The cave was narrow, shallow — barely more than a wound in the crumbling cliffside. Yet it offered shelter. A breath between chaos. Kael had chosen it not for comfort, but for the silence. Silence, after all, made it easier to think.
Zar stood at the entrance, boneblade laid across his knees, his golden eyes scanning the dark horizon. The wind moaned through the wastes beyond, sometimes sharp, sometimes soft — a sound between howling and weeping. Maybe ghosts. Maybe just the land mourning what had once been.
Inside, Kael sat across a flickering campfire of burning moss and mana fragments. He was motionless — more statue than man — his gaze fixed on the girl.
Lira.
She huddled in the far corner, arms around her knees, ribs bandaged with torn cloth. Her eyes never left Kael. Not for a second. Not since he saved her.
[Lira – Status: Wounded | Fear: 78% | Trust: 16%]
She stared as if expecting the shadows around him to strike, as if each breath he took might end with her name written in blood.
"She's watching you," SAGE whispered within Kael's mind.
"She fears you, Kael. As most will. Shall I initiate memory purge?"
"No," Kael murmured.
He stood, slow and deliberate. The fire crackled. The shadows shifted.
Lira flinched.
"I won't hurt you," he said simply. "I saved you."
She trembled. Her voice came cracked and dry. "You killed him… like he was nothing."
Kael's gaze did not waver. "He was."
A silence lingered. Tense. Fragile.
Then she asked, "What… are you?"
He looked into the fire. His voice was a whisper. "A shadow. But sometimes, shadows are the only things that can kill monsters wearing crowns."
[Kael – Affection Path with Lira: Opened] [Lira: New Trait Discovered – Empathic Awareness Lv.1] [Follower Bond: Weak / Growing]
Zar shifted beside the fire, grumbling softly. "She's not strong yet. But if she learns magic…"
"She will," Kael said.
Time passed in breaths and heartbeat.
Lira finally spoke again the next morning.
"You don't sleep much, do you?"
Kael, sharpening a bone dagger near the dying fire, shook his head. "Not when I'm being hunted."
She hesitated. "You… you're really going to fight them all, aren't you? The Crimson Hunters. The priests. Everyone."
"If I must."
"But why? You could hide. Disappear. You're strong. You don't need to fight for anyone."
Kael paused. "Maybe not. But others like me can't run. They'll be hunted. Burned. Forgotten. I'll give them a future."
She looked down at her bruised arms, her hands clenching. "Even someone like me?"
He glanced at her.
"Especially someone like you."
That day, Kael began her training.
They found a clearing shielded by boulders and high cliffs. There, Kael taught her the basics of mana sensing. It was slow, frustrating, but Kael didn't yell. He didn't need to. His presence alone forced focus.
Zar watched proudly from a nearby ledge.
By the third day, Lira managed her first mana spark.
[Lira – New Skill: Minor Heal Lv.1][Magic Potential: Confirmed – Support Class Detected]
Zar grinned. "Told you she'd get it."
Kael simply nodded. "Again."
At night, Lira dreamt of fire and blood, but less than before. And Kael noticed the way her fear percentage dropped.
[Lira – Status: Wounded | Fear: 48% | Trust: 33%]
But danger was never far.
On the fifth night, while they scouted a dried-out riverbed for supplies, Kael stopped suddenly. Shadows tensed.
"Ambush," he said.
Zar growled, sniffing the air. Lira held tight to the dagger Kael gave her.
Figures emerged from the shadows. Cloaked, armored lightly. Not knights. Not monsters.
Hunters.
[Faction: Black Root Guild – Rank D Threat]
Their leader, a woman with a burned face and twin daggers, smiled.
"Heard there was a freak crawling around these parts. Didn't think he'd have a pet healer and a goblin pet."
Kael's expression didn't change. "Leave."
She laughed. "Wrong answer."
Battle exploded.
Zar tore through one of them before they could scream. Lira, trembling, barely managed a weak healing spell on Zar mid-fight.
Kael moved like death — shadows slicing, shadows binding.
[Skill Chain: Phantom Grasp + Void Scratch → Reaper's Coil Lv.1][Enemies Slain: 4][EXP Gained: +340]
When the dust settled, only the woman remained. Bleeding. Cursing.
"You'll die… like all monsters do."
Kael walked forward. One step.
"No," he whispered. "I'll thrive."
Then he ended her.
[Kael – Rank: E+][Title Progress: Tyrant of the Deep – 87%][Lira – Fear: 35% | Trust: 47%][Zar – Morale: High]
That night, around a larger fire, Lira finally laughed at one of Zar's stupid jokes.
Kael didn't smile. But the fire in his eyes burned steadier.
And the stars… they still watched.
But he was no longer beneath them.
He was rising.