Kaelen lay still, his world a collection of new, unpleasant data points: the rough-spun rag he was
wrapped in, the scent of mildew, the low, panicked tremor of his mother's breathing.
The man outside was still a variable.
Analyze, Kaelen commanded his System, focusing his intent beyond the rotten-wood wall.
[TARGET: UNKNOWN HUMAN (MALE)] [AGE: 42] [STATUS: INTOXICATED (61%),
AGGRESSIVE (72%), IMPOVERISHED (92%)] [PHYSIQUE: 8 (MALNOURISHED, LOW
STAMINA)] [MANA: 0.5 (DREGS)] [THREAT LEVEL (TO HOST): 5 (INDIRECT), 85
(DIRECT-IF-PROVOKED)] [NOTES: A 'SLUM-SCRAPER'. PREYS ON THOSE WEAKER.
CURRENTLY AGITATED BY LACK OF FUNDS FOR MORE ALCOHOL.]
A 'Slum-Scraper.' Useless, noisy, and a potential liability. Kaelen's annoyance grew.
The man kicked the door again, harder this time. The wood splintered. "I know you're in there,
shadow-bitch! Heard you got a new whelp. Orphans fetch a few coppers down at the Pit!"
A new, horrifying data point. He could be sold.
Elara let out a choked sob. She shrank back, pulling Kaelen so tight against her chest that his
frail ribs ached. A new notification appeared in Kaelen's vision.
[ASSET: ELARA (PRIMARY CAREGIVER)] [LOYALTY (TOWARD HOST): 70... 69... 68...]
[STATUS (FEAR): 94% (SPIKING)] [STATUS (PHYSICAL): ADRENALINE SURGE
(FATIGUING)]
Kaelen watched the number tick down. 68. 67.
His cold, adult mind made the connection instantly. Her loyalty wasn't just degrading over time; it
was eroding with every second he was a source of stress and danger. He was a liability. And in
a world of pure survival, liabilities were discarded. He was utterly dependent on this weak,
terrified creature, and his very existence was draining her will to protect him.
This was an unacceptable variable. The man outside had to be dealt with.
Kaelen focused all his new, infant rage—not a hot, childish anger, but the cold, precise fury of a
genius having his plans ruined by a braying idiot—on the man outside the door.
He willed him to go away. He willed the noise to stop.
And the System responded.
[INTENT DETECTED. AFFINITY ACTIVATED: SHADOW] [NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED:
[SHADOW'S WHISPER] (LEVEL 1)] [DESCRIPTION: PROJECTS A NON-VERBAL,
CONCENTRATED BURST OF DREAD AND UNEASE AT A TARGET.] [COST: 1 MANA]
[CURRENT MANA: 12/12]
It was a pathetic, useless-sounding ability. It wasn't a fireball. It wasn't a blade of wind. It was...
an emotion.
Kaelen didn't hesitate. He was a sociopath; he understood the power of emotions, even if he
didn't feel them. He knew that fear was a far more effective tool of control than brute force.
He focused his mind and pushed.
[ACTIVATING [SHADOW'S WHISPER]... TARGET: HUMAN (MALE)] [MANA: 12 -> 11]
Outside, the man had raised his boot for another kick. Suddenly, he froze. He stopped yelling.
He lowered his foot, his drunken haze pierced by a sudden, inexplicable, reptilian dread.
It felt as if a spider was crawling up his spine. It felt as if something ancient and cold was
watching him from the deep, wet shadows of the alley he'd walked a thousand times. The dark
corners, once familiar, now seemed to teem with unseen, malicious movement.
"W-what?" the man stammered, his drunken aggression vanishing like smoke. He peered into the darkness, and for a second, he thought the shadows themselves had looked back.
[TARGET STATUS: AGGRESSIVE (72% -> 15%)] [TARGET STATUS: FEAR (12% -> 68%)]
[THREAT LEVEL: 85 -> 10]
"Just... just rats," the man whispered, but his voice was shaking. "Filthy, dark... just rats."
He turned and practically fled, stumbling over his own feet to get back to the (relatively) well-lit
thoroughfare of the slum.
Kaelen watched the man's [THREAT LEVEL] vanish.
It was done. He had acted. He had won. It was a small, pathetic victory, but it was a victory
nonetheless. The tool was weak, but it had worked.
Elara's trembling slowly subsided. The [FEAR] status on her panel began to recede. Her
[LOYALTY] stabilized at 67.
Kaelen felt a new, unfamiliar sensation. A genuine, biological need. Hunger. His System flashed
a new warning.
[BIOLOGICAL STATUS: INFANT (CRITICAL)] [ENERGY RESERVES: 4%] [MALNUTRITION:
SEVERE] [ACTION REQUIRED: CONSUME RESOURCES.]
He was a liability, and his only asset was his mother. He needed to change that dynamic. He
needed to make her a willing asset. And to do that, he first needed to survive.
He rooted, his infant mouth finding her breast. Elara, still shaking from the encounter, mistook
the cold, calculating act for a simple, reassuring, human need. She held him close, a flicker of
genuine warmth entering her System's readout.
[LOYALTY: 67... 68...]
Kaelen began to feed, his cold, yellow eyes wide open in the dark. Analyze. Exploit. Consume.
The ledger was open. And his first entry was complete.