Ashfall smelled of rust and wet dog.
Lin Yue, twelve winters old, pressed his spine against a collapsed wall while the Rank-1 Ironfang Wolf circled the corpse of his only friend. The beast's yellow eyes reflected the dying ember-glow of a toppled brazier. Each breath from its snout puffed steam into the frigid night.
Black Iron dagger—sub-level 1, chipped—shivered in Lin Yue's grip. The handle was wrapped in scavenged wire that bit his palm, but pain was better than slipping.
One slash. One chance.
The wolf lunged.
Lin Yue's knees buckled under instinct, not training. He rolled beneath yellowed fangs, shoulder scraping cinders. The dagger traced a clumsy arc—nothing like the clean lines he'd watched street performers sell for coppers.
Crescent Tear – Beginning Stage.
The blade kissed fur, parted muscle, grated bone. Hot blood sprayed his face, metallic and alive. The wolf crashed, legs kicking, then stilled.
A translucent panel flickered in the corner of his vision, pale blue letters on black:
[Achievement Unlocked: First Kill]
[+10 EXP]
[Technique "Crescent Tear" → Introductory (1/100)]
[Beast Core (Rank 1) absorbed automatically]
[Sub-level Progress: Rank 1 (1/10) → (2/10) | Foundation Milestone +5% Strength]
Lin Yue coughed, wiped blood from his lashes, and laughed—one cracked, disbelieving sound.
"Rank one," he whispered to the dead wolf. "Just the start."
He knelt, pried open the beast's ribcage with the dagger's tip. Inside, a thumb-sized crystal pulsed faint crimson. When his fingers closed around it, warmth flooded his veins like stolen sunlight. The panel updated again:
[Core fully digested. Next milestone at 4/10: Condensation → Passive Skill Unlock]
Footsteps crunched behind him—light, deliberate. Lin Yue spun, dagger raised.
A silhouette leaned against a broken pillar. Hooded cloak, silver embroidery shaped like weighing scales. The stranger's gloved hand lifted a lantern that burned cold white instead of orange.
"Boy," the stranger said, voice smooth as oil, "you just killed city property."
Lin Yue's stomach dropped. Ironfang Wolves belonged to the Ashfall Patrol; poaching meant the lash, or worse, the Pits.
The stranger stepped into the light. A woman, maybe twenty, scar running from left ear to lip. The scales on her cloak glinted—Voidmarket insignia.
"I'm not Patrol," she continued. "Name's Merchant Seventh Mei. I buy corpses, cores, and stories. That wolf's pelt is worth three bronze coins. Your story…" She tilted her head. "Might be worth more."
Lin Yue tightened his grip. "I don't sell friends." He nodded at the small body half-buried under rubble—Xiao Hu, same age, same hunger.
Mei's eyes softened a fraction. "Then sell the wolf. Bury the boy proper. Deal?"
She flicked a bronze coin. It spun, ringing, and landed on the wolf's snout.
Lin Yue stared at the coin, then at Xiao Hu's broken fingers still clutching a rusted nail he'd called a sword. Hunger won.
"Deal."
Mei smiled without warmth. "Good. Contract."
She snapped her fingers. A parchment unrolled in mid-air, glowing red runes. Words burned across it:
Bonded Growth Contract
Party A: Lin Yue (Orphan, Rank 1)
Party B: Merchant Seventh Mei (Voidmarket Agent)
Term: Until debt of 100 bronze repaid.
Clause 1: Party A receives Bonded Starter Weapon (max +3 tiers above user, grows with kills).
Clause 2: Party A enters Knifefall Outer Disciple Trial in 30 days.
Penalty for breach: Soul brand → permanent tracking.
Lin Yue's hand trembled above the signature line. Thirty days. A growing weapon. A chance to leave Ashfall's gutters.
He pressed his bloody thumb to the parchment. Runes flared, then sank into his skin like brands.
Mei rolled the contract away. From her sleeve she drew a slender dagger—Bronze-3, edge etched with tiny crescent moons.
"Voidmarket special," she said, tossing it. "Bonded growth type—it'll stretch three full tiers above your rank before it cracks. One per lifetime. Don't waste it."
Lin Yue caught the dagger. Lighter than his old Black Iron, perfectly balanced. When he flicked it, the air hummed a low, hungry note. A new panel appeared:
[Bonded Weapon Acquired: Crescent Moon Dagger (Bronze-3)]
[Current Harmony: 0.7 → Damage -30%. Improve via shared kills.]
[Growth Cap: User Rank +3 (currently Rank 4)]
Mei's voice dropped. "One more thing. Transcendent stage—the 0.01%—they pay in blood or soul. Sight, voice, lifespan… something permanent. Remember that when you chase the stars."
She vanished between one blink and the next, lantern winking out.
Lin Yue knelt beside Xiao Hu, wrapped the body in his own threadbare coat, and began to dig with the new blade. Soil parted like silk.
Under the rising moon, a twelve-year-old gravedigger carved his first promise into the earth:
"I'll climb the Ten Ranks. I'll make them remember your name."
Far above, unseen, the floating sword-islands of Knifefall City drifted across the stars—waiting.
Thirty Days of Hunger
The grave took half the night.
Lin Yue's new Crescent Moon Dagger cut the frozen earth like butter, but every scoop of dirt felt heavier than the last. When Xiao Hu's body finally lay wrapped in the coat, Lin Yue pressed the rusted nail—Xiao Hu's "sword"—into the boy's folded hands.
[Hidden Quest Completed: Bury the Fallen]
[+5 EXP | +1 Willpower (new stat)]
He didn't know what Willpower did yet. Didn't care.
He stood, wiped his face with a sleeve that smelled of blood and ash, and faced the city.
Ashfall never slept. Lanterns flickered in broken windows. Patrol boots echoed three streets over. Somewhere, a baby cried. Somewhere else, a blade found flesh.
Lin Yue clutched the Bronze-3 dagger.
Harmony: 0.7 → -30% damage.
He needed kills to raise it. Needed food to live long enough for kills.
The contract burned on his wrist: 100 bronze debt. 30 days to Knifefall Trial.
Day 1 – The Gutters
He sold the wolf pelt at dawn.
A toothless butcher weighed it on crooked scales.
"Two bronze," the man grunted. "Patrol mark on the ear—risky."
Lin Yue took the coins.
First meal in three days: a fist-sized steamed bun and watery broth.
His stomach cramped from the sudden fullness.
[Nutrition absorbed. +1 sub-level stamina]
[Rank 1 (2/10) → (3/10) | Foundation +5% Stamina]
The system pinged like a greedy ghost.
Day 3 – First Hunt
He learned the sewers.
Rank-1 Ash Geckos clung to the walls—fast, venomous, worth half a bronze each to alchemists.
Lin Yue crouched in the dark, dagger reversed.
Crescent Tear – Introductory (3/100).
The first gecko lunged.
He parried with the flat of the blade, slashed upward.
Green blood hissed on the stone.
[Kill: Ash Gecko ×1]
[Harmony +0.05 → 0.75]
[Core absorbed. Rank 1 (3/10) → (4/10) | Condensation Milestone Unlocked]
A warm pulse bloomed in his chest.
[Passive Skill: Night Vision (Low) – See 10m in darkness]
The sewers suddenly had edges.
Day 7 – The Gang
Three older boys blocked the ladder out.
Leader: Rank 1 (8/10), Black Iron-7 knuckle dusters.
Name: Scab.
"New meat," Scab sneered. "Toll is everything you got."
Lin Yue's knuckles whitened on the dagger.
Harmony: 0.85.
He could win. Maybe.
But the contract flashed: No killing humans before Trial. Breach = soul brand.
He tossed one bronze coin.
Scab caught it, spat, and let him pass.
[Willpower +1 → 2]
[Hidden: Reputation "Gutter Rat" +1]
Day 15 – The Message
A black envelope slid under his crate-door at midnight.
Wax seal: Knifefall sword-island sigil.
Inside: one line in silver ink.
"Outer Disciple Trial: 15 days. Bring your blade. Bring your hunger."
No signature.
Lin Yue's heart hammered.
He was Rank 1 (7/10) now.
Crescent Tear: Minor Mastery (12/100).
Harmony: 0.95.
He needed three more sub-levels and one milestone to hit Peak before the Trial.
Day 20 – The Beast Tide
Alarms screamed at dusk.
Rank-2 Thunder Horn Rabbits breached the outer wall—dozens of them, lightning crackling between spiral horns.
Patrol fled.
Civilians barricaded doors.
Lin Yue ran toward the chaos.
In the rubble of East Alley, he found a wounded Rank-2 rabbit—horn cracked, limping.
Harmony: 1.0.
Resonance: 1.5 (life-death focus).
He exhaled.
Crescent Tear – Minor Mastery.
The dagger became a silver crescent moon.
One slash.
The rabbit's head rolled.
[Elite Kill: Thunder Horn Rabbit (Rank 2)]
[EXP overflow → Rank 1 (7/10) → Rank 2 Beginner (1/10)]
[Bonded Weapon Growth: Bronze-3 → Bronze-8]
[Harmony locked at 1.0]
[New Passive: Lightning Resistance (Low)]
The system panel blinded him with light.
Day 21 – The Summons
Merchant Seventh Mei waited at the city gate, lantern glowing cold.
"You're early," she said. "Rank 2 already. Good."
Lin Yue clutched the upgraded dagger—now etched with faint lightning runes.
Mei tossed him a black token.
Knifefall Outer Disciple insignia.
"Caravan leaves at dawn. Ten days to the floating islands. You'll train en route."
She leaned close.
"Word of advice: the Trial isn't about strength. It's about who you're willing to bury."
Her scar twitched.
Lin Yue thought of Xiao Hu's grave.
"I've buried enough," he said.
Mei's smile didn't reach her eyes.
"We'll see."