The night bled fire.
Kieran Vale sprinted across the cracked campus pavement, blood pumping in his ears as the siren-song of slaughter echoed from every corner of the burning world. Beside him, Riven Amari moved with agility born from desperation—silent, sharp-eyed, a fighter at heart despite never awakening the Blood Codex herself.
Behind them floated the presence of Selene—silent as mist, trailing like a shadow draped in crimson dusk. The self-proclaimed "Guide" had offered them a path, but she offered no hand.
The moon above had fully split.
A second celestial body hovered above the sky—dark, cratered, veined with glowing red lines. The Bloodmoon. Its presence distorted reality itself. The longer it hung above the earth, the more unrecognizable everything became.
Trees bent toward the ground as if mourning. Buildings pulsed faintly with wrongness. Roads cracked where no heat touched them.
[Codex Alert: World instability increasing.][Blood Codex synchronization required. Kill or die.]
[Next skill unlock threshold: 100 XP][Current XP: 80 / 100]
Kieran had learned two things quickly: the Codex rewarded violence, and hesitation was lethal.
They were halfway through the overrun courtyard when the sky above screamed.
Riven ducked. "What the hell—?!"
A streak of violet flame crashed into the quad, leaving behind a scorched crater—and something worse inside.
A humanoid figure rose slowly from the molten earth. Its body was hairless and metallic, shaped like a man but with no mouth, no eyes—just a smooth head and jagged claws. Heat rippled from it like a furnace.
[Threat Identified: Infernal Drone – Tier I Mutant][Strength: 16 | Agility: 12 | Stamina: 14 | Magic: 5]
[Recommended Action: Flee or combine strength.]
"I thought they were just zombies!" Riven shouted.
"They're not," Kieran replied. "They're evolving."
The Drone's head tilted at an unnatural angle. Then it charged.
Kieran didn't wait.
He drew from himself, blood erupting from both palms this time. With sheer focus, he forced the liquid to twist into a long crimson halberd, double-bladed, one side jagged and the other smooth.
[Bloodweave Form: Twinfang Halberd created][HP cost: 20][Remaining HP: 70 / 100]
The pain was real—but distant. The Codex muted it somehow, turning agony into adrenaline.
The Drone reached him in seconds.
Kieran swung.
Metal met blood.
The halberd sliced across the creature's torso, sparks flying. Not deep enough. It retaliated, claws flashing like steel scythes.
Kieran ducked, pivoted. His body moved faster than it should have—either instinct or the Codex's growing influence. The halberd whirled in a full arc, cutting through the back of the creature's leg.
It stumbled—but didn't fall.
It turned, backhanding him with terrifying strength.
Kieran flew six meters and crashed into a trash bin, breath leaving his lungs in a rush.
[Damage sustained. -18 HP][Remaining HP: 52 / 100]
"Kieran!" Riven screamed.
The Drone moved toward him, claws raised.
That's when Riven acted.
She ran forward, snatching a piece of broken piping from the ground, and hurled it like a javelin. It struck the Drone square in the neck—not fatal, but enough to distract.
Kieran didn't waste the opening.
He surged forward, blood weaving a fresh blade in his palm—this time a short spear with a pointed tip and barbed edges.
He rammed it through the creature's eye.
[Enemy defeated.][+60 XP][Level Up: Level 4 Reached][2 stat points gained]
[Skill Unlocked: Blood Echo (Lv. 1)]– On kill, chance to echo a portion of skill cost as HP refund.– Current Refund Chance: 20%
[Codex Insight: The blood you shed returns when your enemy falls.]
The body convulsed, then collapsed in a pool of blackened fluid.
Kieran swayed, exhausted—but alive.
Selene clapped slowly from a nearby rooftop. Her voice drifted through the smoke.
"Well done. The Drone-class mutants are designed to test new Awakened. Most fail. You did not."
Kieran looked up, his chest heaving. "Do you always show up just to commentate?"
Selene's golden eyes gleamed. "And yet you crave the approval."
He looked away, flushing with anger and… an uncomfortable hint of truth.
Beside him, Riven knelt and inspected the creature's corpse. "It dropped something."
From its chest cavity—a glittering crystal floated out, pulsing faintly.
[Item Obtained: Mutation Core Fragment (Tier I)]– Can be consumed or used for crafting.– Effect: +1 to random stat on absorption.– Warning: Overuse may destabilize Codex integrity.
"Take it," Selene said from above. "But understand: every gain carries a risk. The Codex rewards growth—but it punishes greed."
Kieran hesitated, then closed his fingers around the crystal. It dissolved into his palm like mist.
[Mutation Core absorbed.][+1 Agility][New Stat: Agility – 6]
He exhaled.
"Thanks," he muttered to Riven.
She gave him a weak smile. "Least I could do after you saved my ass."
They kept moving.
—
By the time they reached the edge of campus, Kieran had killed three more infected. His halberd form had grown sharper. He had begun adjusting his stat distribution—leaning into a balance between Agility and Magic, with a few points in Stamina to endure the strain.
[Level: 5][Strength: 5 | Agility: 7 | Stamina: 6 | Magic: 7][Health: 100 | Mana: 50][Skills: Bloodweave (Lv. 2), Blood Echo (Lv. 1)][XP to Next Level: 50 / 120]
But the forest beyond the campus didn't offer safety.
It whispered.
Branches shifted without wind. Shadows moved counter to the moonlight. The sky above had darkened, the twin moons glowing like twin watchful eyes.
And then, finally, they saw it: a structure nestled between broken stone and overgrown roots—half-ruined, ancient, glowing faintly red.
Selene landed beside them, cloak fluttering like smoke. "The gate."
"What is it?" Riven asked.
"A testing ground," Selene replied. "Inside, you'll find something older than this world. Survive its trial... and your Codex will evolve."
Kieran looked at the structure, then at his bloodstained hands.
"I'm ready."
Selene's voice was soft now, almost reverent.
"Then enter, Kieran Vale. The Codex watches."
And the door opened.