Kai woke to the sound of wings.
Not the lazy flap of Rift crows, but something heavier, leather beating air in powerful strokes. He rolled to his feet inside the shallow cave, dagger already in hand.
Nyx materialized from his shadow, hackles raised, eyes narrowed to burning slits.
High above the canopy, three armored griffins circled. Silver barding glinted on their chests, marks of the City Guard's elite Rift Patrol.
Kai's stomach tightened.
They weren't here for ordinary poachers.
One griffin peeled off and descended, rider guiding it to a clearing fifty meters away. The other two stayed aloft, watching.
Kai crept to the cave mouth, staying low.
The rider dismounted, a woman in her mid-twenties, captain's insignia on her shoulder, a sleek wind eagle perched on her gauntlet. Her eyes scanned the area with practiced efficiency.
She pulled a scroll from her belt and unrolled it.
Kai's breath caught.
Even from this distance, he could make out the rough sketch: short dark hair, lean build, threadbare coat. Below it, bold letters.
WANTED: KAI VOSS
Former Null. Suspected forbidden contract.
Dangerous. Approach with extreme caution.
Reward: 500 gold for capture. 800 for confirmed elimination.
Issued by joint decree: Tamer Academy Council & Vossari Family.
Eight hundred gold.
Enough to buy a noble title.
Kai's fingers tightened around the dagger hilt until his knuckles whitened.
It had barely been two days since the ceremony.
Word traveled fast when nobles felt threatened.
Nyx growled softly, a sound like grinding shadows.
The captain's wind eagle screeched, head snapping toward their direction.
They'd been scented.
Kai backed deeper into the cave. "Time to go."
He slipped out the rear crack in the rock, Nyx merging fully into his shadow to mask their presence.
The forest was thick here, but not thick enough. Patrols would sweep in grids.
He moved fast, sticking to shadow-heavy paths where Nyx could amplify his steps.
An hour later, he reached the edge of the low-rank zone, a crumbling stone wall marking the boundary into true mid-rank wilderness.
Beyond it, the trees grew monstrous, trunks wider than houses, leaves black as pitch. Rift fog clung to everything like a living shroud.
Normal Tamers never came this far without a full party.
Kai crossed without hesitation.
Behind him, distant horns sounded, more patrols converging.
The bounty had teeth.
He ran for another hour, lungs burning, until the horns faded completely.
Only then did he slow, finding a massive hollow tree to climb into. Nyx reformed on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck as if to say we made it.
Kai leaned against the rough bark, pulling up the system to check damage.
Corruption Resonance: 29.1%
No new spikes. The chase hadn't forced any desperate moves.
But the quest panel had updated.
[Main Quest Updated: Outcast]
[Objective: Evade capture. Survive outside civilized zones for 30 days.]
[Reward: System upgrade. Second taming slot unlock.]
[Failure: Death or capture.]
Thirty days.
He had food for maybe four, coin for none.
Kai closed his eyes, forcing his breathing steady.
The slums had taught him hunger. The streets had taught him how to disappear.
This was just bigger.
Nyx's ears pricked suddenly.
Soft footsteps approached from below... light, deliberate.
Kai tensed.
A figure stepped into view beneath the hollow.
Lira.
The archer from yesterday. Alone. Bow slung across her back, no party in sight.
She looked up, spotting him instantly.
Kai's hand drifted to his dagger.
Lira raised both hands, empty. "I'm not here to fight."
Her voice was low, careful.
Kai didn't move. "You led them here?"
"No." She shook her head firmly. "Torv and Gav did. They limped back to the city yesterday screaming about a Null who commands shadows. The Academy investigated, found traces of forbidden energy from the ceremony Rift. Vossari Family pushed the bounty, someone high up is scared."
She hesitated.
"I… followed the patrol routes. Figured you'd head deeper instead of back to the city."
"Why?"
Lira glanced over her shoulder, then climbed partway up the roots to be closer, still keeping distance.
"Because what I saw yesterday wasn't normal. But it wasn't evil either. You could've killed those idiots. You didn't."
Nyx materialized fully, growling softly.
Lira's eyes widened at the evolved form. "Gods… it changed."
Kai watched her reaction carefully. No greed. Just awe and a little fear.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Honestly? I don't know." She rubbed the back of her neck. "My family's minor merchants. We scrape by on guild contracts. Torv's father is a council supplier, he'll pressure the guild to blacklist anyone who helps you."
She met his eyes.
"I'm not asking to join you or anything dramatic. Just… wanted to warn you. The bounty's already spreading to every guild hall within a hundred leagues. They're calling you 'Shadow Null.' Some say you sold your soul. Others think you're a lost heir to something ancient."
Kai almost laughed at that last part.
Ancient? He was an orphan who'd eaten garbage to survive.
But the system in his head was very real.
He studied Lira Thorne for a long moment.
She wasn't lying. He could feel it, Nyx's new Abyssal Gaze brushed her mind lightly and found no malice.
Still, trust was a luxury.
"Thanks for the warning," he said finally. "You should go back. Before they link you to me."
Lira bit her lip. "Actually… I'm not going back."
Kai raised an eyebrow.
"My guild contract ended yesterday. Torv's father already sent word I'm 'unreliable' for not helping subdue you." She shrugged, a bitter edge to it. "No guild will take me now without his approval."
She looked up again, expression resolute.
"I'm heading deeper too. Different direction, probably. But if our paths cross… maybe we don't have to be enemies."
Nyx tilted its head, considering her.
Kai felt something shift inside him, wary, but not entirely closed off.
He nodded once. "Different directions. Safe travels."
Lira smiled faintly, relief and something like respect.
She dropped back to the ground, adjusted her pack, and vanished into the mist without another word.
Kai waited until her footsteps faded completely.
Only then did he exhale.
Nyx bumped its head against his cheek, purring.
"Yeah," Kai muttered. "People are complicated."
He checked his meager supplies: half a waterskin, two rabbits left, dagger, whetstone.
Enough to last a week if he hunted smart.
The system pinged again.
[Side Quest Generated: First Companion?]
[Objective: Form a party with at least one ally.]
[Optional: Recruit Lira Thorne.]
[Reward: Shared experience gain. Trust mechanic unlock.]
Kai snorted. "Not yet."
He climbed down and started moving again, northwest, toward the deeper Rifts where even patrols feared to go.
Rumors spoke of ancient ruins there. More fragments. More power.
Behind him, the civilized world branded him outlaw.
Ahead, the wilderness waited, hungry, vast, and full of secrets.
Kai pulled his hood up, Nyx settling into his shadow like a second skin.
Let them come.
He wasn't the Null anymore.
He was the one who would break their world.