Pain greeted me when consciousness returned.
Not the sharp, immediate agony of fresh wounds, but the deep, throbbing ache of injuries that had begun to scab over. Every muscle in my body protested as I tried to move, and my back felt like someone had taken a rake to it.
I opened my eyes slowly, blinking against the light filtering through the canopy above. The quality of the sunlight had changed. No longer the golden glow of morning, but the harsher, more direct light of afternoon.
'How long was I out?'
I pushed myself up onto my elbows, ignoring the protests from my shoulders, and looked around. The bodies of the Crimson Maws still lay where they'd fallen, their blood dried and darkened against the forest floor. Four of them. The first one I'd fought alone, then the three that had come as a pack. Flies had begun to gather, buzzing around the corpses in lazy spirals.
The sight of them, of what I'd done, sent a complicated mix of emotions churning through my chest. Pride that I'd survived. Horror at the violence. Fear of what came next.
'I killed them. Four Novice-ranked beasts while I was Unranked. That should count for something, right?'
I looked down at myself, assessing the damage. My coat was torn and bloodstained, barely recognizable as the fine garment it had been when I'd entered the forest. My shirt beneath was in even worse condition, shredded across the back and shoulders where claws had found purchase.
But the wounds themselves had stopped bleeding. Some had even begun to close, the edges knitting together faster than they should have.
'The Primordial Chaos Physique. The description mentioned enhanced physical resilience and chaos regeneration. Is that what's happening?'
I prodded gently at one of the puncture wounds on my left arm. It hurt, but not as much as it should have. The flesh around it was still tender and inflamed, but the bleeding had definitely stopped, and I could see the faint beginnings of new tissue forming.
'I'm healing. Faster than normal. That's... that's good. I need every advantage I can get.'
I managed to get to my feet, swaying slightly as blood rushed to my head. The saber was still in my right hand, its grip sticky with dried blood. I should have sheathed it while I slept, but my body had refused to let go even in unconsciousness.
'The soul bond. The weapon is part of me now.'
I looked at the blade, at the way sunlight caught on the silver-blue metal, and felt that connection thrumming beneath my awareness. Constant. Unbreakable.
My mind drifted back through everything that had happened since I'd woken in this body. The memories. The system. The curse. The talent and physique that promised power but offered no shortcuts. The saber that had chosen me despite my unworthiness.
And Abel. Always Abel. His death hung over everything like a shadow I couldn't escape.
'I murdered him. Or Kaine did. Does it matter? I'm living in this body now. I'm the one who has to face the consequences.'
The thought of returning to the Einsworth estate filled me with dread. Duke Eamon would want answers. Answers I couldn't give without condemning myself.
But staying in the Saber Garden wasn't an option either. I'd barely survived one encounter with Crimson Maws. The forest was full of beasts, many of them stronger than what I'd faced. And my curse ensured they'd be drawn to me with heightened aggression.
'I need to get stronger. Fast. Strong enough to survive whatever comes next.'
That brought me to the most pressing question. How did I advance from Unranked to Novice rank? The system had mentioned requirements, but hadn't specified what they were.
'Maybe I can just ask?'
I focused my thoughts, directing them toward the system presence I could feel lingering at the edge of my awareness.
'System. What are the requirements for me to advance to Novice rank?'
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the familiar translucent blue screen materialized before me.
[Query acknowledged: Rank Advancement Requirements]
[Current Rank: Unranked]
[Next Rank: Novice]
[To advance to Novice rank, you must meet the following conditions:]
[1. Attribute Threshold: Achieve a minimum total of 100 points across all attributes. Your current total is 76 points. (76/100)]
[2. Mana Development: Establish stable mana pathways and demonstrate consistent mana circulation. Your Mana Circulation skill must reach at least Intermediate proficiency. Current proficiency: Basic (41%)]
[Skill Proficiency System:]
[Skills progress through the following tiers based on mastery and usage:]
[- Basic (0-100%): Foundational understanding. Can perform techniques with conscious effort.]
[- Intermediate (0-100%): Solid competence. Techniques become more refined and require less conscious thought.]
[- Advanced (0-100%): High proficiency. Can adapt techniques to different situations instinctively.]
[- Expert (0-100%): Mastery level. Techniques are second nature and can be modified creatively.]
[- Master (0-100%): Peak mortal achievement. Can teach others and develop new variations.]
[- Grandmaster and beyond: Transcendent understanding that touches upon fundamental truths.]
[3. Combat Experience: Defeat a cumulative total of ranked opponents equivalent to at least 10 Novice-ranked beasts, or 1 Apprentice-ranked beast. Current progress: 4 Novice-ranked beasts defeated. (4/10)]
[Note: Meeting these requirements does not guarantee advancement. The quality of your foundation will determine the strength of your Novice rank. Rushing advancement often results in a weaker foundation that limits future growth.]
I read through the requirements carefully, my mind working through the implications.
'A hundred attribute points total. I'm at seventy-six, so I need twenty-four more. The system hasn't said how to increase them, though. Training? Combat? Both?'
'Mana Circulation needs to reach Intermediate proficiency. It's at forty-one percent of Basic right now, so I need to get it to a hundred percent first, then start working through Intermediate.'
'And I need to defeat six more Novice-ranked beasts. Given how close I came to dying against these four, that's going to be... difficult.'
The path forward was daunting, but at least it was clear. Fight more. Train more. Push myself to the absolute limit.
'No Foundation Trial mentioned. Maybe that comes later? Or maybe the system just hasn't told me about it yet.'
I was about to dismiss the screen when movement caught my eye. Not from the forest, but from the saber itself.
The blade was... vibrating? No, that wasn't quite right. It was pulsing, the same way it had during the soul binding. A subtle rhythm that matched my heartbeat.
And I felt something through the connection. Not words, exactly. More like an emotion. A need.
Hunger.
The saber was hungry.
'What? How can a weapon be hungry?'
Before I could process that bizarre thought, the system screen flickered and new text appeared.
[Alert: Your soul-bound weapon has detected viable sustenance.]
[The Einsworth Family Saber hungers for the cores of the defeated foes.]
[Recommendation: Harvest the beast cores and feed them to your weapon through the gem in the crossguard.]
I stared at the message, my mind struggling to catch up.
'Cores? The beasts have cores? And I'm supposed to... feed them to my sword?'
The idea was deeply unsettling. Weapons didn't eat. They were tools, objects without will or desire. But the saber wasn't a normal weapon. It was soul-bound, alive in some fundamental way, and apparently it had appetites.
'This is so weird. This is beyond weird. This is—'
The saber pulsed again, more insistently this time, and I felt that hunger spike. It wanted those cores. Needed them.
I looked at the system screen, hoping for more explanation, but all it showed was a single additional line.
[Note: Feeding your soul-bound weapon will strengthen it and potentially unlock hidden abilities.]
'Of course. Of course there are benefits to doing the creepy thing.'
I wanted to refuse. Wanted to just leave the corpses and get out of this forest. But the saber's hunger was transmitted through our bond, and ignoring it felt wrong on a visceral level. Like ignoring my own thirst or hunger.
'Fine. Fine. I'll do it. But I'm not happy about it.'
I focused my thoughts toward the system.
'How do I harvest the cores?'
[Beast Core Harvesting Guide:]
[Beast cores are crystallized concentrations of mana that form in the chest cavity of ranked beasts. To harvest them:]
[1. Locate the center of the beast's chest, approximately where the heart would be.]
[2. Make a careful incision to open the chest cavity.]
[3. Reach inside and feel for a hard, smooth object. This is the core.]
[4. Extract the core carefully. Damaging it will reduce its value.]
[Note: Gloves are recommended but not required. Beast cores are not harmful to touch.]
I looked down at my hands, still covered in dried blood from the fight, and let out a long breath.
'This is disgusting. This is absolutely disgusting.'
But there was no getting around it. I needed to get stronger, and if feeding cores to my saber would help with that, then I'd swallow my discomfort and do what needed to be done.
I walked over to the nearest corpse, the first Crimson Maw I'd killed. Its body had already begun to stiffen with rigor mortis, and the flies scattered as I approached.
'Alright. Center of the chest. Make an incision.'
I positioned the saber's point against the beast's sternum and pushed. The blade slid through fur and flesh with surprising ease, parting the tissue like it was cutting through water. I made a vertical cut about six inches long, then used my free hand to pull the incision open.
The smell hit me immediately. Blood and viscera and something else, something acidic that made my eyes water. I turned my head away, gagging, then forced myself to look back.
'Come on. You've killed four of these things. You can handle this.'
I reached into the chest cavity, my hand sliding past ribs and muscle until my fingers brushed against something hard and smooth. There. I wrapped my hand around it and pulled.
The core came free with a wet sucking sound, and I held it up to the light.
It was beautiful, in its own alien way. Roughly the size of a large marble, perfectly spherical, and glowing with a faint red light. The surface was smooth like polished glass, and I could see swirls of darker crimson moving within it, like smoke trapped in crystal.
'This is what I need to feed to the saber?'
I set the core aside on a relatively clean patch of ground and moved to the next corpse. The process was easier the second time, my hands steadier, my stomach less inclined to rebel. The core from this one was slightly larger, its glow a bit brighter.
By the time I'd harvested all four cores, I'd become almost mechanical about it. Cut, reach, extract, set aside. My hands were covered in blood and worse, but I'd stopped noticing.
'Four cores. Four meals for my hungry sword.'
I gathered the cores and walked back to where I'd left my saber standing upright in the ground. The blade was still pulsing with that sense of anticipation, and as I approached, the black gem set into the crossguard began to glow.
'Alright. The system said to feed them through the gem. So I just... touch it with the core?'
I picked up the first core, the one from the original Crimson Maw, and held it near the gem. The moment it came within an inch of the black surface, I felt a pull. Not physical, but something deeper. The gem wanted the core.
I pressed the core against it.
The system screen appeared immediately.
[Soul-bound weapon has detected consumable material: Novice Beast Core (Crimson Maw)]
[Feed this core to the Einsworth Family Saber?]
[Yes / No]