Chapter Four: Ash in Motion

The wind tasted of copper and ruin. Malric moved through the dying woods south of the battlefield, boots crunching over frost-stiff leaves. The trees were skeletal, blackened by war and time, their branches like fingers clawing at a sky that no longer felt real.

[Hunger: 9%] [Level: 2 | EXP: 50/100] Each step made the system hum beneath his skin. It wasn't painful, not yet—but the hunger was always there now.

Gnawing. Whispering. He'd killed Darran. Taken his strength. Fed the thing that lived inside him. And yet, it still wanted more. He gritted his teeth and pressed on. No roads anymore—just broken trails and scorched brush.

He avoided settlements. The world would know what he'd done soon. The light-lickers would send their dogs, and if what he'd heard as a child was true, they didn't just kill system-born like him.

They erased them. Malric came upon an old shrine as dusk bled into night. It was a ruin—half-collapsed, with moss-covered stones and a toppled statue of some forgotten forest god.

A good place to rest. Quiet. Hidden. He stepped inside and dropped to one knee, back against cold stone.

The system pulsed as he closed his eyes.

[Status – Malric Ashen] Level: 2 EXP: 50/100

Devour Efficiency: 10% (Rank F)

Strength: 10

Agility: 7

Vitality: 6

Perception: 5

Mind: 5

Devour: 1 Active Ability: Devour Body (F) – Absorb 10% of physical traits from corpses.

System Hunger: 9% Next Ability Unlock: Level 25 – Devour Mind

He blinked at the final line. Devour Mind. What would that even feel like? Did it mean stealing thoughts? Memories? Could he become someone else? Would he still be him? He exhaled. That was a problem for another day. A branch cracked outside. He froze. Not an animal. Too soft. Too deliberate. He rose, silently drawing the Bonefang Dagger from his belt. A figure stepped through the broken archway, backlit by moonlight. Slender, armored in black leather laced with silver thread. A hood covered her face, but her stance was pure hunter—relaxed, dangerous. "I found you," she said softly. Malric didn't speak. He watched her hands. She wasn't holding a weapon, but that meant nothing. She tilted her head. "You don't know what you are, do you?" "Who sent you?" Malric asked, voice flat. "No one," she lied. "But they will." He lunged. She moved faster than anyone he'd fought before—sidestepping with inhuman grace, spinning low to avoid his slash. Her palm slammed into his chest, and he flew backward into a cracked pillar. Pain exploded in his ribs. She didn't wait. Drew a shortblade from beneath her cloak and came at him again, eyes gleaming beneath the hood. Malric blocked with the dagger. Steel rang on steel. He twisted, swept her leg. She jumped it. She was faster. Stronger. But he had the system. The moment her foot touched the ground, he feinted left, then pivoted and slashed across her arm. Blood sprayed. She hissed.

[Target Wounded – Devour Feasible] He didn't hesitate. Black tendrils lanced from his hand and speared into the open wound. She screamed—not in pain, but in fury—and severed the connection with a burst of violet flame from her palm.

Malric staggered back, tendrils retreating like scorched vines. "

You devour," she whispered. "It's true."

"You knew?" Malric gasped. She stepped back,

pulling down her hood. Her eyes glowed faint silver. A burn scar curled across her left cheek. "I've seen what you are," she said. "I've hunted your kind before."

"There are others?" "Were," she corrected. "You're the last fragment now. The Glutton's final seed."

She charged. This time, Malric was ready. He let her overextend, ducked under her blade, and stabbed deep into her side. She gasped, faltering. He grabbed her by the throat and dragged her down, slamming her into the ground.

The system surged. [Devour Initiated…] She clawed at his face—but her strength was fading.

[Devour Successful] [+2 AGI | +1 STR | +1 PER] [EXP gained: 35] [Level Up – Level 3]

Then something else happened. As the last of her strength drained into him, something cracked—just for a moment. Not in the body, but deeper. Malric staggered, vision flickering.

A scream—not his—echoed in his skull, jagged and raw. He saw flashes: silver armor bathed in firelight, a child's pendant clutched in a bloodied fist, the image of a tower falling into black sea.

Then nothing. No memory. Just cold. The system didn't speak. But something inside him whispered.

"She wanted to die fighting." Malric clenched his jaw, breath ragged. That wasn't his thought. That wasn't his feeling. And yet, it was. He stood, shaking slightly. The hunter's body was still. Her blade had fallen beside her, crackling faintly with residual magic. [Item Identified – Veilpiercer | Rank C] Passive: Ghoststep – Slight speed boost during evasive movement Compatible with Devour System: Y/N? He hesitated. His dagger was good. But this… this was better. [Consume Weapon: Bonefang Dagger?] [Y/N] "Yes," he said aloud. The Bonefang dagger melted into shadow, absorbed into the system. [+1 STR | Passive: Serrated Edge (minor bonus to bleeding)] [Weapon Slot: Empty] He picked up the Veilpiercer. [New Weapon Equipped: Veilpiercer – Ghoststep (Passive)] It felt right in his hand. He looked down at the woman's corpse, eyes narrowing. Not just a bounty hunter. She'd known too much. Too soon. "Eclipse Order?" he muttered. "Or worse." It didn't matter. They were coming either way. He pulled her cloak off and threw it over his shoulders. It would help mask his identity, at least for a time. The night stretched around him, cold and watchful. He walked on. Through trees that whispered. Toward a village where he could feed again.

Far above, in the crystal halls of the Grand Temple, the Light flickered once more. High Priestess Elrica looked to the sky, her eyes hollow.

"He's learning," she whispered. "Faster than we feared." The flame atop Aurelion's altar dimmed—again. And this time, it didn't recover