The village smelled of blood and smoke.
Kael dragged his boots through the mud, each step heavier than the last. The boy they had rescued clung to Serenya's cloak, silent, eyes glazed from shock. Around them, survivors gathered, their faces pale and streaked with soot.
They looked at Kael. Not with gratitude. Not with relief. But with something colder.
Fear.
He had risen from the dirt three times that night. Torn apart, impaled, his blood staining the ground. Each time, he should have stayed down. Each time, he had stood again, stronger than before.
Now their eyes cut into him like knives.
"Monster," someone whispered.
The word struck harder than any blade. Kael stiffened, fists clenching. He wanted to deny it, but what proof did he have? He remembered the way his vision had sharpened, how every heartbeat in the goblins' chests had pulsed like drums in his ears. The way their screams had thrilled him.
The Rebirth System hadn't just given him strength. It had twisted something inside him.
Serenya sensed the shift. She stepped forward, placing herself between Kael and the villagers. Her voice was steady, though her jaw tightened. "He fought to save you. Without him, those creatures would have slaughtered what little remains of this place."
Her words cut the whispers short, but only for a moment. Their stares didn't soften. Suspicion clung to Kael like smoke.
An old man approached, robes tattered but eyes sharp. His silver hair caught the firelight, and he leaned on a wooden staff carved with runes. Serenya dipped her head slightly, as if she knew him.
"Eldran," she murmured.
Kael met the man's gaze. Eldran's eyes were calm, but too calm—as though nothing Kael could do would surprise him. He studied Kael the way one might study a strange beast.
"You carry a curse," Eldran said at last, voice rough but steady. "One that bends death to your will."
The murmurs swelled, fear thick in the air.
Kael opened his mouth to argue, but no words came. How could he explain what he didn't understand himself? He wasn't cursed. Was he?
Eldran tapped his staff against the ground. "This village cannot shelter what it does not trust. If you remain, you must prove your intent. If you cannot…" His voice hardened. "Then you must leave."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Kael's chest tightened as dozens of eyes weighed on him, branding him as something other. Something dangerous.
Serenya's hand brushed his arm, a subtle anchor. Her face was unreadable, but her presence told him enough: she hadn't abandoned him. Not yet.
Kael lowered his gaze. His throat burned, but his voice came out steady. "I didn't ask for this. But I won't run. If proving myself is what it takes, then so be it."
The villagers said nothing. Their eyes said everything.
And in the dark corner of his mind, the System whispered:
[Soul Strain: 7%]
"They fear you because they should."
Kael shivered. For the first time, he wondered if the villagers were right.
---