The sky above Neavo had never looked more vast. A gray morning fog rolled through the trees, weaving between ancient trunks like spirits whispering forgotten truths. The forest outside the village was thick and untamed, a beast in its own right.
Kael Noctaris stood just beyond the final hut of his mountain village, staring into that wilderness. His violet eyes shimmered faintly. He wore a faded leather tunic, tied tight at the waist with a cloth sash. His hands were wrapped in old bandages, stained from yesterday's training.
Behind him, the village chief—his adopted father—watched in silence.
"You're not ready," the chief said, arms folded.
Kael didn't look back. "You said that yesterday. And the day before."
The chief grunted, his weathered face hard to read. Though still young and formidable—a warrior once known across nearby regions—he'd grown wary over the years.
"You're twelve," he said. "Even if you learn fast, this forest holds nightmares."
Kael turned, expression calm. "I'm not like other children. You know that."
The chief said nothing for a long moment. Then he reached into his belt and pulled out a dagger—a curved blade, old but sharp. He held it out.
"Bring it back bloodied. Or don't come back at all."
Kael took the blade.
---
The forest swallowed him whole.
Birds fell silent when he stepped beneath the canopy. Twisted vines crept along tree trunks, and strange fungi pulsed with a bioluminescent glow. Every shadow seemed to shift.
Kael walked in silence, steps measured. He wasn't just hunting a beast. He was hunting purpose.
System... he thought. You've been quiet.
For days since his strange dreams—flashes of the woman who called him by a name he didn't recognize, of her bloodied face and final stand—something inside him had felt... awake.
---
SYSTEM ONLINE
Evolution Protocol: ACTIVE
Devourer Classification: INITIATED
Primary Directive: Survive | Learn | Adapt
First Objective: Kill to Awaken
---
Kael's fingers twitched.
A growl echoed behind the trees.
He spun around.
From between the brush, a malformed hound-like creature crept forward. Skin peeling, eyes glowing red, its bones visible beneath translucent flesh. A failed magical experiment, no doubt—a Mana-Warped Beast.
Kael gripped the dagger.
"First blood it is."
The creature lunged.
Kael ducked low, slashing across its front leg. The blade bit deep. The beast yelped and spun, tail whipping.
Kael rolled, dirt smearing across his cheek, then surged forward and stabbed the dagger into its neck.
The beast spasmed—then collapsed.
---
SYSTEM UPDATE
Target Eliminated
Biogenetic Data Absorbed
Primary Skill Gained: Adaptive Tissue (Lv.1)
Status: Devourer of Evolution Class Confirmed
Progress: 3.12%
---
Kael stared at the body. His heart was pounding, not from fear... but exhilaration.
"So this is how I evolve," he whispered. "Through survival. Through death."
He wiped the dagger clean. But the moment his blood hit the forest floor—
Another growl.
This one... much deeper.
Kael turned slowly. From behind the trees, not one, but three more beasts stepped out—larger, faster, smarter. And with them, a figure in a hood, watching from the shadows.
Not just monsters. Someone had sent them.
His first kill wasn't the end.
It was the beginning of the hunt.
The scent of blood was still fresh on Hari's skin.
Not just the monsters' blood — his own.
Torn muscle. Cracked bone. His right hand was already healing, skin knitting over a gash he hadn't noticed in battle.
He was changing.
Faster now.
The kill hadn't just evolved his body — it had awakened something primal in him. Something buried deeper than instinct.
A voice — no, a rhythm — that matched the pulsing of the system inside him. Like drums before war.
---
The tunnel ahead whispered with echoes.
The carcasses behind him were silent. Still steaming.
But Hari's eyes weren't on the dead anymore.
They were focused forward.
His irises shimmered faintly now — a mix of violet and silver, like the system's glow had bled into his soul.
And then—
The carvings on the walls shifted.
Not physically — but visually. Like the system had updated his perception. Where once there were meaningless spirals and faded runes, he now saw shapes.
Bones. Claws. Fangs.
A creature coiled in slumber.
> [System Update]: Your Core Instinct has been enhanced.
Predatory Sight unlocked.
You may now track blood resonance and fear signatures within a 20-meter radius.
> Warning: A Class-D Predation Signature has been detected ahead.
---
Hari felt his pulse quicken.
A new hunt.
A stronger prey.
He didn't know what waited deeper in that tunnel…
But he could feel it breathing.
Low. Rhythmic. Ancient.
He tightened the crude weapon in his grip. His fingers no longer trembled like before.
The boy who entered this place was gone.
> The hunt had begun. And he… was the hunter now.
---