The wisp of life force absorbed from the mouse was an insult. It was a single drop of water on the tongue of a man dying of thirst, serving only to awaken a deeper, more profound craving. The hunger that now gnawed at Kael's core was a living entity, a ravenous beast roaring within the cage of his ribs. It was no longer a passive emptiness; it was a physical ache, a demand for sustenance that overshadowed the fading memory of pain from his bloodline's awakening.
His newly awakened senses, once a thrilling novelty, now served this singular, predatory purpose. The world outside his shack was no longer a collection of sights and sounds; it was a banquet laid bare. He could smell the faint, pulsing life force of the sparrows nesting in the eaves, the rich, earthy vitality of the nightcrawlers in the dirt beneath the floorboards, the vibrant, green energy of the weeds growing between the cracks. They were all pathetic morsels, barely enough to whet his appetite.
But beyond them, carried on the crisp evening air from the dark woods that bordered the village, was a scent that made the hunger within him surge. It was a scent of raw, brutish power—musky, aggressive, and potent. It was the scent of a true meal.
Driven by an instinct far older and more powerful than his fifteen years of fear, Kael rose. He moved with a newfound grace, a fluid economy of motion that felt utterly alien yet perfectly natural. He did not slink from his shack as the village outcast; he slipped into the twilight like a predator emerging for its nightly hunt.
The forest, usually a place of childish fears and shadowy monsters, now felt like his personal hunting ground. His senses painted a vivid tapestry of life around him. He could feel the timid heartbeats of rabbits in their burrows, the slow, methodical crawl of a beetle up a tree trunk. He ignored them all, his focus locked on the potent scent that grew stronger with every step.
He found his quarry in a small clearing where it was rooting aggressively at the base of an old oak. A Grey-tier Rock Boar. It was a beast of muscle and bristling fur, with tusks like dull daggers and a hide the color and texture of rough granite. It was a known nuisance, a creature that occasionally gored unwary travelers and was notoriously difficult for even the village's Bronze-tier guards to subdue.
A year ago—yesterday, even—Kael would have sooner thrown himself from a cliff than approach such a creature. Now, a cold, predatory thrill washed over him. He was not a boy facing a monster. He was a hunter who had found his prey.
Arrogance, born from a lifetime of weakness and a single moment of absolute power, clouded his judgment. He saw the boar not as a threat, but as a writhing sack of Qi, a feast waiting to be consumed. He raised his hand, and a tendril of pure shadow, darker and more solid than anything he'd ever summoned, shot from his palm.
The boar, with the sharp instincts of a spirit beast, sensed the attack a split second before it landed. It squealed, a sound of fury, not fear, and sidestepped with impossible speed. The shadow tendril struck the oak tree behind it, leaving a sizzling, black scar on the bark.
Before Kael could react, the boar charged.
It was a blur of grey muscle, a living battering ram. Kael's enhanced reflexes screamed at him to move, but his body, unused to such commands, responded a fraction too late. The boar's tusk caught him in the side, a sensation of immense, crushing force that lifted him from his feet and threw him against the trunk of another tree.
The impact was a blinding flash of agony. He felt a distinct, sickening crack in his ribs, and the air was driven from his lungs in a choked gasp. He slid to the ground, his vision swimming, the coppery taste of his own blood filling his mouth.
Pain. This was real. This was not the spiritual agony of his awakening; this was the brutal, physical reality of a world that did not yield easily. The hunger was still there, but now it was joined by a cold, sharp spike of fear. His new power was not an "I win" button. It was a weapon, and he was an untrained child holding a loaded crossbow.
The boar turned, its small, brutish eyes glowing with malevolent intelligence. It pawed the ground, preparing for the final, fatal charge.
It was in that moment, with pain radiating from his shattered rib and his life measured in seconds, that Kael Ardyn's true talent awakened. Not his bloodline. Not his pathetic serpent soul. His mind.
The calculating, patient intellect that had allowed him to endure years of torment now fired with desperate clarity. He couldn't overpower the beast. He couldn't outrun it. He had to outthink it.
He pushed himself up, hissing in pain, and deliberately stumbled to his right, placing himself in front of a dense thicket of younger, tightly packed trees. The boar, seeing his weakness, let out a triumphant squeal and charged.
Kael waited, his entire being focused on that single, terrifying point in time. The ground thundered. The air stank of musk and fury. One second… half a second… now!
He threw himself sideways, rolling through the agonizing pain in his ribs. The Rock Boar, locked into its trajectory, could not alter its course. It thundered past where he had been standing and plowed headfirst into the thicket of trees. Its tusks, designed for goring, became its prison, wedging themselves firmly between two sturdy tree trunks.
It was trapped.
A vicious, triumphant grin split Kael's bloody lips. He staggered to his feet and approached the squealing, struggling beast. He placed his hand on its thick, bristling hide.
"Mine," he hissed.
He unleashed the full, unrestrained power of his bloodline. It was not a subtle tendril this time. It was a maelstrom of shadow that erupted from his palm, enveloping the boar entirely. The beast's furious squeals twisted into shrieks of pure, unadulterated terror. He could feel its life force, its raw, earthy Qi, being violently ripped from its body. It was not a gentle siphoning; it was a brutal, ravenous consumption. The power flooded into him, a euphoric, intoxicating torrent that was a thousand times more potent than the mouse. The agonizing pain in his ribs began to dull, replaced by a warm, healing energy as his own body used the stolen life force to knit itself back together.
He felt the stagnant puddle of his Qi churn, and for the first time, a current began to flow.
He held his connection until the boar's struggles ceased, until the last drop of its essence was his. When the shadows receded, the creature's husk slumped to the ground, a dry, desiccated thing of matted fur and brittle bone.
Kael stood over it, panting, his clothes torn and stained with his own blood. He was no longer a boy. He was a survivor. A killer. A Devourer.
It was then he heard it. A sharp, distinct gasp from the edge of the clearing.
He whipped his head around, his heart hammering against his newly mended ribs. Standing there, half-concealed by the shadows of the ancient trees, was a figure. Her eyes, wide with a mixture of pure terror and undeniable awe, were locked onto him.
It was Lyra Veylan. And she had seen everything.
OOC – End of Chapter 2
MC Name: Kael Ardyn
Cultivation Realm: Mortal Stage (Initial → Early)
Divine Soul Rank: Grey-tier (Trash) - Shadow Serpent Soul
Bloodline: Ancient Devouring Bloodline (Awakened)
Known Techniques: Devour Essence (Violent Consumption)
Items: Black Book of the Devourer (soul-bound)
Lifespan: 80 Years (Standard Human)
Notable Changes: First real combat experience. First tangible Qi increase and healing through Devour Essence. Predator mindset solidified. Encountered key character Lyra Veylan under dangerous circumstances.