Kael’s mind was hazy. He could hear a voice, distant yet familiar, talking to him. The words were muffled like he was hearing them from underwater. “…Violence won’t be worth it, Kael.”
The voice was firm but held a sorrowful edge. Kael felt like he was back in that medical room, the sterile scent of disinfectant lingering in the air. He remembered sitting on a hospital bed, the weight of exhaustion and grief pressing on his chest. “Think about what you’re doing.”
Kael could see a blurred figure sitting across from him. “You know what happens next if you go through with this.” He wanted to respond, but he couldn’t find his voice. The figure leaned forward, expression unreadable. “Do you really want this to be the way you remember them?” Kael blinked.
The words echoed in his head. For a moment the image of the guard killing its lesser kin and that betrayer merged. Then, just as suddenly as the scene had appeared—it was gone.
A sharp chime pulled Kael back into reality. His vision cleared, the bright glow of a System notification lingering before his eyes.
[ Reward Calculation Complete. ]
Reward Granted: [Inventory Ring] (Uncommon)
Reward Granted: [Health Potion] (Uncommon - Medium Quality)
Kael blinked sluggishly, his thoughts slow. The pain he felt was crushing, his left side was a sizzling mess of exposed flesh and blood. Even focusing on the message was hard. But one word stuck out to him.
Health.
He barely had time to process the meaning of that single word, before he heard the distinct clinking of glass hitting the dirt right next to his head.
His eyes rolled to the side, his body too weak to fully move. Lying in the dirt, barely an inch from his face, was a glass vial. It was elegant, and well-crafted, with a deep red liquid sloshing inside. A cork seal kept the contents in place, and despite landing on dirt, the bottle looked untouched. Pristine.
Kael''s mind lagged, struggling to keep up with his body’s screaming demands for survival.
He was bleeding out. That much was obvious. His core was also practically empty. He had lost too much blood, and even if nothing else came to finish him off, he would die here. It was only a matter of minutes. Kael swallowed thickly, the iron tang of blood coating his tongue.
He had two choices. He could accept death, let himself slip away into oblivion, or—Try the potion. For all he knew, it wouldn’t work. Or worse—he had no idea what was actually in the bottle. But at this point, it didn’t matter, and the system so far hasn''t done anything to harm him.
His hand twitched, and then slowly, weakly, he reached out. Even that tiny amount of movement sent shockwaves of pain through his body. Kaels fingers brushed against the cool glass, but unable to grip it properly.
Gritting his bloodied teeth, he forced his arm to move more. His fingers curled around the bottle, dragging it closer. Then, with all the strength he could muster, Kael bit down on the cork and pulled.
The cork popped free, and instantly, the strong scent of herbs and something faintly metallic hit his nose. Kael didn’t waste time.
He tilted the bottle, pouring the thick liquid into his mouth, swallowing it. The first thing he noticed was that it was warm, almost soothing, and with an oddly earthy taste. Before he could process anything, two things happened at once.
First. The glass bottle vanished from his grip. It simply disappeared, as if it had never been there. Then, the pain changed. A sensation of itching spread throughout his body. Kael’s breath hitched as he watched his wounds begin to stitch together before his eyes.
The torn flesh sealed, the open gashes mended, and the bleeding slowed until there was nothing left. Kael’s head spun. He lifted one weak arm, inspecting where his side had been torn apart. The wound was gone. All that remained was the same skin as before and faint traces of dried blood where the injury had once been.
His arms, once covered in deep bleeding cuts, were now unmarred. Even the bruises, the swelling, the smallest of the recent wounds—gone. But he noticed that his old healed scars before tonight remained untouched.
Kael’s breathing slowed the clouded haze of pain and blood loss lifting as his body regained its strength. His muscles no longer screamed in protest. His vision cleared, and his head no longer throbbed.
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He felt… alive.
Kael slowly, shakily, pushed himself upright. His limbs wobbled, but he didn’t collapse. He stood, unsteady but whole. His gaze flicked downward.
Beneath him, the ground was drenched in blood—his blood. Some of it had mixed with the Chieftain''s, forming dark puddles beneath their fallen bodies that were being absorbed by the dirt.
He glanced around, just in case. Finding that the glass bottle was still nowhere to be seen. But something else caught his eye. Kael lifted his right hand, his fingers brushing against something cold.
On his middle finger, a dark silver ring glinted in the firelight. Kael furrowed his brows.
The Inventory Ring. The reward from his quest. Kael brought up his full status screen, hoping for some clue on its function.
[Status]
Name: Kael Aranthis
Level: 13
EXP: 4 / 100%
Rank: Mortal
Stats:
<ul>
<li>Strength: 32</li>
<li>Agility: 34</li>
<li>Endurance: 30</li>
<li>Intelligence: 40</li>
<li>Wisdom: 41</li>
<li>Essence Control: 49</li>
</ul>
Titles:
<ul>
<li>First Blood (Common – +3% increased damage against beasts. Awarded for delivering your first kill after System integration.)</li>
</ul>
Skills:
<ul>
<li>Essence Shaper – Rank 1 (Allows the user to shape, reinforce, and manifest Essence-based constructs. Current efficiency: 10%.)</li>
<li>Body Reinforcement – Rank 1 (Allows the user to Temporarily enhance and reinforce their body using essence. Depending on the amount of essence used.)</li>
</ul>
Equipment:
<ul>
<li>Inventory Ring - Uncommon (Inventory ring rewarded by the system. Accessible only to the user: Kael Aranthis.)</li>
</ul>
It was listed under equipment and simply labeled as an inventory ring. It said nothing more than where it came from and that it was usable by only him. Kael let out a slow sigh. How unhelpful. His eyes drifted to the burning remains of the village.
Even now, the flames were still devouring the last wooden structures. The scent of burning corpses and charred wood filled the air. Kael inhaled, then exhaled.
His body had healed, but his Essence reserves were completely drained. He wasn’t safe here. He was covered in blood, reeking of death and exhaustion. If he stepped into the forest now, he wouldn’t last a minute. Kael turned away from the trees.
His only option was to head further into the grasslands. Away from the bodies. Away from the predators. At least until daylight came.
With one last look around, Kael took his first slow, unsteady step away. Followed by another. And another. He left the ruined village and forest behind, disappearing into the open plains.
The further he went, the quieter everything became. The sounds of firewood crackling, being left behind with the village. The suffocating smell of charred flesh and blood still clung to his skin, but the air itself felt lighter. Even with his wounds healed, his body ached, his muscles sluggish from exhaustion.
He wasn’t fully recovered, not yet. He also still felt that deep hollow fatigue his core gave off when he used up his Essence, or got close to doing so. Every step forward felt heavier, but he kept moving. He knew staying too close to the battlefield wasn’t an option.
Kael walked for nearly an hour, the moons above guiding his path. The massive silver moon shone brightest, flanked by the smaller red and blue moons, painting the sky in an ethereal glow.
The clouds had drifted, revealing a vast expanse of stars. Kael found a small rise in the terrain, not quite a hill, but just high enough to give him a better vantage point.
Satisfied, he lowered himself onto the grass, letting out a long, controlled breath. The night was calm here. Distant gusts of wind rustled through the grass, creating a gentle, rhythmic sound.
He simply lay there, looking up at the night sky. For a long while, he did nothing. No thoughts. No movement. Just breathing.
The fatigue pressed into him, but he resisted sleep the best he could. He was safe for now, but still couldn''t let his guard down completely. Instead, after a while, he closed his eyes and focused inward.
Kael sank into his core space. Once inside, he could feel the lingering emptiness, that faint, hollowness in his core, showing how close he was to fully emptying his Essence reserves after the brutal fight. Had the fight lasted half a minute longer Kael had no doubts he would have passed out.
He needed to fix that.
So, with deliberate control, he began actively pulling in Essence. The familiar spiraling motion started, though sluggishly at first. The more he focused, the stronger the pull became. His core hungrily absorbed the Essence, the swirling energy gradually filling the void then the core.
Kael repeated the process three times, each cycle restoring more of his reserves. By the third and final round, he felt the hollow feeling leaving his limbs and soul.
Even though his body was stable, actively manipulating his Essence regeneration after everything he had been through left him mentally exhausted. Kael exhaled, releasing the focus, letting himself return fully to the physical world. He blinked up at the night sky, his breathing slow.
Kael stayed still, his back against the grass. His mind wandered, reflecting on everything that had happened. How close he had come to dying as well as how much luck had played a part. Kael lifted his hand, staring at his fingers.
The ring.
Its dark silver surface gleamed faintly under the moonlight appearing almost black in the absence of direct light.
It was plain, unadorned, yet he knew it wasn’t just some simple trinket. After all, it was a reward given by The System just like that miracle potion. And if the potion had saved his life, the ring must have a hidden function, something to do with it being called an inventory ring.
He lowered his hand, staring up at the sky again. “What now?” he muttered.
Kael didn’t have an immediate answer to that question. But for now, he didn’t need one. His wounds were healed, and for the first time in weeks, he had no quest saying he was being hunted down, even if he knew that had stopped being true for a while now.
Looking around, Kael saw no sign of monsters lurking just out of sight. It was just him, the silent plains, and the endless night sky. For now, that was enough. Kael closed his eyes, allowing himself to rest unable to keep the tiredness away anymore his ring-adorned hand loosely curling together.