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The Obsidian Thicket was a graveyard of those who thought themselves untouchable.
Ancient, whispering trees stretched to the heavens, their blackened bark dripping with cursed sap. Every footstep triggered eerie rustles, every breath invited a dozen pairs of unseen eyes. The skies above the forest were veiled in perpetual twilight, and even flying cars avoided its airspace. It was alive. It was sentient.
And in the center of it all—two children bled.
Kael clutched his side, blood leaking from a wound just below his ribs. His clothes were torn, his breathing ragged. But he refused to fall.
Beside him, Selene limped forward, one eye bruised, her arm dislocated and hanging uselessly. Yet her expression was calm. Focused.
"Keep going," she whispered. "Just a little more…"
Lightning cracked in the distance.
They reached a clearing surrounded by ancient ruins—black stones etched with symbols long forgotten. As they stepped into it, the world went silent.
No birds. No monsters. Just the sound of wind and blood.
Then, the System reacted.
> [Bloodline Core Detected]
[Initializing Merge: Vampiric Dominance + Lycanthropic Primal]
[Error: No system template found. Creating a unique system…]
Kael's eyes widened as a searing pain erupted in his chest. He collapsed, clawing at the earth as blood began to boil in his veins.
Selene screamed, her back arching unnaturally as her mana core split, then reformed with two pulsating orbs—one crimson, the other obsidian.
> [Awakening Complete]
[Subject: Kael Umbros]
[Status: Bound to the Primordial Bloodline System]
> [Subject: Selene Umbros]
[Status: Bound to the Variant Evolutionary System]
A windstorm swirled around them. Symbols from the stone pillars lit up in violet and red, spiraling into the sky. Their bodies were being rebuilt, evolved to house power the world had long forgotten.
---
Three Years Later
Kael stood atop a jagged cliff, shirtless beneath the moonlight. His once-short hair now draped past his shoulders, black at the roots, fading into glimmering silver. Muscle rippled across his frame, lean and efficient. A jagged scar crossed his chest—a reminder of the night he lost everything.
He clenched his fist, summoning a red and black aura that cracked the stone beneath his feet.
Behind him, Selene hovered, levitating on faint wings of violet fire, her figure graceful yet deadly. Her eyes glowed a fierce indigo, and the arcane tattoos glowing on her arms pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat.
"I improved the blood resonance algorithm in our system," she said calmly, pushing her glasses up her nose. "If we synchronize our auras, we can temporarily accelerate stat growth by 12.4% during shared battles."
Kael smirked, lowering into a crouch.
"You and your numbers."
"You prefer brute force."
"I prefer results," he muttered, then launched forward at a massive obsidian beast charging from the forest.
With a howl, Kael's body erupted in black and silver fur—his half-form transformation. Claws tore through the air, and the beast fell before it even landed a hit.
Selene, floating high above, summoned blood-forged sigils that exploded like stars around her brother, binding enemies in place and enhancing his strikes.
They had grown stronger. Deadlier. Unmatched.
But even now, their training continued.
Because in this world, only the monsters survived.
And they were done being prey.
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Next: Chapter 1 – Ashes of the Academy