The forest was alive, and yet completely still.
Crickets whispered under fallen leaves, and the wind tangled itself in the gnarled branches overhead. Moonlight filtered through gaps in the canopy, painting everything in pale silver. Shadows danced where there was no movement. It was the kind of night that made predators bolder—and prey more afraid.
Kai crouched low beside a twisted root, his breath steady, eyes locked ahead. His dark cloak blended into the underbrush, and in his hand, a short, hand-forged dagger trembled with quiet anticipation.
He wasn't supposed to be here alone.
The elders forbade children from going into the deeper woods, especially after nightfall. But Kai wasn't a normal child. He had always known there was something different inside him, something hungry—something waiting.
Tonight, he followed that pull.
He moved like a whisper, weaving through the forest toward the ruined altar of the old gods. The villagers spoke of it only in hushed tones. A cursed place, they said. A place where blood called to blood.
He didn't understand why, but he felt drawn to it. Like a thread in his soul was being tugged forward. With each step, the whisper in the back of his mind grew louder.
---
*"Kai…"*
A voice, soft and feminine. Distant. Familiar. It echoed from the fog of memory—a memory he didn't know he had.
A woman. Her face bathed in moonlight and blood. Her eyes, wide with defiance. Her lips, whispering something between pain and love.
*"Hari… Run…"*
He gasped.
Kai stumbled forward, the vision burning out like a candle in wind.
Pain lanced behind his eyes.
His knees hit the earth.
And then—the growl.
It came from his right. Low. Deep. Hungry.
A creature stepped from the shadows. A beast unlike any he had seen in the training scrolls. Its body was sinewy, half-covered in decaying fur, and its eyes glowed like molten gold. Fangs dripped with black fluid that hissed as it touched the soil.
*A Ghoul Hound.*
His breath caught.
This wasn't a regular forest predator. It was a mana-corrupted beast.
And it was hunting.
Kai's mind raced. The dagger felt small. Insignificant. But his legs wouldn't move.
The Ghoul Hound snarled and leapt.
Everything slowed.
Time fractured.
The moment the beast's claws reached for his throat—
---
### \[ SYSTEM ACTIVATED ]
> *Name:* Kael Noctaris
> *Soul Type:* Dual-Origin Reincarnate
> *Past Life Memory: Integrated*
> *Main Skill: Evolution Through Ascension*
> *Skill Status: Dormant → AWAKENED*
> *Designation: Devourer of Possibility*
> *System Integration: 3.2% Complete*
---
The pain vanished.
The world roared back.
Kai moved.
He ducked the slash, rolled beneath the beast, and plunged his dagger into its underbelly. It shrieked. Hot blood sprayed across his face. He didn't stop.
He twisted the blade. Pushed deeper. The hound writhed.
With a final, jerking thrust, he ripped the blade free and fell back, covered in black ichor.
The beast shuddered… then stilled.
Silence.
His hands trembled. His breath came ragged. His heartbeat was thunder in his ears.
He had done it.
He had killed a mana beast.
And something inside him changed.
---
### \[ SYSTEM NOTICE ]
> *Kill Confirmed: Ghoul Hound (Tier 1 – Corrupted)*
> *You have devoured an anomaly.*
> *Evolvable Traits Detected: 2*
>
> > Trait 1: Night Vision – Basic
> > Trait 2: Toxic Resistance – Initiated
> > *Assimilating…*
> > *Evolution Progress: 5.84%*
---
He collapsed to his knees.
Not from exhaustion—but from revelation.
This was what the voice in his dreams meant. This was why he had survived. Why he was reborn.
To evolve.
To ascend.
Not just to survive—but to become something greater than any human… or god.
Lightning cracked across the sky. Rain began to fall once again, like a final salute to the death he had just delivered.
Kai stood slowly, the blood dripping from his hands. He looked down at the corpse.
His voice was calm. Cold.
"I'll become stronger. No matter what it takes."
Behind him, the forest seemed to hold its breath.
And far above, in a realm untouched by mortals, the system watched… and smiled.