Rain lashed the ruins like a thousand knives. Kael staggered through shattered streets, one hand clutched to his side, blood soaking his shirt. His vision blurred. Somewhere behind him, footsteps echoed.
Too fast. Too strong. The enforcer unit sent to kill him wasn't human anymore—enhanced with purebred bloodlines, soldiers bred for one thing: execution.
Kael tripped on a metal pipe and hit the ground hard. He rolled onto his back and tried to breathe, but the pain twisted inside him like a burning hook. His vision dimmed. His chest pulsed faintly where the Vyr seal lay dormant again.
Not now. Not now…
The footsteps stopped.
"Target acquired," said a flat, metallic voice.
Through the rain, Kael saw a tall figure in obsidian armor step forward. The enforcer's eyes glowed blue. Its arm transformed into a jagged spear of crystallized bone.
"Latent Vyr confirmed. Termination authorized."
Kael's limbs wouldn't move. He was too weak. Too broken.
The spear raised.
And then—something inside him screamed.
WARNING: SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT
Kael blinked. The words weren't spoken. They were in his head—etched across the dark of his mind like fire on glass.
Initializing CORE INTERFACE…
A white flash exploded through his vision.
Suddenly, everything stopped.
Time itself slowed.
Kael gasped as a glowing crimson screen materialized in front of him—hovering in the air like a window into something other.
[BLOOD SYSTEM ONLINE]
Host: Kael Vortan
Lineage: Vyr (Reawakened)
Synchronization: 7%
Vital State: CRITICAL
Available Blood: 3.4 units (Enemy Source)
New ability acquired:
—COMBAT MEMORY: Type I — Bone Spear Technique
(Absorbed via contact with target's bloodstream)
WARNING: Host integration incomplete. Mental corruption risk: HIGH.
CORE INSTINCT ACTIVE: "SURVIVE."
Kael blinked rapidly. The world was still frozen in slow motion. He watched droplets of rain hang midair like suspended glass. His breath caught.
"What… what is this?"
SYSTEM: You are dying. Do you wish to activate emergency override protocol?
"I… I don't know how."
SYSTEM: Instinct protocol initiating.
Something opened inside him.
The pain vanished—replaced by cold clarity.
Kael's body moved.
His arm shot up, catching the bone spear mid-thrust. The enforcer's eyes widened, surprised. Before it could react, Kael twisted, slamming his forehead into its visor. The mask cracked.
He remembered the motion before he completed it.
The angle. The pressure point. The pivot of the wrist. A memory that wasn't his.
He ducked and drove his elbow into the enforcer's ribs. A fracture. Blood spilled.
And the moment it did—he absorbed it.
[Blood Absorbed: +0.6 units]
—Memory Sync: 12% Complete
—Pain Tolerance increased
—Reaction Speed: +0.3
Kael twisted the enforcer's weapon from its arm and drove it into the neck joint. Sparks erupted. The armored body spasmed—and fell.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Kael stood in the middle of the dead street, panting, surrounded by blood and rain.
And the screen still hovered before him, adapting—lines of glowing red code rewriting themselves.
More words appeared:
SYSTEM NOTE: Bloodline intelligence has partially awakened. Vyr Core now interpreting data. Interface will evolve with host cognition.
Do you wish to:
Absorb further blood?
Upgrade Combat Memory?
View full status screen?
Kael hesitated, breathing ragged.
"Show me… the full screen."
It shifted.
[BLOOD SYSTEM: HOST PROFILE]
Name: Kael Vortan
Bloodline: Vyr (Anomaly Type)
Core Integrity: 23%
Synchronization: 7%
Adaptation Rate: 4.2 (Rogue tier)
Vital Status: Stabilizing
Abilities:
—Blood Absorption (Passive)
—Combat Memory (I)
—Instinct Protocol (Auto-Trigger at death threshold)
Potential Mutations: Locked
Bloodline Branching: Locked
System Intelligence: Dormant (Partially Aware)
Current Threat Level: Low-Moderate
Kael stepped away from the body, his heart thudding not just from fear—but from exhilaration.
"I'm adapting…" he whispered. "I'm learning… like a virus."
And the system answered:
Correct.
The Vyr were never born. They evolved.
Kael felt it then. Not just power—but awareness. The system wasn't just a tool. It was alive. It was him. A part of the Core that had awakened with purpose: to consume, to remember, to ascend.
And the voice in his mind—the one deeper than the system—spoke again:
"Blood is knowledge. Knowledge is power. Become more."
Kael looked at his trembling hands. They were red, not just with blood—but with possibility.
And for the first time in his life… he didn't feel powerless.
He felt inevitable.