The second scout barely had time to raise his sword before Kael's gauntlet crashed against his helmet, sending him flying backward like a broken doll.
Dust and blood filled the air.
The leader, seeing two of his men fall in mere seconds, snarled and drew a wickedly curved blade from his belt.
"You little bastard," he spat, circling Kael. "You're no ordinary stray."
Kael said nothing. His heart hammered against his ribs, but his mind was cold, clear.
The Soulbrand on his arm pulsed, faint silver veins crawling up toward his shoulder.
Power hummed under his skin, waiting to be unleashed.
The leader charged first, blade flashing.
Kael dodged to the side, faster than the man's eyes could follow. As the leader stumbled past him, Kael grabbed his arm, twisting sharply.
Bone snapped with a sickening crack.
The man screamed.
Kael didn't hesitate. He struck once, twice brutal, efficient blows aimed at the throat and solar plexus.
The leader collapsed, gasping like a landed fish.
Kael stood over him, gauntlet dripping blood.
"Who sent you?" he demanded.
The leader coughed, blood flecking his lips. "You'll... never escape... them..."
Kael crouched lower. His voice was deadly calm. "Maybe not. But you'll die first."
Fear finally broke through the man's defiance.
He nodded weakly.
"Guild of the Black Sun," he rasped. "Orders from Solaria. They said... a Forsaken awakened. You're a threat... to the Grand Order."
Kael's stomach twisted.
So it was true.
The System itself feared him.
"They'll keep coming," the man whispered, a bitter smile on his cracked lips. "No matter where you run."
Kael stood slowly.
"I won't run."
The gauntlet pulsed once, and he slammed his fist into the man's chest, ending it quickly.
No witnesses.
No mercy.
Ash snorted nervously nearby, hooves pawing the ground.
Kael wiped the blood from his face and mounted up, riding hard into the Wastes.
The Hollow Sanctum awaited and with it, the first true step on his path.
The Wastes were merciless.
For three days, Kael rode through scorching days and freezing nights, surviving on dried meat, stale water, and sheer willpower.
Ash, stubborn creature that he was, proved a loyal companion, carrying Kael through sandstorms and broken lands.
Each night, Kael studied the Forsaken System's screens the few cryptic hints it offered.
Level: 3
Class: [Forsaken Initiate]
Abilities:
Soulbrand Awakening (Passive): +10% speed and strength against System-bound enemies.
Soul Surge (Active): Temporary burst of power. Costs life force.
The bonuses were small. Fragile.
But, Kael knew unlike the Divine System, the Forsaken System did not hand out power for free.
It had to be earned.
Through blood. Through struggle.
Through survival.
And Kael would survive. No matter what it cost him.
On the dawn of the fourth day, he found it.
The Hollow Sanctum.
It rose from the desert like a jagged scar a crumbling cathedral of black stone and bone-white pillars, half-buried by shifting dunes.
Strange symbols, older than the Divine System itself, crawled across the entrance arch like frozen lightning.
Kael dismounted carefully, tying Ash to a broken pillar.
The horse whinnied, sensing something wrong.
Kael felt it too a pressure in the air, thick and suffocating.
Not magic.
Something deeper.
Older.
[Warning: High-Risk Zone Entered]
The System's message flashed before Kael's eyes.
He ignored it.
Hand resting lightly on the gauntlet, Kael pushed open the heavy stone doors.
A blast of cold, stale air hit him, carrying the scent of dust, rot, and something metallic like old blood.
Inside, the Sanctum was a maze of collapsed corridors and shattered statues. Strange murals lined the walls, depicting battles between gods and monsters, empires rising and falling into ash.
Kael moved carefully, every step deliberate.
His instincts screamed at him to turn back.
Instead, he pressed forward.
Deeper.
At the heart of the Sanctum, he found it.
A vast chamber, lit by eerie blue flames floating in midair.
In the center, atop a cracked pedestal, floated a relic.
A sword if it could even be called that.
It was broken in half, jagged and ugly, but power radiated from it in pulsing waves.
Its hilt was wrapped in blackened leather, and ancient runes glowed faintly along the blade.
Kael approached slowly.
[Ancient Relic Detected: "Warden's Shard"]
His gauntlet buzzed with energy, resonating with the relic.
Kael reached out.
The moment his fingers brushed the broken sword, a searing pain exploded in his mind.
Visions slammed into him flashes of ancient wars, titans ripping mountains apart, gods falling from blood-red skies.
And a voice.
Not a System message.
A real voice, ancient and weary.
"Forsaken child... you seek power. You seek freedom. But every gift has a price."
Kael gritted his teeth.
"I accept it," he whispered.
The relic flared brightly, and the runes along the blade seared themselves into Kael's skin.
New power flooded into him, raw and overwhelming.
[Relic Bonded: Warden's Shard]
New Ability Unlocked: Shadow Bind
Imprison enemies in spectral chains for 10 seconds. Strength scales with Soulbrand level.
Kael stumbled back, panting.
His vision swam, but slowly cleared.
He felt stronger. Sharper.
Like a blade that had just been tempered.
But before he could savor the moment, the temperature in the chamber dropped.
Kael froze.
Something moved in the shadows beyond the blue flames.
Slow. Heavy. Relentless.
A figure emerged a knight clad in rusted black armor, its helm crowned with broken horns.
Its eyes burned with ghostly blue fire.
Kael's stomach dropped.
A Warden.
The ancient guardians left behind by the Old Gods to protect relics like the Shard from unworthy hands.
The Warden raised a massive axe, its blade dripping with ethereal frost.
Without a word, it charged.
Kael barely rolled aside as the axe slammed into the floor where he'd been standing, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the stone.
This was no ordinary enemy.
This was a test.
A trial by fire.
Exactly what Kael needed.
He rose to his feet, the broken Shard glowing faintly in his hand.
"No more running," he growled.
As the Warden lunged again, Kael activated his new ability.
Chains of shimmering shadow erupted from the ground, wrapping around the Warden's limbs, dragging it to a halt.
The monster struggled, cracking the spectral chains but Kael was already moving.
Soulbrand flaring, heart pounding, he launched himself forward.
Toward his first real battle.
Toward destiny.