The chime faded, leaving a profound silence in its wake that was louder than the roar of the Pit. Yrauos sat frozen, his forehead still pressed against the cold stone, his vow hanging in the air.
Had he imagined it? A hallucination born of pain and concussion?
Then, it appeared.
Hovering in the center of his vision, superimposed over the darkness of his cell, was a rectangle of cool, blue light. The text within it was a stark, simple font that spoke of pure functionality.
[Shinobi Cultivation System - v.1.0 Online]
[Primary Directive: Attain Freedom & Peace - STATUS: PENDING]
[User: Yrauos Ardynth | Soul Integration: Grieremir Illescas - COMPLETE]
His breath hitched. Soul Integration. It knew. This wasn't just a tool; it was a witness. A participant.
[Initial Scan Complete.]
[Status: Critical]
A new screen materialized, filled with data.
USER STATUS
Name:Yrauos Ardynth
Race:Elf (Demi-human)
Age:8
Title:Pit Slave
ESSENCE CORE: Crude (Stage 1: Initiate)
Health:28/100 (Internal Bleeding, Fractured Ribs, Severe Contusions, Concussion)
Stamina:11/100
Mana Essence:5/100
BLOODLINE RESONANCES:
[Infernal Convergence]- [SEALED - Rank: Common - Stability: 12%]
[Verdant Carapace]- [SEALED - Rank: Common - Stability: 45%]
[Voidstar Eye]- [SEALED - Rank: Common - Stability: 2%]
SKILLS:
None
ESSENCE POINTS (EP): 0
It was a brutal, numerical representation of his misery. Every injury, every weakness, laid bare. The "Sealed" status on his bloodlines confirmed his suspicion—the chaotic surges he felt were just leaks from a locked door. The thought of what they could be at full power was both terrifying and intoxicating.
A final prompt blinked at the bottom of the status screen.
[New Mission Available: 'Survive the Night']
[Objective: Regenerate 50% of your wounds using your latent Verdant Carapace bloodline. Stabilize Resonance to 70%.]
[Reward: 100 EP. Unseal: Verdant Carapace (Common).]
[Failure: System calculates 99.7% probability of death from internal trauma before dawn.]
There was no choice. It was not an offer; it was a diagnosis with a prescribed treatment. The system was a merciless physician.
How? he thought, the question directed at the interface.
The system responded not with words, but with a flow of information—an instinctual understanding. He needed to consciously activate his Verdant Carapace and use it to pull Natural Essence from his environment to fuel Crimson Regeneration.
He looked around the cell with new eyes. The filthy straw, the mold creeping up the walls, the damp stone. It was all life, however base. All of it contained minute, ambient Essence.
Gritting his teeth, he shifted into a cross-legged position, the simple motion sending fresh jolts of pain through his side. He closed his eye, mimicking the breathing exercises he had used earlier to calm the bloodlines. In. Hold. Out.
This time, he had a target. He focused inward, on the "feel" of the Verdant Carapace. He sought out that instinctual pull he had felt when he'd sharpened the bone shard. He visualized it not as a wild surge, but as a root. A delicate, seeking tendril.
He pushed his awareness outward, past the pain, past the fear. He felt the cold damp of the stone. The brittle dryness of the straw. The slick, living presence of the mold.
Pull.
A trickle of energy, faint and green-tinged, seeped into him from his surroundings. It was agonizingly slow. The mold on the wall withered slightly. A patch of straw turned to dust.
The energy entered his system, a cool balm compared to the inferno of his injuries. He guided it, with immense effort, toward his broken ribs, his internal bruises. He could feel the minute shift, the slow, itching crawl of flesh beginning to knit together.
[Health: 31/100]
It was working. But it was too slow. The energy from the immediate vicinity was depleted. He was still bleeding internally. He needed more.
Desperation clawed at him. He pushed his focus further, deeper, straining his Crude Core to its absolute limit. He reached beyond the cell, through the cracks in the stone, into the earth below. He felt the vast, slow, and impossibly distant pulse of the planet's life force. It was an ocean, and he was trying to drink it through a pinhole.
But he managed to pull a single, pure droplet.
The effect was instantaneous and violent. His Verdant Carapace, starved for true sustenance, flared like a supernova. Green light, visible even through his closed eyelids, erupted from his skin. The itching in his ribs became a grinding sensation as bone fragments realigned and fused. The pounding in his head ceased. The flow of blood in his mouth stopped.
[Health: 52/100]
[Verdant Carapace Stability: 70%]
[Mission: 'Survive the Night' - COMPLETE]
[Rewards: 100 EP Granted. Unsealing Verdant Carapace (Common).]
A wave of power, solid and stable, washed through him. It was no longer a wild, leaking current. It was a contained river flowing through cleared banks. He could feel it now, a tangible force he could command. He instinctively knew he could form those bone claws at will, harden his skin, accelerate his healing with a thought. It was a part of him, finally.
The system screen updated.
BLOODLINE RESONANCES:
[Infernal Convergence]- [SEALED - Rank: Common - Stability: 15%]
[Verdant Carapace]- [ACTIVE - Rank: Common - Stability: 70%]
[Voidstar Eye]- [SEALED - Rank: Common - Stability: 5%]
ESSENCE POINTS (EP): 100
He had done it. He had survived the night. He slumped forward, panting, drenched in a cold sweat. The worst of the physical pain was gone, replaced by a deep, spiritual exhaustion. But for the first time since awakening in this body, he felt a flicker of something other than despair.
It was control.
The system had given him a path. A brutal, unforgiving path where failure meant death, but a path nonetheless. It was a covenant. His obedience and effort, in exchange for power.
He looked at the 100 EP. A new function in the system menu had lit up: [Skill Library]. He focused on it.
It was empty, save for one entry at the top: [Crimson Regeneration - Lvl. 1]. Next to it was a prompt: [Upgrade to Lvl. 2 - Cost: 50 EP].
He didn't hesitate. He willed the upgrade.
[EP: 100 -> 50]
[Crimson Regeneration - Lvl. 2 - ACQUIRED.]
A new understanding flooded him. The process would be faster now, more efficient. He could heal deeper wounds.
He was no longer just a slave boy, or just a reincarnated shinobi. He was the first and only user of the Shinobi Cultivation System. And as the first light of dawn filtered through the high grille, illuminating the dust motes in the air, Yrauos Ardynth began to plan his escape.