Dawn broke over the Nile with the color of molten copper bleeding into rose and gold. Kael-Ankh woke on the rooftop mat Merit had given him, body stiff from yesterday's prolonged heka practice but mind already racing. The scarab amulet rested warm against his skin beneath the linen kilt; its presence felt less like an object now and more like a second, quiet heartbeat synced to his own.
He sat up, crossed his legs, and summoned his inner ledger without speaking aloud.
System Status – Dawn Update
Name: Kael-Ankh
Soul Origin: Reincarnated (Earth → Kemet Cycle)
Current Tier: 0.6 (Nascent Ka – Awakening Phase)
Core Attributes (Base + Modifiers):
• Strength: 12 (+1 from physical labor adaptation)
• Agility: 11
• Endurance: 14 (+1 overnight recovery)
• Perception: 15
• Willpower: 18
• Heka Affinity: 9 (new stat – governs invocation efficiency & stability)
• Mythos Resonance: 1.4× (passive bonus from modern pattern recognition)
Heka Capacity Pool: 36/100
Current Mythos Fragments Absorbed: 1
• Fragment: Scarab of Khepri – Renewal & Protection
• Type: Core Renewal
• Grade: Common (Uncommon potential when fused)
• Effects: • +12% Heka regeneration rate during daylight hours • Passive: Minor protective aura (reduces incoming physical/magical damage by 5% when conscious) • Active Invocation Unlock: Khepri's Ward (defensive shell, consumes 8 Heka per activation, lasts 15 seconds at current mastery)
• Resonance Level: 22% (increases with repeated use & belief reinforcement)
Known Invocations (Ranked by Mastery):
1. Basic Luminescence (Per)
• Rank: Initiate I
• Cost: 2 Heka
• Output: Soft ambient light (5–10 lumen equivalent)
• Duration: 6 seconds (improved +2s overnight)
• Stability: 68%
2. Directed Luminescence (Per ia netjer)
• Rank: Initiate 0 (newly acquired)
• Cost: 4 Heka
• Output: Focused beam (20–30 lumen, 2–3 cubit range)
• Duration: 3.5 seconds
• Stability: 41% (volatile)
3. Khepri's Ward (scarab-derived, not yet named aloud)
• Rank: Initiate 0
• Cost: 8 Heka
• Effect: Spherical barrier (radius ≈1 cubit)
• Duration: 15 seconds
• Stability: 55%
• Special: +15% effectiveness against chaotic/venomous sources (crocodile jaws, scorpion stings, minor shadow heka)
Progress Toward Next Tier Threshold: 36% (requires 100 Heka Capacity & 3 total Mythos Fragments at ≥20% resonance)
Kael exhaled slowly. The numbers were cold and precise, yet they gave him something the myths never had in books: measurable progression. A ladder instead of a mystery.
He descended the ladder to the courtyard. Merit was already grinding grain, the rhythmic scrape of stone on stone filling the morning air. She glanced up.
"You look like you've been arguing with Thoth all night. Eat something before you collapse."
Kael accepted a piece of yesterday's bread softened with a little honey. While he chewed, he felt the scarab pulse twice—sharp, insistent.
Something was coming.
He finished eating quickly and volunteered to fetch fresh reeds from the riverbank for roof repairs. Merit waved him off with a knowing look.
"Stay away from the deep channels. Sobek is hungry this season."
The path to the river was already busy: women balancing water jars, children driving geese with sticks, fishermen hauling in night nets. Kael kept his pace steady, senses heightened by the new Perception stat and the scarab's quiet warning.
He reached the familiar landing where he'd found the amulet. The water was higher today, the current stronger from upstream rains. Reeds swayed violently along the edge.
Then he heard it—a child's scream, high and terrified.
Kael broke into a run.
Near a cluster of fishing boats, a boy of perhaps eight years had slipped on wet mud while reaching for a drifting reed float. He splashed into the shallows—and froze as a massive Nile crocodile surged from beneath the lily pads.
The beast was enormous, at least fifteen feet from snout to tail tip, armored hide glistening black-green in the dawn light. Its jaws parted in a slow, deliberate yawn that revealed rows of yellowed teeth.
The boy—Amenemhat, Kael recognized him from the senet game two days earlier—scrambled backward, but his foot caught in a root. He fell hard.
The crocodile lunged.
Time seemed to stretch.
Kael sprinted forward, bare feet slapping mud. No time to think through every option. Instinct and system collided.
He reached the boy just as the jaws snapped shut inches from Amenemhat's leg.
Kael grabbed the nearest object—a long, sturdy punting pole leaning against a boat—and planted it like a lever into the soft riverbank mud. Using every ounce of his Strength 12 and modern physics knowledge, he vaulted upward, twisting his body to land astride the crocodile's back.
The beast thrashed violently. Kael clamped his thighs around its midsection, arms locked around the thick neck just behind the skull. The hide was rough, studded, like holding a living armor plate.
The crocodile rolled—death roll—trying to dislodge him into deeper water.
Kael felt ribs creak under the pressure.
System Alert – Combat Initiated
Threat Level: Moderate (Juvenile Nile Crocodile – Sobek Proxy)
Damage Incoming: Crushing / Drowning
Mitigation Available: Khepri's Ward (recommended)
He didn't hesitate.
Both palms pressed flat against the rough scales. The scarab at his belt flared hot enough to sting.
"Khepri's Ward!"
Golden light erupted outward in a shimmering sphere, enveloping Kael's torso and arms like a second skin of sunlight. The barrier snapped into place with a low, resonant hum.
Heka Cost: 8
Remaining Capacity: 28/100
Barrier Strength: 55% stability → mitigated 62% of crushing force
The crocodile's jaws clamped down on his left forearm. Teeth met barrier instead of flesh. The golden shell cracked audibly, spiderwebbing with black lines, but held just long enough.
Pain flared—bruising, not breaking.
Kael roared, more rage than fear, and drove the punting pole upward under the soft jaw joint, using leverage to force the head back.
The crocodile gagged, released, and thrashed sideways.
Kael slid off its back into shallow water, grabbed Amenemhat by the arm, and hauled the boy toward shore.
Villagers were already running—shouting, waving spears, throwing stones.
The crocodile gave one final snap of its tail, then submerged in a boil of mud and foam, retreating to deeper channels.
Kael collapsed to his knees in the shallows, chest heaving. Amenemhat clung to him, sobbing, small fists knotted in Kael's kilt.
Combat Resolved
Threat Neutralized (Forced Retreat)
Rewards:
• +3 Willpower (extreme focus under mortal threat) → 18 → 21
• +12 Heka Capacity (stress adaptation & successful invocation) → 40/112
• Mythos Resonance: Scarab of Khepri → 22% → 38% (combat use + child's belief reinforcement)
• New Passive Unlocked: Sobek's Caution (5% resistance to aquatic ambush & crushing attacks)
Kael looked down at his left arm. Deep bruises bloomed purple and red beneath the skin, but no punctures. The barrier had saved the limb.
Amenemhat's mother arrived, weeping, scooping her son into her arms. She looked at Kael with something between terror and reverence.
"You… you stood against Sobek himself."
Kael shook his head, voice hoarse.
"Just a crocodile. Not the god."
But even as he said it, he felt the weight of eyes—not human—watching from the river depths.
The scarab pulsed once, slow and satisfied.
Fragment Status Update:
Scarab of Khepri
• Resonance Level: 38%
• Next Threshold (50%): Unlock secondary active ability – "Dawn Renewal" (minor self-healing over time)
Villagers gathered, murmuring. Someone pressed a beer jar into his hands. Another draped a damp linen cloth over his shoulders.
Kael looked at Amenemhat, still trembling in his mother's arms.
"You okay, little senet master?"
The boy managed a shaky nod, then whispered:
"Thank you… Kael-Ankh."
The name carried on the morning breeze. Several villagers repeated it softly, like a title taking root.
Kael felt the mythos stir again—not from the scarab this time, but from the belief of the people around him. Thin threads of golden light, invisible to all but him, drifted from their hearts and settled into his Ka like dew on papyrus.
Passive Belief Harvest: +4 Heka Capacity (crowd gratitude)
Total Capacity: 44/112
He stood slowly, bruised but unbroken.
The river flowed on, serene now, as though nothing had happened.
But Kael knew better.
The myths were waking up.
And they were watching him back.