The egg pulsed once , twice like a heart learning its rhythm. Inside, Kael's eyes snapped open. Pain was gone, but something else filled the hollows: cold clarity. The black membrane pressed against his skin, not to suffocate but to
rewrite.
Runes flickered along its inner surface, mirroring the golden panel still hovering outside
[System Log:]
[Host stabilized.]
[ Necrotic affinity detected. ]
[First skill unlocked: Grasp of the Unbound]
Kael tried to scream, but no air moved in the fluid. Instead, the system answered.\
[Command received: Breathe]
[Override: host will respire post-hatch]
[Taunt detected: Riven, Elara\'97coordinates logged]\
[Memory imprint: Strength over loyalty stored as core motive]
Outside, the dungeon lesser ghouls whimpered. They'd been stalking Kael's corpse for an easy feed; now they backed into moss-slick walls. The dark energy rolling off the egg snuffed torches in a ten-meter radius, and the only light was that merciless screen:\
[Name: Kael Vorn]
[ Class:Necromancer (Evolver)]
[Level:1 ]
[ 2 (near-death bonus)]
[Followers:0]
[ Trait gained:Betrayer's Insight]
[deal +15 % damage to targets who have aided you previously.]
Riven's laughter echoed down the corridor, fading as they took the stairs up.Leave the trash, Elara called. Boss-room loot won wait.
The egg cracked.
Not into pieces openings . Slits irised along its surface, and Kael fell forward onto stone, gasping real air. The goo slid off him like oil, soaking into the floor and sprouting tiny bone-white mushrooms. His fingertips smoked; each finger twitched and a skeletal maggot erupted from the ground, circled his wrist, and crumbled to phosphorus dust. Experiment. Feedback.\
He climbed to his feet, naked and raw, and read the last line the system printed for him:\
**Quest triggered:
[Ashes of Allegiance]
{Return to the surface. Make them remember your name}
Somewhere far above, Riven kicked open a treasure chest. Kael smiled for the first time that night. He raised a hand, whispered the only command he knew, and the mushrooms behind him split open, releasing spores that spelled a single word in the dark
Soon.