Kael awoke to footsteps in the snow.
Not one set—three. Light, practiced, spread wide. Coming from the ridge.
His eyes opened without a twitch. He was cold but not shivering, hidden beneath a shallow overhang just below the bridge's spine. The embers from last night's fire were dead. His cloak smelled of ash and wet bark.
The wind shifted.
He caught it.
Steel oil. Leather stiff from use. Cloth muffled with charcoal.
Hunters.
Kael didn't move. Not yet.
They hadn't seen him.
"Tracks end here," a voice whispered.
"Still warm last night," another said. "He couldn't have gone far."
"He's close. That sword of his leaves a stain."
A third voice, quiet and calm, spoke next. "Fan out. Circle the bridge. If he's got a Brand, we keep him off balance. No one breaks formation."
Kael waited until he saw movement between the trees.
A boot. Then a shoulder. Someone crouched low with a hooked blade and shortbow strapped across their back. Merc gear—custom. Not Church. Not Order.
Private bounty.
Kael rolled to the side and into shadow, pressing himself against stone as the first hunter moved across the ledge above him. The others were behind, sweeping wide.
He could try Phantom Step, but not yet. It burned stamina fast, and he didn't know how many were waiting beyond.
Instead, he waited until the second came around the far side.
A woman. Lean. No armor, just layered cloth and reinforced bracers. Her dagger flicked in the light like glass.
Kael struck fast.
He moved from shadow to strike zone in a breath—hand around her mouth, blade through her chest.
She died without sound.
The shadowblade pulsed once.
Essence Absorbed: Rogue Branded (Steelblood Class)+1 Reflex | +3 SoulweightNew Trait: Heartpiercer (Passive – Integrated)Total Soulweight: 33
The corpse slumped.
Kael stepped over her, lowered into the snow, and moved to flank the next.
The man didn't hear him coming.
He was watching the tree line, not the snow behind him.
Kael didn't waste time.
One clean cut from shoulder to spine. The man dropped.
Then—
"Found him!" a voice roared. "DOWN!"
An arrow slammed into the rock next to Kael's shoulder. He ducked just as a second sliced the air where his head had been.
The third bounty hunter—a tall brute with a greatbow and half a dozen scars on his jaw—barked an order.
Kael rolled into cover behind a boulder, heart steady.
[System]: Combat State Engaged.Phantom Step: ReadyTarget: High-Reflex Sniper ClassRecommend: Close-range engagement.
Kael didn't need a suggestion.
He activated the step.
The world flickered.
He was behind the man in an instant, breath burning in his lungs.
The bowman twisted, too slow.
Kael drove the blade through his back.
Essence Absorbed: Branded Hunter – Sniper Class+2 Agility | +1 PrecisionTrait Acquired: Sight Stabilization (Passive)Soulweight: 36
The fight was over in seconds.
Kael pulled the blade free, breath fogging in the air.
Three bodies.
No questions asked. No names given.
They had been after the bounty.
And now they were gone.
He checked their pouches.
Coin. A marked token etched with a symbol he didn't recognize—half-spiral crossed with a downward-pointing triangle.
Not Church. Not Order.
Private syndicate.
He checked the tall hunter's satchel. Folded parchment. Orders.
Kael crouched by the firepit and opened the note.
Target: Kael (Unbranded – Confirmed Weapon Bearer)Bounty: 1,000 suns.Condition: Alive preferred. Dead acceptable.Do not engage if secondary asset appears. Retreat if "Lys" is identified in proximity.
Kael read the note twice.
Then he burned it in the fire.
So. Word had spread.
Someone knew his name. Someone had coin. And someone wanted him alive.
That was new.
And more dangerous.
By afternoon, Kael was gone from the ridge.
He moved faster now, cutting south through the treeline rather than continuing east. No roads. No paths. Only game trails and animal tracks.
He didn't trust flat terrain anymore.
His body moved cleaner now. Lighter. The new traits—the reflexes, the stabilization—they weren't just buffs. They were his now. Permanent.
He could see further.
Hear sharper.
React faster.
And still, the blade was quiet.
But the Ledger pinged one last time before dusk.
Soulweight: 36Instability: LowPathway Unlocking: Class Shift Candidate — "Severant"Warning: Severant Protocols are undefined. Proceed with caution.
Kael dismissed the message.
He didn't care what the system wanted to call him.
Whatever was coming next, he'd kill it or walk over its corpse.
Same as always.