Below is the continuation. (Approx. 1500 words)
Darkness did not come gently.
It crushed.
Pressure closed around Kael from every direction, squeezing breath, thought, and sensation into a single point. He could not tell if his eyes were open or closed. There was no air, no ground, no sense of up or down. Only a pulling force dragging him deeper into an unseen abyss.
Then came the heartbeat.
Thump.
It echoed like a drum inside a cathedral.
Thump.
The sound was not his own. It was older, vast, patient.
A red glow bled into existence beneath him. Slowly a surface formed under his feet. Stone, smooth and wet like freshly polished marble. The pressure vanished, and Kael collapsed forward, coughing violently.
Air burned into his lungs.
He rolled onto his back, staring upward.
There was no sky. Above him stretched an endless ceiling of dark crimson clouds, churning in slow motion. Pale veins of light flowed through them like currents in living flesh.
"…I'm alive."
His voice sounded clearer than it had in years.
Kael froze.
He pushed himself upright.
No tremor ran through his legs.
He stood.
For the first time since the experiment, he stood without pain.
His breath quickened. He took one step, then another. No crutch. No collapse. No numbness.
The sensation almost frightened him more than the agony ever had.
A faint ripple moved across the ground.
White runes surfaced around him in a wide circle.
[Welcome, Candidate Kael.]
The same calm feminine voice echoed across the empty expanse.
He turned slowly. The world extended in every direction, a flat plain of dark stone disappearing into a red horizon.
"This is the Trial of Blood?"
[Yes.]
The runes shifted.
[This trial measures compatibility, will, and hunger.]
"Hunger?"
The ground trembled.
Something moved beyond the red mist.
A silhouette dragged itself into view.
It had once been human.
Its limbs were too long, joints bending at wrong angles. Veins bulged across gray skin and its jaw hung open wider than possible. Empty eyes locked onto Kael.
It screamed.
The sound scraped like metal across bone.
Kael instinctively stepped back.
The creature lunged.
He reacted without thinking. His body twisted aside, faster than he ever remembered moving. The claws missed him by inches and struck the stone, carving deep grooves.
Kael stared at his own hands.
"…I'm faster."
The creature spun again.
This time Kael didn't retreat. He grabbed its arm.
The moment his skin touched it, heat surged through his palm. The monster shrieked as crimson light traveled from its body into his veins.
Kael felt it.
Warmth.
Strength.
The creature shriveled before his eyes, collapsing into dry ash that scattered across the ground.
Silence returned.
His heartbeat accelerated. Not from fear.
From craving.
He clenched his fist.
"…Again."
[First consumption complete.]
The symbols glowed brighter.
[Instinct acknowledged.]
The red mist thickened.
Three shapes emerged.
Kael inhaled slowly. Instead of dread, anticipation spread through him.
They charged.
He moved forward.
The first leapt high. Kael stepped inside its reach and drove his hand through its chest. The body withered instantly, pouring energy into him.
He turned sharply. The second creature's claws scraped his shoulder, tearing cloth but not skin.
He did not feel pain.
He caught its head.
The draining sensation intensified, sweeter this time, fuller.
The third tried to flee.
Kael chased it down effortlessly and seized its back.
When it crumbled, he exhaled shakily.
Warmth flooded every muscle. His senses sharpened. He could hear distant vibrations in the air, feel movement beneath the stone.
His mouth felt dry.
"Is this… the hunger?"
[Yes.]
The voice remained calm.
[You are stabilizing.]
Kael looked at his hands again. The swollen red veins were gone. His skin appeared normal, yet power pulsed beneath it.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
He turned instantly.
A tall mirror rose from the ground.
Its surface reflected him clearly.
Black hair. Pale face. But his eyes…
They glowed faintly crimson.
For a moment he simply stared.
"So this is what they made."
[Correction.]
The runes shifted again.
[This is what you chose.]
The ground trembled violently.
A deep roar rolled across the plain.
The mist parted far in the distance.
Something enormous watched him.
Even kilometers away, Kael felt its presence pressing on his chest.
"What is that?"
[Second phase.]
The symbols expanded into a larger circle.
[Predator evaluation.]
The creature stepped forward.
It was easily ten meters tall, shaped like a distorted knight fused with bone armor. A massive blade grew from its arm, dripping dark fluid onto the stone.
Each step cracked the ground.
Kael did not retreat.
His instincts screamed danger, yet another feeling rose stronger.
Excitement.
He crouched slightly as the monster approached.
"Do I have to kill it?"
[Survive.]
The creature vanished.
Kael's eyes widened. He twisted aside just as the blade cleaved through the space where his head had been. The shockwave threw him across the stone.
He rolled and sprang back to his feet instantly.
Too fast.
He barely saw it move.
The monster attacked again. Kael ducked under the swing and struck its leg. Pain shot through his arm. The surface was harder than steel.
He skidded back.
"So not everything drains easily…"
The creature advanced relentlessly.
Kael's breathing slowed.
He watched carefully.
The rhythm of its movements. The shift before each attack. The slight delay after every swing.
His perception sharpened further.
The next strike came.
He stepped forward instead of away.
The blade passed behind him as he closed the distance and grabbed the creature's torso.
Nothing happened.
No warmth. No draining.
The monster roared and slammed him into the ground.
Stone shattered beneath his back. Air left his lungs.
For the first time since arriving, pain returned.
He coughed blood.
The creature lifted its arm to finish him.
Kael looked directly into its hollow eyes.
"…Then I'll make it bleed first."
He bit into its arm.
Cracks spread across the bone armor.
A pulse of red burst outward.
The monster convulsed.
Energy flooded into him violently, far greater than before. His vision burned white as power surged through every vein.
He screamed.
The creature staggered backward as pieces of its body disintegrated.
Kael forced himself upright and lunged again, tearing into it with bare hands and teeth, ripping fragments free as each contact fed him more strength.
Minutes passed in a frenzy of motion and impact.
Finally the giant collapsed.
Its body dissolved into a storm of crimson particles that rushed into Kael all at once.
He fell to one knee, gasping.
The world spun.
[Second phase complete.]
The runes glowed brighter than ever.
[Bloodline awakening available.]
Kael steadied himself.
"…Bloodline?"
Before the voice answered, new symbols appeared above him, far more intricate than before.
Ancient.
Heavy.
They pressed into his mind like memories that were not his own.
A throne beneath a night sky. Endless figures kneeling in darkness. Wings unfolding across a sea of red.
He clutched his head.
"What… are these…"
[Choose.]
Three sigils formed in the air.
One burned violently.
One pulsed steadily.
One flickered like a dying star.
Kael's breathing slowed.
He reached toward the flickering one.
The moment his finger touched it, the entire world turned black.
A single heartbeat echoed again.
Thump.
And somewhere beyond the void, something answered him.