The air still reeked of scorched rot when Kairo limped from the ruins of Hollowmere.
Each step was agony. His clothes were torn, his skin bruised and burned, and one of the chains had embedded itself into his forearm, twitching like a leech drunk on power.
> [System Status: Stable – Curse Level Contained]
[EXP to Next Level: 40%]
"Stable," he muttered, "That's generous."
The forest was still silent, but it felt less oppressive than before. As if whatever darkness had taken root here now respected him—or feared him.
At the edge of the mist, a familiar figure leaned against a broken tree.
Nyra.
She whistled, low and impressed. "You lived."
"I killed everything that moved," Kairo said hoarsely.
"Good. You'll fit right in."
She tossed something toward him—a black pendant. It pulsed faintly with the same energy as the insignia she'd left before, but this time, it bore a single rune etched in silver: "Initiate."
"You're officially invited," Nyra said. "Welcome to the Black Fang, Kairo the Shackled."
He caught the pendant and looked at it.
"Why do I feel like this isn't a celebration?"
"Because it isn't," she said with a smirk. "It's the start of your real curse."
---
They traveled for hours, moving through forest paths that shouldn't have existed. At one point, Kairo swore they walked through solid rock. Nyra didn't explain. She only walked, always ten steps ahead, her cloak billowing like a shadow.
Eventually, the path opened into a ravine.
There, hidden beneath layers of natural camouflage and illusion magic, was a fortress built into the cliffside.
Dark stone. Towering spires. Chains that ran from tower to tower, like veins across a giant's heart.
"The Maw," Nyra said. "One of our hidden sanctuaries."
Kairo stared. "Subtle name."
She grinned. "Wait until you see what's inside."
As they descended, the pendant he wore began to glow brighter. The guards at the entrance—a pair of men with glowing runes scarred into their faces—nodded as he passed. One of them whispered something in a language he didn't understand, and the chains on Kairo's body loosened slightly in response.
Inside, the fortress was colder.
Tunnels carved into black stone wound through endless chambers—training pits, armories, war rooms. Everything was dimly lit, with torches that burned in violet fire and walls engraved with ominous symbols.
And everyone Kairo passed looked like they'd crawled out of the same darkness he now lived in.
Some had bone armor fused to their flesh.
Others had weapons that seemed to whisper.
A few didn't even seem human anymore.
"Everyone here made a choice," Nyra said. "To abandon the world that abandoned them. You're one of us now, but that doesn't mean you're trusted."
Kairo nodded. "Figures."
They stopped before a large door, bound in iron and bone. Nyra pushed it open.
Inside was a circular chamber, and at its center sat a large throne carved from obsidian. But it was empty.
Instead, a dozen cloaked figures stood in a ring—each radiating immense cursed energy.
Kairo could feel their eyes beneath their hoods.
One of them spoke, their voice distorted and layered with magic.
"You survived Hollowmere. You bear the mark. You are recognized."
Another spoke—female, sharp as glass. "But survival does not mean loyalty."
A third chimed in, older, slower. "Tell us, Shackled One. Why are you here?"
Kairo straightened, despite the pain.
"I didn't come here for loyalty. I came because the world turned me into a monster and expected me to die quietly. I chose not to."
"Revenge?" the sharp voice asked.
"No," he said. "Not just revenge. I want to take back control."
Silence.
Then the room hummed with dark energy.
"Then you will be tested again," one of the figures said.
Kairo's jaw tightened. "Another trial?"
"No," Nyra said, stepping forward. "A mission."
The cloaked council parted, revealing a sealed scroll hovering in the air, wrapped in crimson chains.
She reached up and grabbed it, then handed it to Kairo.
"Your first task as an initiate of the Black Fang: deliver this scroll to a contact in the ruined city of Cael'drath."
"Ruined city?" he repeated. "I thought Cael'drath was lost during the Eclipse War."
"It was," one of the council murmured. "That's why only the cursed can walk its streets now."
Nyra leaned in. "There's something there we need. Something buried."
"What's in the scroll?"
She shrugged. "Need-to-know."
"And I don't need to know?"
"Not yet."
Kairo eyed the scroll. His chains tightened slightly, sensing the curse woven around it.
"If I take this… what happens if I fail?"
One of the cloaked figures raised a hand.
"The curse on the scroll will detonate. It will consume your soul and everything within ten miles. Do not fail."
Kairo stared at them.
"…Nice encouragement."
---
That night, before setting out, Kairo sat alone in one of the fortress alcoves. Nyra had given him a room—bare stone, a bed of hay, a rusty washbasin. Luxury, apparently.
He stared at the scroll, now bound to his wrist with a black chain that refused to let go.
"Cael'drath," he whispered.
He remembered reading about it once—how the skies had torn open there, how the armies of three nations had vanished overnight. No one went there anymore.
And now he had to walk in with a cursed scroll and no answers.
The system chimed suddenly.
> [New Mission Accepted: "Echoes of Cael'drath"]
Objective: Deliver the sealed scroll to the contact.
Optional: Investigate the ruins for clues about the ancient corruption.
Reward: +250 EXP | Class Skill Unlock
Penalty: Death | Soul Disintegration | Catastrophic Curse Breach
He sighed.
"Typical."
Then he heard a soft knock.
Nyra entered.
She didn't say anything at first. Just stared at him for a while, eyes softer than usual.
"You're walking into hell," she said.
"I've been there before."
"Not like this."
He didn't respond.
Nyra reached into her pouch and placed something on the table—a small charm carved like a broken fang.
"If you're about to die, break this," she said. "It won't save you. But it might buy you time."
"…Thanks," Kairo muttered, taking it.
As she turned to leave, he asked quietly, "Why help me?"
She paused.
"Because I've seen what happens to people like you. And maybe… just maybe… you'll be the one who breaks the chain."