The mist in the Ashen Woods didn't just obscure vision; it felt like a living thing, damp and heavy, clinging to Cain's skin like a funeral shroud. But as Cain stood over the cooling corpse of the Captain, the mist seemed to recoil. It recognized a higher predator.
[Level: 6 (210/600 EXP)]
[Status: Bloodline Resonance Active]
Kael and the remaining guard, a man named Boros, stood paralyzed at the edge of the clearing. Their eyes were fixed on the broken Flare Talisman at Cain's feet. That little bronze tube had been their lifeline—their only way to call for the Second Elder's intervention. Now, it was just crushed metal, its magical essence pulsing through Cain's veins as a temporary heat.
"He... he killed the Captain," Boros whispered, his voice cracking. He was a veteran of many clan skirmishes, but those were fights against men. This felt like looking into the eyes of a disaster. "Kael, he's just a kid. How did he move like that?"
Kael didn't answer. He couldn't. He was staring at the [Stalker's Fang] in Cain's hand. The bone dagger was dripping with the Captain's blood, and every drop that hit the earth seemed to be sucked in, as if the weapon itself was thirsty.
"You have ten seconds," Cain said. His voice didn't sound like a sixteen-year-old boy's. it was deep, resonant, and carried the weight of a man who had seen worlds burn. "Ten seconds to decide if you want to die for a family that sent you here to do their dirty work, or if you want to run and pray I don't catch you."
"Don't listen to him!" Kael roared, though his knees were shaking. "If we go back without his head, the Second Elder will flay us alive! We outnumber him! He's exhausted from the Captain!"
[System Warning: Enemy 'Kael' is entering a Berserk State.]
[Enemy 'Boros' is experiencing 'Severe Terror'. Physical stats decreased by 15%.]
Cain felt the shift in the air. This was the beauty of the Void-Eater bloodline; he didn't just see his enemies; he felt their emotions as flavors of mana. Kael's rage was spicy and volatile, while Boros's fear was bitter and cold.
"Ten seconds are up," Cain murmured.
He didn't wait for them to charge. He activated his newly unlocked skill.
"Devourer's Aura."
A ripple of distorted air exploded outward from Cain. It wasn't a physical blast, but a spiritual one. To Kael and Boros, it felt as though the gravity in the clearing had suddenly tripled. The grass beneath their feet flattened, and the very shadows of the trees seemed to twist toward them like grasping hands.
[Skill Effect: Enemies within 5 meters slowed by 30%.]
Kael tried to lift his sword, but it felt like he was moving through thick syrup. "What... what is this? My mana... it's being suppressed!"
Cain moved. With his Agility now at 20, he was a blur of black and violet. He didn't go for Kael first. He went for the weak link.
Boros barely had time to raise his shield before Cain was behind him. It wasn't just speed; it was the [Shadow Dash] fragment. Cain didn't just run; he stepped through the gaps in reality.
SHLICK.
The bone dagger found the gap between Boros's helmet and his chest plate.
[Critical Hit!]
[Gluttony's Touch activated automatically.]
Cain didn't pull the dagger out. He held it there. He felt the rush of Boros's life force—his memories of the clan, his basic sword techniques, his very vitality—pouring into the dagger and then into Cain's arm. It was an intoxicating rush, a dark euphoria that threatened to drown his senses.
"Stop... please..." Boros gasped, his eyes rolling back.
[Consuming 'Mortal Guard' Essence...]
[Stamina Restored: +20]
[Temporary Stat Gain: +2 Strength for 10 minutes.]
Boros slumped to the ground, a husk of a man.
Kael screamed, a sound of pure, unadulterated madness. He threw away his shield and gripped his sword with both hands, swinging in a wild, horizontal arc. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you, you demon!"
Cain parried the strike. The sound of bone hitting steel echoed through the woods—a sharp, high-pitched ring. Cain's arm numbed from the impact, his Strength still lower than Kael's raw power, but he didn't need to win a test of strength.
He dropped the dagger to his left hand mid-swing—a move he had mastered in the trenches of the Great War.
As Kael's momentum carried him forward, Cain stepped into the man's guard. He placed his open palm directly onto Kael's forehead.
"You wanted to see demonic power?" Cain whispered. "I'll show you the End."
"Full Extraction."
The System roared in Cain's mind.
[WARNING: Host attempting high-level extraction on a living target!]
[Risk of Mana Backflow: 20%]
[Proceeding anyway... because you are the Devourer.]
A vortex of violet energy erupted from Cain's palm. Kael's scream was cut short as his very soul seemed to be pulled through his eyes. The ground beneath them cracked, and the surrounding trees withered as the Void-Eater bloodline began to pull energy not just from Kael, but from the environment itself.
[Extraction 50%... 80%... 100%!]
[You have seized the Skill: 'Iron Skin' (Rank D).]
[You have seized the Skill: 'Heavy Strike' (Rank E).]
[Experience Gained: +600!]
Kael fell like a suit of empty armor. He wasn't just dead; he was erased.
Cain stood in the center of the devastation, his chest heaving. His skin was glowing with a faint, eerie light, and his veins were bulging with the sheer amount of raw, unrefined mana he had just consumed. It was too much. His Level 6 body was a cup trying to hold an ocean.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Current Level: 8]
[Warning: Mana Overload detected. Host must meditate or vent energy immediately.]
Cain ignored the warning for a moment. He walked over to the hollow tree where he had told Elena to hide. He could hear her soft, rhythmic sobbing inside.
"Elena," he said, his voice straining against the power surging within him. "It's over. You can come out."
The girl crawled out, her face streaked with dirt and tears. She looked at the clearing—at the three withered husks that used to be the clan's feared enforcers. She looked at Cain, who stood surrounded by a fading purple mist, his eyes glowing like twin stars.
"Cain..." she whispered, her voice trembling. "What are you?"
Cain looked at his hands. He felt stronger than he had ever been in his previous life at this age. He felt like he could tear the forest apart with his bare hands. But he also felt the cold, indifferent hunger of the Dragon.
"I am the one who survives," Cain said.
Suddenly, he winced, clutching his chest. A burst of golden light erupted from his skin—the Fire Mana from the talisman combined with the stolen essence.
"Get back!" he warned Elena.
He turned toward a massive boulder at the edge of the clearing and punched it. He didn't use a technique. He simply let the overloaded mana flow through his fist.
BOOM.
The boulder, a piece of solid granite the size of a carriage, shattered into a thousand pieces. Dust and grit rained down on the forest floor.
[Mana Stabilized.]
[New Stat Points available: 10]
Cain took a deep breath, the glow in his eyes fading back to a dull simmer. He turned to Elena, who was staring at the pile of rubble where the boulder had been.
"The Second Elder will send more," Cain said, his voice returning to a calm, icy tone. "And next time, it won't just be guards. It will be his inner disciples. We can't stay here."
"Where... where will we go?" Elena asked, leaning on him for support.
Cain looked toward the North—toward the Forbidden Peaks, where the air was thin and the monsters were legends.
"We go where the dragons fear to fly," Cain said. "We go to the Grave of the First Emperor."
[Hidden Quest Discovered: The Emperor's Legacy]
Objective: Reach the Forbidden Peaks.
Reward: Evolution of 'Gluttony's Touch'.