Cold crept through Kael's body before pain did.
It seeped into his limbs, his chest, his bones, as if the ground beneath him was slowly claiming what little warmth he had left. His breath came shallow, fogging faintly before vanishing into the dull air of the Outer Ruins.
He coughed.
The sound scraped his throat raw, weak and hollow. Blood stained his lips as he rolled slightly onto his side, the iron chains around his wrists clinking softly against stone.
The sound echoed far too loudly.
Kael froze.
His eyes fluttered open.
The sky above him was gray and lifeless, stretched endlessly in all directions. No sun. No clouds. Just an oppressive stillness that pressed down on him from every side.
'I'm… still alive?'
The realization felt distant, unreal.
He tried to move.
Pain exploded through his ribs and spine, sharp enough to steal his breath. Kael clenched his teeth hard enough that his jaw ached, forcing himself not to scream. His vision swam, white spots blooming at the edges.
He lay still for a long moment, waiting for the pain to settle into something bearable.
So weak.
Every part of him felt heavy, unresponsive. As though his body no longer belonged to him.
A low growl echoed across the ruins.
Kael's heart stuttered.
Slowly—painfully—he turned his head toward the sound.
Between the remains of collapsed stone walls and broken pillars, something moved.
A shape emerged.
Four legs. Hunched posture. Dark, matted fur clinging to a body scarred by old wounds. Its eyes glowed faintly yellow as it sniffed the air, saliva dripping from its jaws.
A demonic beast.
Not a powerful one. Kael could tell even now.
But that knowledge brought no comfort.
'Even that… is enough to kill me.'
The beast's head snapped in his direction.
Kael's breath caught in his throat.
No—
Not now.
He tried to crawl backward, dragging his body across the rough ground inch by inch. His palms scraped against jagged stone, skin tearing open. The chains around his wrists made the movement awkward, clumsy, slowing him further.
Metal clinked softly.
The beast's ears twitched.
It growled again, deeper this time.
Kael stopped moving.
He pressed his chest against the ground, heart hammering so loudly he was certain the beast could hear it.
'Think… think…'
There was nothing.
No weapon.
No qi.
No strength.
His cultivation core felt like a hollow shell inside him—silent, useless.
The beast began to advance.
Slowly.
Its movements were cautious, deliberate. It circled slightly, keeping its distance, eyes locked on Kael as if weighing him.
Prey.
Kael swallowed hard.
'I trained for ten years…'
The thought came unbidden.
'I endured everything.'
Mockery.
Isolation.
Failure.
'And this is how it ends?'
The beast lunged.
Kael reacted without thinking.
He rolled clumsily to the side, the sudden movement tearing a scream from his throat. The beast's jaws snapped shut where his head had been moments earlier, teeth clashing together with a sharp, echoing crack.
Pain flared through Kael's shoulder as he slammed into the ground.
His vision blurred.
The beast recoiled slightly, startled by the noise, then snarled and lunged again.
Kael kicked out blindly.
His foot struck the beast's snout.
There was a dull impact.
The beast barely flinched.
Kael's chest tightened.
'So this is the difference…'
The beast swiped at him with one claw.
Cloth tore.
Flesh split.
Pain ripped through Kael's side, hot and blinding. He cried out, his body curling inward instinctively as blood soaked into the ground beneath him.
The beast stepped back, confused by the lack of resistance. It watched him closely, head tilted, breathing heavy.
Kael lay there, gasping.
Tears blurred his vision, streaking down his face before disappearing into the dirt.
'I don't want to die like this.'
The thought shook him more than the pain.
Not here.
Not discarded.
Not without changing anything.
Fear clawed at his chest, suffocating and absolute. His hands trembled as he forced himself to move again, dragging his body toward the shadow of a collapsed wall a short distance away.
Each movement felt like agony.
His fingers left streaks of blood behind him.
The beast followed.
Closer.
Closer.
Kael reached the broken wall and pressed himself against it, chest heaving. His eyes darted wildly, searching.
Anything.
His hand closed around a loose stone.
Small. Jagged.
Pathetic.
'This is all I have?'
The beast lunged again.
Kael screamed—not in rage, not in defiance—but in desperation. He swung the stone with everything he had left, arm trembling violently.
The stone struck the beast's eye.
The impact was wet and sickening.
The beast howled, stumbling back violently as black blood sprayed across the ground. It thrashed, claws gouging stone as it staggered away.
Kael stared in disbelief.
For a moment, he couldn't breathe.
'I… hurt it?'
He didn't wait to see what happened next.
Using the brief opening, Kael rolled toward a narrow gap between broken stones, forcing his body into the cramped space. The movement tore fresh pain through his wounds, but he ignored it.
He pressed himself as deep into the crevice as he could, curling inward, chains scraping loudly before finally going still.
He held his breath.
The beast snarled and clawed at the stone, its movements frantic and enraged. Claws scraped against rock just inches from Kael's face.
Dust fell.
Stone cracked.
Kael squeezed his eyes shut.
'Please…'
Moments passed.
Then more.
Eventually, the snarls faded into low growls. Heavy footsteps retreated, uneven and limping, disappearing deeper into the ruins.
Silence returned.
Kael collapsed fully, his body shaking uncontrollably.
A laugh escaped his throat.
Broken. Unsteady.
Almost hysterical.
"I'm… alive…"
The relief was fleeting.
Pain surged back in full force, crashing down on him like a wave. His breathing slowed, each breath shallower than the last.
Cold returned.
Blood loss.
Exhaustion.
His body was failing.
Kael lay curled in the darkness, staring at nothing.
'I survived…'
The thought felt hollow.
'For how long?'
His limbs grew numb. His thoughts blurred together, slipping through his grasp like water.
Regret surfaced again.
If I had left earlier.
If I hadn't endured.
If I hadn't hoped.
'I was stupid.'
His eyelids drooped.
As consciousness began to fade, something stirred—not outside, but within him.
A faint sensation brushed against his awareness.
Cold.
Vast.
Watching.
Kael frowned weakly.
'What… is that?'
Before he could focus, the sensation deepened, settling somewhere beyond thought, beyond feeling.
A presence.
Then—
A voice.
Not sound. Not thought.
Something that existed directly within him.
> [Host condition: critical.]
Kael's eyes widened slightly.
But he was too weak to react.
Darkness swallowed him whole.