Cain twisted, ducked, and sidestepped, his body moving on instinct as Kiron's fists tore through the air. Each strike glowed faintly with the sky-blue sheen of his Wave Cloak, every blow capable of ending the fight instantly. Cain's counters were fast and precise, his knuckles snapping into Kiron's temple, ribs, and jaw whenever an opening appeared.
At first glance, it looked as though Cain held the advantage. He struck relentlessly while Kiron failed to land a single clean blow. But the truth was far more grim. None of Cain's hits truly damaged his opponent. The aura covering Kiron's body blunted the force, absorbing punishment that would have dropped an ordinary man. Cain was surviving, not winning—and he knew it.
One mistake. One punch landing flush. That was all it would take.
Minutes passed in a blur of violence. By the fifth, Cain's lungs burned, his ribs ached with fire, and sweat ran into his eyes. He had delivered more than a hundred strikes, yet Kiron still stood, his fury unbroken. The only sign of change was subtle—his glowing Wave Cloak had begun to flicker, its steady shimmer now uneven.
Cain's sharp gaze narrowed. "He's running out of Essence Wave."
When Kiron lunged again, arms spread wide like a beast charging prey, Cain recognized both the danger and the opportunity. The attack was reckless, a desperate attempt to finish things before the cloak collapsed. Cain dropped low, rolling into the dirt as the massive arms swept overhead. His hand closed around a jagged stone half-buried in the ground.
As Kiron's momentum carried him forward, Cain struck upward, driving his fist into the brute's right eye—stone hidden between his fingers.
The aura flared in resistance but cracked under the strain of exhaustion. The sharp edge sank deep.
"AHHHHHHHH!" Kiron's scream tore through the forest. Blood poured from the ruined socket, his voice raw with agony.
Yet even maimed, his charge did not stop. His bulk slammed into Cain's chest with the weight of a speeding vehicle.
Cain felt his ribs snap, pain detonating inside his body as he was hurled backward. He hit the ground hard, crimson spraying from his lips. His vision dimmed. For a heartbeat, he thought he might black out.
Across the clearing, Kiron staggered, clutching his eye, his Wave Cloak sputtering like a candle in the wind. With a final flicker, the aura vanished entirely, leaving him exposed and trembling.
Still, hatred burned in his gaze. "I'll kill you!" he roared, stumbling toward Cain.
Cain lay motionless, eyes shut, his chest heaving. Kiron dropped onto him, hands stretching for his throat. But in that instant, Cain's eyes snapped open.
His waist jerked upward, legs snapping around Kiron's neck. He twisted violently, locking his ankles as he clamped down with all his strength. Kiron's eyes widened in shock. Before he could react, Cain grabbed one of his arms and wrenched it backward until bone cracked.
The brute shrieked, the sound weak and broken. Pressure built in his head as blood flow choked off. His limbs thrashed, then slowed, then went limp. Within seconds, unconsciousness claimed him.
Cain held the choke longer, staring at the fading blue of Kiron's face, before finally releasing his grip. He collapsed onto his back, gasping for air, every breath a knife through his chest. Blood pooled in his mouth, but despite the pain, a faint, incredulous smile touched his lips.
He had done it. He had beaten a Level One Wave Warrior.
For nearly half an hour, Cain lay unmoving, gathering strength. At last, using the trunk of a nearby tree, he forced himself to his feet. His body screamed in protest, but he pushed through. He bent over Kiron's unconscious form and rifled through his clothes until his fingers closed around the metallic sphere—the jammer that blocked his A.I. Chip's signals.
Cain raised it, thumb hovering over the activation node. He could disable it, call the authorities, and let them handle the rest. That was the rational choice.
But his hand froze.
"And then what?"
If he called them, there would be investigations, testimonies, records. Kiron's family, his backers, his connections—they would all move to protect him. The wounds told the story: Kiron with a crushed eye, a broken arm, and his Wave Cloak spent. Cain bloodied, but alive. On paper, who was the attacker?
The truth didn't matter. Without influence, without power, Cain's word would weigh nothing. Worse—he could be branded the aggressor, condemned for crippling a Wave Warrior.
A tremor ran through him as he heard a faint groan. Kiron was waking. Time was running out.
Deep down, Cain already knew what he had to do. But morality screamed against it, clawing at his resolve.
"Do I kill him? Do I become that kind of person?"
Then, unbidden, words from his father's Soldier Military Manual echoed in his mind. The very first line.
"To be kind to your enemy is to be cruel to yourself."
The trembling stopped. His doubts burned away, leaving only clarity.
Kiron's good eye fluttered open. He barely had time to register the boot racing toward his face.
The kick landed with a sickening crunch, driving the stone deeper into his ruined eye socket—straight into his brain. Kiron's body spasmed once, twice, then stilled. His chest ceased rising.
Cain stared down at the corpse. His breaths came faster, ragged, uneven. His stomach churned, his hands shook. He had killed. Truly killed.
Before he could fully process the enormity of it, a voice echoed in his mind. Cold, mechanical, yet unlike the A.I. Chip he knew.
[Congratulations, human. You have fulfilled the conditions and are worthy of becoming the Vessel of the Absolute Life Form System.]
Cain froze. His eyes widened. The voice was similar to the Chip's, but heavier, older, filled with authority that made his spine tingle.
"What—" he began, but agony cut the word short.
A searing pain erupted in his skull, blinding, unbearable. He clutched his head as if it would split apart. His A.I. Chip—his lifelong companion—felt as though it was melting, dissolving into his very soul, fusing with something vast and alien.
The agony was too much. Darkness surged across his vision. Cain collapsed onto the blood-soaked earth, unconscious before his body hit the ground.