The silence in the chamber was heavy, broken only by the dripping of fungal ichor from the dead Weaver above them.
Kaelen didn't cry. He didn't fall to his knees. He ran his thumb along the edge of the blade stuck in the iron gate.
'High-carbon Mithril alloy. Standard military issue. Slightly chipped near the guard.'
It was a pragmatic assessment of a relic that should have broken his heart. The "Old Kaelen" would have wept for the father he thought died a hero in the North. The "New Kaelen" only saw evidence.
"He was here," Seraphina whispered, stepping closer but keeping a respectful distance. "Instructor Vance... he was the Academy's best swordsman. If he died here..."
"He didn't die fighting a monster," Kaelen interrupted, his voice devoid of warmth. He pointed to the angle of the blade. "This was jammed into the lock mechanism. From the outside."
He gripped the hilt and yanked.
Shing.
The sword slid free. It was heavy, balanced perfectly. A weapon far superior to his obsidian shard.
"He was trying to break in," Kaelen said, testing the weight. "Or keep something out."
He turned away from the gate, sheathing the sword through his belt rope. He walked back to the dissolving corpse of the Mycelium Weaver. The black mist of his [Sin Eater] ability had finished its work, leaving behind only the loot the System had promised.
Lying in the muck were two items: a gland shimmering with silvery thread and a pulsating, fist-sized purple orb.
[Fungal Core (Rank E)]
[Weaver's Silk Gland]
Kaelen bent down and scooped them up.
"That..." Seraphina licked her dry lips, her eyes glued to the purple orb. "That's a Monster Core. It can restore mana. My leg... if I absorb some of that mana, I can heal the infection."
She took a step forward, her hand reaching out instinctively. "Kaelen, please. I need it."
Kaelen looked at the orb in his hand, then at her. He didn't hand it over. He dropped it into his own pocket.
"No."
Seraphina froze. "What? But... we're partners. You said so."
"I said you belong to me. I didn't say we were partners," Kaelen corrected her, his tone as cold as the Abyss itself. "Partners share profit based on contribution. You screamed and ran. I gutted the beast."
"I was the bait! I almost died!" she cried, indignation flaring up despite her fear.
"Bait gets eaten. Predators eat," Kaelen said simply. "You survived. That is your payment."
He turned back to the Iron Gate. He wasn't being cruel for the sake of it. He was managing resources. Giving a valuable mana core to a potential rival—even a submissive one—was poor strategy. She needed to be dependent on him, not self-sufficient.
"Besides," he added over his shoulder. "If you want healing, you don't need mana. You need to be useful."
He stopped in front of the massive iron doors. They were ancient, etched with runes that didn't match the crude nature of the Abyss. This was human engineering.
He placed his hand on the cold metal.
[System Analysis Initiated.]
[Object: Gate of the Forgotten Outpost.]
[Lock Mechanism: Bio-Metric Seal.]
[Requirement: Genetic Marker of the 'Vance' Bloodline OR Level 50 Strength.]
Kaelen's eyes narrowed. 'Vance Bloodline. It wasn't an accident. My father didn't just stumble here. He built this. Or he was guarding it.'
The betrayal went deeper than Rian and Elara. It went back years.
"It's locked," Seraphina said, hugging her shivering arms. "We're trapped."
"Not yet."
Kaelen raised his left hand. He took the newly acquired Mithril sword in his right. Without hesitation, he sliced his own palm.
Blood welled up, dark and rich.
He pressed his bleeding hand against the center rune of the gate.
Hiss.
The iron drank the blood. The rune flared with a crimson light, illuminating the dark cavern. The ground rumbled.
[Genetic Marker Confirmed.]
[Welcome back, Commander Vance.]
[Error: Bio-signature mismatch. Subject is... offspring.]
[Access Granted: Limited.]
With a groan of rusted gears, the massive gates began to swing inward.
Dust fell from the ceiling as the seal broke. A gust of stale, dry air rushed out from the darkness beyond—air that didn't smell of rot, but of oil, paper, and ozone.
"How..." Seraphina stared at him, eyes wide. "How did you open it?"
"Family trade," Kaelen muttered.
He stepped through the threshold.
[Ding!]
[New Area Discovered: The Forward Operating Base (Ruined).]
[XP Gained: 500.]
Inside, it wasn't a cave. It was a bunker.
Metal walls, reinforced with alchemy arrays. Overturned tables. Shattered glass tubes that looked suspiciously like stasis pods. It looked like a laboratory that had been hurriedly abandoned... or ransacked.
Kaelen swept the room with his sword raised. No movement. No heat signatures on [Abyssal Sight].
"It's... a lab," Seraphina whispered, limping in behind him. She looked at a tattered banner hanging on the far wall.
It wasn't the banner of the Kingdom. It was a black flag with a broken chain sigil.
"That's the symbol of the Heretics," she gasped. "The Cult of the Shackled God. Kaelen... why did your father's blood open a Heretic base?"
Kaelen walked over to a desk in the center of the room. It was covered in dust, but a leather-bound journal sat in the center, untouched by time.
He opened it. The handwriting was familiar. Sharp, angular strokes. His father's.
He read the final entry.
Date: Year 450, Era of Light. The experiment failed. The subject, Rian, shows signs of rejection. But the other one... the Vance boy... he has the potential. We cannot let the Academy find out about the Sin Eater project. I have to hide the evidence. I have to hide my son.
Kaelen slammed the book shut. The dust swirled around him.
Rian. His best friend. The one who killed him.
Rian was a subject? And Kaelen... Kaelen was the project?
"Kaelen?" Seraphina reached out, sensing the shift in the air. The killing intent radiating off him was suffocating.
"Don't speak," Kaelen ordered, his voice trembling with suppressed fury.
He looked at the far wall. There was a mural painted there. It depicted a man consuming the world, his mouth wide open, swallowing stars and sins alike.
And under the mural, sitting on a throne of bones, was a skeleton wearing his father's armor.
The skeleton held a small, black box in its lap.
[Ding!]
[Quest Update: The Truth of the Abyss.]
[Objective Complete: Find Instructor Vance.]
[New Quest Generated: The Sin Eater's Legacy.]
[Objective: Retrieve the 'Black Box' from the throne.]
[WARNING: High-Level Guardian Detected.]
As the notification flashed, the shadows behind the throne moved. They didn't just shift; they coalesced. Two red eyes ignited in the darkness.
It wasn't a monster. It was a construct. A Suit of Armor, animated by a vengeful spirit.
And it was holding a Greatsword.
"Intruders," a hollow voice echoed from the helmet. "Must. Be. Purged."
Kaelen gripped his father's sword. He was tired. He was hurt. But he finally had a target that could give him answers.
"Seraphina," Kaelen said, his eyes locked on the Guardian. "Run to the back. Find a switch. Anything to distract it."
"And you?"
"I'm going to say hello to dad."