The wind shifted sometime before dawn.
Kian woke to the sharp scent of ash carried on the cold breeze — not just the lingering scent of fire, but fresh. Something was burning nearby. A forest? A body? He couldn't tell.
He shifted against the stone slab that served as his makeshift roof. His shoulders ached. The bones in this body moved differently — more flexible, yes, but also... lighter. Weaker.
A flicker of light crossed the edge of the ruin. He rolled onto his stomach, peering out from a slit between broken stones.
Three figures were moving through the valley.
Human? Maybe. But they were moving in odd, twitching strides. One dragged a long spear. The other hunched like its spine was broken.
Kian narrowed his eyes.
[Predation Protocol Scan Initiated...]
Target Class: Corpsebound – Tier D
Status: Reanimated. Hostile.
XP Value: Low | Threat Level: Moderate
Behavior: Patrol/Search
Warning: Pack Behavior Detected.
Undead.
Not just monsters — but intelligent ones. Search patterns, patrols, coordination.
He pulled back into the shelter, heart thudding.
[Codex System Notification]
Defensive Structure Available: Reinforced Barricade (Tier I)
Resource Cost: 4x Stone, 2x Wood
Note: Partial blueprint installation possible with less material.
"Still no wood," he muttered under his breath.
He reached into his satchel — a crude leather pouch he'd found yesterday beside a long-dead corpse — and pulled out the shard of bone he'd sharpened. Primitive. Pathetic. But sharp enough to cut if aimed properly.
[Predation Protocol Alert]
New Action Unlocked: Bone Pierce (Improvised Weapon)
Bonus: +5% critical chance when targeting vulnerable tissue.
Kian smirked.
"Thanks. I'll take it."
He didn't fight like he had back on Earth.
He moved.
Like he was made for this.
Kian stalked the edge of the hill using the cracked ridge as cover. The Corpsebound had moved past his shelter, scanning the ruins for heat signatures or motion. But they weren't built for awareness — they followed routines. The kind of logic loops you could exploit.
He waited until one of them veered off toward the far side of a tree stump, then dashed forward — silent, swift, controlled.
His hand pressed the sharpened bone into the base of the creature's neck. A wet crack, followed by a hiss.
The creature twitched violently — its head snapping toward him even as it collapsed. Too slow.
[Predation Protocol: EP Gained: +12]
Minor Trait Absorbed: Corpsebound Endurance (+2% stamina threshold)
Evolution Progress: 58/250
Two more to go.
The second heard the collapse and turned fast — too fast. Kian barely dodged the upward swing of its spear. He rolled across the ash-covered ground, skidding to a halt behind a jagged stone pillar.
It lunged again. He didn't run. He waited.
At the last moment, he sidestepped and used its momentum to drive the creature into the rock — then stabbed again, this time directly into the side of its temple.
[Kill Confirmed – EP Gained: +18]
Bonus for exploiting terrain: +5% XP
Kian breathed heavily, kneeling beside the corpse.
Not bad.
The third one was gone.
His head snapped up. The patrol triangle had broken. That meant—
He turned too late.
The third Corpsebound dropped from the slope above, slamming into him from behind. The impact drove him flat against the earth. Its claws scraped along his arm, slicing through the thin tunic he wore. Blood flowed. Real. Sharp.
He gritted his teeth and twisted his weight.
[Predation Protocol: Emergency Adaptation Unlocked – "Burst Tendons"]
Temporarily increases explosive strength in limbs by 60% for 3 seconds.
Cost: 5 EP
Use? [Y/N]
"Yes," Kian growled.
Pain flared through his arms — not wounding pain, but pressure, like his muscles had been overinflated.
He slammed his elbow into the thing's head once, twice, until it stopped twitching.
[Kill Confirmed – EP Gained: +16]
Trait Strengthened: Corpsebound Endurance → Tier I
Kian rolled onto his back and stared at the pale sky.
His arm throbbed. His breathing slowed.
But he was alive.
Back in the ruin, he rinsed the wound with cold water from a nearby stream, tore strips from his cloak, and dressed it. No infections — yet. No System notifications about poisoning or blood curses. Good.
[Dual System Update]
Stability: 64%
Balance maintained.
Codex XP: +20 (Tactical Use of Terrain)
Total: 140/200 to Level 4
For the first time since awakening, Kian smiled.
The systems weren't fighting. They were... acknowledging each other.
He spent the next day reinforcing the ruin — stacking fallen stones, digging grooves around the base, and creating primitive channels for runoff. Every action increased Codex XP.
[Codex XP: +6 – Basic Fortification Complete]
New Blueprint Unlocked: Spike Barricade (Tier I)
Passive Bonus: Spatial Awareness +1
Codex Level 4 Achieved.
With each upgrade, the UI shifted — crisper, more refined. He could now assign materials to auto-build if conditions were met.
No more manual confirmation for basic constructs.
Progress.
On the third day, he found her.
He wasn't looking.
He was tracking a mana trail through a shattered grove — signs of an elite beast, maybe — when he spotted the wreckage. A destroyed cart. Blood. Half-melted wheels and the twisted bodies of two horses.
And beneath one of them... movement.
Kian rushed over, prying away the broken wood and blood-soaked cloth.
A girl.
Young — maybe nineteen, with bruises and burns along her arms. Her eyes flickered open, glazed and unfocused.
"Help..." she whispered. "Please..."
He hesitated.
[Codex Notification: Shelter Capacity Increased – Secondary Occupants Detected]
Blueprints for medical station, cot, and isolation chamber unlocked.
[Predation Protocol Alert]
Target Weak. No Evolution Benefit. Irrelevant.
Stability Shift: -3%
He closed both interfaces with a wave of his hand.
Then knelt beside her and lifted her out from the wreckage.
"Hold on," he said quietly. "You're not dying today."
Back at the ruin — no, Ashfall Bastion, as he had now started calling it — Kian laid the girl on a bed of soft moss and improvised padding.
She was burning up. Fevered. Her mana field flickered erratically.
[Codex Interface Active]
Construct Medical Station Tier 0?
Materials: 3 Stone, 1 Wood Substitute, 1 Mana Shard.
Available: All Present.
Build Time: 3 Minutes.
"Do it."
Holographic lines traced the air. Stones slid together. Crude, yes — but functional.
[Codex XP +10]
Passive Bonus: Medical Comprehension +1
As the station came online, the girl groaned again, eyes fluttering.
"Who... are you?" she murmured.
Kian paused, watching her through the faint glow of Codex blueprints still assembling behind him.
"No one important," he said at last. "Just a builder trying not to fall apart."
End of Chapter 2