Chapter Thirteen: Dominator in the River
The koi's body still ached from the river monster's jaws. His scales throbbed where they had cracked, and every flick of his tail sent pain rippling through him.
But his scales glimmered crimson now, each plate soaked in blood, hardened through suffering. Blood Scales. His first true evolution.
It wasn't enough.
Not even close.
He had endured, yes. Survived. But survival was a mockery if he remained this weak. Mari's face lingered in fractured memory, Ian's broken body haunted him, and Rakkel's sacrifice roared endlessly in the shadows of his mind.
I need more.
—
The river flowed on, but his mind sank into the System's cold machinery.
[Skill: Blood Scales]
[Status: Active]
[Effect: Defense rises with damage. Enemy nerves dulled by blood contact.]
He already knew this. He needed more. How do I grow stronger?
[Paths available.]
[Option One: Endurance and Adaptation. Survive hostile environments.]
[Option Two: Domination. Claim territory. Accumulate energy through slaughter and control.]
"Domination…?"
[Yes. Claim a turf. Make it your own. Gather strength from all who fall within it. Available option: the river.]
The koi's thoughts swirled, savage and hungry. His own river. His own domain.
"Yes," he whispered into the current, though no sound left his lips. "Then the river is mine."
—
And so began the years of blood.
He prowled like a curse. Fish, eels, river beasts — anything that moved — he tore apart.
Bounce darted him like lightning through claws and jaws. Bite ripped throats open. Blood Scales turned wounds into weapons, his blood numbing predators until they convulsed helplessly before he finished them.
The river ran red, more often blood than water.
At first, he killed to survive. Then to grow. Then to claim. By the end, he killed simply because the System whispered:
[Domination expanding.]
Piece by piece, the river bent.
Minnows scattered at his shadow. Eels abandoned their holes. Pike and gar turned tail when he passed.
The koi who once bounced helplessly off hooks had become a lord of slaughter — a dominator in the river.
—
But with each victory, something slipped away.
At first, he remembered why. Mari's laughter. Ian's red cord. The burning of the village.
But years drowned those memories. Mari's smile blurred. Ian's voice faded into static. Rakkel's sacrifice dulled into echo.
Until one night, beneath a dead moon, the koi realized he could no longer recall Mari's face. He strained, but her features would not come.
The koi froze, hollow spreading in his chest.
Why am I fighting?
No answer came.
—
His strength grew, yes. Blood Scales toughened, its poison sharper, his movements quicker. But no new skill awakened.
He crushed himself against sharper rocks. He lured larger monsters into battle. He let his body be torn again and again, begging the System for another gift.
Nothing.
No new words.
No desperate breakthrough like Bite.
No miracle like Bounce.
No grief-born flame like Sense.
Only endless blood. Only harder scales.
The koi's rage boiled into despair. Why? Am I already at my limit?
For the first time in years, he called to the System not with fury but with dread. "Why can't I advance?"
—
The answer was colder than the grave.
[Growth recorded. Advancement halted.]
[Reason: Requirement unfulfilled.]
The koi's heart spasmed. "What requirement? I've bled for years. I've slaughtered everything in this river. What more do you want from me?!"
[Reminder: Advancement requires bond with Human Tamer.]
The words struck like knives.
Mari's smile — gone.
Ian's fire — ash.
Both lost to time.
The koi drifted, blood swirling from his crimson scales, the river whispering past.
He had conquered. He had slaughtered. He had ruled. But without a tamer, he was nothing more than a tyrant chained to water.
A king of bones and silence.
—
He sank into the dark, crimson glow leaking faintly from his scales. For the first time in years, he stopped moving.
The river he had claimed whispered around him. A throne of blood.
But Mari's laughter no longer reached him. Ian's warmth no longer steadied him.
And for the first time since her death, he felt fear.
Not of dragons.
Not of hunters.
But of being forgotten.
Weak.
Alone.
Lost.
The System whispered one last line before vanishing into silence:
[Bond or extinction. Choose.]
The koi closed his eyes, scales burning red, his body trembling.
And in the darkness, he felt the weight of everything he had gained — and everything he had lost.