The cavern reeked of death.
Not the scent of rot—Vel had no lungs to draw air, no flesh to wrinkle against the stench. And yet, he felt it. The way a storm could be felt in the bones before it broke. The residue of violence clung to the stone, to the bones littering the floor, to his very frame.
He stared at his arm.
Where once it had been brittle ivory, fragile as a bleached relic in the sun, now it gleamed faintly with unnatural density. Not quite metal, but no longer mere bone. His fingers flexed, and the old leather of his sword's hilt groaned beneath the pressure.
A memory struck him—back when he had been human. His hands blistered from training, skin tearing as he clutched a practice blade too tightly. Blood dripping down the hilt, instructors barking at him to loosen his grip or risk tearing himself apart.
That weakness was gone.
His new hand did not bleed. Did not blister. Did not fatigue.
"…I am something else."
The words echoed within the cavern, though no sound came. They existed only in the hollow of his mind. He gazed down at the shattered bones of his first kill. A skeleton like him, only weaker, its fragments sprawled across the stone. It had been his mirror, his twin. Now it was nothing more than proof.
Proof that he could kill.Proof that he could change.
And the System had rewarded him for it.
Vel tightened his grip on his blade, testing the strength of his enhanced arm. The sword no longer felt cumbersome. It felt like an extension of himself—sharp, unyielding, hungry.
The cavern stirred.
From the corridor ahead came the rattle of movement. Not one… but many. The echoes overlapped, a chorus of bone grinding against stone. Vel turned, sockets narrowing, pale light flaring within.
They were coming.
Vel took his stance, awkward still, jerky like a marionette learning its strings. But his arm steadied the blade with inhuman force. His entire form trembled with anticipation—not fear, not hesitation, but hunger.
The first skeleton lurched into view. Then another. Then three more, until the corridor vomited forth a small pack of them. They clutched rusted blades, splintered axes, shattered shields. Their sockets glowed faintly, empty puppets bound to necromancy's leash.
Vel stared at them. For a heartbeat, he almost faltered. This was no duel. This was slaughter waiting to happen.
And then the System whispered in his hollow mind, the phantom text burned into his vision:
Kill. Evolve.
Vel raised his sword.
The skeletons shrieked and charged.
The first came at him with a downward hack of a jagged axe. Vel lifted his newly-forged arm and caught the strike on his blade. The impact rattled, sparks flaring. Before, such force would have shattered his brittle bones. Now, his arm held firm. He shoved, twisting his wrist. The axe flew from the enemy's grip.
His counterstrike came down like judgment. Steel tore through the skeleton's clavicle, cleaving it apart in a burst of fragments. Bone dust filled the air, coating Vel's skull like ash.
DING.
[+2 EP. +1 AP.]
The voice came cold, mechanical. Vel had no time to savor it.
The second skeleton lunged with a thrust. Vel pivoted—his movements smoother now, less clumsy. He batted the weapon aside and drove his sword through the enemy's ribcage. The bones shattered like brittle wood, collapsing under his strength.
DING.
[+2 EP. +1 AP.]
The notifications began to blur together with the sound of shattering skeletons.
The third foe slashed at him with a rusted blade. Vel raised his enhanced arm, catching the strike not with his sword, but with his own bone. The enemy's steel screeched across his forearm—sparks danced, but his reinforced arm held. Not even a crack.
Vel's sockets flared.
He seized the enemy's wrist with his left hand and squeezed. Bone crumbled beneath his grip, fragments snapping away. The skeleton writhed, but Vel ripped the arm free from its socket and hurled it aside. His blade followed, cleaving the skull in two.
Fragments scattered across the cavern floor.
Another foe charged him with reckless speed. Vel sidestepped, bones clattering on stone. His sword whipped out in a wide arc, carving through ribs, spine, and pelvis in a single brutal stroke. The enemy fell apart mid-charge, collapsing into dust and shards.
Vel stood in the midst of it. Surrounded by fragments. Surrounded by death. His sockets burned brighter, the pale light within swelling with savage exhilaration.
The notifications continued to ring.
[+2 EP. +1 AP.][+2 EP. +1 AP.][+2 EP. +1 AP.]
Total EP: 16Total AP: 7
Six kills.
Vel's blade dripped with dust, its battered edge coated in the remains of his kind. He looked down at his arm, still glowing faintly with its new strength. It had not faltered. Not once.
"…I could break them with this alone."
The thought came unbidden. And with it, something darker: what else could I break?
His sockets swept across the cavern, scanning for movement. More rattling echoed from deeper within. More skeletons. Countless. This cavern was a graveyard factory, vomiting forth endless thralls.
Vel tightened his grip on his sword. He was no longer human. He was no longer fragile. This body did not tire, did not bleed, did not stop.
Infinite stamina.Growing strength.An arm that could crush bone like parchment.
The System had given him tools. And it demanded only one thing in return.
Kill.
Vel stepped forward, into the dark.
The next wave came in greater numbers. Ten this time, shrieking in unison, their sockets blazing with false life. They surged down the corridor like a tide of bone.
Vel did not retreat.
He roared silently, his sockets burning, and charged to meet them.
The clash was thunderous. Blades clanged, bones shattered, sparks lit the cavern like lightning. Vel fought with the fury of one who had nothing left to lose—and everything to gain.
His enhanced arm crushed through enemy guards, tore weapons from their grips, shattered skulls with brutal strikes. His sword carved arcs of destruction, cleaving through two foes in a single swing.
Bone dust filled the cavern. Shards littered the floor. Screeches echoed until silence drowned them.
Vel stood in the aftermath, surrounded by fragments. His sockets glowed, brighter than ever. The System whispered again:
[+20 EP. +10 AP.]
Total EP: 36Total AP: 17
Vel trembled. Not from exhaustion—he could not feel it—but from something deeper. His body thrummed with raw, unnatural power. His arm no longer felt foreign. It felt right.
He looked at his hand again. Flexed it. The strength was intoxicating. The System pulsed within him, offering more. His entire form could be remade. Piece by piece. Bone by bone. Until nothing remained of the human Vel.
"…This is only the beginning."
He raised his sword, pointing it into the dark. His sockets flared like a beacon.
"Come then. Feed me. Let me become more."
And in the distance, the cavern answered with more rattling.
More prey.
More fuel.
More power.
Vel stepped forward, the dust of his slain kin still clinging to his frame, and vanished into the abyss of bones.
The hunt had only begun.