The searing hum of Kaelen's blood finally quieted.
The storm had passed. Smoke curled from the fractured stone walls of the chamber, hanging thick with the stench of charred flesh and fractured magic. The ash-strewn floor bore the scars of the ritual, etched deep into the rock like molten veins. Kaelen stood in the middle of it all, skin glistening with sweat, veins pulsing with arcane light.
The Oathforged System pulsed dimly before his eyes.
[Soulbound Initiation Complete]
[New Title Gained: Oathbearer of the Black Pyre]
[Passive Bonus: Fire Resistance +25% | Mental Fortitude +30% | All Oaths Interpreted Literally]
The last line sent a cold chill down Kaelen's spine. He understood now. Whatever oath he made whatever words he uttered with true intention, the system would bind and twist into something tangible. Powerful. Dangerous.
He hadn't even fully sworn anything yet.
And still, something inside him felt... heavier.
Kaelen looked down at his palm. A faint sigil had etched itself there, a black flame coiling into the shape of an eye. It stared at him with silent judgment, as if the system itself waited to see what he would do next.
"Is it done?" came a voice from behind.
It was Aeren, his face pale, a thin cut trailing from brow to jaw. The mage clutched his staff tight, knuckles white, robes torn and singed from the backlash of power. Beside him, Arissa limped forward, favoring her left side. Her spear-tip dripped dark ichor.
Kaelen gave a shallow nod. "The rite is sealed."
Arissa's gaze lingered on the sigil in his palm. "Then we should move. If the Black Pyre awakened... others might have felt it."
Kaelen's mouth tightened. "They'll come."
"And they'll want blood," Aeren added grimly.
The trio gathered what they could. Most of their supplies had burned during the final surge of magical fire, and Kaelen's armor was barely held together by dried blood and makeshift bindings. But there was no time to rest. Not now.
They slipped into the corridor beyond the shattered chamber, the walls around them groaning under ancient weight. The Veiled Catacombs had long been a forgotten place beneath the spires of Rivenhall, a ruin buried under centuries of war and betrayal. But now, it was awake.
And something else was waking with it.
---
As they moved through the darkened halls, the glow from Kaelen's hand lit their way. Every so often, his senses jolted, tendrils of awareness stirring in his gut, alerting him to faint shifts in the air, the scraping of claws, the soft thrum of distant footsteps.
The system was adapting.
[Passive Trait Activated: Soul Echo]
[You sense hostile intent within 30 meters]
He raised a hand to halt the others.
"Three ahead," he whispered. "Fast. Armed. Not friendly."
Arissa crouched instantly, already pressing herself to the wall. "Scouts?"
Aeren shook his head. "If they're this deep, they're more than scouts."
Kaelen didn't wait. He pressed his back against the stone and waited until the shadowed figures emerged tall, wrapped in blackened steel, sigils pulsing faintly on their armor.
Cultists.
Their masks bore the sigil of the Blightbound mercenaries bound by forbidden pacts and spirit-touched rituals. Notorious. Bloodthirsty. Loyal to coin and power alone.
One of them stopped, eyes narrowing through the slit of a bone-white mask.
"I smell oathfire," he hissed.
Kaelen didn't let him finish. He surged forward, system-guided reflexes flooding his limbs.
[Skill Activated: Ember Lunge]
[Target Acquired: Hostile - Blightbound Cultist]
[Bonus Effect: First Strike x1.5]
He crashed into the masked man with brutal force, flames trailing from his fist as it connected with the cultist's chest. Bone cracked. The man screamed once before the fire consumed his breath.
Another cultist turned and raised a curved blade, only to be impaled by Arissa's spear. She twisted it cruelly before jerking it free, spraying black blood against the stone.
The last tried to flee.
He didn't get far.
Aeren's staff flared with runes and an arc of violet lightning danced through the air. The cultist convulsed mid-stride, slamming into a pillar with a wet crunch.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Kaelen exhaled slowly, knuckles still smoldering.
"Blightbound, this deep?" Aeren asked.
"They were waiting," Kaelen muttered. "Or drawn here. Either way, they won't be the last."
He crouched and pulled a scrap of parchment from one of the corpses. His eyes scanned the symbol etched there, a sigil within a sigil, twisted and blackened like an inked curse.
"A summoning circle?" Arissa asked, frowning.
Kaelen didn't answer immediately. His heart pounded as he recognized something in the design, an echo of the same geometry he'd seen in his vision during the rite.
"This wasn't just a hunt," he said softly. "Someone's trying to break open the Catacombs."
Aeren stepped back. "To what end?"
Kaelen turned the parchment over. On the other side was a name written in blood.
Seris Vael.
His breath caught.
He knew that name. Not from this life but from the memories that weren't his. Echoes of another world. Another him.
Seris Vael had once been his master. His tormentor. The architect of his betrayal.
"I think," Kaelen said slowly, "someone knows I've returned."
---
Later, they found shelter in a collapsed chapel, tucked beneath the ruined arches of what had once been a holy site. Faint glyphs still glimmered on the walls, flickering gently as if mourning their faded god.
Arissa started a small fire with what was left of their supplies, while Aeren kept watch near the archway. Kaelen sat alone, turning the parchment over and over in his hands.
The system pulsed faintly again.
[New Quest Unlocked: A Binding Flame]
Objective: Locate the True Circle hidden beneath the Catacombs]
Optional: Intercept Seris Vael's agents before the seventh seal breaks]
Reward: Unique Oath | Stat Boost | System Evolution
Kaelen read it twice before the weight of it sank in. The system had always moved with a cold, mechanical logic. Now, it felt personal.
The seventh seal.
If they waited too long, something would be unleashed.
He looked to the others, then back to the flickering fire.
He had no choice. Not anymore.
He had to move faster. Grow stronger. Unravel every piece of this world that had once destroyed him.
And when he found Seris Vael...
There would be no oaths left to bind his rage.
But before he could speak, a shrill cry echoed from beyond the chapel walls.
Not human.
Not close.
But getting closer.
Then the glyphs on the walls flared red.
[Warning: Anti-Soul Entity Detected]
[System Lock Engaged - Forced Combat Imminent]
Kaelen surged to his feet.
Something ancient had found them.
And it was hungry.