Chapter 12: Blood and Binding
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The world snapped back into focus with the sharp taste of iron on Rael's tongue.
He awoke on the cold stone floor of the Academy infirmary, his chest heaving, shirt soaked in blood. The trial realm was gone, but its marks were carved into him, both soul and flesh. His eyes burned faint silver in the darkness, and across his torso ran searing lines of crimson light—runes, alive and pulsing, that had branded him in the final moment before the Devourer's Trial had ended.
> "What… did I become?" Rael whispered, staring at the glowing marks along his arms.
They weren't just runes. They were a binding contract—a spiritual shackle and a key rolled into one.
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> [System Notification: Trial of the Devourer – Completed]
> Devour Talent
> [System Notification: Trial of the Devourer – Completed]
Outcome: Survival against Greater Spirit – 1st-Class Fiend Wraith
Evaluation: Exceptional
Rewards Unlocked:
Devour Talent Advanced → Devour: Apex Form (Rare+)
New Spirit Slot Unlocked
Spirit Essence Acquired: Wraith of Crimson Chains (Unbound)
Title Acquired: "He Who Devours the Bound"
Stat Increase: +5 INT, +3 TM, +2 AGI
Spirit Binding Skill Upgraded → Blood Pact (★★★☆☆)
Blood Sigil of Binding Imprinted
Warning: Blood Sigil is sentient. Handle with caution.
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Rael blinked at the translucent system panel, its light flickering like embers in the moonlit infirmary.
> "Wraith of Crimson Chains…"
He remembered the final moment of the trial—when the spectral wraith had lunged, snarling its hatred, only to be consumed by the whirl of Devour's black vortex. The chains had coiled around Rael's arms, seeping into his very blood.
Now, they rested dormant under his skin, faint crimson glows pulsing beneath his veins like fire beneath ice.
The infirmary door creaked.
He immediately killed the interface and braced himself.
"Still alive, I see," came a familiar, sardonic voice.
Rael turned. Arin Veylor stood in the doorway, arms crossed. The young noble's usually immaculate uniform was slightly rumpled, and his left wrist bore a light wrap of gauze—likely from a duel.
"You've been unconscious for nearly a day," Arin said. "Most people don't leave the trial realm looking like they wrestled a wraith and won."
Rael said nothing, simply sitting up.
"You're full of secrets, peasant," Arin continued. "But you're interesting. That counts for something at the Academy."
Rael frowned. "Is this a warning?"
"No," Arin shrugged. "A warning would come from the Inquisition. This is just me telling you… I'm watching. And so are others."
With that cryptic remark, Arin turned on his heel and left.
Rael clenched his fists.
He didn't have time to attract attention—not yet. Not when his class remained a secret, not when the Academy itself brimmed with spies from the guilds, the Empire, and worse.
But something had changed in him. He could feel it.
He pulled back the bandage on his right forearm.
The Blood Sigil burned faint red. A jagged rune encircled by three chained rings. It felt like it was pulsing—no, listening.
> "System. Open Spirit Binding."
> [Spirit Binding Interface – Blood Pact Pathway Unlocked]
Spirit Essence Detected: Wraith of Crimson Chains
Status: Unbound. Hostile. Sentient.
Attempt binding? [Y/N]
Rael hesitated.
Every instinct screamed no.
But power—true power—was never earned by the hesitant.
> "Yes."
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Binding Initiated…
The world shifted again.
Rael found himself in a formless void, standing across from the wraith. It towered over him, cloaked in darkness, its chains writhing like serpents. Eyes like twin voids stared into him.
> "You dare try to enslave me, mortal?"
The voice echoed through Rael's skull like thunder.
> "You are not worthy. You are not even—"
"I didn't ask," Rael snarled, stepping forward. "I devoured you. You belong to me now."
The Wraith shrieked.
Chains shot toward him—but Rael raised his hand, and the Blood Sigil flared. The chains halted midair, writhing in protest.
> "I bind you by blood and trial," he said, voice resonating with strange power. "You are mine."
The chains convulsed, then slowly coiled around Rael's wrist like a crimson tattoo.
The Wraith screamed one final time—then vanished in a blast of black light.
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> [Binding Successful!]
Spirit Acquired: Wraith of Crimson Chains (F-Rank+)
Type: Specter / Fiend
Skill Gained: Chain Lash (★★★☆☆) – Lashes enemies with spectral chains, binding and burning mana.
Passive Gained: Soul Leech – Recovers 1% MP per second while engaged in combat.
Spirit Integration Bonus: +7 INT, +10 MP
Rael gasped as he returned to the physical world, the power surging through his veins.
He'd done it.
His second spirit—a rare spectral beast bound by blood—was his.
But as he stood to leave, a faint glow shimmered at the edge of his vision.
He turned.
On the far wall of the infirmary, a rune was burning into the stone.
His sigil.
Someone had copied it.
> "Who…?" Rael whispered.
Before he could investigate further, the rune flared, then disintegrated into smoke.
Gone.
Someone had been watching him.
And now they knew.
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Later That Night – Moonspire Tower
Far above the Academy, within the restricted observation tower known as Moonspire, three robed figures stood before a crystal basin.
"The boy… he bound a sentient wraith," said one, voice gravelly.
Another leaned closer to the basin. "No record of his class. Even the Empire's database doesn't register him. He's cloaked."
"The Devourer Trial should've killed him. Instead, he consumed a spirit that should've required at least a B-Rank Mage."
They were silent for a moment.
Then the tallest of them spoke.
"Inform the Emperor's Hand. The Hounds of the Empire must be deployed."
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Meanwhile – Academy Underground
Unbeknownst to Rael, a shadow moved through the lower halls of the Academy—a man in a silver mask with the seal of the royal family etched in blue crystal.
He stopped before a sealed archive door, pressed a gloved hand against the rune lock, and whispered.
> "Subject: Rael Verenth. Confirmed anomaly. Proceeding with Phase One."
The door opened.
Inside was a single file.
And a single photo—Rael, taken during the trial's aftermath.
The masked man pocketed it and vanished into the shadows.
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Back in Rael's Dormitory
Rael stood by the window, watching the stars.
He couldn't sleep. The Wraith's power thrummed within him—alien, restless, coiled like a serpent waiting to strike.
> "This is more than I bargained for," he murmured.
But he couldn't back down now.
The Academy would soon rank students in a public combat demonstration. The first test of true strength.
He would need to fight.
And win.
Because the shadows had begun to move.
And he was no longer a ghost among the crowd.
He was becoming a force.
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