Chapter 6: Ronin’s Path
The silence after the tutorial was worse than the screams during it.
Kael stepped into Sector 11 with the weight of survival pressing down on his shoulders. His cloak snapped behind him, catching wind like a torn banner. The city ahead was a gutted grave — shattered towers, asphalt veins splitting open to reveal hollow guts. He scanned the ruins as though they might blink back.
> [Zone: Sector 11] Threat Level: Moderate Objective: Reach Sector 15 Safehouse Survival Rate: 12%
Twelve percent. That was the number the system spat out. He didn't know if it was a warning or a dare.
"Still better odds than yesterday," Kael muttered, adjusting his grip on the Cleaver Saber.
The Ronin class gave him no armor, no shields, no party. Just a blade, a name, and a trait called Unbound. His only defense was movement. His only healing was time. And every system notice made it clear — if he bled out, there was no checkpoint waiting for him.
He would not wake up again.
The overpass groaned under his boots as he crept across. A ruined street stretched below, littered with old cars and sunken wreckage. He squinted through the dust.
Something shifted.
Kael's body reacted before his thoughts did. He twisted left — but not fast enough.
A Stalker Hound burst out of a crushed vehicle, claws flashing, fangs dripping with static-black saliva. It lunged low, and its momentum knocked Kael off his feet. He hit the concrete hard, saber skittering from his grip. The HUD blinked.
> [HP: 72 / 170] [Status: Bleeding – Minor]
Pain sharpened the world.
He rolled sideways as a second hound landed where he'd been. The first was already circling again.
Three of them.
"Too fast," he hissed, snatching his weapon and staggering to a knee.
He pivoted. The closest hound charged.
Kael swung wide — the saber connected with its neck, not clean, but deep enough to disrupt it.
> [Graveborn Spawn – Eliminated] [EXP +20]
The kill sent a wave of heat through his limbs — a half-second surge. He turned too late.
The second hound clipped his side with a shoulder-tackle. His back hit the ruined car behind him. Sparks flew from his HUD.
> [HP: 38 / 170] [Status: Bleeding – Moderate]
He blocked the next lunge by instinct alone. Metal rang against bone. The saber trembled in his grip.
> [Mental Clarity -2]
Not good.
His mind fogged at the edges, nerves dulling. The Ronin class punished hesitation. He had no active defenses, no dash ability. But he had one thing.
Kael dropped into a crouch.
He waited.
The third hound lunged. This time, Kael unsheathed in a tight arc — pure muscle memory.
> [Draw Cut – Success] [Critical Hit] [EXP +20] [Mental Clarity +3]
The creature dissolved in a blur of red particles.
He exhaled ragged breath.
The last one hesitated. It had no mind, just programming. But even corrupted instincts recognized a killing rhythm.
Kael surged forward, feinted low, then slammed his saber up beneath the creature's jaw. It jerked, twitched, then collapsed into data ash.
> [EXP +20] [Level Up Available – Post-Combat Only] [HP: 17 / 170]
Kael dropped to one knee, blood dripping from his side. He coughed, tasted iron, and ignored it. The city around him felt alive again. Watching. Waiting for him to fall.
But he hadn't.
Not yet.
He limped back to a safe alcove near a wrecked storefront. The lights overhead flickered. A checkpoint beacon hummed on the rooftop above — but it was out of reach.
He didn't need it anyway. Not if he planned to live.
He opened the system interface with a flick of his fingers. The Ronin class sheet unfolded.
> [Class Skill: Draw Cut – Lv. 1] Timing Critical | Bonus damage when unsheathed strike lands within window [Trait: Unbound – Class-exclusive paths unlocked, faction-neutral alignment] [New Stat: Mental Clarity – Tracks focus. Affects reaction speed, precision.]
Kael closed the menu and leaned his head back against the stone. The saber sat in his lap. Dirty. Scuffed. Glowing faintly from the last critical.
"This class is gonna get me killed," he muttered.
But he didn't put the blade down.
---
That night, Kael found shelter in a collapsed metro entrance. No doors. No warmth. Just concrete walls and silence thick enough to feel.
He didn't sleep. Not really.
Instead, he trained.
He set his cloak aside. Cleared space in the narrow tunnel. Then moved.
Low stance. Steady breath. Draw. Slash.
> [Draw Cut – Failed] [Draw Cut – Failed] [Draw Cut – 4% Sync]
He grit his teeth. Again.
This time, he saw the hound in his mind — the way it moved. Its arc. The pressure of its step before the leap. He moved into it.
> [Draw Cut – Success] [Mental Clarity +1]
The blade sang in the dark. A line through nothing.
Kael froze.
The saber hummed.
He sheathed it slowly. A line of red light traced across the HUD.
> [Blade Memory Threshold: 7% Reached] Memory Fragment Detected: Echo 1 – "The One Who Walked" View Memory?
He hesitated.
Then tapped "Yes."
---
Smoke and ash.
A man in a cracked helmet walked across a battlefield. Alone. His sword dragged behind him, too heavy to carry properly. Blood poured from his ribs. Still, he moved.
> "A Ronin does not win," the man said. "A Ronin endures."
The vision faded.
Kael blinked, and his saber glowed with faint, violet static.
> [New Skill Acquired: Iaido Step – Lv. 1] Brief dash after successful Draw Cut [Ash Memory: 7%] [Ronin Proficiency: E-]
He stared at the weapon in his hands.
It was no longer just steel.
It was memory. And momentum.
---
By dawn, he was gone — moving through the wreckage of Sector 11 with one hand on the hilt and the other brushing blood from his lips.
He had no party. No healer. No map.
But he had survived.
And as far as he was concerned, that counted.
---
📊 Kael Draven – Status (End of Chapter 6)
Level: 6
Class: Ronin (Unique)
HP: 17 / 170
Stamina: 100 / 100
Mental Clarity: 6
Ash Memory: 7%
EXP: 930 / 1000
Skills
Draw Cut – Lv. 1
Iaido Step – Lv. 1
Reflex Trace – Lv. 1
Trait
Unbound – Immune to faction constraints; allows access to nonstandard class trees
Weapon
Cleaver Saber (Piercing Mod + Memory Trace)
Armor
Reinforced Tattered Cloak
Status: Wounded, Focused
Location: Sector 11 — Lower West Ruins