The figure on the Abyssal Ribcage didn't move. He sat with a skeletal grace, a rusted cutlass resting across his knees. He was a relic of the 1700s, his naval coat fused to his skin by centuries of mana-scarring.
[TARGET: THE ASH-WALKER (RANK 3 - EARLY STAGE)]
[TRAIT: WITHERING AURA — DRAINS 1% VITALITY PER SECOND]
"You talk a lot for a man who's been dead for two centuries," Kane said. He didn't climb the cliff. He felt the Twin Fangs in his hands vibrating, their obsidian blades thirsty for the gold-tinted essence radiating from the stranger.
"Dead? No, lad," the Ash-Walker stood, his joints popping like dry kindling. "In the Purgatory, death is a luxury. We are just... delayed."
He vanished.
Kane's Primal Instinct (22%) screamed. He crossed the dual axes in front of his face just as a rusted blade collided with them. The force was like being hit by a freight train. Kane was blown back thirty feet, his boots carving deep furrows in the bone-dust.
[VITALITY: 88%]
[STRENGTH DISPARITY: CRITICAL]
"You have the tools of a God-Feeder, but the soul of a babe," the Walker hissed, appearing instantly at Kane's flank.
Kane spun, the Twin Fangs trailing arcs of violet-black light. He wasn't fighting like a soldier anymore; he was fighting like a beast. He allowed the Void-Weight trait of his axes to take over, leaning into the unnatural heaviness of the blades to swing with a momentum that should have been impossible.
CLANG. CLANG. SHATTER.
The Ash-Walker's cutlass didn't break, but the ground beneath him did. Kane's axes ignored 20% of the Walker's spectral armor, biting deep into his shoulder.
[SOUL-SIPHON ACTIVE: +2% VITALITY]
"You're feeding on me?" The Walker's eyes flared with a manic gold light. "Delicious! It's been so long since I felt a pull on my soul!"
He let out a guttural roar, and the Withering Aura intensified. The muscle-trees around them began to shrivel and turn to grey dust. Kane felt his lungs burning, his very life-force being sucked through his pores.
[WARNING: SYSTEM OVERLOAD IMMINENT]
[PROPOSE EVOLUTION: SACRIFICE REMAINING RANGER GEAR?]
"Do it," Kane wheezed.
The remains of his tactical vest and his frayed combat boots dissolved into a slurry of carbon and mana. The God-Feeder Manual took the raw material and fused it directly into Kane's skin.
His forearms and shins became plated in matte-black obsidian scales, matching his axes. He was no longer a man in a uniform. He was a Living Weapon.
[NEW STATE: ASHEN GHOST (FORM I - INCOMPLETE)]
[AGILITY: 40 \rightarrow 65]
Kane moved. He wasn't a blur; he was a flicker in reality. He appeared behind the Ash-Walker, the Twin Fangs held in a reverse grip.
"My turn to delay you," Kane growled.
He crossed the axes at the Walker's throat and pulled.
[RANK-3 SOUL HARVESTED]
[RANK 1 (PEAK) \rightarrow RANK 2 (EARLY STAGE)]
The Ash-Walker didn't scream. As he dissolved into a massive cloud of gold and grey mist, he looked at Kane with a terrifyingly peaceful smile. "Go to the Red Lands, Ranger. Find the Bone-King. He's been waiting for someone with a stomach like yours..."
Kane stood in the center of the grey dust, his new obsidian skin shimmering. He felt the Rank-2 power stabilizing in his marrow.
[STATS UPDATED]
Strength: 50
Agility: 65
Soul Capacity: 250/250
New Map Unlocked: The Red Lands (The Killing Fields)
Kane looked toward the horizon. The purple sky was fading, replaced by a horizon that glowed with a sickening, blood-red light. The tutorial was over.