The forest air turned sharp.
Hari moved with silence, his cloak brushing the undergrowth like a shadow hunting its next breath. He'd left the glade behind, left the corpses unburied. Time wasn't a luxury now — he was being tracked.
Not by monsters.
By men.
---
He felt it before he saw it — the unnatural stillness, the broken rhythm of birdsong, the slight heat in the air that didn't belong in the deep woods.
A trap.
---
He stopped at the edge of a clearing.
There stood a figure — tall, armored in crimson obsidian, face hidden behind a mirrored mask.
A bounty hunter.
> "You're Hari, aren't you?"
"No Guild. No clan. No sponsor."
"But power like yours never stays hidden for long."
Hari said nothing.
The hunter tilted their head. "There's a price on your head now. Forty thousand sovereigns. Dead or alive."
A pause.
Then a smile beneath the mask.
> "But I want to see what the fuss is about."
---
The hunter drew a twin-bladed glaive crackling with flame.
And with a whisper, the clearing ignited.
> [Warning: Fire Domain Detected]
[Enemy Class: Flame Revenant – Rank B+]
Flames surged outward. Trees curled into ash. The air screamed.
Hari's cloak caught fire.
He didn't flinch.
> [Passive: Noctfang Blood – Heat Resistance ++]
[Predator Instincts: Active]
> Threat level: Moderate
Advantage: Darkness Required
He stepped into the inferno.
---
The two clashed.
Steel met claw. Flame met shadow. The hunter spun like a crimson tornado, swinging the glaive in wide arcs that sent shockwaves through the earth.
Hari ducked, slid, moved like liquid rage. The first cut landed — a gash across his ribs.
But he smiled.
> [Blood Ignition: Triggered]
→ Power boost: +20%
→ Healing rate: Tripled for 10 seconds
His blood burned like a second sun.
He struck back, shattering the mask.
The hunter staggered — a young woman, pale-eyed, snarling.
"You're… not normal," she hissed.
Hari's voice was quiet.
> "Neither are you."
---
With a final burst of speed, he pierced her chest with his dagger — not to kill, but to wound deep enough to imprint his mark.
> [Evolve Trait: Blood Branding – Activated]
→ Mark placed: If this target survives, they will carry a trace of your evolution. You may track them. Learn from them.
Hari pulled back, letting her fall.
She coughed blood, but laughed.
"You'll regret this. You're not ready for what's coming."
Hari turned his back.
> "I'm always ready."
---
Miles away, in a hidden spire beyond the Ashlands, a cloaked boy with silver hair opened his eyes.
"They found him," he whispered.
Another figure — a girl with obsidian chains — raised her head.
> "Then it's starting again."
"Just like the prophecy said."
"The Eclipse rises… and the world falls."
---
To be continued in Chapter 14: The First Mark
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