Chapter 34 — The Seal of the Legendary Beasts

Kael returned to his camp before sunrise.

He was exhausted.

The wound along his side had stopped bleeding, but every movement reminded him of the battle with the Verdant Horned Basilisk.

He sat beside the fire and opened his status.

[Name: Kael Darven]

[Age: 11]

[Level: 27]

[Rank: D-Rank Adept — Early]

[Mana: 41]

[Strength: 23]

[Agility: 30]

[Vitality: 29]

[Intelligence: 29]

[Metal Control: Mastery Stage III]

[Bloodline Progress: 11%]

[Beast Path Compatibility: 2%]

Kael stared at the numbers.

Then he closed the screen.

"Still not enough."

Nightfang sat across from him.

"You finally understand."

Kael looked up.

"Understand what?"

"Why I kept telling you not to seek the Legendary Beasts."

Kael's expression hardened.

"I wasn't planning to fight them."

Nightfang's golden eyes narrowed.

"You were thinking about it."

Kael didn't answer.

That was answer enough.

The Forbidden Path

Kael returned to the underground inheritance chamber.

The three enormous doors were still there.

The first bore the symbol of the Shadow Lion.

The second carried the symbol of the Verdant Serpent.

The third showed the skeletal head of the Bone Sovereign.

Kael approached the second door.

The moment his hand touched it—

BOOM!

A powerful force threw him backward.

Kael crashed into the stone wall.

"What the—"

The entire chamber began shaking.

Crimson symbols appeared across the three doors.

The System immediately appeared.

[WARNING]

[Legendary Beast Domain detected.]

[Access denied.]

Kael frowned.

"Access denied?"

He stood and approached again.

This time he activated Metal Control.

The door didn't move.

He pushed more mana into it.

Nothing.

He increased his output.

Still nothing.

Then—

a new message appeared.

[Minimum requirement not satisfied.]

[Legendary Beast Combat Access: Sealed]

[Required Level: 50]

Kael froze.

"Level fifty?"

Nightfang's expression became serious.

"Now you understand."

Kael stared at the door.

"Why?"

The System didn't answer.

Instead, the entire chamber changed.

Ancient writing appeared across the stone.

Kael approached.

The writing slowly translated through the System.

THE THREE CANNOT BE CHALLENGED BY THE INHERITOR BEFORE THE FIFTIETH LEVEL.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"Who created this?"

No response.

Another line appeared.

THE SEAL DOES NOT PROTECT THE BEASTS FROM THE INHERITOR.

Kael's expression changed.

Then the final sentence appeared.

IT PROTECTS THE INHERITOR FROM THEM.

Silence.

Kael stared at the inscription.

"Protects me?"

Nightfang didn't speak.

Kael turned toward him.

"You knew?"

"I knew there was a restriction."

"Not the reason?"

"No."

Kael looked back at the three doors.

For the first time, he understood the difference between being unable to fight something and being forbidden from fighting it.

The former meant weakness.

The latter meant someone had deliberately prevented it.

The First Attempt

Kael wasn't satisfied.

He stepped toward the Shadow Lion door.

The moment he crossed the marked boundary—

CRACK!

A wave of pressure struck him.

His knees buckled.

His mana instantly dropped.

[Legendary suppression activated.]

Kael gritted his teeth.

He pushed forward.

One step.

Then another.

His body trembled.

The pressure became heavier.

At five meters from the door, Kael could barely breathe.

At four—

his vision blurred.

At three—

his bloodline began violently reacting.

[Warning.]

[Bloodline overload.]

[Host condition unstable.]

Kael immediately retreated.

The pressure disappeared.

He dropped to one knee.

His hands were shaking.

Nightfang approached.

"That was only the seal."

Kael looked up.

"What?"

"You haven't even reached the beast."

Kael stared at the door.

That sentence stayed in his mind.

He had already fought monsters far stronger than himself.

He had survived the Black Knight.

He had challenged a Territory Lord.

But this was different.

The seal itself had nearly forced him to collapse.

Kael slowly stood.

"Then Level 50 it is."

A New Objective

The System appeared.

[New Main Objective]

Reach Level 50.

Current Level: 27

Remaining: 23 Levels

Kael frowned.

Twenty-three levels.

That wasn't going to be easy.

Another notification appeared.

[Additional condition detected.]

Legendary Beast Combat Access requires:

Level ≥ 50

Bloodline Progress ≥ 30%

Beast Path Compatibility ≥ 20%

Completion of the Three Territory Trials

Kael's eyes widened.

"So Level 50 isn't enough."

Nightfang smiled faintly.

"Now you're thinking properly."

Kael looked at the three doors.

"Three Territory Trials."

"Exactly."

Kael understood immediately.

The Legendary Beasts weren't simply waiting for him to become stronger.

Their territories were testing whether he was worthy of reaching them.

The Verdant Territory

Kael returned to the eastern forest.

This time, he didn't search for the Basilisk.

He searched for its territory network.

His Metal Domain spread through the ground.

Twelve known mana nodes.

Then thirteen.

Fourteen.

Kael's expression changed.

"There are more."

He continued scanning.

Sixteen.

Seventeen.

Eighteen.

The Basilisk's network was much larger than he had previously believed.

And then—

he discovered something disturbing.

The nodes weren't arranged randomly.

They formed a massive pattern.

Kael opened a map.

He marked every node.

Slowly, the shape became visible.

A giant serpent.

Kael stared.

"The territory itself..."

Nightfang looked at the map.

"It's a seal."

Kael's eyes widened.

The Verdant Territory wasn't merely controlled by the Territory Lord.

It was part of the ancient prison surrounding the Legendary Beast.

The Verdant Horned Basilisk wasn't simply protecting territory.

It was unknowingly maintaining part of the seal.

Kael suddenly understood why the Basilisk was so powerful inside its domain.

It wasn't merely drawing mana from the forest.

It was connected to the ancient sealing structure.

The Basilisk's Counterattack

A roar echoed through the forest.

Kael immediately stopped.

Nightfang's ears rose.

"It's here."

The trees began shaking.

The Verdant Horned Basilisk emerged.

But this time—

it wasn't alone.

Behind it stood several monsters.

Kael activated Threat Analysis.

[Ironhide Basilisk — Level 32 — Commander]

[Potential: Lord]

Another.

[Thornback Ravager — Level 34 — Commander]

[Potential: Lord]

Another.

[Verdant Venomfang — Level 35 — Rare]

[Potential: Lord]

Kael's expression became serious.

The Basilisk had changed its strategy.

It wasn't coming to fight him personally.

It had brought an army.

Kael smiled.

"Good."

Nightfang glanced at him.

"Good?"

Kael reached for his weapons.

"Now I can learn something."

He didn't attack.

He studied.

The Ironhide Basilisk moved first.

Kael fired the AR-03V.

The creature raised its armor.

The bullets bounced away.

Kael switched to the SR-01.

He fired at its exposed eye.

The creature dodged.

Fast.

Kael immediately marked the movement.

The Thornback Ravager charged.

Kael fired GL-02 at the ground.

The explosion redirected the beast toward the Ironhide Basilisk.

They collided.

Kael moved.

Metal fragments rose from the ground.

He didn't attack the monsters.

He attacked their movement paths.

Chains appeared.

The Thornback broke one.

Kael already knew it would.

He pulled another chain from a different direction.

The beast changed course.

Straight into the Venomfang.

Kael smiled.

"Three enemies."

He raised the AR-03V.

"But one battlefield."

He fired.

Not at them.

At the trees.

The bullets severed several weakened branches.

The trees collapsed.

The monsters were separated.

Kael immediately changed weapons.

SR-01.

One precise shot.

The Ironhide Basilisk's leg was struck.

It stumbled.

Kael switched to the GL-02.

Explosion.

The creature fell into a prepared depression.

Metal chains wrapped around it.

The Thornback Ravager broke free and charged Kael.

Kael waited.

Three meters.

Two.

One.

He stepped aside.

The beast crashed into a metal wall.

Kael's katana struck the exposed joint.

The Ravager roared.

Kael didn't stay.

He retreated.

The Venomfang attacked from behind.

Kael spun.

Metal spikes rose.

The creature barely avoided them.

Kael smiled.

"You're learning."

Then—

a shadow passed over him.

The Verdant Horned Basilisk.

Kael's smile disappeared.

It had been waiting.

The Territory Lord attacked.

Kael activated Metal Domain.

The Basilisk broke through.

Kael fired everything he had.

AR-03V.

GL-02.

SR-01.

Metal chains.

Spikes.

The Basilisk kept advancing.

Kael realized the truth.

It wasn't trying to kill him.

It was driving him somewhere.

"Nightfang!"

"I know!"

The forest behind Kael suddenly erupted with vines.

His escape route disappeared.

Kael's eyes widened.

The Basilisk wasn't merely fighting him.

It was controlling the battlefield.

Kael looked around.

Left blocked.

Right blocked.

Behind blocked.

The Basilisk approached.

Kael slowly smiled.

"Finally."

Nightfang looked at him.

Kael tightened his grip on the katana.

"I understand."

He wasn't trapped.

He had been given information.

The Basilisk had revealed exactly how far its territory control extended.

Kael looked at the surrounding mana network.

"Now I know where to break it."

He slammed his hand into the ground.

Metal Domain.

Every hidden metal marker activated simultaneously.

The forest erupted.

The territorial mana network flickered.

The vines weakened.

Kael created an opening.

"Run!"

He and Nightfang escaped.

The Basilisk roared behind them.

But Kael didn't look back.

He had lost the battle.

Again.

Yet this time—

he had gained something far more valuable than a victory.

Knowledge.

That night, Kael opened his notebook.

He wrote one sentence.

The Territory Lord isn't the real enemy.

The territory itself is the battlefield.

Then he added another.

If I want to reach Level 50, I need to conquer the territory before I ever challenge the Legendary Beast.

Kael closed the book.

Twenty-three levels remained.

And now—

the real road had begun.