Cairen heard a soft sound of chains creaking; for a moment, he thought he was back in his cell. But something was different.
There were muffled voices in that cell, faint cries like forgotten whimpers.
When Cairen's vision cleared, he found himself in front of a child with dark bluish skin, vertical golden eyes, and strange markings running along her arms.
She was curled up behind iron bars, surrounded by five more of similar appearances, all the same race. Weak, starving, wounded.
Cairen tried to speak, but no sound came from his voice. He couldn't even walk or do anything. He felt like nothing more than a ghost watching everything.
Footsteps echoed outside.
"So, the Narakai race has been exterminated," a man said in a casual tone.
"Yes, the empire blamed them for the plague that wiped out the city of Nilh… and did what it always does," the second voice replied with a cynical smile.
"Do you think it was really the Narakai who did that?"
"Doesn't matter, does it? These subspecies are only good for being our slaves. Who cares if they're extinct or not? What matters is that these few who remain will definitely be sold for a good price."
The man laughed, a sincere and greedy laugh that spread like poison into the ears of the already hopeless children.
Hearing this, the children panicked. The crying behind the bars grew louder.
At that moment, Cairen felt something different. As he watched, he suddenly began to hear voices in his mind. He immediately knew where they were coming from, they were the thoughts of the children in front of him.
Fear, pain, hatred, despair. And then his vision changed.
The memories of one of the children the first one he saw when he arrived, and the one standing before him. For some reason, as time passed, he felt a faint connection with this child.
In the memories…
He saw her city being destroyed, the sky dyed with smoke from countless explosions. Fallen guardians among thousands of bodies of children and elders who couldn't be saved.
Her entire kingdom was devastated in a single day. It's unknown how many of her race remained.
Cairen saw it as he stood beside the child in the memories. She was hiding in a cave on a mountain, where she could see all the destruction in the city. She couldn't do anything, couldn't stop it.
Tears fell, and hatred came. And then, suddenly, she knelt down.
Cairen saw her praying while banging her head on the ground. Praying to the God her race and her family the Narakai royal family had always believed in. Begging for salvation.
She stayed kneeling for an hour, until the city was completely destroyed, nothing and no one spared.
She remained on her knees, but the answer was silence.
That God did not respond. She didn't stop kneeling, but in that moment, when she heard the sounds of screams and war cease, only one thought filled her mind.
'I was abandoned… Our God… has abandoned me, hasn't he?'
She stood up, looking at the end of her race, and then suddenly saw a person holding a sword appear at the entrance of her cave.
Cairen felt the surroundings change, now he was in front of the bars with the Narakai children again.
In the cell, the girl whose memories Cairen had seen seemed different. She was standing, the connection he felt with her growing rapidly. Until suddenly, a strange symbol appeared on her neck. Her golden eyes turned gray.
And then, with wounded and scraped hands, she reached toward the iron bars. Her already cut skin bled over the rows of iron. But her blood was different.
It was no longer the green known to her race, no. It was dark gray, and just looking at it made it clear it wasn't good. It was thick, toxic, and corrosive.
The iron couldn't withstand it. It began to hiss, darken, and then disintegrate into powder in seconds.
What followed happened quickly.
Their captors didn't even understand what happened. She lunged at one, biting his neck and killing him instantly. The man's body corroded even faster. She grabbed a nearby knife and slit her wrist, and with one swing, her blood splattered onto everyone who tried to kill her.
In two minutes, none of them were alive anymore.
In that moment, Cairen knew. He felt he was connected to her. She was no longer just a Narakai. She had now… become a Fallen.
But there was one last enemy behind her. A white sword passed through the child's throat without any effort. And then the vision ended.
************************************
At that moment, Cairen opened his eyes. As if he had awakened from a long dream, but in reality, not much time had passed.
He didn't even care that he could now see the ceiling of the cave easily. In his mind, the memories and feelings of that child whose name he didn't even know, a part of them now belonged to Cairen. They burned silently in his chest.
'I hope you, and your entire race, rest in peace.' Cairen said mentally, with a sincerity he didn't remember possessing.
"And… thank you. For helping me."
Cairen, upon waking, could feel it.
Now he was different, his body felt light. He could feel a power, something unknown, flowing through his entire body.
The pain and burning he felt before the vision had completely vanished. Cairen had never felt as good as he did now. He stood up, looking at the serpent's corpse beside his body. Half of its head was missing, that part was already in his stomach. But he didn't feel disgusted or anything like that.
Then, at that moment, the voice in the depths of his mind came again.
'Ding!'
[Fallen Bloodline successfully implanted: Fallen Narakai Bloodline (Grade 3)]
Cairen then remembered and immediately spoke.
"Status."
------------------------------------------------------
[Fallen System]
Name: Cairen Veyrith.
Age: 16.
Bloodline: Fallen Human (No Grade), Fallen Narakai (Grade 3)
Titles: *** ******** ***
Cultivation: Peak of the Physical Enhancement Realm.
Passive Abilities: Narakai Physique.
Active Abilities:
Fallen Abilities: The Serpent's Plague.
[Missions]
----------------------------------------------------
The translucent panel mysteriously appeared before him again. Cairen truly didn't know what to think about it. He had never imagined something like this could exist. Was it some kind of magic?
He took a deep breath before focusing on the information in front of him for the first time.
"What… are you?" Cairen asked, looking at the screen.
The answer came immediately, inside his mind.
[I am the Fallen System.]
Cairen frowned at the answer he already knew.
"What are these bloodlines?"
[Inherited fragments from specific fallen races, species, or individuals.]
Cairen sat down on the cold cave floor as he continued to ask.
"These abilities… I got them because of the bloodlines, right? How does that work?"
[Acquired Fallen Bloodlines may possess up to three types of abilities.]
[Passive Ability: Constant innate power.]
[Active Ability: Inherited technique or controlled power.]
[Fallen Ability: Unique strength born from the cause of the fall.]
The explanation was straightforward, but Cairen could easily understand the first two.
"So… why do you exist? And why did you save me?"
[…]
The system did not answer.
"Fine. Then, what is a Fallen?"
[A being abandoned by itself, by its own race, gods, or by destiny. The fall transforms it into something beyond its origin.]
Cairen understood as he thought.
"And what is your purpose? Why are you with me?"
[To assist the host.]
The answer was simple, without emotion or any further explanation. And Cairen felt that, even if he asked again, he probably wouldn't get a much better answer.
He sighed, placing his hand on his forehead. At least now he understood the basics. The system didn't answer everything, but it had given him a power that, until recently, he would have thought impossible.
He felt… different since he woke from the vision. Stronger, more alive.
"Alright. Where am I now? You saved me from death, but how did I end up here?"
[Cultivation plane.]
…
"Okay, but where exactly in this 'plane'? What the hell is a cultivation plane? Am I not on the continent anymore?"
[…]
All he received was absolute silence. No matter how he asked, the voice gave no more information about it.
"Great…" Cairen muttered, realizing he'd have to leave this place on his own and figure out where he was, because it seemed the system would only answer when it wanted to or when it deemed it necessary.
He then looked back at his status.
His eyes focused on the passive ability, wanting to know more, and then the screen suddenly changed, showing other information.
"Ah, so that works too," Cairen commented, a little happier.
[Narakai Physique]
- Body adaptable to toxins and venoms.
- Naturally increased resistance.
- Adapted eyes.
- Increased regeneration and strength when ingesting toxins.
"This… sounds amazing…" Cairen murmured, his breathing quickening, the explanation was direct, cold, but exactly what he needed to know. Besides, instinctively, he already knew certain things.
Then his eyes moved to the fallen ability. In the same instant, the memory of the Narakai child's gray blood flooded his mind.
And then the screen changed again.
[The Serpent's Plague]
{Corrosive and adaptive blood of the Fallen Narakai. Capable of destroying poison, flesh, and even metal.}
Cairen blinked, looking at his arms, feeling a strange weight. It was as if part of that child was now within him. But he breathed and calmed himself. He would carry her memories with him forever.
Finally, he looked at the area where the panel showed Cultivation.
[The host's body has reached the physical limit.]
Cairen stared at it in silence.
"Tsk, what the hell does that mean?" he asked the air.
And the system, as expected, remained completely silent.