The Warborn Awakens

Kyle's breath was heavy, each inhale like dragging broken glass through his lungs. His body was battered, his muscles screaming in protest as he forced himself to remain upright. The First Marked was gone, their form dissolved into the void, yet the weight of their presence lingered like a phantom pressing against his mind. The battlefield was silent, the ruins of the City of Ash surrounding him once more, but everything felt different. Something inside him had changed, something fundamental, as if the very core of his being had been reforged in the crucible of the fight.

A final notification pulsed in his vision, the letters glowing faintly as if the system itself was acknowledging his survival.

Trial of the Marked Completed.

You have overcome the Fallen. You are no longer just a Marked. You are a Warborn.

Title Acquired: Warborn of the Forgotten.

+5 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +2 Constitution.

Kyle clenched his fists, feeling the residual energy coursing through him. He had won. He had survived. But the cost had been higher than he'd expected. His body was on the verge of collapse, and the deep wound in his side burned with a relentless fire. His breathing was uneven, and every part of him screamed for rest, but the realization that he had passed a trial that had likely claimed the lives of many before him sent a pulse of something raw through his veins.

The Land had tried to break him. It had tested him, just as it had tested all the Marked before him, and yet he still stood.

A soft noise broke through the quiet. He turned his head slowly, his instincts still razor-sharp, but the figure approaching wasn't another enemy. It was Rin.

The goblin child stood a few paces away, wide eyes locked onto him, their small hands clenched into fists at their sides. Kyle wasn't sure how long he had been gone in the void of the trial, but judging by the dirt smudged across Rin's face and the way they shifted uncomfortably, they had been waiting for him longer than they had liked.

"You're back," Rin said finally, their voice barely above a whisper.

Kyle exhaled sharply. "Yeah."

Rin's gaze flickered down to the wound at his side, their expression unreadable. "You almost weren't."

Kyle let out a dry laugh, though it felt like a struggle to even do that. "Yeah," he repeated, exhaustion creeping into his voice. "But I was."

For a long moment, Rin just stood there, as if trying to decide something. Then, without another word, they pulled a small bundle from the satchel slung over their shoulder and unwrapped it. Inside was a strip of cloth, a crude needle, and a small vial of liquid that Kyle guessed was some kind of antiseptic.

Kyle raised a brow. "You planning to stitch me up?"

Rin huffed. "Unless you want to bleed out."

Kyle hesitated. He wasn't used to someone else tending to his wounds. He had learned early on that no one looked out for him but himself. But Rin wasn't wrong. The wound was deep, and while Blood Reclamation had stopped the worst of the bleeding, it wouldn't be enough on its own. He needed to be functional, and fast.

He sat down on the cracked stone, leaning back against a half-collapsed pillar. "Do it."

Rin moved quickly, their small hands steady as they poured a bit of the antiseptic over the wound. The sting was immediate, but Kyle barely flinched. He had felt worse. The needle work was rough, but efficient, the stitches tight enough to keep the wound from reopening. When Rin finally tied off the last knot and pressed a strip of cloth over the injury, Kyle let out a slow breath.

Rin sat back, watching him with an intensity that was unsettling for someone so young. "What happened in there?"

Kyle closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. He had faced something beyond just another fight. The First Marked had been more than an enemy. They had been a reminder—a warning of what The Land did to those who walked this path before him.

"The trial," Kyle said finally, voice quieter than he expected, "was a test. Of strength, endurance, will. It wasn't just about winning the fight. It was about proving I deserved to survive it."

Rin frowned. "And you did."

Kyle opened his eyes and met Rin's gaze. "Barely."

Rin didn't argue. They had seen him stumble out of whatever hell the trial had been, bloody and beaten within an inch of his life. They didn't need to hear it to know it had been close.

Kyle pushed himself up slowly, testing the wound. It hurt, but it wasn't debilitating. He'd live. "We need to move."

Rin stood as well, adjusting their satchel. "Do you know where we're going?"

Kyle scanned the ruins. The City of Ash had been a stronghold once, and if The Land had left behind the remains of the Marked's past, then there had to be more hidden beneath its surface. If there was knowledge to be found, power to be taken, this was the place to do it.

"I have an idea," Kyle muttered, his eyes settling on the largest intact structure near the heart of the city.

It had once been a fortress, its high towers now crumbling, its walls cracked but still standing. The sigils of the old kingdom were faded, barely visible beneath the soot and time-worn decay, but something about it felt different. The energy radiating from it was still alive, still waiting.

A notification flickered.

Hidden Objective Unlocked: The Ruins of the Warborn

The past does not rest. The Marked do not vanish. Beneath the City of Ash lies the remnants of a forgotten order. Find what was left behind.

Kyle exhaled, rolling his shoulders. He wasn't done yet.

Without another word, he started toward the ruins. Rin followed close, their steps lighter now, as if some of their own uncertainty had faded just by watching him rise again.

The Land had tried to break him.

But Kyle wasn't done fighting.

And if the past held the answers to what he had become, then he would tear through every ruin, every secret, every enemy to claim them.

Because for the first time since arriving in this cursed world, he wasn't just surviving anymore.