The rain didn't fall softly that night. It lashed against the stone like it wanted to wash the world clean of its sin and suffering.
Kael Arin stood at the edge of the cliff, his wrists bound, his clothes soaked, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth and tears in his eyes. He tasted metal—familiar now, like the betrayal in his throat.
Behind him, the elders of the Arin Clan stood in silence. Cloaked figures, faces half-shadowed by lantern light. Their judgment had already been passed. No trial. No mercy.
"You were born cursed," Elder Moren said, his voice hard and cold. "No spiritual root. No path to cultivation. You bring shame to our bloodline."
Kael clenched his fists. His breath steamed in the cold air, every inhale a struggle, every exhale a scream he refused to let out.
"You said I'd awaken. You said I just needed time," Kael whispered.
Elder Moren stepped forward. "And we gave you fifteen years Kael. Fifteen wasted years. Our clan does not feed the weak."
A shove. Kael stumbled closer to the edge. The abyss below howled—an endless pit of darkness. No one returned from it. They called it the Void Maw.
"Any last words, boy?" another elder asked hurriedly.
Kael turned his head slightly, eyes burning. "I'll remember this."
Laughter. Mocking and bitter.
"You'd already be dead to remember anything boy" Moren sneered.
The final push came swift. Cold hands. No ceremony.
Kael fell.
The wind roared in his ears as the world spun. The cliff vanished above him, swallowed by the night. He plummeted through air, mist, and silence.
Then, nothing.
He didn't know how long he lay there—broken, barely breathing. His body refused to move. Bones screamed. His vision flickered like a dying flame.
But something pulsed in the darkness. A heartbeat—not his own.
Thump.
"Who..." Kael rasped.
The air grew heavy. Shadows coiled around him like smoke.
Then came a voice—ancient, deep, and laced with power.
"Another one discarded... another soul hungry to rise. Tell me, child—will you be my vessel... or my heir?"
Kael's fingers twitched. A spark of something buried deep flared to life.
"What... are you?"
The voice laughed, not cruelly—but with a hunger that mirrored his own.
"I am what remains when gods fall. I am the path they sealed away. Take my mark, and I will give you the strength to destroy those that offended you."
Silence.
Then, slowly, painfully, Kael nodded.
"I accept."
And the darkness welcomed him—not as prey, but as something else.
As its heir.
.....
.....
Pain.
It struck like lightning through Kael's chest the moment he accepted the voice's offer. His spine arched, and a scream tore from his throat, swallowed quickly by the Void Maw's choking air.
Symbols—red as fresh blood—seared themselves into his skin. They twisted and coiled around his right arm, burning like fire and ice at once. The scent of scorched flesh filled the air, but Kael didn't cry. He gritted his teeth until his jaw ached.
This was more than pain.
It was rebirth.
The voice returned, low and calm now.
"You bear the Mark of Ruin. A fragment of my essence. From this moment, your path is no longer governed by heaven or fate. Only by will."
Kael's eyes snapped open, no longer dull and gray. They blazed a deep, glowing crimson.
A screen flashed before him—ethereal, translucent, hovering mid-air.
[SYSTEM AWAKENED]
Name: Kael Arin
Level: 1
Path: Heavenbreaker
Mark of Ruin: ACTIVE
Converts pain into experience
Devours spirit energy from slain foes
Grants immunity to spiritual root rejection
Objective: Survive. Evolve. Destroy the Chain of Heaven.
Kael's chest rose slowly. His injuries still burned, but something had changed. He felt stronger. Lighter. Like the gravity of the world no longer held him down.
"I have... a system?" he muttered, still dazed.
"Not a system made by the gods," the voice said. "Mine is older. Forbidden. Made from war and ruin, not rules and levels. But it will guide you—if you survive."
Kael forced himself to his knees. The ground beneath him was black stone veined with faint crimson light. All around were skeletal remains—some massive, some humanoid. This was no ordinary abyss.
It was a graveyard of those who fell before him.
Suddenly, a low growl echoed through the cavern. Eyes—six of them—glowed from the darkness.
Kael turned slowly.
A beast stepped into the dim red light. It looked like a wolf, but its skin was bone-white, stretched tight over its frame. Black smoke hissed from its nose with every breath.
[Voidspawn – Level 3]
Aggression: High
Kael staggered to his feet. He had no weapon, no armor.
Just a burning mark on his arm—and a promise.
"You want me to survive?" he hissed. "Then show me how!"
His Mark pulsed.
[Pain Conversion: 20% Boost Activated]
The beast lunged.
Kael didn't run.
He ducked low, slammed his shoulder into the beast's ribs, and took a slash across his back. Blood sprayed. Pain surged—but so did power.
+10 EXP Gained
He grinned through the agony.
"For once," he whispered, "pain feels good."
He would not die in this abyss.
He would rise from it.
And one day, when he returned to the surface…
The heavens would tremble.