Kael Draven traveled east.
Past the fractured checkpoints. Past the bleached remains of abandoned safe zones and fire-blackened grass. Past places where even the system prompts had stopped showing up.
He followed no path. The map had ended days ago. His feet guided him toward the Ashfield Expanse — a broken, sprawling wasteland twisted by unchecked mana storms and unfinished code.
They called it cursed.
A graveyard for player ambitions. A bug in the world's logic. Some whispered it was a dead dev's sandbox. Others said the system itself hated this place.
Kael didn't care.
He came here to disappear — and to come out sharper.
To bury the weakness that got Darius killed.
To prepare for war.
---
Ashfield Expanse welcomed him with ash storms and silence. The kind that sinks beneath the skin. Nothing chirped, howled, or breathed. Not even system birds.
Kael moved forward, boots crunching over cracked bone and scorched stone. His body still wore the scars from the Trial. Ribs stiff. Shoulder tight. Cuts like fire beneath every motion. But his grip on Kureha never faltered.
He passed a rusted gate marked by slashes that had nearly split it in half. Beyond that, the land turned gray and angry. Pockets of black flame smoldered inside dead trees. Red static blinked from the ground like half-forgotten warning signs.
> [WARNING: SYSTEM PATHING LOST] [No Support Functions Active in Region] [Proceed at Your Own Risk]
He did.
---
Kael had brought three things:
A handful of ration bars.
Two near-expired healing flasks.
And a broken fragment of Darius's halberd he'd pried loose from the battlefield.
A reminder.
He tied it to his belt.
---
The first ambush came quickly — five Ashworn Direwolves bursting from opposite angles, skeletal, emaciated, their bones creaking like war drums.
Kael's stance didn't change.
He waited for them to split, to lose their rhythm — and when they did, he struck like a lightning bolt.
> [Draw Cut Sync: 30.5%]
[Kill Confirmed – Ashworn Direwolf (x2)]
[EXP +110]
One claw raked his side — shallow but painful. He turned into it, reversed the blade mid-swing, and finished the third.
The final two lunged as one.
He blinked forward and severed both with a single arc.
> [Level Up – Lv. 13 → Lv. 14]
The system buzzed with faint light.
He didn't smile.
---
Later that night, beneath the broken ribs of a collapsed tower, Kael found something stranger than monsters: a shrine. What had once been a place of reflection now resembled a hacked dungeon node — buried beneath bones, vines, and error-text etched across every surface.
At the center stood a statue of a long-forgotten goddess, missing her face.
He approached.
The moment he got within three steps, the air turned red.
> [You Are Not Supposed to Be Here]
[Do You Still Want to Proceed?]
[Y/N]
Kael didn't flinch.
He pressed [Yes].
The shrine cracked open with a sound like splitting glass. Stone peeled back. The sky above flickered with static. A dungeon marker glitched into view:
> [Solo Trial – Discipline of Blade Memory]
Survive 3 Waves with No System Aid
Reward: ???
Warning: No Escape Possible Once Initiated
Kael stepped inside.
There was no fear in his breath. Only the echo of Darius's last words.
Don't slow down now.
---
Wave One was savage.
Dozens of infected centipede beasts burst from the ceiling, screeching, legs serrated with bone. They moved in erratic, pulsing lines — hard to track. Harder to kill.
Kael didn't waste time. He moved between them like water through cracks. Slicing. Bleeding. Breathing through the rhythm of battle.
He emerged bloodied but upright.
---
Wave Two was smarter.
Shadows in human shape. All of them wielding blades identical to Kureha. Each mimicking Kael's style. Each is adapting to every motion.
He was fighting himself. A hundred possible versions.
Kael shut his eyes.
He moved without sight. Without fear. Only muscle memory, honed instinct, and pure will.
> [Reflex Trace – Activated]
[Draw Cut Sync: 32.2%]
[Successful Counter Chain]
The room fell silent again.
---
Wave Three broke the rules.
It wasn't a monster.
It was Darius.
Clean armor. Familiar gait. That damn smirk he always wore when things got hard.
"You gonna swing or cry?" the fake Darius asked.
Kael stared.
His hand trembled — just once.
Then he spoke, "Thank you."
And moved.
A single perfect cut. No hesitation.
> [Trial Completed – System Sync Threshold Reached]
[Reward Unlocked: Blade Flow II – Stance Discipline]
+1 to Mental Clarity
+500 EXP
---
Kael limped out of the shrine as night fell. His flasks were empty. His satchel was torn.
He didn't head for a beacon.
Instead, he curled up beside a still-warm Ashbeast carcass, using its body as shelter from the wind. The stars above were dim and red-lined, like corrupted code looping over the sky.
He didn't sleep much.
But when he closed his eyes, he saw nothing but his blade — and the path forward.
---
📊 Kael Draven – Status (End of Chapter 20)
Level: 14
Class: Ronin (Unique)
EXP: 310 / 1600
CP: 477
Reputation: 10
Mental Clarity: 11
Ash Memory: 13%
Draw Cut Sync: 32.2%
New Passive – Blade Flow II
> Enhances footwork stability, improves timing in multi-enemy battles.
Boosts Draw Sync growth by +2% during extended fights.
Checkpoint: Ashfield Expanse – Forgotten Shrine Camp
Status: Severely Wounded. Mentally Sharpened. Spirit Focused.
---
Kael hadn't forgotten why he was here.
He wasn't seeking power for power's sake.
He was tempering the blade.
And one day, he would turn it against the guild that had taken everything.