No one recovered quickly from the shock that had shaken the village.The blood of the fallen beasts still steamed upon the dirt, and the metallic scent of fresh slaughter clung to every breath the villagers took. The ground was littered with monstrous corpses—broken limbs, torn hides, and dark stains spreading beneath them like grim offerings. Behind their parents' legs, a few children wept silently, too terrified to understand what had just occurred.
And Lin Tianhan…sat on the earth, his hands trembling—not from fear, but from the aftershocks of a body forced to taste a power that was anything but human.
His crimson hair looked deeper than ever beneath the dying sunlight, as though the blood he shed earlier had threaded itself into every strand.As for his eyes—jet-black at a glance—something stirred faintly beneath the darkness, something neither human nor benign.
The village elder walked forward slowly, gripping his staff with both hands. His voice failed him once, twice, before he finally forced it out:
"Boy… those claws… that ferocity… where did they come from?"
Tianhan lifted his gaze. Instead of speaking, he sat in silence for a heartbeat too long—as if the voice within his chest was speaking first, and he merely followed.
"I'm not certain," he answered at last. "But… it's as though they awaken when danger draws near."
A faint shudder ran through the elder.Not because of Tianhan, but because of the path this boy was now forced to walk—a path carved by power not meant for mortals; a path that could not be suppressed.
From behind the crowd, Lu Bai stepped forward, hiding the wound on his arm sustained during his cowardly retreat. He carried himself with false dignity as he raised his chin and declared loudly:
"We must be careful… what Tianhan did wasn't human. Perhaps… he should be examined. Or isolated. Until we're sure he isn't a danger to us."
His words ignited unrest.Some villagers nodded, some protested, but fear—raw, primal fear—was the true ruler of their hearts.
Tianhan did not speak.Did not defend himself.Did not grow angry.
He simply watched them all with a calmness more unsettling than violence itself—a quiet that carried an unfamiliar depth.
Suddenly, the tension snapped as fast footsteps cut through the murmuring crowd.
His mother sprinted toward him and gathered him in her arms with a desperation that threatened to break her trembling body.
"My son—are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Mother."
But his right hand still trembled… and a strange heat gathered at the tips of his fingers.He hid it behind his leg so no one could see.
Soon, the wounded were carried away, fallen walls were examined, and shattered homes began their crude repairs. The villagers turned from Tianhan to their own crises.
But Lu Bai remained.Standing motionless.Watching him.
His eyes burned with something unmistakable—jealousy, resentment, and fear intertwined like poison.
Softly, so only the wind could hear, he whispered:
"You stole the spotlight again… you damn demon."
A pulse of threat pricked Tianhan's senses.He turned sharply—but Lu Bai had already turned his back and walked away.
Even so, something new stirred inside Tianhan's chest.His intuition… had grown unnervingly sharp.
By nightfall, when he returned home, he felt energy trembling beneath his skin—an unstable, restless force. His right fingertips throbbed as he closed the door behind him. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees, clutching his forearm.
Pain surged from deep within the bone, as though something inside him was reshaping his hand from the marrow outward.
His fingers twisted involuntarily.The skin of his hand darkened into a faint shadowy black…then faded.Then returned again.
But that was not the most terrifying part.
There were whispers.
Not in his ears—but inside his mind.
"You've only begun…""Power… is merely the gate.""Blood… is the key."
A sharp pain seized his skull.He pressed both hands against his head, his heart hammering wildly.
"Shut up…""I'm… I'm still human!""I will not become—"
But the voice did not fall silent.Instead, it softened…almost gentle.Almost understanding.
"You are not changing.You are returning…to what you truly are."
Tianhan collapsed to the floor, consciousness slipping away like sand through fingers.
Outside, the moon climbed high.A cold wind drifted through the village, carrying the faint scent of blood across the quiet fields.
And far away, at the edge of the forest, a stranger stood beneath an ancient tree—a man whose luminous, inhuman eyes reflected the village from afar.
He stroked his chin and murmured with a slow smile:
"I smelled it…The fragrance of pure demonic blood.This boy… is anything but ordinary."
Then he vanished into the darkness—leaving behind a trace of energy that did not belong to any human realm.
As for Tianhan…
When he finally opened his eyes that night, he noticed something on his right palm.
A thin, black mark—not a wound,not a bruise,but a symbol carved into the flesh from within.
And the moment he touched it—
The whisper returned:
"Welcome… to the beginning of the claws."