Alistair’s body jerked forward as the paralysis lifted.

  [Status Cleared – Immobilized]

  [Trial One Initiated]

  Objective: Acquire 1 Medallion

  As the spell of immobility lifted, Alistair felt a rush of relief. His muscles, stiff from magical paralysis, twitched like they were waking from a long sleep.

  “Finally,” he muttered, rolling his shoulders as movement returned.

  But there was no time to enjoy it.

  Chaos erupted.

  All around him, champions stirred, some lurching into combat, others blinking in confusion. A few reached instinctively for weapons they didn’t have. Some crouched like cornered animals, teeth bared.

  “Welcome to the Arena,” Alistair said under his breath, scanning the crowd.

  It was a collection of every shape and species he could imagine and a few he couldn't. An orchestra of violence tuning up for a symphony of blood.

  He shook the thought away. No time for poetic musings.

  Survive. That was the goal.

  The battle ignited.

  Arrows hissed through the air like flocks of angry metal birds. Spells detonated with bone-rattling force, making the ground shudder. Blinding flashes seared his eyes, already weakened by the unforgiving sun overhead.

  Alistair bolted toward the treeline without looking back.

  [Environmental Penalty – Sunlight Exposure]

  -5 Strength

  -5 Constitution

  -5 Dexterity

  Each step was harder than the last. The ground trembled underfoot, the world alive with violence.

  He triggered [Ethereal Phase].

  His body melted into black smoke, curling forward in a blur of motion. Five meters vanished in an instant...

  And then he slammed into someone.

  They crashed together with a jolt, her startled scream freezing in her throat. Alistair stumbled back, vision swimming, hands twitching to his sides.

  He caught his balance, grinned, and flashed his fangs. “Sorry, darling. Love the robes. Who’s your tailor?”

  She blinked at him, dumbfounded.

  Then a fireball exploded nearby.

  Heat slammed into him. He flinched, turning with a grimace.

  “No time to chat,” he called. “See you later!”

  He sprinted, boots crunching dirt, while the air screamed with spells and steel. But it was too late. She’d noticed him. So had others.

  More enemies closed in.

  A glowing orb slammed at his feet, bursting into light. Heat licked up his leg, singing fabric and flesh.

  [Damage Taken – 3HP]

  He spun, incredulous.

  The robed woman stood with her arms raised, face twisted in fury.

  “That wasn’t very nice!” Alistair shouted.

  She didn’t answer.

  She couldn’t.

  A shadow blurred behind her, then a spray of crimson.

  A dagger punched through her neck. She collapsed, twitching, eyes wide with confusion.

  Behind her stood a man cloaked in shadow, half his face hidden, the other smiling far too wide.

  Alistair's instincts flared.

  "Maybe I should get out of here," he whispered. "The murder vibes are getting a bit… much."

  Run.

  Too late.

  The assassin flicked his wrist. A dagger hissed through the air. Alistair dodged, but not fast enough.

  A hot line of pain tore across his side.

  [Damage Taken – 15HP]

  [Status Applied – Poisoned]

  HP Loss: -1/sec (15s)

  [HP: 57 / 130]

  He hissed, clutching his side.

  “Shit! I could go for a snack right about now...”

  His eyes dropped to the robed woman’s blood pooling on the ground. His fangs throbbed.

  No. Not yet.

  Around them, chaos swirled. A gnome scrambled for a blade. A human warrior charged the assassin with blood in his eyes. Then a warhammer came down, fast, brutal.

  The assassin vanished beneath it.

  Alistair blinked.

  “Well. That works.”

  The orc’s gaze landed on him.

  He waved. “Lovely meeting you.”

  The orc stepped forward.

  Alistair vanished in a puff of smoke.

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  [Ethereal Phase] triggered again, his body stretching like a ribbon of mist through the battlefield. Champions screamed. Mages roared. Limbs flew.

  He Phase-dodged once. Then again. Then again.

  Every five seconds. Every cooldown.

  Carnage blurred around him.

  He watched men stab each other through the eye for medallions. Watched a child-faced boy set a woman on fire and laugh. Watched the system ping again and again with updates like toll bells.

  [Champion Eliminated]

  [Champion Eliminated]

  [Champion Eliminated]

  Alistair kept running.

  So much for monsters being rare.

  His cooldown ended. He reformed just in time to take an arrow to the leg.

  [Damage Taken – 6HP]

  [HP: 49 / 130]

  He stumbled forward, gasping. The shaft pierced just above his calf. The arrowhead lodged deep in the dirt.

  And then, they landed.

  Three beastkin dropped from the trees like ghosts. Panther-kin. Fast, sleek, deadly.

  One jet black, nearly blending into the shadows.

  One ruddy brown.

  One spotted gray-and-white, a bow already drawn.

  He was surrounded.

  They didn’t speak.

  But the tension did.

  [Threat Assessment – High]

  Targets Identified:

  Black Panther – HP: 38%

  Brown Panther – HP: 100%

  Spotted Archer – HP: 100%

  Alistair cracked his neck.

  “So we’re doing this.”

  He squinted at the archer. “Nice bow. Compensating for something?”

  She didn’t laugh.

  None of them did.

  He raised a hand. “Look! Catnip!”

  The black panther growled. “I will carve you into strips and eat your heart, human.”

  Alistair’s eyes glinted. “Human?” He smiled wide, flashing fang. “I eat people like you for breakfast.”

  The archer faltered. Her arrow trembled.

  [Passive Triggered – Commanding Aura]

  Effect: Targets unsettled (Low success)

  Alistair moved.

  He bolted toward the black panther.

  The beastkin leapt to intercept him, claws extended, snarl echoing across the field.

  Alistair didn’t stop.

  He pivoted hard at the last second and triggered [Ethereal Phase].

  [Ability Activated: Ethereal Phase]

  You become smoke. Travel up to 5 meters.

  Duration: 0.8 seconds

  Cooldown: 5 seconds

  He blurred past the panther, just a flicker of black mist.

  The beastkin’s claws swiped through air.

  Alistair reappeared behind him and lashed out.

  His kick caught the panther in the spine, sending him staggering forward with a grunt.

  He didn't wait.

  Alistair sprinted for the trees, heart thundering. Another arrow sailed past his ear. The spotted archer cursed in some guttural dialect.

  [HP: 47 / 130]

  [MP: 59 / 82]

  [SP: 68 / 132]

  [Ethereal Phase Cooldown: 4.6 sec]

  Not enough time.

  He reached the treeline and ducked under low branches, darting through thick roots and brambles. Behind him, the panthers pursued, snarling and fast.

  They were faster than him.

  Especially under this gods-damned sun.

  His boots skidded in mud as he spun around and raised both hands.

  “Let’s see if this works,” he whispered.

  He called up [Chittering Bats].

  [Ability Activated: Chittering Bats]

  Summons a swarm of screeching bats.

  Duration: 10 seconds

  Effects: Disorientation, Blindness (low-Will targets)

  The air tore.

  A swarm erupted from the darkness around him, dozens of black-winged shapes shrieking into the sky.

  The lead panther reeled back, slashing at the air.

  The archer stumbled, arrow flying wild.

  The spotted panther recovered quickly. She raised her bow again, faster than he expected.

  She’s smart, Alistair thought. Time to level the field.

  He stretched out his hand.

  “Let’s see how you like the dark.”

  [Darken Sight] – Cast

  Channeling time: 2 seconds

  Duration: 10 seconds

  Cooldown: 15 seconds

  Shadows peeled off his fingertips and spread like smoke, swirling outward in a tight, pulsing ring.

  The archer vanished inside the shroud of black mist.

  A heartbeat passed.

  She cried out. A sharp, panicked sound.

  [Target Afflicted: Vision Obscured]

  Status: Disoriented

  “Guess I’m not the only one who hates surprises,” he muttered.

  The brown one snarled and powered forward, claws glowing with some inner enchantment.

  [Enemy Ability Detected: Rending Claw – Active]

  Alistair dropped low. The strike passed overhead, missing by inches. He swiped a discarded arrow and stabbed at the beastkin’s ribs.

  [Critical Hit]

  [Damage Dealt – 26]

  [Status Applied – Bleed]

  Blood spattered.

  The beast staggered. Alistair didn’t stop.

  He lunged, fangs out and bit deep into the beast’s throat.

  Hot blood hit his tongue like fire.

  [Ability Activated – Blood Drain]

  HP Restored: +14

  Status Applied: Adrenal Surge (10s)

  Buffs: +2 Strength, +2 Speed (60s)

  The brown panther shrieked, claws flailing, but Alistair held tight. He drained until the beast slumped.

  Dead weight.

  [Target Eliminated]

  He pulled back, panting.

  Alistair caught his breath, blood hot in his mouth, hands slick with it.

  He shouldn’t be doing this well.

  Not after months, years of stagnation. Not after hitting a wall every time he trained.

  And yet...

  They weren’t vampires.

  These champions were fast. Dangerous. Skilled.

  But they weren’t the cold-eyed warriors he grew up bleeding beside. They didn’t move like monsters. They didn’t think like predators.

  He did.

  His body moved before thought. His instincts, buried for so long under sarcasm and shame, had finally been given something real to bite into.

  He was only level twelve. His skills hadn’t grown in ages.

  But his body?

  It was still vampire-born. Stronger. Faster. Leaner.

  +3 Agility. +2 Dexterity. And muscle carved from a lifetime of surviving vampires.

  For the first time in a long while, the battlefield didn’t feel like a curse.

  It felt like home.

  He wanted to laugh, but...

  The black panther was already back on him.

  Alistair twisted, too late...

  Claws ripped through his chest.

  [Damage Taken – 18HP]

  [HP: 43 / 130]

  He dropped to one knee, blood in his mouth.

  Everything burned.

  The system chimed.

  [Skill Increased – Dark Magic: Level 3]

  [New Spell Unlocked – Searing Vein]

  Effect: Convert pain and blood into explosive force

  Damage: Moderate + Burn

  Mana Cost: 15

  “Oh, you’re gonna hate this,” he spat, and cast the spell.

  [Searing Vein] – Cast

  Pain ignited.

  Heat roared through his chest and down his arms. He screamed and pointed.

  The magic surged, black fire spearing forward, catching the black panther full in the torso.

  The beastkin’s scream cut short as he collapsed, smoking.

  [Status Applied – Burned]

  [Target Eliminated]

  Alistair staggered.

  Smoke curled from his fingers. His breath came in short, ragged gasps.

  [MP: 32 / 82]

  [HP: 43 / 130]

  Two bodies lay around him.

  And the third, the archer was gone.

  Smart girl.

  He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up.

  He blinked.

  Then he laughed.

  Short. Bitter. Real.

  "Still alive! Who would have thought!”

  Alistair leaned against a tree, chest heaving.

  Blood, some his, some not, coated his arms, soaked into the collar of his shirt, pooled around his boots. The air still crackled with echoes of the spell. Birds had long since fled. Everything smelled like ash and iron.

  He looked down at the black panther's corpse, its torso still steaming.

  “I liked you better when you were fast,” he muttered.

  He wiped his mouth again. The blood from the brown one still clung to his tongue. Hot, coppery, rich. It should’ve tasted foul.

  It didn’t.

  His hands trembled.

  Not from fear. Not entirely.

  The rush of the kill still lingered. Not the kill itself but the feeling afterward. Power. Relief. Warmth that didn’t come from the sun.

  He hated how natural it had felt.

  He hated how much of him wanted more.

  He slumped down at the base of the tree and drew in a shaky breath. The forest was quieter now, though the occasional scream or magical blast still echoed faintly from deeper in the trial zone.

  A faint wind rustled the leaves above him. The sun still bore down, hateful and bright.

  [Environmental Penalty – Sunlight Exposure]

  Attributes Reduced: Ongoing

  He needed to move soon.

  But just for a moment, he let himself sit.

  Let the silence creep in.

  Let the blood dry.

  He exhaled.

  “Still breathing,” he said. “Still funny. Still me.”

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