloaked in silver light, surrounded by silence.
"Riven… is that really you?" one whispered.
He turned slowly. His eyes glowed faint blue. The light faded when he blinked, leaving only exhaustion."Yeah," he said quietly. "But not the same one you knew."
That night, he sat near the campfire while others slept. The Hero System projected faint constellations of code into the air, shifting, unreadable patterns.
He studied them, memorizing the symbols. Each one pulsed like a heartbeat.
[Warning: User's physical form incompatible with divine energy for extended use.][Recommend Stat Growth or external energy source.]
He frowned. "External source?"
[Data Unavailable.]
He sighed. "Figures."
He looked at his hands, calloused, scarred, now faintly glowing under the moonlight.He remembered the warmth of the Divine Surge. The power. The speed. The impossible strength that made him feel like a god for a single heartbeat.
And then he remembered the gray hair, the ache in his bones.Three months gone, just like that.
He whispered to the empty night, "If this is what it takes to stop them… then let me burn."
[Hero Protocol — Progress Update.]Monsters Slain: 1/10.Remaining Lifespan: 4 Years, 9 Months.]
A faint hum followed, like a clock restarting its rhythm.
Tick.Tock.Tick.
Riven stood, lifting his reforged blade.The road ahead was long, and every step would shorten the time he had left.
But for the first time in years, he felt alive.