The scavengers came like a tide—ragged blades, scavenged armor, faces blackened with soot and desperation. They thought him weak. They thought him prey.
Kael almost believed it himself. His legs were unsteady, his body cracked and bruised. His hands shook on the hilt of his sword. But beneath the fear, the shard pulsed. The whisper was louder now, thundering against his thoughts.
Strike. Consume. Forge.
The first scavenger lunged. Kael ducked under the swing, his blade rising almost on its own. Metal rang—then flesh split. The man fell screaming, but the scream was cut short as the Soulforge clawed his essence free.
Light—cold and blinding—poured into Kael's chest. He staggered back, choking on the rush, as the next attacker froze in terror. He had seen it. The way his comrade's body went slack, the way the soul was stripped away like smoke in a gale.
Kael's lips curled. Not in a smile. Not yet. But there was no denying the heat racing through his veins as his wounds knit faster, his muscles surged with stolen strength.
Another came at him. This time, Kael didn't wait. He stepped in, the Wraith Claw snapping from his shadow like a beast on a chain. It tore through the scavenger's throat. Blood sprayed. The soul rushed free, devoured before the corpse even hit the ground.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ Soul Count: 1,453 → 1,457 ]
Vitality: 15 → 17
Strength: 17 → 19
Will: 21 → 23
Forgecraft: 24 → 27
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kael gasped, drunk on power. Each soul was a spark in the forge, hammering his body into something stronger. The exhaustion that had weighed him down only minutes ago burned away.
Three more scavengers circled him, fear warring with greed. They saw the way he stood taller now, the way his shadow moved when he didn't.
"You saw it," Kael rasped, voice low and raw. "You know what happens if you come closer."
For a moment, silence.
Then one spat, shaking with rage. "He's bluffing! Kill him before he grows any stronger!"
They charged.
Kael met them head-on. His blade shrieked as it clashed against rusted steel, sparks flying. The second scavenger fell with his chest carved open. Another soul ripped free. The third tried to retreat—too late. Kael's claw caught him by the spine and dragged him into the void.
The last man screamed and fled.
Kael stood in the smoke, chest heaving, his blade dripping with blood that hissed as it touched the ground. His whole body trembled—not with weakness, but with power. His heart hammered in rhythm with the shard.
He had come into the field broken. Helpless. Barely alive.
Now, standing over five empty husks, Kael realized the truth.
The Soulforge didn't just help him survive.
It was a weapon. A path. A throne waiting to be claimed.
And for the first time since waking, Kael didn't feel like prey.
He felt like the beginning of a predator.