The Ashfield Expanse did not sleep.
Even in the pale dawn light, it groaned beneath itself — a wasteland of shattered data and bleeding terrain. Red mist clung to the roots of dead trees like veins. Static crackled in the sky every few minutes, distorting sunlight and corrupting visibility.
Kael Draven moved through it like a ghost.
His cloak had burned off three days ago. His armor was cracked. One of his flasks was leaking, and his bandages had been repurposed twice. But his grip on Kureha never faltered. Every motion was deliberate. Every step, balanced.
He had come to this place to sharpen.
To drown weakness in the fire of repetition.
He had bled. Starved. Nearly collapsed more than once. But his level had risen — slowly. His sync with Kureha improved. The blade no longer felt like a weapon he wielded.
It was becoming an extension of his will.
---
The day began with a hunt.
Not his own — someone else's.
He heard the screams before he saw them. Not player shouts. Something sharper. Shorter. That panicked, garbled breathing of someone who thought they were already dead.
Kael veered off course, slipping behind a collapsed network pylon overtaken by rot. Below the ridge, two players — low level by their HUD tags — scrambled through a crumbling ravine. Three Ashbound Cleavers chased them, limping beasts with rusted machete arms and teeth like copper shards.
Kael could've kept moving.
But he didn't.
He slid down the slope without a word.
The two players — barely teenagers from the look of their kits — froze as Kael stepped between them and the Cleavers. His cloak billowed. His sword was already half-drawn.
The monsters didn't pause.
Neither did he.
> [Draw Cut Sync: 33.1%]
[Double Strike – Chain Execution Bonus]
[EXP +90]
[Kill Confirmed – Ashbound Cleaver (x2)]
The third tried to retreat.
Kael didn't let it.
He moved forward, footwork now honed by instinct and repetition. The blade flicked out, curved through the beast's side, and dropped it before it could scream.
Silence returned.
The two players looked at him with wide eyes, half-expecting him to turn on them.
Kael didn't.
He wiped the blade clean.
"Don't travel through eastern Ashfield without a party of five," he said. "At least one with a ranged healer."
They nodded quickly.
"Th-thank you," the girl muttered.
He was already walking away.
---
He spent the afternoon tracking rumors.
There was an unlisted dungeon nearby — a fractured one, supposedly created during a patch rollback. Kael wasn't after loot or rare drops. He was after something harder to find.
Pressure.
If he didn't push himself in zones where death was possible, he'd never close the gap between himself and those ranked above him. And he needed to climb.
He needed to be stronger than Thorne.
---
He found the dungeon half-buried beneath a warped highway bridge.
The entrance pulsed red.
> [Hidden Zone – Instance: "Crimson Steps"]
Solo Entry Only.
Suggested Level: 18+
World Tier: Error-Classified
System Assistance: Disabled
Kael, now Level 14, pressed [ENTER].
---
The dungeon was a maze of blood-slick stairs and distorted gravity. Every step Kael took seemed to ripple backward, as if time in the instance refused to run straight.
The enemies came fast and without patterns — corrupted system knights, their armor melted onto their bodies, wielding broken swords and cracked voices.
Kael welcomed them.
He bled early. A misstep during the second wave cost him half his HP. But pain was a teacher. The next strike was cleaner. His footwork adapted. His reflexes bent to the chaos.
> [Reflex Trace – Engaged]
[Draw Cut Sync: 34.7%]
[Kill Confirmed – Crimson Knight (x3)]
By the end of the second floor, his blade was dripping ichor. His pulse was steady. His movement — nearly silent.
The final room shifted around him like a fever dream. Floating statues whispered code. The final enemy wasn't a boss.
It was him.
A perfect system replica, wielding a mirrored version of Kureha.
The copy stepped forward.
Kael didn't hesitate.
---
The duel lasted six minutes.
Neither Kael nor the replica spoke. They only moved — pure form, parry, reversal, shadow against steel. Every blow they traded reminded Kael of how much he'd changed. How far he'd come from the uncertain boy who first swung a sword against a system wolf.
The final strike came when the replica blinked left — exactly as Kael did during a Trial.
But Kael didn't fall for it.
He stepped into it. Adjusted his grip. And let Kureha finish what it started.
> [Solo Clear – Hidden Dungeon: "Crimson Steps"]
EXP +600
Ash Memory +2%
Reward: Unstable Ronin Module (1x)
+2 CP
+1 to Mental Clarity
He emerged into dying sunlight.
No music. No fanfare. Just a weight off his shoulders, and a level-up window flickering beside his vision.
> [LEVEL UP – Lv. 14 → Lv. 15]
Kael exhaled and sat on a rock just outside the dungeon's cracked entrance. The world buzzed in low tones behind him, but he let it. He wasn't here for the peace.
He was here for growth.
He remembered Reya's voice — "You can't carry this alone forever."
And Darius's final moment — shielding him from Thorne's strike.
His jaw clenched.
"No," he muttered. "But I'll carry it for now."
---
📊 Kael Draven – Status (End of Chapter 21)
Level: 15
Class: Ronin (Unique)
EXP: 90 / 1700
CP: 479
Reputation: 10
Mental Clarity: 12
Ash Memory: 15%
Draw Cut Sync: 34.7%
New Item: Unstable Ronin Module
> Can be installed at any Class Beacon. Unlocks one of three randomized passive traits. Risk: May overwrite existing stance.
Checkpoint: Crimson Steps – Dungeon Perimeter
Status: Alive. Sharpening. Haunted, but clear-eyed.