His feet slammed against the stone.
The air warped. The beast roared.
Hari charged.
The crypt chamber vibrated with the pressure of the two forces colliding — one ancient, one newly born. One cursed by time, the other forged by evolution.
His dagger glinted faintly under the red mist. His muscles tensed with explosive speed.
The Forgotten One moved.
Faster than expected.
A monstrous claw swept from the side — thick with bone plating, humming with undead energy. Hari ducked, the strike grazing inches from his skull, slicing a pillar clean in half behind him.
Dust exploded outward.
> "It's stronger than anything I've faced."
"But I can feel it… It's slower."
The beast's body was decayed. Powerful — yes — but old. Rigid. Bound by forgotten curses. Every movement creaked like an ancient gate fighting to stay shut.
---
Hari leapt forward, blade-first.
He slammed the bone dagger into the monster's thigh, driving it deep into rotting flesh.
A screech ripped through the room.
Thick black ichor burst from the wound, sizzling where it hit the ground.
> [System Triggered]
Blood Sample Collected.
Analyzing Mutation Potential…
But there was no time to celebrate.
The beast backhanded him.
Hari flew across the chamber, crashing into a stone wall. His vision blurred. Something cracked in his side. The pain shot up like fire in his spine.
He coughed blood.
---
> [Vital Status: Moderate Internal Damage]
Recommended Action: Retreat or Evolve
He staggered up.
"Retreat…?"
He spat blood and grit.
"No. Not now."
---
🧬 Mutation Sequence: Initiated
> [Trait Absorbed]: Bone Plating (Tier 1)
Mutating…
Incorporating into skeletal density.
Bone armor gained (Left Forearm & Ribcage)
Hari gasped as his left arm burned. The skin split. Beneath it, ivory bone surged, covering his forearm like a gauntlet.
His chest cracked and reformed — bones knitting with unnatural thickness beneath the surface.
He stood straighter.
Faster.
> "This is the path I chose."
"Every time I kill…"
"I become less like them… and more like something else."
---
The Forgotten One lunged again.
Hari didn't dodge this time.
He met the strike head-on.
Bone clashed against bone. His newly plated forearm absorbed the impact, sending vibrations through his body — but he held.
Then he slid beneath the beast's reach and drove his dagger straight up — into the monster's exposed underjaw.
The blade pierced deep.
The Forgotten One shrieked.
Its body convulsed violently, smashing against pillars, bringing debris down upon them both.
---
Hari didn't retreat.
He climbed the beast's body — digging in with both blade and clawed fingers, clinging to muscle and rot. The system flared in his vision.
> [Predator Instinct Activated]
Exploiting Weak Points…
He saw it — a glowing red line beneath the beast's neck. The source of its necrotic energy.
> "There you are."
One final push.
One final strike.
Hari drove his blade deep into the core.
The monster screamed, and this time… its voice faltered.
It collapsed.
---
The silence after was deafening.
Hari stood on the creature's corpse, breathing heavily. His arm still trembled, but his grip never loosened. His chest rose and fell, blood coating his clothes, glowing softly under the chamber's red haze.
Then—
> [System Notice]
✅ Trial Completed
✅ Boss Eliminated: "The Forgotten One"
✅ Bonus Objective Complete
You have absorbed Rare Trait: "Necrotic Core Stabilization"
Your evolution has accelerated.
Level Up: 4 → 7
Mutation Nodes Available: 2
New Ability Unlocked:
"Soul Pulse Detection" – You can now sense hostile lifeforms within a 50-meter radius, even through walls or terrain.
Hari collapsed to one knee.
Not in defeat… but in evolution.
---
> "So this is what it feels like…
To win against something that should've killed me."
The silence was broken only by his laughter.
Soft.
And terrifying.
> "If this world is built to kill me..."
"Then I'll just become something it can't kill."
---
To be continued in Chapter 6: The Whispering Dungeon