Kael left before dawn.
The village was still asleep when he stepped away from the familiar dirt paths and wooden huts. A thin layer of mist clung to the ground, softening the world and blurring the line between what he was leaving behind and what lay ahead.
He did not say goodbye.
If he did, he knew he would hesitate.
The Blackwood Forest loomed before him, dark and silent. The trees stood close together, their branches tangled like grasping fingers. Even the birds avoided this place. The air felt heavier the closer he came, filled with unfamiliar scents and faint traces of blood.
Fear stirred within him.
The warmth answered.
Not with reassurance.
With hunger.
Consume.
Kael took a steady breath and crossed the treeline.
The forest swallowed him almost immediately.
Light dimmed as the canopy closed overhead. The sounds of the village vanished, replaced by rustling leaves and distant, unfamiliar calls.
Kael slowed his steps.
Every sense sharpened.
He could feel life everywhere. Small creatures scurrying beneath roots. Insects crawling through bark. Larger presences moving deeper within the forest, their blood thick and potent.
Predators.
His heart beat faster, but not from panic.
From anticipation.
Kael clenched his fists, grounding himself. He was not here to lose control.
Not yet.
Hours passed as he moved carefully through the forest, following faint paths where animals had passed. He avoided areas where the blood signatures felt too strong, instinct warning him that some things here would tear him apart before he could react.
Near midday, he found a small clearing beside a shallow stream.
Kael knelt and drank, the cold water soothing his throat. As he straightened, a sharp pain flared behind his eyes.
A vision.
Not an image, but a sensation.
Danger.
He spun around.
A snake lunged from the underbrush, fangs bared.
Kael reacted instantly.
He caught it mid-air.
The snake writhed violently, its blood surging in panic. Kael stared at it for a heartbeat, then tightened his grip.
The warmth surged.
Consume.
The snake stiffened, then went limp as its blood drained into Kael's body. The process was faster this time. Cleaner.
Kael dropped the lifeless body, breathing heavily.
Power settled into him like a quiet tide.
He stared at his hands.
He did not feel sick.
That scared him more than anything else.
By nightfall, Kael had gone deeper than any villager ever dared.
The forest grew denser, the blood signatures stronger and more chaotic. He found a hollow beneath twisted roots and curled inside, wrapping himself in his thin cloak.
Sleep came quickly.
The dream followed.
The black stone plain stretched farther than before.
More shadows stood now. Fewer kneeling. Some watched him with burning eyes.
The presence emerged slowly, its shape clearer.
"You crossed the boundary," it said.
"I had no choice," Kael replied.
The presence laughed softly. "Choice is a luxury. Survival is instinct."
"What happens to me if I keep consuming?"
The presence studied him. "You become real."
Kael frowned. "I already am."
"No," it said. "You exist. That is different."
Kael woke with the taste of iron in his mouth.
Days passed.
Kael learned quickly.
He learned how to move without sound. How to sense danger before it struck. How to hunt.
Each creature he consumed strengthened him. Not just physically, but in ways he could not fully describe. His senses sharpened further. His reactions grew faster. His body adapted.
Yet the warmth demanded more.
Stronger blood.
More power.
One afternoon, Kael sensed something different.
A presence unlike any he had felt before.
Human.
Cultivator.
The blood was dense, refined, layered with energy far beyond ordinary beasts.
Kael froze atop a rocky ledge, peering through the leaves below.
A man in dark robes moved carefully through the forest, sword drawn, eyes sharp.
Ironclaw Sect.
Kael's heart raced.
The warmth surged violently.
Consume.
"No," Kael whispered.
The presence below stopped.
Slowly, the cultivator turned.
Their eyes met.
The man frowned. "A child?"
Kael retreated instinctively, stepping back.
A branch snapped.
The cultivator's expression hardened. "You should not be here."
He stepped forward.
Pressure washed over Kael, heavy and suffocating.
The warmth pushed back.
The ground beneath Kael's feet cracked slightly.
Both froze.
The cultivator's eyes widened.
"You," he said slowly. "You are the one from the village."
Kael did not answer.
The man raised his sword cautiously. "Come with me. You will not be harmed."
A lie.
Kael could taste it in the man's blood.
Fear.
Greed.
Curiosity.
Consume.
The warmth surged uncontrollably.
Kael screamed as power burst outward.
The cultivator lunged.
They collided in a blur of motion.
Kael felt steel bite into his shoulder. Pain flared, sharp and immediate.
He grabbed the man's wrist.
The warmth exploded.
Blood poured into Kael like a flood.
The cultivator screamed, his body convulsing violently before collapsing, drained and empty.
Kael fell to his knees, gasping.
Blood stained his hands.
Human blood.
His chest burned hotter than ever before.
Something inside him snapped into place.
A deeper layer awakened.
He vomited, shaking violently.
When it passed, he felt stronger.
And more afraid than ever.
Kael stood slowly.
He stared at the lifeless body before him.
This could not be undone.
He had crossed a line.
The warmth was silent now.
Satisfied.
Far above the forest, unseen by mortal eyes, golden light rippled.
The Heavenly Sovereign's eyes snapped open.
"That presence," he whispered.
"This time… it is clear."