Kastis sat on a smooth rock near the campfire, its orange glow dancing across his silver hair and gold-blue eyes. The night was quiet—just the sound of crackling fire and distant winds. He stared into the flames, silent, lost in thought.
What the hell do I do now?
Suddenly, agony exploded in his skull.
A splitting headache—sharp and unnatural—pierced through his brain like a knife through wet cloth. He gasped, clutching his temples as the world around him distorted and fractured. Something deep inside him was shifting, rewiring, and altering the very way he perceived reality.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, the pain vanished.
A translucent gray window appeared in the air before him, hovering like a ghost:
Name: Krova Astris
Race: Human (40%), Unknown (50%)
Esper: None
Pathway: ???
Sequence: 0/8
Soul Brightness: Dim
Soul Essence: 0/500
Legacy: Unknown
Attributes:
— Bloodborne
— Fated Path
Skills:
— Water Manipulation [Locked]
— Soulfire [Locked]
— Gate to the Infinite Ignotus [Locked]
"What?!"
Kastis blinked, jaw tight.
"What the hell am I? I'm not human?" he muttered, a pit forming in his stomach. "Okay… relax. I look human. I'm mostly human. Only fifty percent of me is… not. But why forty? Where did the other ten go?"
He forced himself to breathe, inhaling the crisp night air.
"Focus, Kastis. You've handled worse. Probably. Maybe."
With a shaky breath, he focused on the system again.
"Open attribute description."
Attribute: Blood-Born
Granted by your unique legacy. Unlocks the skills Water Manipulation and Soulfire.
Attribute: Fated Path
Also granted by your legacy. Unlocks the skill Gate to the Infinite Ignotus. Binds you with the Chains of Fate. You are now tethered to predestined encounters—pulled forward by a path you cannot stray from.
Kastis frowned, staring at the screen.
"So… my skills come from my attributes. And my attributes come from my legacy. Which I don't even know yet."
He scratched the back of his head.
"Chained by fate, huh? So… I don't get to choose what happens to me? That's messed up."
He clenched his fists, then exhaled sharply.
"No. Don't think about that right now."
"Close attribute description. Open skill description."
The text shifted. What he saw next made his eyes widen—and his body slip from the rock, landing hard on the dirt below.
Water Manipulation
Allows control over any aspect of water—temperature, flow, volume—so long as water is present.
— Hidden Ability: Blood Manipulation [Locked]
You can control the water within blood, using it to puppeteer living beings. Control the flow and temperature, and even expel it from the body. In essence: full dominion over blood.
Soulfire
Grants control over both mundane fire and ethereal soulflame.
Surrounding yourself in soulfire increases your own power. Surrounding enemies decreases theirs.
— Hidden Ability: Soul Corrupter [Locked]
You can tap into a soul with your fire, copying or even stealing its skills. You may absorb the soul of a creature after its death. This energy is known as Esper. You may reshape a soul and thus change the physical body.
Gate to the Infinite Ignotus
???
Little is known. This ability converts natural phenomena into extensions of your will.
Kastis slowly got back on the rock, breath unsteady.
"…All of that is locked. Even after unlocking the base skills, I'll still need something else for the hidden abilities…"
But right now?
He was too tired to care.
Eventually, his head slumped forward, and sleep claimed him.
Hours later—7:26 AM
The sky was just beginning to lighten with soft gold.
Kastis woke up, shook off the grogginess, and left camp to explore. Following a narrow creek that branched off from the pond, he walked through the brush. The island was rich with life—birds, insects, and small mammals.
Normal. Peaceful.
He followed the creek until it led to a strange hole in the ground. It wasn't big enough to crawl through, but he made a mental note of it before moving on.
Thirty minutes later, he stumbled across a strange sight.
A deer-like creature stood in a small glade. Its fur was a sleek, silvery-gray, and its antlers were pure black—obsidian-like, shaped like crescent moons, sharp enough to slice bone. They pointed forward instead of up, like twin scythes.
It was huge—over two meters tall and long.
Kastis instinctively dove into the bushes to hide.
Good thing he did.
Because in the next heartbeat, a massive shadow leapt from the trees.
It was a jaguar… or something like it. Its body was twisted and smoky, a living silhouette. Kastis named it on instinct.
Shadow Jaguar.
It stood 2.5 meters tall, not counting the whip-like tail that lashed behind it, warping the trees in its wake.
The deer bolted—but not fast enough. The jaguar's claws slammed into its neck, slicing deep.
But the deer wasn't finished. It reared back, and with one final act of desperation, thrust its antlers upward.
One pierced the jaguar's eye and embedded itself in its skull.
Both creatures collapsed, locked together.
The jaguar screeched and flailed, slicing the antler off from the deer's head, freeing itself—then lunged again. The deer, crazed and half-dead, thrashed wildly. The jaguar's next strike missed its mark… but the third didn't.
Its claws tore through the deer's neck while its jaws crushed the skull like glass.
Kastis watched in horror.
Blood gushed. The twitching corpse beneath the beast painted the clearing red.
But then… the jaguar stopped.
Its head turned.
And stared directly at him.
One eye was destroyed. The other… blood-filled and wild.
Kastis's heart dropped.
The jaguar lunged.
He turned to run—too slow.
The beast was on him in seconds.
Then—time froze.
[You are in danger.] Skill: Soulfire—temporarily unlocked.]
[Error Detected…]
[Environmental Override Detected.]
[Hidden Skill: Soul Corrupter—forcibly unlocked.]
Kastis's entire body ignited.
Not in fire… but something darker.
Flames as black as the starless void erupted from his skin. The fear vanished. His mind sharpened. Every cell in his body screamed with power.
The jaguar lunged again.
Kastis sidestepped cleanly.
Then leapt onto the monster's back, grabbing the embedded antler. Flames surged around both of them—the jaguar's body lit with red-black fire that clung to its soul.
Its movements slowed. Its rage dimmed.
This is my chance.
Kastis shifted his grip, let go of the antler, and then ripped it free.
The jaguar thrashed in agony, its brain pierced. It sprinted into trees, slammed through branches, and even tried to climb—anything to shake him off.
Kastis didn't let go.
And with one final motion, he drove the antler into the jaguar's other eye.
Then—
Activated Soul Corrupter.
The moment the jaguar's brain was pierced, its body went still.
And then… began to shift.
It melted. Warped. Its form twisted into dozens of different shapes—beasts, humans, horrors—and then crumbled into hundreds of glowing wisps.
They drifted into Kastis's chest.
He collapsed to the ground, panting. The flames around him faded.
[You have slain a Dim-ranked monster: Shadow Jaguar (1st Order).]
[You have received 1 Lost.]
[You have received 1 skill.]
[Skill Soulfire: Relocked.]
Kastis stared up at the sky, blood staining his hands.
For a long time, he didn't move.