The roar didn't just echo; it vibrated through the stone floor, shaking the dust loose from the ceiling.
Kaelen didn't freeze. Freezing was for the students back at the Academy, the ones who dueled with wooden swords and safety barriers. Here, stillness was death.
'Heavy bass. Wet rattle in the throat,' Kaelen analyzed, his mind racing as he pressed his back into a narrow crevice. 'Rot-Mane Hyena. Rank F. Pack hunter, but solitary when scouting. Why is it this deep?'
The scent of the dead Scavenger at his feet—the one he had just butchered—was practically a beacon.
He looked down at his hands. They were steady, coated in drying black blood. The [Sin Eater System] had knit his bones back together, but he was weaponless. A shard of obsidian against a beast with a bite force of 1,200 PSI?
Suicide.
But Kaelen had already died once today. He wasn't keen on doing it twice.
He grabbed the corpse of the Scavenger by its spindly leg. It was heavy, dead weight. Gritting his teeth, he hauled it out of the shadows and tossed it into the center of the fungal clearing, directly under a patch of glowing moss.
Then, he retreated into the dark, squeezing into a fissure in the rock wall barely wide enough for his shoulders.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Heavy paws slapped against the wet stone.
The beast emerged. It was massive, the size of a small horse, with mange-ridden fur and a jaw that hung open, dripping saliva that hissed when it hit the ground. Its eyes were milky white—blind, like everything down here—but its nose twitched violently.
It smelled the Scavenger.
The Hyena lunged at the corpse, tearing into the meat with a sickening crunch of bone.
Kaelen watched from five meters away. His heart hammered against his ribs, but his mind was cold. He waited. He needed it distracted. He needed it gluttonous.
'Eat,' he thought, gripping his obsidian shard until his palm bled. 'Choke on it.'
As the beast buried its snout into the Scavenger's gut, Kaelen moved.
He didn't run; he stalked. The System's earlier boost to [AGI] made his steps lighter than before. He closed the distance in three seconds.
The Hyena's ears swiveled. It snapped its head up, growling.
Too late.
Kaelen didn't aim for the neck—the fur was too thick there. He aimed for the soft spot behind the hind leg, the hamstring.
Slash.
The obsidian shard, honed to a molecular edge by the Abyss itself, sliced through the tendon.
ROAR!
The Hyena collapsed on its rear, trashing and snapping its jaws inches from Kaelen's face. The stench of rotting meat washed over him.
"You're loud," Kaelen hissed.
He rolled under the snapping jaws, ignoring the gravel tearing into his bare back, and drove the shard upward. Into the soft underbelly.
Once. Twist. Pull.
Hot blood showered him, burning his skin. The beast thrashed, its claws carving gouges into the stone floor, but with its hamstring severed, it couldn't stand. It was just a mound of dying meat.
Kaelen scrambled back, panting. He watched the life fade from the milky eyes.
He didn't feel triumph. He felt... hollow. The hunger he had felt earlier returned, sharper this time. It wasn't just his stomach; it was his very core demanding fuel.
[Ding!]
[Enemy Defeated: Rot-Mane Hyena (Level 3)]
[Experience Gained.]
[System Directive: The Host is malnourished. Harvest the Sin.]
Kaelen looked at the beast. This was the law of the Abyss. The strong eat the weak. Up in the Academy, they called it barbarism. Down here, it was just dinner.
He placed his hand on the beast's head.
"Devour."
A black mist seeped from his palm, wrapping around the carcass. The Hyena didn't just decompose; it withered, its essence sucked dry in seconds, leaving behind only brittle bones and dust.
[Sin Absorbed: Wrath (Minor)]
[STR +2] [AGI +1]
[New Skill Unlocked: Abyssal Sight (Passive)]
[Description: Your eyes have adapted to the dark. You can see heat signatures within 10 meters.]
Kaelen blinked. The world shifted. The darkness turned into shades of grey, and the fading heat of the Scavenger corpse glowed a dull red.
"Useful," he muttered, flexing his hand. He felt stronger. The pain in his ribs was a distant memory.
He turned to leave, needing to find water, when a flicker of blue text appeared in the corner of his vision. Not a reward. A warning.
[Alert: Sin Saturation at 5%.]
[Warning: Consuming Sins without 'Release' will lead to Corruption.]
[Recommendation: Find a suitable vessel for Dual Cultivation or Venting within 72 hours.]
Kaelen scowled. "Vessel? I'm in a pit of monsters. What am I supposed to do, seduce a spider?"
He ignored the notification for now. Survival came first.
He moved deeper into the cave system, using his new sight to avoid the pits. But as he rounded a corner, he stopped dead.
On the ground, illuminated by his thermal vision, was a footprint.
It wasn't a monster's paw. It was a boot print. Standard issue Celestia Academy combat boots.
Fresh.
Kaelen crouched, touching the outline. It was small. A woman's size.
"Someone else survived the fall," he whispered.
And if they were down here, they were either meat... or competition.