Later that evening, beneath the surface of Manhattan...
The smell hit Ezra first.
Rot.
But not the surface-level rot of trash bags or dead rats—this was older, deeper. Like something forgotten by time had stirred. It clung to the air, heavy as grief, and no amount of cloth over his mouth could block it out.
"Jesus," he muttered, hand pressed to his face.
Selene, walking just ahead with a dim blue lantern in hand, gave him a sidelong glance. "We're about three stories beneath what used to be the original pauper cemetery."
Ezra blinked. "There's a graveyard under Manhattan?"
Selene nodded. "The city just built over it. Tens of thousands died in plagues, riots, fires—dumped here and sealed in with stone and dirt. Most people forgot. The System didn't."
Ezra followed her deeper into the tunnel, boots crunching bone fragments that had worked their way into the dirt. Occasional markings on the old stone walls glowed faintly with warding runes, flickering as they passed.
"The Ashwalkers call this place the Ossuary Vein," she continued. "It's unstable, but powerful. Leylines twist here, especially for necromancers."
Ezra's brow furrowed. "So why bring me here?"
"Because," she said quietly, "it's time you stop borrowing death and start owning it."
They reached a crumbling arch. Beyond it: a vast chamber, like a cathedral made from decay. Walls carved from limestone and packed with bones. Skulls stacked into eerie mosaics. The air shimmered.
Ezra stepped inside—and immediately, the System responded.
You have entered a Burial Convergence.Warning: You are unranked. Death probability—HIGH.Unique Soul Signature detected. Binding access granted.New Challenge: Claim Your Domain (Optional)
His breath caught. "Claim… my domain?"
Selene knelt beside a broken statue near the chamber's center, brushing aside dust to reveal a rusted iron sigil etched into the stone.
"This was once a Necro Anchor," she said. "The kind high-level Deathcasters used to create personal strongholds in the old wars. It's shattered now, but the anchor still hums."
Ezra took a step closer, and immediately the air felt alive. Like it was watching him.
"No one's ever claimed this place," Selene added. "They've tried. They all failed."
"Why?"
She stood and looked at him, eyes piercing. "Because it requires more than strength. You have to let the Vein inside you."
"Let it inside?" Ezra echoed.
"You have to be willing to carry death—not just wield it."
Ezra stared at the crumbling bones. The chamber seemed to pulse with memory. With forgotten screams. With power.
He thought about his mother.
Her pale face. Her wasted body.
He thought about the fire that took the shelter. The ashes of the other orphans. The smell of burning skin.
Ezra stepped forward and knelt at the broken sigil.
"I'm already carrying death," he whispered.
And then he placed his hand on the Anchor.
The pain was immediate.
Every nerve in his body ignited. His mind was flung outward, past the chamber, past the tunnels, into something vast and hollow. A sea of bones beneath the world.
Voices screamed.
YOU DARE—YOU ARE NOT WORTHY—FRAIL. FLESH. FORGOTTEN.
Ezra gritted his teeth.
"I'm not trying to be worthy," he growled through clenched jaws. "I'm trying to survive."
A heartbeat.
Then—
Then let us see if you bleed.
You have accepted: Trial of the Ossuary VeinSurvive the Undying Surge (Duration: Until Stabilization)System Resources Locked During Trial
The chamber exploded in movement.
From the walls, from the dirt, from the cracks in the very stone—skeletons surged forth. Not the clumsy undead Ezra had conjured before. These moved with precision, rage, and the terrible grace of forgotten warriors.
Ezra stumbled back, but the sigil beneath him chained him to the ground. His mana, his strength—sealed.
"SELENE!" he shouted.
But she was gone. The doorway sealed in darkness. This was his trial.
He clenched his fists.
The first skeleton came at him with a rusted longsword, striking low and fast.
Ezra ducked, barely avoiding the slice, and countered with a full-body tackle. Bone cracked. The skeleton scattered.
But three more took its place.
He reached inward.
Call them. Command them.
But his Gravecall wouldn't activate.
System's locked, he remembered.
Another skeleton lunged, blade nicking his shoulder. Blood splashed across the sigil.
The bones drank it.
Ezra's eyes widened.
Blood Binding Detected. System Protocols Reassessed.New Trait Manifesting: Crimson PactEffect: You may now empower undead through blood sacrifice.
Ezra staggered back toward the cracked statue, slashed palm outstretched.
"Then take it!"
He raked his nails across his forearm, crimson flowing freely, and shouted—
"RISE!"
The pile of shattered bones beside the altar rattled. Then rose.
But not as a simple corpse.
It bled from its seams. Bone fused with sinew. A pair of hollow sockets lit with red flame.
Crimson Thrall Created.
The thing bellowed—and charged at the oncoming undead.
It fought like a demon, shattering skulls and ripping bones apart with reckless fury. But Ezra could feel it—it needed more.
More blood. More of him.
He didn't hesitate.
He bit down on his wrist, dug teeth into flesh, and fed the ritual.
His vision blurred.
But the Thrall roared louder, bones plating its back like armor.
The chamber shook.
Crimson Pact evolving…New Ability Gained: Blood Echo (Passive)For every drop spilled, you gain temporary control of the battlefield. Duration: 30 seconds per 1% blood loss.
Ezra felt something shift. The room—responded.
The walls pulsed with rhythm.
Like a heart.
Like his heart.
And then, just as suddenly as it began—
Silence.
The skeletons crumbled to dust.
The sigil beneath him glowed white-hot, then cooled to a deep red.
Ossuary Vein StabilizedNew Domain Unlocked: Gravehold (Subterranean - Tier F)Access Granted: Lair Management, Safe Resurrection, Corpse Storage, Corpse Evolution, Domain Defense
Ezra collapsed, body trembling, breath ragged.
But he was alive.
Barely.
And something new burned behind his eyes.
Some time later, back at the Ashwalker safehouse...
Ezra sat in silence, freshly bandaged, his arm a lattice of stitches and healing salve. Selene stood across the room, leaning against a crate of null-grenades.
"You lasted longer than anyone else," she said. "No help, no weapons, no spells. Just blood and instinct."
Ezra didn't speak.
She walked over, crouched before him.
"You okay?"
He looked up.
"I don't know what I am."
She nodded slowly. "That's the right answer."
A pause.
Then she touched his knee lightly. "Ezra… there's a reason I brought you to that chamber. I didn't just want you to unlock power."
"Then why?"
"I wanted to see if you'd lose yourself. If you'd become like the others."
Ezra's throat was dry. "Did I?"
Selene studied him. "Not yet."
He swallowed.
Then, unexpectedly, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
Not lust.
Not pity.
Something raw. Human. Scared.
"You're going to need people, Ezra. Not just power. Remember that."
He didn't trust his voice, so he nodded.
Selene stood and walked out, the door closing softly behind her.
Ezra stared at the flickering lantern light.
For the first time since the fire that took the shelter…
He felt like he'd claimed something back.
Not just a chamber.
Not just bones.
But the right to fight.