Chapter 8 — The Emotionless Hunter
The city of Lirath was never silent for long.
Even beneath its flawless calm, something ancient stirred—like a whisper beneath glass, the faint heartbeat of emotion pushing against its cage.
Aiden stood on the rooftops, watching the neon-lit veins of the metropolis pulse like artificial arteries. Each light was a lie—controlled, steady, and sterile.
But he had changed.
Two Sin Cores now pulsed in his chest—Pride and Envy, fused into something far more dangerous: Ambition.
[Sin Core Progression: 2/7]
[Emotional Stability: 73%]
[Cultivation Realm: Mid Sin Core Realm → Peak Sin Core Realm (pending stability test)]
⚙️ The Arrival
The wind shifted.
Kael turned sharply. "They've found us."
From the far end of the rooftop, a figure emerged—dressed in white from head to toe, eyes a dull grey, expression hollow. His footsteps made no sound.
[Target Identified: Mind Guild Executor — Designation 'Eidrel']
[Warning: Emotional Spectrum—None. Subject immune to empathic influence.]
"Emotionless?" Kael muttered. "They sent a Mind Wraith in human skin."
Eidrel's voice was flat, mechanical, yet filled with unnatural calm.
"You've disrupted Lirath's balance, Sinbound. Emotion is disease. Your existence is violation."
Aiden smirked. "Then I'm the cure."
⚔️ The Clash of Mind and Void
Eidrel moved first—too fast for human eyes. His blade of compressed psychic matter tore through the air, bending space. Aiden parried with a surge of red Emotion Qi, the impact shaking the rooftop.
Each strike wasn't just physical—it was mental. Every clash sent psychic shockwaves that twisted the perception of reality. Buildings bent. The stars flickered like dying neurons.
[System Alert: Host's Emotion Field collapsing. Initiating Mental Defense Matrix.]
"System," Aiden hissed. "Run psychological sync—convert his null field!"
[Conversion impossible. Target lacks emotional wavelength.]
Aiden's smirk faded.
So that was it. Eidrel wasn't suppressing emotions. He simply didn't have any.
💀 The Breakpoint
Eidrel's monotone voice echoed through the psychic storm.
"You rely on chaos. Emotion is unstable. You are unstable."
He raised his hand.
The air around Aiden began to freeze—not in temperature, but in feeling. His thoughts dulled, his heartbeat slowed, even his will began to fade.
[Warning: Emotional Circulation—Severed.]
Kael shouted from afar. "He's nullifying your Sin Cores! You have to evolve past them!"
Aiden clenched his fists. His veins pulsed crimson, then flickered weakly. The void was swallowing him.
And yet—he smiled.
"Emotionless… huh? Then I'll cultivate the one thing you can't touch."
🧠 Cultivation Breakthrough — Heart Vein Initiation
He closed his eyes. The world dimmed into silence. Inside, he felt the swirling chaos of his fused Cores—Pride, Envy, and fragments of Desire—all orbiting a dark center.
[Sin Core Resonance—Unstable. Attempting synthesis…]
[New Concept Detected: Emotion Beyond Emotion — the Heart Vein.]
Aiden's consciousness dove deeper—beyond anger, beyond envy, into the raw essence of drive itself.
The will to exist. The desire to feel. The spark that even nothingness couldn't erase.
[Breakthrough Achieved: Peak Sin Core Realm → Early Heart Vein Realm]
[New Ability Unlocked: Pulse of Existence]
⚡ The Pulse of Existence
Eidrel stepped closer, ready to end it—when the rooftop exploded in a storm of crimson light.
The air trembled as Aiden rose, aura blazing like molten emotion itself.
Each pulse of his heartbeat distorted space, bending light and thought alike. His presence didn't radiate emotion—it created it.
Eidrel's perfect calm wavered for the first time. His grip faltered.
Aiden's eyes glowed—one red, one blue, both alive with infinite feeling.
"Even if you erase emotion, I'll make you feel it again."
He vanished. Reappeared. His fist connected with Eidrel's chest—not with strength, but with meaning.
[Technique Activated: Pulse of Existence — Emotional Shockwave]
The blast was invisible yet deafening—an explosion of sensations forcing their way into Eidrel's blank mind.
Pain. Fear. Rage. Hope.
The Executor screamed. For the first time, emotion cracked his perfect calm.
🩸 The Aftermath
The light faded. Eidrel collapsed, trembling, eyes flickering between grey and human color.
Kael watched in disbelief. "You made him… feel?"
Aiden turned away, his aura slowly dimming. "No one's truly emotionless. They just forget how to feel."
[System Update: Emotional Field Expanded]
[Cultivation Progress: Early Heart Vein Realm — 12% stabilized]
A faint smirk crossed his lips as he looked toward the glowing skyline.
"Next… I'll teach the whole city to remember."
⚜️ Next Chapter Preview:
"The Mind Guild retaliates after their Executor falls.
Aiden's presence begins awakening citizens' emotions—and the city starts to collapse under its own denial."
Next Chapter: ???