Chapter 16: trial by shadow
Ariz rolled into a crouch just in time.
The creature landed where he'd been standing a second before—dark fur, gleaming bone ridges along its spine, silver eyes that caught the moonlight like mirrors.
It didn't snarl.
It watched.
Nightpelt Direwolf. Tier-2.
It didn't charge mindlessly.
It paced.
Its paws were silent on the wood.
Ariz slid a foot back and adjusted his grip. His ribs screamed. The cabin walls leaned inward from the impact. But none of that mattered.
The wolf lunged.
He dodged low, blade slicing upward. Blood spattered across the wall. The wolf twisted mid-air, one claw raking across its back as it passed. He winced, turned, and blinked—
—gone.
A breath later, he reappeared behind it.
His blade sank deep into the flank.
The wolf howled. It spun, faster than it should have, teeth bared, blood trailing down its side.
It lunged again.
This time, Ariz didn't dodge.
He ducked into the attack, stepping inside its reach, blade angled down. As its teeth sank into his shoulder, he drove the sword straight through its chest.
They both hit the floor hard.
The wolf spasmed once.
Then stopped.
Its blood soaked into the floor.
Ariz stayed down a moment longer than he needed to.
Breathing.
Listening.
Feeling the strange, cool rhythm of the sigil under his ribs.
Then the system chimed.
[System Notification]Tier-2 Beast Kill: 2/5Skill Upgrade: Flowing Shadow Cooldown → 4.5sSystem Alert: External Tracking Detected.
Ariz's eyes snapped open.
He looked down at the wolf.
Around its back leg—just beneath the fur—a faint silver band glinted.
Metal.
A tracking device.
Not part of the beast.
Someone had tagged this.
Which meant someone had sent it.
Or followed it.
Or watched it die.
The sigil beneath his skin pulsed again—colder now.
He rose slowly, wiping the blood from his blade.
He stared into the woods.
Something had changed.
He wasn't just becoming something new.
He was being noticed.
And maybe… hunted.
He stepped outside into the fog. Marked the shattered doorframe with two cuts of his blade.
Two down.
Three to go.
He vanished into the dark.