????
"The elements do not answer you."
The voice of the old man thundered like justice in the vaulted hall, cold and unyielding. His silver staff crashed onto the obsidian floor with a harsh crack that echoed through the taut silence.
"Kael Thorne… you are nullified."
And thus, his fate was sealed.
Kael was in the Awakening Circle, his feet bare, surrounded by seven shining obelisks seven obelisks, one for each raw element. The sacred hall of the Mage Academy was filled with respected families, the best apprentices, and hooded Councilors. All eyes were fixed on him in stunned silence.
He was to awaken his power today. To forge his connection with the elements, as every mage-born child of his generation. His bloodline guaranteed it. His training instructed him.
Instead?
Not even a flicker.
Not even a whisper.
[Elemental Affinity: None Detected]
[Magical Compatibility: 0%]
[Bloodline Purity: 27% – INSUFFICIENT]
The mage crystal at the center grew dark the mark of a Null.
The crowd gasped. Then the whispers began. Cruel, pointed.
"A Null? From House Thorne?"
".His mother was a peasant. Probably tainted the bloodline."
"Maybe he was cursed during his gestation."
"Gross. Waste of robes."
Kael's fists tightened at his sides, his nails pressing into the flesh of his palms. Shame writhed in his bottom throat. But he remained silent.
Even when his own father stood up from the raised dais. Archmage Orlan Thorne the very Stormbringer looked down upon him with disdain.
"You are no son of mine."
Those were the last words Kael ever heard from his father.
The crowd didn't forget him for long.
???? Exile
They gave him no time to pack.
Before dawn, two enforcers took him through the servants' door and pushed him into a transport wagon like cattle.
His possessions? A frayed cloak. A shattered dagger. A sack of stale rations. No wand. No spellstone. No souvenirs.
Just failure.
"By authority of the Mage Council," one guard read with apathy, "Kael Thorne is condemned to the Outlands for magical incompetence. May the spirits grant him a swift death."
"Or a hilarious one," said the other with a smile.
The gates slammed shut behind him with a sense of finality.
Once. Kael turned around.
No one was watching.
Not even his dad.
???? The Outlands Day 3
The wild was alive.
And hated him.
Kael staggered through a thicket of bramble, blood trickling into his torn shirt. His legs shook. His mouth was dry. Every harsh breath was like making it through shards.
The Outlands were not exilium they were killing. No rational man survived here without magic. The forests hummed along with residual mana, warping beasts and vegetation alike. Bending them into monstrosities.
He'd fought a shadowbeast the day before.
It snapped his dagger in two.
Luck and a wide ravine were the only things that saved him. He'd spent the night shivering in mud, holding his shattered blade, and waiting to see which would kill him first bleeding out or hypothermia.
Now, three days since he'd last eaten actual food, Kael slumped under the side of a huge luminescent tree.
It wasn't just big it pulsed. Its roots pulsed gently with life, strings of bioluminescent arteries running through its bark. Like a heart. Like something alive.
Kael hacked, scratching his back up the trunk. His eyes stung.
"So this is it?" he snarled. "No magic. No revenge. No girls. Just… rot under some weird tree."
He lowered his head.
"Terrible ending."
But then…
The tree pulsed again.
And the earth responded.
Light warm, green, blinding blurred from beneath him. Unusual runes burst into flame in the earth, encasing his form in a corkscrew of glyphs. He tried to move, but his arms and legs were weighed down. His body throbbed, as if roots beneath caressed inside him.
[SYSTEM DETECTED]
[Host Vital Signs: Critical]
[Emergency Override Engaged…]
[Alert: No Suitable Element Present – Alternate Circuit Scanning…]
[Forbidden System: LIFEFORCE ASSIMILATION – Binding… COMPLETE]
Kael's eyes snapped open. A system window materialized in his mind's eye, clear and sharp.
???? SYSTEM UNLOCKED: Lifeforce Assimilation Protocol
Energy Source: Living Beings
Core Skill: Lifedrain [Lv.1]
Trait: Forbidden Lust Circuit [Dormant]
Quest: Stay Alive (Duration: Indefinite)
Bonus: +2 STR, +1 VIT, +3 LUST
Do you want to see your full Status Screen? (Y/N)
Kael blinked.
"I.got a system?" he whispered.
Then he read the last part again.
"Wait Lust Circuit?!
A shuffling in the leaves stopped his thoughts.
He was not alone.
???? Encounter
"You shouldn't be here," a voice said smoothing, feminine, and strangely musical.
Kael turned around, eyes locked on the throbbing roots.
A woman stood in the clearing.
No. Not a woman a vision.
She wore no shoes, was statuesque, and was fantastically lovely. Her hair cascaded in silver waves down her back, a dull sheen in the light filtering through the tree. Her skin was moon-white on snow. She wore vines woven into living fabric, loosely wrapped around her form, barely covering the essentials and that near enough a courtesy rather than a necessity.
Her emerald eyes blazed with energy. Old. Wild. Huntress.
"W-Who" Kael began, but his throat groaned. He tried to sit up, but collapsed back.
She rested her head.
"You're injured," she said. "And poisoned. Shadowbeast venom. Yucky."
Kael coughed. "No kidding."
She walked toward him, every step crunching the grass beneath her. The clearing seemed to brighten where she walked, as if the forest responded to her.
He tried to sit up straighter. "Listen… I don't want trouble."
"You've already caused trouble," she murmured, kneeling beside him. "The Lifebound Tree never activates for humans. And yet…"
She touched his chest.
Kael flinched.
Warmth spread through him immediate, comforting, arousing. It wasn't just healing it was pleasure. Her fingers glowed softly, and wherever they touched, his pain faded.
[Life Energy Sync Detected]
Lifeforce Threads Entangled
New Trait: Lust Conduit Lv.1 Unlocked
Passive: Physical contact with compatible females regenerates HP and boosts LUST
+4 HP Recovered
+2 LUST Gained
Kael gulped.
Her hand slid on his chest, flowing along his skin. Not by accident.
"What… what are you doing?" he stuttered.
She smiled faintly. "Checking compatibility."
"Compatibility with what?!"
She moved closer, her hair brushing his cheek. Her breath was hot.
"The system chose you. Which means… so have I."
[Bonded Companion Registered: Sylvenia – Forest Witch]
Title Unlocked: Witch-Touched
Trait: Shared Link [Lv.1]
Bond Bonus: Passive Skill Sync + Shared XP
Kael gawked at the system window. "Wait bonded? Like, magically? Forever?"
Sylvenia laughed. "Physically, too. If you survive."
He blinked. "Survive what "
SCREEECH.
A bone-shattering shriek ripped through the trees. Branches splintered out as something titanic hurtled toward them.
Sylvenia's smile fell.
"Looks like we'll have to get your orientation in later."
???? Cliffhanger
[Threat Detected: Corrupted Shadowbeast – Level 6]
Danger Rating: EXTREME
Survival Odds (Alone): 11%
With Bonded Companion: 51%
Kael's heart thudded. "Tell me you can fight."
Sylvenia rose, green light swirling around her hands. "I do everything, little mage."
When the beast crashed into the clearing, Kael pushed himself up, groggy but alive. The glowing runes still churned beneath his skin.
"I have no spells. No weapons. What the hell can I do?"
[Lifedrain Activated]
Touch target. Sustain for 3 seconds. Absorb vitality.
He swallowed hard.
".Guess I'm about to find out."