The glitched creature lunged from the treeline like a corrupted spectrum, its form jittering between solid and static, limbs cracking into new angles with each step.
Ashen's body tensed. He didn't know how to fight this thing—not really—but something inside him stirred. That strange pulse beneath his skin. That feeling of wrongness that wasn't fear.
Ashen stepped forward, arms raised defensively. His breathing slowed. His heartbeat didn't race—it synchronized with something deeper. He was ready to fight.
Then, a roar cut through the air like thunder.
"GET AWAY FROM THEM!"
A blur of motion surged past Ashen, slamming into the side of the creature with the force of a falling tree.
Steel sang.
A massive greatsword—etched with crimson runes—sliced across the spawn's chest, sending it reeling back with a garbled shriek. Its body fractured like broken code, twitching wildly before it stabilized again.
Ashen turned, startled.
The man standing between them was massive. Easily over six feet tall, with broad shoulders, a dark beard, and sun-browned skin. Scars lined his arms like badges of survival. His chest rose and fell steadily as he pulled the blade free and leveled it again at the monster.
"Welcome back," Seris muttered beside Ashen, equal parts relief and irritation.
"Nice of you to wait for me before things got messy," the man said without turning. "I heard that thing from two hills out."
"That's Seren," Seris added quickly to Ashen. "My brother."
Ashen nodded wordlessly.
Seren didn't ask questions. He charged.
His greatsword burned red as he poured mana into it, the blade humming with force. He moved with a precision that belied his size, spinning low and swinging upward in an arc that cracked into the spawn's torso.
The creature screamed.
Not a beast's howl—but a static-riddled, modulated error noise that made Ashen flinch.
The spawn countered, claws elongating into jagged, metallic appendages. It struck back, but Seren blocked with the flat of his blade, grunting from the impact. Sparks flew as corrupted code met infused steel.
Seris watched with clenched fists. "He's good. He has trained for years. But these things—"
Ashen could already see it.
The spawn was adjusting.
Its form began to shift again—more stable, faster. The flickers slowed. Its movements smoothed. It was learning.
Seren thrust his sword forward, but the creature blinked to the side mid-strike and raked its claws across his back.
He roared in pain and stumbled.
"Seren!" Seris cried out.
The monster leapt, jaws unhinging unnaturally—
[System Notification: Major Threat Identified]
> Objective : Defeat the Glitched Spawn [Level ???]
> Reward: ???
The words scrolled across Ashen's vision like fire.
He didn't hesitate.
Ashen sprinted forward, grabbed a loose plank of sharpened wood from the ground, and hurled himself between Seren and the descending spawn.
The impact was instant.
The creature crashed into him, throwing both of them to the ground. Ashen rolled with the momentum, slamming his makeshift weapon into the spawn's arm. The plank exploded into splinters, but it gave him just enough space to recover.
The creature hissed.
Its eyes locked onto him.
Binary numbers scrolled across its corneas. Ashen felt something strange—like his very presence irritated it. Or attracted it. He couldn't tell.
He ducked a swipe, rolled under another, and kicked upward at one of its glitched joints. The spawn staggered—its leg flickering mid-phase—but retaliated with a backhand that threw Ashen into a barrel.
His ribs screamed.
Pain flared white.
But he stood.
"Ashen, don't!" Seris shouted from behind. "It's too fast!"
But he wasn't fighting with speed.
He was fighting with instability.
Ashen reached inside himself. That deep wrongness—the fractured thread in his chest—pulled at something.
"C'mon…" he whispered. "Do something…"
The spawn lunged again, faster than before.
Ashen sidestepped, barely missing the swipe—but reached into the spawn as it passed.
His hand met flickering skin—and instead of burning or breaking, his body resonated.
[System Sync Detected: ERROR ]
[Spawn Signature Interference]
>Temporary Instability Created
The creature convulsed mid-air.
Ashen blinked.
Did… he do that?
He gritted his teeth and focused again. "Break."
[Glitch Pulse Activated]
>Target System Structure Corrupted
The spawn howled as its limbs twisted against themselves. Ashen darted forward, grabbed the creature's distorted jaw, and willed his corruption into it.
The spawn began to flicker violently.
It tried to phase—vanish like before—but Ashen imagined locking it in place.
[New Ability Unlocked: Lock-State Interference]
>You can anchor entities in partial phase, disabling escape functions for 3 seconds.
The world slowed.
Ashen reached for Seren's greatsword, which had fallen nearby, and swung with all the strength he could muster.
The sword was too heavy. Too awkward.
But the timing was perfect.
It cleaved through the spawn's neck just as it tried to glitch away.
A final, corrupted shriek tore through the air—
Then silence.
The spawn shattered like glass.
Pixelated shards rained down around them, evaporating into the soil.
Ashen dropped to his knees, panting hard, arms trembling.
[System Notification]
> Glitched Spawn Defeated
> XP Acquired
> Ability "Glitch Pulse" Upgraded >>>Level 2
> Ability "Glitch step" Upgraded >>>Level 2
> New Ability Acquired: Lock-State Interference
Seren limped over, blood on his back, eyes wide.
He stared at Ashen.
"You just—how the hell did you—?"
Ashen looked up, breathing ragged.
"I'm still figuring that out."
Seren glanced at the shattered remains. "That wasn't normal. You interfered with it. Like you spoke its language."
Ashen didn't reply.
He didn't have an answer.
Seris arrived moments later, helping her brother up, then kneeling beside Ashen. "You okay?"
Ashen nodded slowly. "Yeah. Just… tired."
Seren coughed, then extended a hand. "Name's Seren Astrea. Looks like I owe you my life."
Ashen took his hand, rising shakily. "Ashen Vale. And it's fine. I owed the village, anyway."
The three of them stood in the broken dirt, the fading glow of the monster dissolving into the dusk.
Around them, villagers slowly emerged, cautiously hopeful. A few stared at Ashen differently now—not just as a stranger, but as something… else.
Something dangerous.
Something powerful.
Ashen felt the pulse in his chest again.
Not just wrongness anymore.
But potential.
And somewhere beneath the village, something shifted.
Watching.
Waiting.
---
To Be Continued…