Kael stared at his reflection in a shattered piece of glass.
The boy looking back wasn't the same one who had crawled through the slums two nights ago, beaten and forgotten. His eyes shimmered faintly red now—not glowing, but pulsing, like something alive beneath the surface. His veins stood out in sharp contrast, webbed faintly with crimson threads that pulsed in sync with his heartbeat.
And his heartbeat—gods—it was louder than ever.
He flexed his fingers.
They moved faster. Cleaner. As if each motion had already been practiced hundreds of times. His arms felt heavier, not with fatigue, but density. Muscle wrapped tighter around bone. His frame had started to harden, like stone beneath skin.
"Stop staring," Duran muttered, setting down a flask of something foul-smelling. "You'll only get obsessed."
Kael turned. "I can feel it. Every part of me is sharper."
"And that should terrify you."
Duran walked across the crumbling observatory, past the shattered telescopes and glyph-covered walls. The old bloodline researcher looked more disheveled than usual. Shadows haunted his face.
"You've tasted the system now," he said. "It's tasting you back."
Kael tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Duran stopped in front of a rusted cylinder, turning knobs with a jittery hand. "The Vyr Blood System wasn't just a tool, Kael. It was a living algorithm—a bio-intelligent weapon. It adapts to you as much as you adapt to it."
"I'm getting stronger."
"You're getting changed." Duran looked at him sharply. "And change comes with a cost."
Kael opened his hand, recalling how the blood had seeped into his skin the night before. How his enemy's skills had become his own. How easy it had felt.
"I didn't feel pain," he said quietly. "Not even fear. It was like… instinct."
"That's how it begins."
Duran walked to a faded chalkboard covered in bloodline diagrams. He tapped one—an outline of a humanoid shape, disfigured, its veins twisting like vines.
"Do you know what this is?"
Kael shook his head.
"This is a pureblood Vyr warrior. Before the Purge. Before they were hunted to extinction. The stronger they got, the less human they remained. Their instincts rewrote everything—language, emotion, even memory."
Kael stared at the figure. The jaw was too wide. The eyes had no pupils.
"What happened to it?"
Duran looked at him grimly. "It consumed thirteen bloodlines. And then it consumed itself."
The silence lingered.
Kael's fingers twitched.
He could still feel the blood echo of the enforcer—how the strike had landed, the timing, the reflex. His body had memorized it. Stored it. Evolved from it.
And beneath that memory… there was hunger.
"You're telling me not to use it," Kael said, his voice flat.
"I'm telling you not to lose yourself," Duran replied.
Kael stood. He moved without effort—his body no longer a burden but a weapon waiting to be unsheathed.
"Then teach me how to control it."
Duran hesitated. "Control? No one ever controlled the Vyr."
"Then teach me to outlast it," Kael said. "Or I'll learn the hard way."
For a moment, Duran looked ready to argue. But then he sighed, defeated. "Fine. But there's one test you need to pass first."
Kael raised a brow. "What test?"
Duran didn't answer with words. He opened a box beside the wall and pulled out a long syringe—inside, a swirling red liquid glowed faintly.
"SynthBlood," he said. "A sample derived from dormant bloodlines. It won't kill you—but it will trigger a reaction in your Core."
Kael stared at it. "Why would I want a reaction?"
"Because you need to know what you are when the blood calls to you. And whether you can come back from it."
He handed Kael the syringe.
Kael didn't hesitate.
He pressed it into his arm—and injected.
The effect was instant.
His heart skipped.
His eyes flared red.
And the System screamed.
[Blood Detected: Unknown Source]
Analyzing…
Compatible gene strands found: 3
Initiating partial assimilation…
Mutation warning: Instability possible.
—Core Sync: 9%
—Adaptation Rate: +0.4
—Cognitive Disruption Risk: Elevated
Kael doubled over, gasping. His skin burned. His veins lit up like a map of fire beneath flesh. Voices whispered—not his own.
And in those whispers… visions.
Flashes.
A forest. A war. A blood ritual under twin moons. A creature on all fours, tearing through soldiers.
Consume. Evolve. Ascend.
Kael fell to his knees.
Duran stepped forward—but didn't intervene.
This was the trial.
Kael's breath grew ragged. He felt his thoughts unravel. A second heartbeat pounded through him—alien. Hungry. The blood wanted him to change.
But Kael didn't run.
He reached inward—past the pain, past the hunger.
"I'm still here," he hissed through clenched teeth.
The Core pulsed. The System hesitated.
Then, slowly—the chaos receded.
The whispers fell silent.
And the second heartbeat vanished.
[Assimilation complete.]
New Trait: Minor Blood Fortification (muscle density enhanced)
Instinct Stability: Holding.
System Trust Level: +1
Kael collapsed onto his back, panting.
Duran knelt beside him. "You resisted it."
Kael stared up at the cracked ceiling, his eyes still glowing faintly. "Barely."
Duran nodded, impressed. "Then you're stronger than any Vyr I've studied."
Kael didn't answer. He was listening—to his body, to the system, to something deeper now. A rhythm under the world.
He knew this was just the beginning.
He had tasted power.
And the hunger was still there.