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Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: First Blood

The air was different now,It no longer burned his lungs.

It moved with him slid across his skin like silk instead of sandpaper, Kai crouched low in the ruined alley where his body had once lain his hand hovering just above the cracked concrete. Shadows clung to him like loyal wolves.

Fear Sense: Active

Target: Fang Lieutenant "Goro the Bleeder"

Emotional State: Confident, mildly alert.

Threat Level: C+

Confidence, huh

Kai's lips curled into a cold smirk,He stepped out from the ruined shelter of broken piping and oil-stained crates silent as a breath.

His new senses wrapped around him like a second skin, he could smell the stale metallic tang of Goro's blood-stained blade.

He could feel the vibrations of the man's steps before they echoed.

Ahead, Goro was leaning casually against a half-collapsed dumpster smoking a roll of dried sludgeweed and laughing to himself.

Shoulda seen the brat's face when I stabbed him, Goro chuckled.

Thought he was some kinda hero or somethin

Kai said nothing.

He moved fast.

A blur in the dark.

Shadow Step , Lv. 1 Activated

Cost: 10 Shadow Points

Effect: Instantly teleport up to 10 meters within line of sight while within darkness. 20-second cooldown.

In a blink, Kai was behind Goro, the Fang lieutenant didn't even have time to turn.

Kai's hand closed around the man's mouth and yanked his head back, In the other hand Kai held the very rebar he'd fought with earlier, its end now sharpened by something unseen darkness curling off it like smoke.

He drove it into Goro's throat,the gurgle was wet the body twitched once, then slumped.

Target Eliminated: Goro the Bleeder

+1 Level Gained

+20 Shadow Points Acquired

Skill Unlocked: Veil Cloak Lv. 1

Quest Complete: First Blood

You have taken your first life as a Shadow Hunter.

Reward: Shadow Core (Common), +1 Talent Point, System Upgrade Option Unlocked

For a moment Kai just stood there watching the blood pool, watching the body fade into the shadowsliterally.

As if reality itself devoured it the slum took back its own, he didn't feel sick.

He didn't feel joy, either, he just felt colder, more focused and somewhere deep inside a fire burned quietly.

"System," he said. "Status."

Status Window — Open

Name: Kai

Level: 2

Class: Shadow Hunter Initiate

HP: 100 / 100

ShadowPoints: 40

TalentPoints: 1

Skills:

• Shadow Step Lv. 1

• Fear Sense Lv. 1

• Veil Cloak Lv. 1 (New)

Titles: First Flame

System Core: Tier 0 Evolution Locked

Upgrade path unlocked at Level 5.

He took a breath, then focused on the new skill.

Veil Cloak Lv. 1

Passive Skill

Effect: You are 25% harder to detect in low-light or shadowed areas.

Bonus: While stationary, you become nearly invisible to normal sight, he'd become a ghost in the slums Perfect.

Still, he couldn't stay the Fangs would realize Goro was missing eventually, and even slum rats had their chains of command. lia was safe he hoped but for how long?

He looked up at the skyline black towers in the distance, glinting faintly with broken neon signs. sector C was up there, past the walls,past the drones.

He wasn't ready for that

Not yet.

But he would be.

He slipped back into the alleys.

Elsewhere, in a darkened data-room lit by humming screens…

A pair of glowing eyes flickered awake on a digital monitor, Symbols scrolled, Numbers crunched.

A low warning tone pulsed.

Anomaly Detected in Sector D

Designated Subject: Kai [Deceased]

Status: Revived

System Detected: Shadow Hunter Protocol Classified Tier

A figure in a white coat leaned over the terminal, face bathed in light.

"What do we have here…" she murmured. Another rogue awakening. Hm. This one's… different."

She reached out and tapped a command.

Initiate remote surveillance drone Set track on Subject Kai. Record all system interactions, alert Enforcer Cadre if threat level exceeds Beta.

The screen pulsed once in acknowledgement.

And the hunt began anew.

Back in the slums…

Kai moved quickly but silently, his feet gliding over debris like whispers, His senses were sharper now.

He could hear the chitter of sewer rats, the rumble of distant machinery, and… something else.

A cry. Faint. Strangled.

His eyes narrowed.

He followed it. through a broken chain-link fence, past rusted barrels leaking sludge, and into the shell of an old school building.

Inside, flickering blue lights sputtered overhead. The cry came again, weak and desperate.

A girl. Maybe fourteen, Backed into a corner. And standing before her

A man. Or what had once been one.

It wore a trench coat stained with ink and rot. Its skin was pale, and black veins ran from its eyes to its neck. Its mouth was too wide, filled with jagged yellow teeth.

Identified: Infected Thrall

Type: Echo Feeder

Threat Level: B

Status: Active

Weakness: Sound Disruption, Neck Spines

Warning: Shadow Points insufficient for direct confrontation.

Kai clenched his jaw. He only had 40 Shadow Points left, Shadow Step cost 10. And there was no cover near the girl.

He had to be smart.

New Quest Available: Echo in the Void

Objective: Eliminate the Echo Feeder

Optional: Save the civilian

Success: +2 Levels, Unique Item Drop, 50 Shadow Points

Failure: Innocent death. Possible infection spread.

Kai dropped low and circled left, staying behind broken lockers. His breathing was shallow.

Think.

Echo Feeders consumed fear and sound,They latched onto trauma. The more you screamed, the stronger they got.

He pulled a rusted screw from the floor, then aimed it at the far wall.

Clink!

The thing jerked its head, screeching.

Kai darted out.

[Shadow Step Activated]

He blinked behind it and drove his rebar upward straight into the neck, just under the base of the skull.

But the creature didn't fall.

It shrieked, spinning and hurling him against the lockers. Kai grunted, ribs cracking.

-22 HP

The girl screamed. The creature surged toward her.

No. Not again.

Kai rose, blood in his mouth.

Shadow Points Remaining: 10

Cooldown: Shadow Step (Used)

Available: Veil Cloak, Fear Sense

He closed his eyes.

[Veil Cloak — Passive Activated]

He moved, Slowly, Calmly. One step at a time.

The creature's head tilted.

Sniffed.

Snarled.

But Kai had disappeared from its senses.

He circled again this time, he didn't aim for the neck.

He aimed for the base of its ear.

One clean jab.

The rebar pierced the spinal stem.

The creature froze, Then convulsed,

Then collapsed.

[Target Eliminated: Echo Feeder]

+2 Levels Gained

+50 Shadow Points Acquired

Unique Drop: "Resonant Bone Shard"

Quest Complete: "Echo in the Void"

Reward: Item: [Silent Hunter's Mark] | +1 Skill Upgrade Available

The girl whimpered in the corner.

Kai knelt beside her.

"It's over," he said softly. You're safe now.

She looked up, eyes wide with terror… and awe.

"Y-you're not normal," she whispered. "You. you killed that thing

Kai met her gaze, Name's Kai. You need to run. This area's gonna get worse real fast."

What are you?

He stood.

He didn't answer.

Because he didn't know yet.

System Update:

Name: Kai

Level: 4

Class: Shadow Hunter Initiate

Skills:

Shadow Step. Lv. 1

Fear Sense. Lv. 1

Veil Cloak Lv. 1

New Items:

•Resonant Bone Shard

A rare drop. Can be used to craft or upgrade gear imbued with sonic resilience.

Silent Hunter's Mark .

When worn, reduces noise of all movements by 50%.

He took a breath and stared out into the slum skyline the shadows weren't done with him yet.

And he was far from done with them.

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