The morning arrived reluctantly, as if the sky itself feared what daylight might reveal.
Pale sunlight filtered through the cracked windows of the old service station, painting soft golden lines over the floor strewn with rusted cans, ash, and bloodstains. In a world that had fallen to monsters and systems older than memory, the warmth was a lie.
But lies were better than nothing.
Kieran Vale stood at the workbench near the back of the station, a pile of scavenged materials spread out before him. Bent copper wiring. Broken rebar. The blade of a rusted hatchet. All mundane—useless, once.
But now…
[Blood Codex Crafting Menu – Tier I Unlocked]
[Available Schema: Bloodsteel Reinforcement]– Required: Ferrous metal (✓), Bloodweave skill (✓), Mana (✓)– Warning: Bloodsteel will permanently fuse with user's Codex signature. Cannot be undone.
Kieran exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as he extended his hand over the materials. His palm glowed faintly with a red aura as blood trickled forth—not uncontrolled, but shaped. Willing.
The blood responded.
It snaked through the air, weaving between shards of steel and frayed copper, soaking into each fragment like a parasite claiming a host.
[Materials accepted. Begin Bloodsteel infusion? Y/N]
"Yes," he whispered.
His vision blurred.
Heat surged up his arm, not painful but intense—like burning resolve turned liquid. The metal fragments shook, clattered, then merged. They compressed, folded in, reshaped. His blood formed a core, wrapping the fused alloy in a carapace of living crimson.
A blade emerged.
Not sleek. Not elegant.
But alive.
It pulsed faintly in his hand, the edge jagged and blackened, as though born from the ruin of the world itself.
[Bloodsteel Edge (Tier I) created.]– Base Weapon: Reinforced Shortblade– Durability: 120/120– Effect: On hit, inflicts "Severed Blood" – causes bleed over time.– Bound to: Kieran Vale
[Codex Affinity: +2%][Codex Sync: Weapon attunement complete.]
Kieran held the blade aloft, watching it catch the sunlight. It felt heavier than blood, yet lighter than steel—like it belonged in his hand all along.
"Damn," Riven said from behind him, arms folded, leaning against a shelf.
He turned.
She wore a half-smile, one eyebrow raised. "You just bled out a sword."
"I'm improvising," Kieran said.
"You're evolving," she corrected.
He looked down at the blade again. "Feels permanent. Like it's a piece of me now."
"Does it hurt?"
"Not yet."
She stepped closer, careful not to get too near the still-warm weapon. "You realize you're not the same guy who ran down the dorm stairs with a bent umbrella and no plan, right?"
Kieran gave a soft laugh. "I barely remember who that guy was."
Riven reached out and, after a pause, rested her hand on his forearm—lightly, carefully.
"You should," she said. "He was scared, but he didn't run. That's the part worth remembering."
[Codex Note: Emotional Anchor Stability – Strengthened]
[Passive Triggered: Sanguine Surge cooldown reduced (temp)][Riven Amari's bond status: Harmonized – 8%]
Kieran blinked at the notifications.
The Codex was reacting more often now—not just to his actions, but to his emotions. To people.
It made him uneasy.
"You ever wonder if this system is more than it seems?" he asked. "Like it's watching us too closely. Learning."
Riven pulled her hand back. "Yeah. But maybe that's what systems do. They grow. Adapt. Like us."
He looked at her. "You're handling this better than most people would."
She looked away. "I didn't handle it well. I just had more practice being numb."
That silenced him.
He wanted to ask what she meant—but something told him she wasn't ready to say it yet.
By midmorning, they had packed up.
The service station was safe for the moment, but temporary. No building stayed untouched long. Codex energy drew things—mutants, rogue users, beasts twisted by blood resonance. Staying still was suicide.
Riven found a rusted bicycle frame and rigged it into a kind of sled for carrying supplies. Kieran carried the blade. It still pulsed faintly in his hand, like a heartbeat.
They moved east, following the old roads.
Their destination wasn't clear—only that Selene had said another Gate would appear soon. That meant more trials. More growth. More danger.
But something unexpected happened before they found it.
A voice.
Not in his head.
Real.
"Hold!"
Kieran stopped cold, motioning for Riven to duck. He crouched behind the husk of a van, blood edge ready, eyes scanning the overgrown intersection.
Four figures emerged from the tree line.
One man, older—gray hair, armored vest, rifle slung over his back. Two younger women. One limping. And a tall man in dark robes, his hands glowing faintly red.
Codex users.
"Show yourselves!" the old man called. "We're not hostile unless you are!"
Kieran narrowed his eyes. Riven stayed low but nodded—"Your call," she mouthed.
He stepped out slowly, blade in hand but lowered.
"I'm not looking for a fight."
The robed man's eyes locked on the blade. "You've forged Bloodsteel."
Kieran gave a slight nod.
"You're stronger than your level suggests," the old man said. "We're not scavengers. Just survivors heading north. There's talk of a gathering place—people building a safe zone around the ruins of some old mining facility."
"Codex users?" Kieran asked.
"About fifty. All kinds. It's the first thing resembling order since this mess started."
Kieran exchanged a look with Riven.
"You said they're building?" she asked.
The old man nodded. "Walls. Watchposts. Even got a working Codex shrine of some kind. Don't know how it works, but it grants buffs to whoever stands near it."
Selene hadn't mentioned anything like that.
But this… felt real.
Kieran tightened his grip on the blade.
He didn't trust people. Not yet.
But he needed to understand what was happening on a larger scale.
"What's the place called?" he asked.
The old man smiled grimly.
"Sanctuary."