The world was burning.
Not metaphorically.
Buildings torn open like tin cans, streets split down their spine, and monsters moved like plague through a city no longer recognizable. Screams echoed beneath collapsing walls, and red light flickered over crumbling glass.
And through this chaos, Aarav ran.
Not because he wanted to be a hero.
But because someone might already be dead.
"Elira…"
He didn't even realize he whispered her name. His feet pounded the concrete, every breath a rasp, every heartbeat a curse. The courtyard behind his apartment was in ruins. Goblins had stormed his home. He'd barely survived.
But none of that mattered.
She'd gone out. Just half an hour ago.
For groceries.
She was in the next street when the invasion began.
And now he couldn't see her. Couldn't hear her. Couldn't feel her presence.
"I need to find her."
His breath came in ragged gasps, lungs raw from smoke and ash. The air tasted of copper and soot. His skin stung with every gust, sweat mixing with blood, caking into grime. Every heartbeat was a drumbeat in his skull, every step a jolt of pain up his battered legs.
He sprinted out from the alley, past burning walls and broken streetlamps. Another goblin darted out. Aarav swung the rusted sword—its edge connected with a wet crunch.
[ EXP Gained: 20 ][ Total EXP: 80 / 100 ]
Another slash. Another dead goblin.
He barely registered the next goblin—just a blur of green and teeth. His body moved before his mind caught up, sword swinging, blood spraying.
Am I bleeding out? Doesn't matter. Find her. Keep moving.
His body ached, but something surged within him. A pale green glow wrapped briefly around his limbs. He stumbled, nearly collapsed—and then, just as suddenly, he straightened.
[ Level Up! ][ Unassigned Stat Points +5 ][ HP Restored ]
A breath left him. Fatigue dulled. Wounds closed. The fire didn't burn his lungs as sharply anymore.
"Level 2... Good."
He didn't even check the numbers. His hands moved on instinct. Agility: +7. Strength: +3.
[ Agility: 16 ][ Strength: 13 ][ Proficiency: 1.8% ]
The world blurred. His feet pounded the cracked concrete, a blur of speed and desperate momentum. Cars were overturned, smoke bleeding into his eyes, but he kept moving.
She had gone shopping alone. She always did.
Because she thought she had to protect him.
Then he saw it.
A stretch of road. Half a block long. Hell made real.
Vehicles in flames. Blood smeared across broken windshields. Craters where fireballs had exploded. No civilians left.
Only monsters.
Goblins. At least a few dozen.
And orcs.
Thick-limbed beasts with jagged swords and cruel clubs, their eyes glowing with sick glee as they tore into corpses.
The orc's shadow swallowed the street, its breath a furnace of rot and rage. Aarav's legs locked for half a heartbeat—then survival screamed louder than fear.
His foot froze.
His heart didn't.
He remembered her smile. Her stupid little giggle when she caught him stealing her chips. That day when she tucked his scarf tighter because he wouldn't.
"I'll kill them all."
He shot forward.
The first goblin turned, eyes wide—too late. Aarav was already swinging.
Slash.
[ EXP Gained: 20 ]
He ducked a jagged spear. Slid beneath an overturned SUV. Came out rolling.
Another goblin. Down.
And another. His blade sang through flesh, clashed against rusted weapons.
Blood sprayed. Arrows flew past his cheek, slicing it open. He kept moving.
Ten goblins. Fifteen.
They were fast. But he was faster.
His new speed was unnatural, sharp enough to dizzy him. But he rode the chaos like a wave, slipping through attacks, leaping off wreckage to drive his sword down into necks and backs and faces.
Every breath now came with a wheeze. Vision blurred from sweat, blood loss, and speed. He wasn't even sure how many he'd killed.
Then pain.
A sudden, blinding flare in his shoulder.
A goblin archer. The arrowhead embedded deep.
He screamed, tore it out.
"STAY OUT OF MY WAY!"
Slash. Kill.
[ EXP Gained: 20 ] x25 [ Total EXP: 500 / 500 ][ Level Up! ][ HP Restored. Unassigned Stat Points +5 ]
[ HP: 120 / 120 ]
Blood dripped down his arms, but not his own anymore. His sword quivered, cracks forming along its edge. He stood in the carnage, breath ragged.
Then a shadow.
He jumped sideways.
A massive club slammed into where he'd stood.
The ground shook.
The orc loomed like a hill of flesh and bone, its eyes sunken, dragging a misshapen leg, but still towering and filled with brute hatred. Each step brought with it a wave of stench—rotted meat and wet earth.
Aarav's throat went dry. His hands trembled.
I can't win this.
But he didn't turn back.
The orc was slower than the others. Off. Still, the impact had nearly broken him.
Aarav gritted his teeth. His sword lashed out.
Clang.
It didn't go through.
Again. Still nothing.
His weapon was dulling fast. Chips along the edge. It wouldn't last.
And the orc was winding up for another swing.
"I don't have time for this... Elira's waiting...!"
His fingers danced across the interface. +5 Strength.
[ Strength: 18 ]
He roared, blade glowing faintly.
Still not enough.
He grit his teeth. Blood soaked his shirt.
Use it. Use the skill.
"SLASH!"
Death Energy surged.
[ DE: 30 / 40 ]
A flash of black slashed across the orc's leg.
Tendon sliced. It dropped to one knee.
Victory? Not yet.
Another sharp sting. Pain bloomed in his back.
He cried out.
Another goblin archer.
Are there more goblins left? Damnit.
But he didn't hesitate. Even as blood poured from his back, even as his vision swam.
He moved.
Sword up.
Slash.
Right through the orc's neck.
The monster twitched. Then collapsed.
Aarav dropped behind a wrecked van, panting. He yanked the arrow from his back, biting his tongue hard enough to draw blood.
[ EXP Gained: 1000 ][ Named Monster Defeated: Disabled Orc ]
He blinked.
One thousand?
"That was... fifty goblins' worth... and it was disabled?"
His heart pounded harder.
[ EXP: 1600 / 2500 ]
[ Name: Aarav ]
[ Level: 3 ]
[ Class: Swordsman (F) ]
[ Energy Type: Death Energy ]
[ HP: 85/120 ] [ DE: 20/40 ]
[ Strength: 18 ]
[ Agility: 16 ]
[ Endurance: 11 ]
[ Intelligence: 6 ]
[ Vitality: 10 ]
[ Death Affinity: 15 ]
[ Unassigned Points: 5 ]
— Skills —
Slash I (Active, Class Skill, Grade: F)
→ A quick, weapon-based strike. Basic sword combat.
Swordsmanship (Passive, Class Skill, Grade: F)
→ Improves sword control and movement flow.
Proficiency: 3.8%
Soul Mark (Passive, Trait Skill, Fixed)
→ Enemies slain by user leave behind a soul fragment (1hr duration).
Pact of Death (Passive, Trait Skill, Fixed)
→ 100 Death Affinity = 1 Unassigned Stat Point. Conversion possible any time.
Soul Extraction (Active, Trait Skill, Fixed, Locked)
→ Absorbs nearby soul fragments into Death Affinity.
Unlock Condition: Reach Level 10 + kill a named elite enemy.
[ Weapon Durability: Critically Low ]
[ Swordsmanship Proficiency: 3.8% ]
He slumped against the van, sword dangling from numb fingers. The world spun. He tasted bile.
Something white and crumpled lay in the gutter—a grocery bag, its handles torn, contents spilled across the cracked street. Elira's bag.
"Just a little further," he whispered, not sure if he was promising himself or begging the universe.
The world narrowed to pain, blood, and the memory of her laughter.
He looked up. Half the road was behind him.
Half still remained.
More goblins. More orcs.
Somewhere ahead, a scream cut through the chaos—a voice he almost recognized.
He stood.
He didn't care.
His sister was somewhere beyond this.
The only one who ever truly saw him.
His only family. His only home.
He gripped the cracked sword tighter. Blood dripped from his wounds. Smoke stung his eyes.
Pain. Blood. Another arrow. Move. Don't stop. Can't stop.
But he stepped forward anyway.
To be continued...