Darkness swallowed the chamber.
Not shadow. Not absence of light.
Something worse.
This dark was alive — thick like smoke, but heavier, dense enough to suffocate light and sound. Hari couldn't see the walls, the floor, even his own hands.
Only the heartbeat remained.
Two of them.
His... and the masked one's.
They pulsed in sync at first. Then one quickened.
Not his.
---
He spun, weapon raised.
Too slow.
A slash cut across his back. He gasped as heat surged through his spine, stumbling forward in the pitch-black void. His mind tried to anchor him, but the space had no direction — no up, down, no time, no mercy.
Only the hunt.
The whispers returned.
But they weren't in the air.
They were inside his mind.
> "You will lose yourself here."
"Just like I did."
"Let the blood guide you…"
---
Hari forced himself to breathe. To focus.
This wasn't just a trial of strength. It was a trial of self. A trap made for monsters. A test for what lurked inside him.
If he fought like before, he'd die.
If he thought like before, he'd lose.
He closed his eyes.
And then—
He listened.
To the blood.
To the silence beneath the whispers.
To the rhythm of the predator stalking him.
---
He moved.
Not by sight — but by instinct.
A step to the left. A duck. A slash.
Clang.
Sparks flew from the clash of claw and dagger. For a moment, the shadows trembled, revealing a flash of the masked one's silhouette — hunched, grinning, feral.
Hari didn't retreat.
He advanced.
Strike. Parry. Twist. Cut.
He danced with the shadow like it was part of him.
> "I am not you."
"I won't be lost."
---
But the masked one laughed.
"You already are."
It leapt into the dark.
Hari felt claws sink into his chest. He screamed, thrown back into nothingness.
Blood sprayed from his ribs, hot and fast. He couldn't stand. His vision blurred.
> [Health Critically Low]
[Predator Instinct: Stage 2 — Triggered.]
---
His heart stopped.
Then restarted.
But not the same.
It pounded harder. Deeper. Like a drum made of ancient bone. His blood boiled. His vision returned.
But now—he could see the threads in the dark.
Outlines. Trails. Breath patterns. The blood scent of the masked one.
> He was hunting me before.
Now I'm hunting him.
---
Hari stood.
His injuries didn't heal.
But they didn't matter.
He roared and launched forward, dagger low.
He didn't need to see. He could feel the enemy's every step, every twitch.
The masked one shrieked as Hari plunged the dagger into its neck.
Again. Again. Again.
---
"I am the end you were too weak to become," Hari hissed.
With one final strike, he shattered the mask.
It broke like bone.
And behind it—there was no face.
Only a shadow, weeping blood.
It crumbled into the floor.
---
The darkness faded.
The dungeon trembled.
> [Trial Complete.]
[Bloodline: "Predator's Heir" – Awakened.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Predator's Vision – Allows the user to see movement, breath, blood, and hidden enemies within 20 meters, even in complete darkness.]
---
Hari stood in the center of a collapsed dome, blade in hand, eyes glowing violet and red.
He didn't feel relief. Or pride.
Only hunger.
The evolution hadn't ended.
It was just beginning.
---
To be continued in Chapter 10: The Path of the Predator
---