The scent hit him before the monsters did.
Copper. Rot. Something sour in the air like wet fur and rusted teeth.
Kael crouched behind a collapsed vending machine at the edge of Sector 10, eyes locked forward, ears tuned to every shift of stone and snarl of wind. This place shimmered wrong. The light was duller. The air didn't move.
> [Warning: Sector 10 active threat zone. Enemy aggression level: HIGH.]
A growl—low and wet—snapped him to attention.
From the shadows, two beasts crept forward across broken pavement. They looked like wolves at first, but something was wrong. Their spines were arched too high. Flesh peeled from their ribs in strips. Bone jutted from shoulders and flanks. And their eyes... burned like furnace coals.
> [Lurker Wolf – Lv. 4]
Status: Hunting.
Kael gripped his bone saber. His hands were steady.
He didn't attack. Not yet.
The first time he fought wolves, they'd flanked him. The second time, they cornered him in a parking garage. Both times, he died.
This time, he waited.
One moved closer, sniffing the checkpoint scent lingering on his clothes. Kael crouched lower, body pressed to the vending machine's dented side.
Closer. Closer...
Now.
Kael exploded from cover. His blade arced low, carving into the wolf's front leg. The beast yelped and stumbled, but its partner was already on him.
Kael twisted, letting it graze his shoulder as he rolled beneath it. Pain flared—but he was still moving. The first wolf was trying to recover, but he didn't give it time.
He slashed again—hard and fast. The blade tore through the creature's neck, severing the spinal cord.
It pixelated in a flash of red light.
> [EXP +60]
The second didn't back off. It lunged. Kael barely ducked in time, the claws ripping concrete behind him.
Then it howled.
A long, keening sound that echoed through the hollow ruins.
Kael cursed under his breath.
More were coming.
---
He ran.
Boots slamming into broken pavement. His breath loud in his ears. The alleys between ruined towers blurred past as he moved. Shadows twitched in the corners of his eyes.
Behind him, the wolves answered the call—three more, maybe four.
He dove through the window of a shattered shop, glass crunching underfoot. He shoved a counter against the door. Not enough to stop them, but enough to buy time.
> [HP: 94 / 170]
[Stamina: 31 / 100]
He stumbled behind the counter. This place had been a pharmacy once. Shelves mostly empty now—dust and rat droppings.
But the system glitched for a second. A soft flicker by the far wall.
> [System Cache Detected: Combat Stim Lv. 1]
+15% stamina regen, +10% dodge timing for 10 minutes
Kael didn't hesitate. He downed the vial. It tasted like fire and ash—but his muscles relaxed. Breath steadied. Wounds dulled.
A thump above.
Something large.
Kael's head snapped up.
Dust drifted from the ceiling. A dragging sound. Then something breathed—a deep, unnatural rasp.
> [New Threat Detected: Bonegnaw Howler – Lv. 4]
Elite Variant — Moderate Threat
Not a boss. But not a regular monster either.
Kael backed away slowly. This fight wasn't winnable head-on.
Unless…
His eyes darted across the room. Gas canisters behind the counter. Loose wiring near the broken lights. Glass fragments everywhere.
He started working.
---
Ten minutes later, Kael stood near the back entrance. He'd rigged the shelves with the gas packs, tied up the wires, and placed the broken mirror shards where the light could scatter.
Then he made noise.
The Bonegnaw crashed through the ceiling like a corpse thrown from the sky. Its limbs were too long, ribcage bare, jaw split vertically down the center.
Kael ran.
The beast gave chase.
He led it through the trap.
A tripwire snapped. A spark lit. Gas ignited.
Boom.
The room exploded behind him. Shelves flew. Shattered pills and flame sprayed across the air. The monster screeched—one arm torn free in the blast.
Kael didn't stop.
He sprinted back in, blade in hand, vision blurred from heat and smoke. The creature staggered, half-blind. He jumped onto the counter and drove his saber straight into its shoulder joint.
The Howler howled.
Then countered—its claw slamming into Kael's ribs, sending him tumbling back.
He landed hard, coughing blood, everything screaming.
The monster limped closer.
So did Kael.
One strike left.
He charged.
Screamed.
And drove the blade through its open maw, impaling it down to the hilt.
The Howler collapsed—and burst into red light.
> [EXP +110]
[Current EXP: 790 / 800]
[Level: 4]
Kael collapsed beside it. Breathing smoke. Bleeding from everywhere.
But alive.
> [Tutorial Progress: 78%]
[Next Zone Identified: Boss Nest - Sector 10 Core]
Kael dragged himself to his feet. Looked toward the old stairwell at the back of the shop, now cleared from the blast.
A faint red mist curled up from below.
He knew what it meant.
A boss was waiting.
And next time…
He'd be ready.
---
📊 Kael Draven — Status (End of Chapter 3)
> Level: 4
EXP: 790 / 800
HP: 51 / 170
Stamina: 58 / 100
Weapon: Primitive Bone Saber (Durability: 47%)
Armor: Tattered Cloak
Skills:
Reflex Trace Lv. 1 (+5% reaction, +0.2s dodge window)
Traits:
Respawn (System-bound)
Awareness Boost (passive intuition from previous deaths)
Location: Sector 10 – Outskirts
Checkpoint: Subway Tunnel Beacon (Sector 9)