The ceremony ended not with applause but a collective shuffle. Parents herded their children back to the muddy lanes, offering scraps of bread or quiet nods of pride. A few glances landed on Qin Yu—brief, uncertain, and quickly lost in the crowd.
"Stone-hide kid's weird," someone muttered.
"Don't know if that's a blessing or a curse."
"Looks cursed to me."
He didn't respond. He walked slowly, deliberately slouched, the way children with no expectations move. The string on his sandal broke. He didn't stop to fix it.
Let them see a quiet failure.
Let them forget him.
Behind him, Liang Fei conferred quietly with the village elder, one gloved finger tapping his temple. No gestures, no accusations. Just information changing hands.
Qin Yu turned the corner of a shed and slipped behind the livestock pens—out of sight.
Then, he smiled.
> [AFK System: Spirit Awakening milestone reached.]
[+250 EXP bonus]
[New Feature Unlocked: Form Shift (Micro-Shift)]
[Allows host to partially transform individual body segments using Voidborne Body traits. Cost: 3 stamina/sec.]
He crouched behind a stack of empty feed baskets and extended his right hand.
"Micro-shift," he whispered. "Index finger. Obsidian density."
The transformation was instant.
His fingertip turned glossy black, texture smooth and unnaturally still. It didn't glint—it swallowed light. The air near it warped slightly, like heat shimmer with no heat.
He tapped it against the stone wall.
Crack.
The wall split.
Not deeply—just a hairline fracture—but no ordinary child could do that.
He reversed the shift.
The obsidian vanished, leaving behind a pale finger, still whole.
He sat back and opened his system log.
> [EXP/hour: Passive 3.2]
[Current Spirit Ring Slots: 0/1]
[Recommended First Hunt: Shadow Moth (Stealth boost), Bone Serpent (Body enhancement), or Rift Beetle (Void-linked attack)]
[Inventory: 1 stone]
[Status: Hidden]
He leaned his head against the shed wall and closed his eyes briefly.
He had power now.
Not enough.
But the shape of it—how it worked—was beginning to reveal itself.
This wasn't a flame meant to blind the world.
This was an ember. Slow-burning.
Patient.
And one day, it would ignite the continent.
---