They entered the Fog Vale as shadows stretched across the land.
Mist coiled low to the ground, pooling between twisted roots and gnarled rocks. The trees were tall and sickly, their bark veined with black threads of decaying spirit energy. Every breath felt thicker, slower—as if the forest tried to swallow it.
The beast padded silently at Rael's side.
It had followed them for over a day, never straying too close, yet never too far. A creature that had once been caged now walked freely, yet remained near him, tied not by leash or fear—but something more ancient.
Lin had noticed it too.
"That thing," she murmured one night by the fire. "It doesn't serve you. It respects you."
Rael didn't answer.
He wasn't sure how to explain it.
The bond wasn't something he forged—it had awakened the moment their eyes met in the chaos. Something in the beast had recognized something in him.
A fracture. A wound. A hunger.
Just like him.
---
[System Notice]
Detected Soul-Bound Beast: Name Unknown
Classification: Forbidden-Class (Hybrid Relic Beast)
Nature: Part-Beast, Part-Artifact – Sentient Core Detected
Passive Trait Acquired (Temporarily): Predator's Path
While bonded with Soul-Bound Beast, user can share senses, track heat signatures, and reduce stamina loss during pursuit.
Note: Trait is not permanent. Bond must be maintained through mutual will. If loyalty is broken, backlash will occur.
Rael closed the interface.
Everything gained… had a price.
He could already feel the beast's pain—the silent ache in its left hindleg where a spirit-forged chain had once pierced bone. And in the darker hours, he saw flashes of the beast's memories—blood-soaked battlefields, ritual bindings, and the faces of dying masters.
The connection went both ways.
---
The Fog Vale was no ordinary forest.
Beneath the trees lay ruins—half-buried altars, broken statues of forgotten war gods, and watchtowers reclaimed by nature. Occasionally, they would pass strange stones inscribed with runes too faded to read.
The air was rich with spiritual tension.
Here, Qi didn't flow. It clung. It curled like mist and burned like acid in the lungs of the unprepared.
Lin struggled to maintain her breathing rhythm.
Rael didn't.
He inhaled deeply, letting the mist settle into his bones.
[Qi Adaptation: Fog Affinity Initiated]
Unrefined Qi detected – Impurities high, but malleable
Forging potential: Corrosion-class techniques, Mist Step Arts, or Forgotten Sect Legacies.
Warning: Impurities will damage meridians over time unless filtered or sealed.
He smiled faintly.
Pain. Always pain.
But it was better than weakness.
---
That night, as the fire hissed low, the beast finally moved.
It stepped into the firelight—not as a predator, but as a partner.
Rael looked up. So did Lin.
The beast lowered its massive head and placed something at Rael's feet.
A bone.
Long, curved, and glowing with faint blue runes.
Rael touched it—and pain seared through his arm.
Not physical. Not spiritual.
Memory.
---
A vision flashed before him.
Not his.
The beast's.
A snowy battlefield. Warriors in black armor falling before waves of specters. The beast stood beside a boy—eyes like Rael's, but gentler. The boy bled from the chest, gasping words in a forgotten tongue.
He raised the bone—then stabbed it into the earth.
The mist screamed—and retreated.
---
Rael awoke with blood running from his nose.
The beast watched him.
Lin crouched beside him, blade half-drawn.
"…You were glowing," she said. "And muttering in a language I didn't recognize."
Rael wiped his nose, then looked at the bone. It had cooled. Its runes were dormant now.
"A pact," he muttered. "This… isn't just a beast. It's a remnant."
"A remnant?"
Rael nodded slowly. "Of an ancient sect. One wiped out during the Shadow Purge. It carried their legacy—and offered it to me."
Lin studied him carefully. "Then you're one step closer to becoming something terrifying."
He didn't answer.
Because she was right.
---
By dawn, they reached the heart of the Vale.
A wide clearing stretched before them, filled with fog so thick it swallowed sound. In the center stood a circular platform—half-sunken into the earth. Surrounding it were statues—warriors with blades pointed downward, their faces hidden by cracked masks.
The beast stopped.
Rael stepped forward.
As his foot touched the edge of the platform, the fog parted.
And a voice echoed—not aloud, but in the depth of his marrow.
"You who walk with the pact… prove your claim."
The ground split.
Three figures rose from the mist—wraiths clad in ancient robes, eyes burning with ghostlight.
They didn't speak.
They attacked.
---
Rael moved without hesitation.
The first wraith lunged with a staff, spinning it in wide arcs. Rael ducked low, letting the blow pass over his shoulder, then pivoted and struck the ghost's center.
Nothing.
His blade passed through mist.
The second came from behind—blades of light crackling from its arms.
Rael fell backward, rolling between its legs. His hand grazed the bone relic—and it pulsed.
[Relic Activation Detected: Bone of the Last Caller]
Technique Unlocked (One-Time Use): Fogbind – Turn soul attacks into matter for three strikes.
Rael leapt up, eyes flashing silver.
His next strike hit.
The first wraith screamed as its form broke into shards of frost.
The second hesitated—too slow.
Veil shot out like a whip, coiled around its neck, and yanked it down. Rael moved in with precision and carved upward.
Two down.
The third—
It didn't attack.
It knelt.
Then spoke.
"Legacy accepted. Pact sealed."
It vanished.
Only silence remained.
---
Rael stood alone in the center of the platform.
Then the stone glowed beneath his feet.
Symbols lit up—an ancient script winding around him like a spiral.
[New Legacy Obtained: Way of the Forgotten Fang]
Classification: Soul-Fog Martial Path
Primary Technique: Soul Cloak Movement (Unseen Step)
Secondary Arts: Whisper Fang, Bone Mirror Shield, Fogblade Descent (Locked)
Requirements: Beast Bond maintained. Forbidden Bone Relic carried. Fog Affinity sustained.
Warning: Each technique taxes the user's soul directly.
Rael smiled faintly.
It wasn't a blessing.
It was a burden.
But it was his.
---
That night, the mist in the Vale retreated around their campfire, leaving Rael, Lin, and the beast in a silent sanctuary.
For the first time since the system awakened, Rael felt something close to peace.
But peace… never lasted.
Tomorrow, they would reach the border of the Jiang Continent—home to a hundred sects and ten thousand eyes.
The real hunt would begin there.
---