The southern road was broken long before Kael walked it.
Cables spilled from snapped utility pylons like dead veins. Abandoned bikes, rusted data drones, and shattered HUD terminals lined the path in quiet wreckage. Every few minutes, the system blinked an error warning:
> [You Are Exiting Stabilized Zone]
[Local Instancing May Be Unreliable]
[Proceed with Caution]
Kael didn't slow down.
He was heading to Grayscale Hollow — a mid-tier respawn hub turned ghost town. Word from scavenger fires said Viper Guild low-levels had holed up there, masquerading as sentinels. Not openly hostile. Not system-flagged. But the kind of presence that strangled you slowly.
Kael kept Kureha slung low, blade idle, step silent.
He didn't want a fight.
But if one came, he would end it before it began.
---
Grayscale Hollow looked worse than expected.
Once a small recovery town built around a Tier-2 beacon node, it now resembled a data husk. The beacon flickered with an unstable green flame. Vendors sat idle, their wares covered in dust. Players moved quietly, eyes lowered, tags hidden behind cloaks.
Kael entered through the western gate without drawing attention. His name ID was neutral, and his reputation was unremarkable in this region. But the moment he passed a checkpoint, the system responded.
> [Warning – Presence of Affiliated Hostiles Detected]
[Local Reputation System: Viper Supremacy Active]
He felt it before he saw it.
That wrongness.
The kind that didn't scream danger — it grinned at it.
---
Two players cornered a boy in healer robes near the back of a broken shopfront. The healer looked maybe fifteen. Pale. Thin. Eyes wide and shaking behind a cracked visor. His name hovered just above his head in orange font:
> [Name: Kyo | Class: Support – Field Medic | LVL: 7]
The two players weren't strong. Their gear was mismatched — system loot paired with Viper-skin bracers and glitched augment tattoos. One of them leaned forward.
"Contract's still valid," he said, tone lazy. "You agreed to two patch cycles of healing rotations. Don't go flaking now."
"I-I never—" Kyo tried. "I only tapped accept by accident—"
"That's not how the system sees it."
The second player raised his weapon — not to strike, but to tag.
> [Initiating PvP Flag – Contract Enforcement]
Kael didn't draw his sword.
He walked between them.
The first Viper stepped back instinctively. The second one didn't.
So Kael raised his hand and knocked the tagging blade aside with the back of Kureha's sheath.
"Walk," Kael said.
"What the hell—?"
"Now."
The Vipers hesitated. One of them blinked. He must've scanned Kael's profile. His face shifted — not fear, but recognition.
Not fame.
Reputation.
They left.
Not in panic, not with a fight. Just like roaches when the light comes on. Quick and quiet.
---
Kyo dropped to a crouch.
He didn't cry, but his hands trembled as he clutched his staff like a shield.
Kael said nothing at first.
Then:
"They'll be back."
Kyo looked up. "I know."
"You heal?"
" I-I try. I was good in closed beta, but the patch changes—"
Kael pointed to the ruins just outside the town.
"Come. Fifteen minutes."
Kyo blinked. "W-What?"
"You're not weak," Kael said. "You're just always running."
---
They trained beneath a broken stairwell behind the Beacon Tower, where the system's detection range couldn't reach.
Kael didn't teach skills. He didn't have time for menus.
He taught movement.
How to roll without losing field awareness. How to fall and stand without dropping a flask. How to not look like prey.
Kyo gasped for breath, soaked in sweat after just five minutes.
Kael didn't stop.
"You think they'll leave you alone next time?" he asked. "You think anyone's coming to fix this town for you?"
Kyo's jaw clenched. "No."
"Good. Then move."
---
That night, Kael camped on the hollow's edge.
He sat near a dying brazier, HUD set low.
Kureha leaned beside him again, but the sword no longer seemed dormant. Since the Shrine, since the reflection, it waited differently.
As if it knew the silence was just the inhale before violence.
> [Draw Cut Sync: 36.2%]
[Flow Trigger: Ready]
His thoughts wandered.
To Darius. To Reya.
To what he was becoming.
He wasn't building a guild. He wasn't gathering allies. He walked alone because he didn't trust where his anger led—not yet.
But maybe that didn't mean he had to stay silent.
---
Midnight. A notification blinked softly in the corner of his HUD.
> [New Regional Tag: "Ashblade" — Whispered Title]
[Reputation +1 | Grayscale Hollow]
Kael frowned.
He hadn't chosen that name.
But someone had spoken it. Enough times, in enough corners, for the system to hear it.
---
He woke to shouting.
A shop vendor — gutted. Inventory scattered.
Three Viper players stood in the center plaza, laughing, warning. No system flags. No bans. Just threats.
They were playing within the rules.
Kael walked toward them slowly.
Kureha at his side.
The one in front turned, scanned him.
"Yo, you're that guy. The one from Scarred. Ashblade, huh?"
Kael said nothing.
> [Combat Flagged – Rogue Engagement Detected]
One of them drew first.
He didn't draw again.
---
The plaza was silent afterward.
Kael didn't kill them all.
Just one.
> [PK Confirmed – Viper D9-Rook | LVL: 17]
[Reputation +2 | Regional Threat Increased]
[Data Shard Obtained – Viper Directive Fragment]
He checked the shard later.
Encrypted. Corrupted. But one line glitched through.
> "...Ashfield perimeter compromised... Ashblade active... Directive: observe, mark... do not engage without clearance."
So they knew.
They were watching.
Kael closed the shard window.
He'd stop hiding soon.
But not before he was ready.
Not before he had nothing left to regret.
---
📍Checkpoint: Grayscale Hollow – Beacon Tower Roof
📊 Status: Known. Unrattled. Becoming a threat.
> Class: Ronin (Unique)
Level: 16
CP: 482
Reputation: 13
Draw Cut Sync: 36.2%
Ash Memory: 16%
Mental Clarity: 14
Passive: Flow Trigger — Ready