Chapter 7 – Blood Bonds

「Bonded by blood.」

It's a phrase I'd heard countless times back in the old world—usually when people talked about family bonds being unbreakable because of shared DNA. But honestly? I never felt that connection. My mom died when I was about six. Pulmonary disease. It took her fast, leaving a hollow space where "family" was supposed to be.

I still remember the sterile smell of antiseptic in her hospital room. I was five at the time. We sat together on her bed, board game pieces scattered across the scratchy blanket. Mom was frail, her cheeks sunken, but her smile was warm—though tinged with a quiet sadness.

"Mom, you're not gonna get better, are you?" I asked in a small voice, the kind of voice kids use when they already know the answer.

She laughed softly, a sound as fragile as she was, and reached out to brush the hair from my forehead. "Tatsuya, there are some battles even superheroes can't win," she said, her breath shallow, voice raspy but still full of love. "But I'm glad I get to spend this time with my little comic book hero. How about we finish this game?"

The room had smelled faintly of plastic tubes and daisies—Mom loved daisies. I remember watching her hand tremble as she moved one of the game pieces, a soft smile still on her lips. "Your turn, Tatsuya."

Her voice faded, and the memory dissolved as the present snapped back into focus, yanking me out of the past.

"Move now or die!"

Yuki's voice cut through the haze of blood and memories. My vision cleared just in time to see one of the King Spider's massive legs swinging at me like a battering ram. My eyes widened in shock, and I barely had time to raise my stone gauntlet before the leg collided with a deafening crash.

Even though the gauntlet absorbed most of the blow, the impact sent me flying. I slammed into the stone wall with a crack that rattled through my bones, ribs splintering from the force. Blood sprayed from my mouth as I crumpled to the ground, the entire room shaking from the hit. Dust and debris rained down while I struggled to catch my breath.

"You're kinda late on that call, rat," I muttered, wincing as I spat out more blood.

"Call me Yuki. That's what you'd call a feminine name for snow in your world, right?"

"Wait, how do you know I'm from another world?"

"It won't matter if we're both dead," she snapped, the sharpness in her voice unmistakable. "Use half of my brain, my sight, and my senses to enhance your combat skills. You'll use half of your brain to fight and dodge. We can communicate with the other halves. All of this is possible through our blood bond."

I snorted, wincing again. "I usually wouldn't trust a rodent's brain for anything, but you seem competent enough. Sure."

"I am not a rodent, you less-than-human!"

The King Spider took another step, its grotesque body looming closer, the confidence of victory already swelling in its movements. Its chittering echoed off the walls, each leg tapping against the stone floor like a death knell.

But it had no idea we'd been planning in those fleeting moments.

I stood, my body trembling, but now one of my eyes glowed with a fierce red light. Yuki, perched on my shoulder, mirrored the glow in one of her beady eyes. The bond was complete.

The stone gauntlet on my hand shifted, the rocks reforming into a blade along my wrist. It felt like an extension of my arm, buzzing with energy, sharper than any weapon I'd held before.

The King Spider screeched in fury and charged, its massive form barreling toward me, the sound of its legs pounding against the ground thunderous.

I moved quickly, darting between the ancient stone pillars with speed and agility I hadn't known I possessed. My steps were silent, each movement precise. The spider thrashed behind me, its legs smashing into the pillars, splintering them into jagged cracks, but it was too slow, too clumsy to keep up.

The room was falling apart, crumbling with every strike.

Somewhere deep inside my mind, I found myself floating in a strange, endless black space. Colors flickered at the edges, like an old TV screen glitching. I sat in this space, glowing white and featureless—like a version of myself that was abstract, incomplete.

Yuki sat in front of me, still in her rat form, her red eyes glowing as they watched me.

"How did this blood bond even happen?" I asked, my voice echoing in the void.

"I tasted your blood back in the altar room—several times over the months. And recently, you tasted mine," Yuki explained, her tail flicking with a smug air. "Your mana's grown strong enough, and the recent contact activated your undead ability—blood bonding."

I frowned. "Undead? Right. I'm a ghoul… But how's this supposed to help me take down that thing? I'm pretty banged up here."

Yuki's whiskers twitched, her voice taking on a sing-songy tone. "Patience. Down came the stone that brought the spider down."

In the real world, the King Spider had no clue it was walking into a trap. It chased me relentlessly, its rage clouding what little sense it had left. I led it to the last standing pillar in the crumbling room, my legs shaky, blood still dripping from my cloak, but a wild smile on my face as I stood my ground.

With one swift swipe of my wrist blade, I severed the final support. The ceiling groaned, the floor beneath us split wide open, and the stones tumbled into the cavern below, revealing jagged spikes jutting up from the darkness.

The King Spider, too heavy to react in time, fell straight down. Its massive body impaled on a spike with a sickening crunch. Its legs twitched one last time before going still, the life draining from its monstrous form.

As I fell, wind roared past my ears, whipping my hair wildly around my face. Yuki clung tightly to my neck, her tiny claws digging into my skin as we plummeted into the cavern below. The air was bitterly cold, and then I saw it—the Iguana monster, curled up near the cave exit, waiting.

"Another boss battle? Right after the fall?" Panic surged through me as the floor of the cavern rushed up to meet us.