Chapter 20 - The trial of Blood

The creature charged.

Kael barely moved in time.

The ancient blade passed through the space where his chest had been a moment earlier, and the force behind the swing shattered several stone fragments from the chamber wall.

Kael rolled across the floor and immediately raised his Darven MP-01.

He fired.

The creature twisted.

The shots struck its black armor and disappeared without leaving a mark.

[Bloodline Memory Manifestation]

[Threat: Unmeasurable]

[Physical manifestation: Uncertain]

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“So I can't hurt it normally.”

The creature turned toward him.

Its four arms moved at once.

Sword.

Spear.

Axe.

Ancient firearm.

Four weapons.

Four directions.

Kael jumped backward as the weapons struck the ground around him.

BOOM!

The stone floor cracked.

Kael's balance disappeared.

He hit the ground hard.

A sharp pain spread through his shoulder.

“Damn!”

He immediately rolled away.

The creature's axe slammed down where his head had been.

Kael forced himself up.

His breathing became heavier.

[Trial Progress: 00:43 / 10:00]

“Ten minutes…”

He looked at the creature.

“I don't have to defeat you.”

A strange smile appeared on his face.

“I just have to survive.”

The creature suddenly stopped.

For the first time, it didn't attack.

It simply watched him.

Kael noticed something.

Its eyes weren't following his weapons.

They were following his movements.

His decisions.

His positioning.

His reactions.

The words from earlier returned to him.

The trial judges choices, not potential.

Kael lowered the MP-01.

The creature immediately raised its sword.

Kael moved left.

It moved left.

Kael moved right.

It followed.

Kael suddenly threw the MP-01 onto the ground.

The creature didn't react.

Kael's eyes widened.

“So you're not interested in the weapons.”

He slowly reached for his katana.

The moment his fingers touched the hilt, the creature froze.

The chamber trembled.

[Bloodline Resonance detected.]

[Darven Katana recognized.]

[Memory synchronization increasing.]

The creature's crimson eyes became brighter.

Then it spoke.

“You carry the blade.”

Kael stared at it.

“You know this sword?”

“I remember it.”

“Who made it?”

The creature remained silent.

Kael tightened his grip.

“My father?”

“No.”

The answer came immediately.

“Then who?”

The creature raised its ancient sword.

“The First.”

Kael's heart skipped.

The First Darven.

The creature suddenly attacked again.

This time, Kael didn't try to block.

He ran.

He sprinted toward the chamber wall.

The creature followed.

At the last second, Kael jumped sideways.

The creature's sword struck a massive metal pillar.

CLANG!

The pillar bent.

Kael's eyes widened.

Metal.

His specialty.

He extended his hand.

Metal Control.

The pillar moved.

Not much.

But enough.

It wrapped partially around the creature's arm.

The creature ripped itself free.

Kael immediately grabbed another piece.

Then another.

Then another.

Chains of ancient metal began moving around the chamber.

The creature destroyed them one after another.

But Kael wasn't trying to trap it.

He was buying time.

[Trial Progress: 02:17 / 10:00]

The creature suddenly appeared directly in front of him.

Kael's eyes widened.

He raised his katana.

CLANG!

The impact threw him backward.

His feet dragged across the stone floor.

His shoulder screamed with pain.

He nearly dropped the sword.

But he stayed standing.

The creature looked at him.

Then it lowered its weapon.

“You are learning.”

Kael breathed heavily.

“Was that… praise?”

“No.”

The creature disappeared.

Kael's instincts screamed.

He turned.

Too late.

A fist struck his side.

Kael crashed into the floor.

He coughed and struggled back onto one knee.

His vision blurred for a moment.

[Vitality condition: Stable]

[Minor physical damage detected.]

[Recommendation: Avoid direct confrontation.]

Kael laughed weakly.

“Yeah… I figured that out.”

He stood.

This time he didn't attack.

He ran.

The creature followed.

Kael sprinted around the chamber, using pillars, broken statues and pieces of ancient metal as obstacles.

Every few seconds, the creature attacked.

Every time, Kael barely escaped.

Sometimes he was forced to block.

Sometimes he was thrown aside.

Once, the creature's spear grazed his leg badly enough to make him stumble.

But he kept moving.

He wasn't winning.

He was surviving.

And slowly—

he understood.

The creature wasn't trying to kill him.

It could have.

Several times.

Instead, every attack stopped just short of becoming fatal.

Kael looked back.

“You're holding back.”

The creature stopped.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because this trial has never been about killing you.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“Then what is it about?”

The creature looked toward the sealed doors behind it.

“Whether you deserve to know what comes next.”

Kael's heart began pounding.

[Trial Progress: 07:31 / 10:00]

Only two and a half minutes.

The creature raised all four weapons.

Kael's expression changed.

“Again?”

The creature charged.

Kael immediately activated every weapon he could control.

The Darven SR-01 rose from the floor.

The Darven GL-02 followed.

His damaged MP-01 floated beside him.

The weapons fired simultaneously.

The chamber filled with magical light.

The creature moved through it.

Kael didn't expect the attacks to work.

They weren't meant to.

They were distractions.

He grabbed the ancient metal surrounding the chamber.

Metal Control surged through his body.

The entire floor began to shake.

[Metal Control resonance detected.]

[Current Metal Control: 49]

Kael pulled.

A massive metal section of the chamber floor rose behind him.

He didn't try to attack the creature.

He created a wall.

The creature smashed through it.

Kael created another.

And another.

Each barrier bought him seconds.

08:14

08:47

09:21

His mana was rapidly falling.

His breathing became ragged.

His arms trembled.

But he refused to stop.

09:47

The creature raised its sword.

Kael prepared to run.

Then—

the creature vanished.

Silence.

Kael froze.

09:59

One second.

Then—

10:00

The entire chamber became still.

[Trial Complete.]

[Condition fulfilled: Survive 10 minutes.]

[Combat victory: Not required.]

[Evaluation complete.]

Kael dropped to one knee.

He was exhausted.

His shoulder hurt.

His leg was sore.

But he was alive.

Then another message appeared.

[Evaluation Result: Acceptable.]

[Hidden Inheritance Progress: 5% → 6%]

Kael stared at the message.

“Six percent…”

The creature stood several meters away.

Its weapons disappeared one by one.

Its armor began breaking apart into particles of dark light.

Before disappearing completely, it looked at Kael.

“You made the correct choice.”

Kael frowned.

“What choice?”

The creature's crimson eyes remained fixed on him.

“You stopped trying to win.”

Kael said nothing.

“You learned to survive.”

The creature vanished.

The chamber became completely silent.

Then the First Darven appeared again.

He looked at Kael for several seconds.

“You passed.”

Kael slowly stood.

“Tell me who that thing was.”

The First Darven shook his head.

“Not yet.”

Kael's frustration returned.

“You keep saying that.”

“Because you keep asking questions before you are ready for the answers.”

Kael clenched his fist.

“Then when will I be ready?”

The First Darven looked toward the fifth door.

“When your bloodline reaches the next threshold.”

Kael looked at the door.

“And what happens then?”

The First Darven's expression became serious.

“You will meet something that remembers your family.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Another monster?”

“No.”

The First Darven disappeared.

His final words echoed through the chamber.

“Something much worse.”

Kael stood alone.

Then the System appeared.

[Hidden Inheritance Stage Complete.]

[Current Progress: 6%]

[Next Threshold: 10%]

[Requirement: Unknown]

Kael stared at the final message.

“Unknown?”

For once, even the System didn't know.

Then—

a faint sound came from behind the fifth door.

Not a roar.

Not footsteps.

A voice.

Quiet.

Almost human.

“Kael…”

Kael froze.

The voice continued.

“I remember your father.”

His hand immediately went to the hilt of his katana.

The voice laughed softly.

“And I remember what he did to me.”

The fifth door slowly closed.

Kael stared at it.

For the first time since entering the inheritance—

he wondered whether his father's final instructions had been incomplete for a reason.

Maybe his father hadn't known everything.

Maybe he had.

And maybe—

the Darven family massacre had never been about taking the inheritance.

Maybe someone had been trying to erase a debt.

[Warning.]

[Bloodline Memory Disturbance detected.]

[Cause: Unknown.]

Kael looked at the System.

Then at the closed door.

His expression hardened.

“I'm going to find out.”

He picked up his weapons.

Some were damaged.

His body was exhausted.

But he was still standing.

And somewhere beyond the fifth gate—

something was waiting for him.

Not to kill him.

Not yet.

To see what kind of Darven he would become.