They dragged him at dawn.
Cold ropes cut into his wrists as two senior disciples hauled him up the steps of the broken altar. Mist hung over the ravine like a white sheet.
Below, the Forbidden Zone yawned, sharp rock, thorn trees, black cracks that vented sour air.
The elders always said anything thrown here didn't return.
"By order of the Discipline Hall," the tall one said, "Han Li is expelled for faking merit, stealing pills, and insulting his betters."
Han Li didn't answer. His legs hung useless.
The night before, someone had shattered his meridians with a palm strike and left him on the floor of the punishment hall. He'd woken to numbness and a metallic taste.
Now his body felt like a dead thing being tugged around by strangers.
The short disciple smirked. "Any last words?"
Han Li looked past him at the figures lined up at the rim, outer disciples whispering, a few elders watching with cold eyes, and Chu Feng, the Sect Master's nephew, leaning on a spear.
The one who had crippled him for daring to refuse an order. The one who would smile when Han Li hit the rocks.
"Just one," Han Li said. His voice was thin. "I will return."
They laughed like he'd told a joke.
The tall disciple cut the rope from the altar post and shoved. Han Li tipped forward.
Wind howled in his ears. White mist ripped open as he fell through it.
For a few seconds he felt no pain, only the pound of his heart and the heavy pull of gravity. The ravine's spine of rock rushed up at him. He braced for the end, teeth clenched.
A thorn tree caught him first.
CRACK!!!
Branches snapped; thorns shredded cloth and skin.
The impact tore a shout out of him as his shoulder slammed into a trunk, spun, and fell again. He hit the ground rolling, tumbled, and came to a stop in a bed of black ferns, flat on his back.
The sky above was a thin strip of white and stone. He lay still and listened.
Nothing moved up on the rim now. The ceremony was over.
Pain returned in pieces. Cuts burned along his arms. His shoulder throbbed.
Worse was the hollow ache in his core where his meridians should have been. When he tried to draw in spiritual energy, nothing answered. His center felt like smashed glass and cold ashes.
He pressed a palm into the dirt and forced himself to sit up.
The Forbidden Zone smelled like wet leaves and sour stone. The ferns around him were oily and dark.
Farther in, thorn trees twisted together under a canopy that let in hardly any light. The sides of the ravine rose like blades. He could see no path up, only slick rock streaked with moss and the occasional narrow ledge.
'Good place to die,' he thought.
He checked his body. Cuts and bruises, but no broken bones. His fingers flexed. Legs moved, though weak.
His storage pouch had been taken. All he had was the ruined robe on his back and a belt cord.
He stood, waited for a wave of dizziness, and got one. He rode it out, then picked a direction at random: deeper into the ravine where shadow pooled, because anywhere out in the open would make him prey for whatever prowled here.
He kept one hand on the trunks as he moved downhill. Twice, loose rocks gave way under his feet, sending him sliding before he caught himself. The damp bark glistened in the dim light.
He didn't think about hate. He didn't think about Chu Feng's grin.
He put every thought into the next step. Survive the morning first. Then think.
A sound reached him. A low chitter, like stones clicking together.
He froze and crouched. The foliage ahead quivered. He squinted until the shape separated from shadow.
A beast the size of a wolf, body armored in overlapping plates like scales. Six legs flexed under it.
A narrow snout, sharp teeth. Milky eyes. It sniffed the air, then tilted its head toward him.
Nightclaw. Outer disciples whispered about them. Low-tier beasts that ate carrion, but would take live meat if it didn't fight back.
Han Li picked up a rock. It was heavy, awkward in his grip.
The Nightclaw's plates shifted, lifting slightly as it crouched.
"Come on," Han Li whispered. "Try me."
It leapt.
He didn't meet it with strength. He couldn't. He stepped aside, swung the rock into its head as it passed, then shoved his shoulder under its neck as they both went down.
BAM!!!
The impact knocked the breath from his lungs.
The beast rolled, claws scraping stone. It came up hissing, blood dripping from one eye.
Han Li staggered and grabbed for another rock. The beast feinted. He feinted back.
The second attack came straight for his knee. He twisted aside, dropped the rock into its open mouth, and punched.
Pain shot through his knuckles. The Nightclaw's jaws snapped shut on the stone, cracking it in two. Chips stung his cheek.
The beast didn't expect a punch. That gave him an opening. He spotted a fallen branch and grabbed it.
CHOMP!!!
As the beast bit down, he jammed the wood between its jaws. With its mouth wedged open, he snatched up the earlier rock and slammed it again and again into the seam under the plates by its ear.
The third strike made it screech.
The fifth dulled its eyes.
The sixth dropped it to the ground.
BAM! BAM! BAM!!!
He kept hitting until his arms shook and the branch sagged.
Han Li stood over the corpse, chest heaving, the taste of copper in his mouth. His heart pounded as he waited.
Suddenly he heard it… DING!!!
A soft chime. Like a teacup tapped once with a spoon.
Blue text lit up in the air above the Nightclaw's body.
***
[Infinite Ascension System v1.0]
Binding: Complete
Host: Han Li
Status: Severely Damaged Meridians
Condition: Poor
First Task: Kill to Ascend
***
He blinked. The words didn't go away. They were clear.
He reached up, half expecting to smear them, and his fingers met nothing.
Another line unrolled.
***
[Kill Confirmed]
Consuming Essence…
+1 Strength
+1 Agility
+1 Vitality
Extractable Trait Found: Latching Bite (Minor)
Consume? [Yes/No]
***
Han Li stared. He could still feel the emptiness in his core.
This wasn't spiritual energy. It was something else, like water trickling into a dry gourd from a hole in the sky.
He whispered, "Consume."
Warmth spread from his fingers up his arm, then through his chest in thin threads, weaving along paths his meridians should have used. For a second the cold ache dulled.
***
Trait Acquired: Latching Bite (Minor)
Effect: Increased bite grip and tearing power.
Passive Assimilation: 3%
***
He almost laughed. Of all things, a bite.
"Fine," he said. "I'll take teeth."
The text faded a little but remained visible when he focused.
He crouched by the Nightclaw and forced himself to search the body.
He didn't have a knife. He used a sharp rock to pry up a plate and lever out a sliver of bone shaped like a spike, good as a dagger. He cut a strip of hide for a makeshift belt, then another to wrap his bleeding knuckles.
"Kill to ascend," he murmured. The task was ridiculous and perfect.
He kept moving.
The ravine narrowed until the thorn trees leaned together and made a tunnel. He squeezed through, scraped his back, and stepped into a hollow where the ground dipped and collected water.
A thin stream ran from a crack in the rock. He cupped both hands and drank, ignoring the grit.
DING!!!
[Condition Improved: Hydration
Micro-Recovery Initiated]
No one else could see it. Not the elders. Not the bullies. The thought calmed him.
On the wall beside the stream, something pale showed under the algae. He wiped it clean with his palm.
Carved lines appeared, stick figures running, a large shape with teeth, and a human outline with a circle in its chest.
It showed monsters, death, and a heart that glowed. The last carving showed the human leaving the ravine with the circle still bright.
"Someone got out," he said.
Or thought they did.
He kept walking until the ground sloped upward. The thorn trees grew sparse, and the light increased.
Ahead was a stretch of broken stone where the ravine widened for about a dozen paces before closing again. Bones lay scattered, stripped clean and dry. No birds. Nothing with wings came here.
He crossed quickly.
The chittering returned, not one beast this time, but several, echoing off stone. He stopped and measured distances.
The nearest sound came from the right, beyond a tangle of roots. Another from above on the ledge.
A third from behind him in the tunnel. He didn't have time to run. He picked the most dangerous one, the ledge.
He crouched, snatched up a handful of small, sharp rocks, and threw three in quick succession at the sound on the ledge.
The second bounced off a plate with a clack. The third hit soft flesh.
A Nightclaw yelped and tumbled down a meter. He sprinted toward it as it thrashed, jumped, and drove his bone spike into the same seam he'd targeted on the first. I
t hissed and bucked. He clung to it with arms and knees and stabbed again and again until it stopped.
***
[Kill Confirmed]
Strength +1
Agility +1
Trait Available: Nightclaw Plating (Minor)
Consume? [Yes/No]
***
"Consume."
***
Trait Acquired: Nightclaw Plating (Minor)
Effect: Slightly increases resistance to slashing damage on forearms.
Passive Assimilation: 6%
***
His forearms tingled. He looked and saw nothing change, but when he rubbed the skin it felt tougher, like a thin layer had set under it.
The second Nightclaw shot out from the roots on his right, low and fast.
He turned too late, and claws raked across his thigh. Heat flared as blood ran down his leg.
BAM!!!
He kicked, knocking the beast sideways. The spike missed, and its teeth clamped around his wrist.
"You're not the only one that can bite!" he growled, using the new trait. He sank his teeth into the beast's cheek and bit down with all his strength.
"ROARR!!!" The Nightclaw screamed and flinched. He tore free a mouthful of flesh, spat out blood and hair, and drove the spike into its eye.
***
[Kill Confirmed]
Vitality +1
Status: Minor Bleeding
Stabilizing…
***
Blood still dripped, but the flow slowed to a trickle. The ache in his core eased slightly.
The third Nightclaw didn't attack. It backed away, then turned and ran after seeing the other two killed.
He bound his thigh with a strip of hide and stood, testing his weight.
"This should be good enough…"
He moved uphill until the ravine's edge turned from a sheer drop into a slope he could climb. A crack in the stone, a jutting root, and a patch of rough rock for grip.
He climbed slowly, pushing with his legs, pulling with his hands, keeping his breathing steady. Twice his foot slipped, but each time he caught himself, heart pounding.
Halfway up, a stone rolled under his boot and fell. This time, the sound didn't echo. It hit something soft.
A voice came from below, lazy and amused. "Well, well. Look who it is? The trash lives.
Han Li stopped moving and turned his gaze.
On a ledge to his left, less than ten paces away, sat a figure in gray silk, one ankle resting on a knee, a spear across his lap.
Chu Feng. Turn out he hadn't left after the ceremony.
He'd followed the edge until he found a good seat to watch the beasts tear up the offering.
His hair was tied with a silver pin. He looked rested and entertained.
"You're a hard thing to get rid of," Chu Feng said. "How many times do you think you can perform tricks before something bites your head off?"
Han Li said nothing. He put his fingertips into a crack and shifted his right foot higher.
Chu Feng smiled. "Answer me."
Han Li said nothing. He wouldn't give Chu Feng the satisfaction. He climbed another hand's width.
The spear came off Chu Feng's lap and leveled almost too fast to follow.
SWOOSH!!!
A needle of light shot from the tip, blasting a chunk of rock from the wall an inch from Han Li's ear. Pebbles struck his cheek and stung.
"Answer me," Chu Feng said, still smiling. "Or the next shot hits you."
Han Li looked at him. Something began to fill his core
***
Immediate Threat Detected
Emergency Protocol: Predator Gaze
Temporary Boost: Perception +1 (1 minute)
***
He saw it then, details that had been dull sharpened. The angle of the ledge under Chu Feng's boot.
The hairline crack beside the boy's hip. The spear's weight distribution. The thin vine looped around a jut of rock above the ledge, holding a slab in place.
"Say it," Chu Feng said with disdain. "Say 'Young Master, I was wrong.' I might throw a rope. You can climb like a dog and lick my boot when you reach me."
Han Li drew in a slow breath. "Young Master," he said.
Chu Feng's smile widened.
"I will kill you," Han Li said with a smirk.
He drove the bone spike into the crack by his left hand, shifted weight, and yanked the vine with his right.
The ledge above Chu Feng groaned. The slab tore loose.
CRACK!!!
For a heartbeat Chu Feng just blinked at the shadow falling toward him. Then he sprang up, spear flashing, and cut.
The slab split in two, but both halves still crashed into the ledge. Stone burst apart as dust filled the air. The ledge under Chu Feng gave way, tilting and throwing him backward in a spray of gravel.
Han Li didn't wait to see if Chu Feng fell. He climbed, hands burning and nails tearing, until his fingers hooked over the rim. He hauled himself up and rolled onto his back.
He had one breath of open sky before the ground shook.
RUMBLE!!!
A sound rose from the ravine , not chittering or growling, but a deep, grinding rumble like stone dragging on stone.
Birds burst from a thorn tree and flew hard in the opposite direction. The vibration came through the rock into his spine.
He turned his head. Eyes opened in the dark below, not two, but dozens, set in a face so large it didn't fit the space.
A massive shape unfolded, plates scraping together, a body that made the Nightclaws look like rats. It shoved the thorns aside with a noise like breaking glass and set one clawed foot on the stone near Chu Feng's ledge.
DING!!!
***
Local Apex Detected: Ravine Tyrant (Mid-Tier)
Survival Odds: 3%
Recommendation: Ascend or Die!
***
Han Li pushed himself to his feet, blood sticking to his robe to his leg, the bone spike slick in his hand.
"Do you even need to ask? We ascend!" he shouted.
"ROARRR!!!"
The Tyrant roared and charged forward.