The black crystal dissolved into Kael's palm like molten smoke, seeping into his flesh. He clenched his fist on instinct, but the substance was already gone, leaving behind a faint sigil burned into his skin—a mark that pulsed faintly with each heartbeat.
No one else saw it. Not the villagers huddled near the smoldering pyres. Not the children who peeked at him from behind their mothers. Only Kael and the System.
[Corrupted Relic Assimilated: ???]
[Effect: Bound to Host Soul.]
[Warning: Instability Increased.]
His breath came ragged. He wanted to scream, to claw at his own hand until the mark was gone, but the heat was not pain—it was hunger. A gnawing emptiness coiling inside his chest, whispering for more.
---
"Kael."
He looked up to find Eldran watching him. The old mage's eyes flicked toward his hand, and Kael froze. Had he seen? No, it was impossible. And yet…
"You should rest," Eldran said simply, but his voice carried weight, as though the words themselves were a warning.
Serenya, standing nearby with arms folded, gave Kael a look sharper than any blade. "Rest, yes. But don't think I'm not watching. Whatever that was last night—it stank of something foul."
Kael wanted to argue, to insist he was still the same man. But even as he opened his mouth, the whisper stirred again.
"Lie. Hide it. They cannot know."
The words slithered through his skull, oily and cold. He bit down on his tongue until copper filled his mouth, forcing silence.
---
The day bled into uneasy quiet. The villagers buried what little they could not burn, then locked themselves indoors as if the sunlight no longer promised safety.
Kael tried to help repair the gate, lifting beams and hammering nails with his newfound strength, but each time he approached, the workers drew back. Their eyes darted to his hands, to the faint mark crawling up his neck, to the way he moved—too fast, too sure, too unnatural.
Even when he saved a young boy from being crushed by a collapsing beam, the father yanked the child away without thanks. The look in the man's eyes was worse than hatred. It was fear.
Kael told himself it didn't matter. He told himself he fought for survival, not for their approval. But the memory of their stares festered like rot in his chest.
---
That night, the whispers grew stronger.
Kael sat alone by the dying fire, eyes fixed on the glowing mark in his palm. It pulsed faintly in rhythm with his heartbeat, as though the crystal itself had become part of him.
When he closed his eyes, he heard voices. Not the System's cold monotone, but something older, deeper.
"You are chosen."
"You are cursed."
"You are both."
Visions bled through the darkness—towering spires of black stone, oceans of blood under a crimson sky, and a throne carved from bone where a figure sat faceless, waiting.
Kael gasped and ripped his eyes open, heart hammering. The mark burned brighter, then dimmed. His body was unscarred, but his mind felt shredded.
---
Serenya approached silently, though he had already sensed her presence. Her shadow stretched across the firelight as she crouched across from him.
"You don't sleep," she said. Not a question—an accusation.
"Nightmares," Kael muttered.
"Lies." Her voice was sharp, but her eyes… her eyes searched his face, as though trying to find the man beneath the monster. "Whatever follows you, it isn't just a nightmare. And if you let it take you, it won't only kill you—it will kill us all."
Kael's hands tightened around his knees. He wanted to tell her everything. About the crystal, the whispers, the mark that felt like a brand burned into his soul. But the System's presence wrapped around his throat like chains.
[Warning: Disclosure Restricted.]
He bit back the truth, hating himself for the silence.
Serenya watched him for a long moment, then stood, shaking her head. "I'll say this once: if you lose yourself, I will kill you before anyone else has to."
Her footsteps faded into the dark, leaving Kael alone with the whispers.
---
By dawn, Eldran summoned him to the edge of the village, away from prying eyes. The old mage leaned on his staff, the lines in his face deeper than ever.
"I felt it," Eldran said without preamble. "A ripple of corruption, like a wound torn open. It lingers around you, boy."
Kael swallowed hard. "And if it does?"
"Then you walk a path no mortal should tread." Eldran's eyes hardened. "The System grants power, yes, but power always demands its due. And the crystal you now bear—it is no gift. It is a chain."
Kael's jaw tightened. "I didn't choose it."
"No one chooses chains. They are forced upon us." Eldran's voice softened. "But choice comes later—in how tightly we grip them."
Kael's chest burned. He wanted to scream, to ask for answers, for guidance, for a cure. But before he could speak, the ground trembled beneath them.
Distant horns blared from the forest.
Serenya sprinted toward them, bow in hand. "Scouts report movement—large numbers, closing fast. This wasn't the end, Kael. It was only the beginning."
The tremor grew into a rumble. The trees shuddered as shadows spilled from the treeline—an army, countless and crawling.
Kael's mark throbbed in answer, burning with anticipation.
[Quest Generated: Survive the Oncoming Horde]
Failure: Death of All Villagers.
Reward: ???]
The whispers coiled through him, seductive and cruel.
"Die again. Rise again. Feed us."
Kael stared at the forest, the weight of countless deaths pressing down on him. For the first time, he wondered not if he would survive, but if survival was worth the cost.
---