He could hear them.
Every agonizing cry.
He was lost.
Arin saw.
Arin heard.
Then—
consciousness returned.
His fangs were already buried in the creature's neck.
He didn't remember moving.
He didn't remember deciding.
He tore.
Flesh split.
Blood gushed.
He ate.
Only after did his mind catch up.
"Qi Refinement…"
His breath shook.
"…Peak."
He forced himself to stay aware.
"Shop," he hissed.
[Shop — Tier D]
[Karma: 12]
Filter Available
Coagulated Beast Blood (Unavailable)
Boosts cultivation (Beasts only)
Risk: Blood Conflict
Hollow Stone (Cost: 20)
Stores trace Qi
Fragile
Torn Technique Page (Incomplete) (Insufficient Funds)
One line of a cultivation method
Instinct Map (Blurred) (Insufficient Funds)
Vaguely reveals danger zones
Rotting Flesh Strip (Cost: 3)
Slowly restores HP
Attracts predators
Poor-Quality Healing Potion (Cost: 7)
You already know what it does.
…
"Filter?"
His tongue flicked.
"One flesh strip. One potion."
He pressed the button.
Time didn't stop.
It never did.
The beast was already recovering.
Flesh crawled.
Muscle knitted itself back together, slow—but inevitable.
Arin's breath hitched.
"Huh?"
His pupils shrank.
"…It regenerates?"
The edges of his vision darkened.
His body screamed.
Not pain—
warning.
He didn't have time.
Arin tore the vial open with his fangs and swallowed.
Heat flooded him.
Torn muscle tightened.
Skin pulled closed.
Not fully.
Not enough.
But enough to move.
Next—
The flesh strip.
Arin anchored one end between his fangs.
With careful, trembling movements, he pressed it into the torn seams of his body.
It didn't seal everything.
But the bleeding slowed.
That was enough.
He flicked his head—a sharp signal.
Move.
The others didn't hesitate.
They slithered out of the chamber, bodies
scraping stone as they fled.
Time pressed down on him.
Each second a weight.
Arin forced himself forward.
Faster.
The path split into two.
Sweat dripped from Arin's brow.
His scales tightened.
From the depths behind them—
a voice.
Right.
He took it.
His body trembled.
Blood followed.
This time, it wasn't Gorath slowing them down.
It was him.
With every slither, the agony worsened.
His vision swam.
But ahead—
he could see the light.
Without command, they moved faster.
The hint of curiosity—
it grew.
And then—
they were there.
He was out.
The same place as before.
Arin glanced beside him.
Their eyes shone like children in a playground.
Warm sunlight poured over his scales.
Real warmth.
It spread through him like a blessing.
He had longed for this.
He lifted his head.
Just like before.
Light filtered through the trees, breaking into golden shards.
Butterflies drifted lazily, wings fluttering like pieces of the sky.
It was nature—
pure, untouched, beautiful.
A tear slid down his face.
"It feels… so good," he whispered.
He remembered the last time he had stood here.
But it hadn't felt like this.
Not even close.
Then—
his body caught up with him.
Hellish pain tore through his flesh.
They didn't stop.
They couldn't.
The cave was death.
Time dragged on.
Hunger crept in—slow, gnawing.
Then—
Kael froze.
Arin followed an instant later.
Something was coming.
The ground trembled.
Grass snapped and folded under immense weight.
And then—
a herd burst through the brush.
One of them stepped too close.
Too close to Arin.
There was no struggle.
In a blink, Arin surged forward.
His tail swept out—clean, precise—
and the beast's head tore free from its body.
It collapsed before it could even scream.
He didn't stop.
One by one, every beast that strayed too close was slaughtered.
There was no panic.
No mercy.
The herd scattered—
then vanished.
Only then did Arin look down at what he had killed.
A bunny.
Its ears were unnaturally long, barbed with short spikes.
Its paws had hardened into stone-like hooves.
A mutated beast.
But it didn't matter.
In moments, it was gone.
Flesh torn apart.
Blood consumed.
Nothing wasted.
Not even a stain remained—
as if it had never existed.
His composure stabilized.
His senses returned—fully.
The grass brushed against his scales.
He was full.
No guilt followed.
No disgust.
No fear.
The thought came quietly.
Not forced.
Not argued.
This is normal.
A system window appeared.
[ALIGNMENT UPDATED
KARMIC SYSTEM UPDATED]