I walked alone.
The road ahead of me was cracked, dry, and utterly lifeless—like the world had long given up pretending it had anything left to offer. My feet bled days ago. The calluses were burned into the bone by now. Still, I walked.
I didn't know where I was going. Only that I couldn't go back.
Not to Emberwatch.
Not to the ashes that used to be my home.
Not to her body.
If it was even still there.
🔹 Level 2 Achieved
🔸 Stat Points +5
🔥 Skill Upgraded: Firebrand (E)
🔸 Trait Unlocked: Smoldering Veins
"More numbers," I muttered aloud. "Great. Real helpful."
I should've died back there with her. But the System had other plans.
And I was starting to think it didn't give a damn about the difference between justice and survival.
Dregwatch
The outpost looked more like a prison than a guild stronghold. The walls were jagged planks hammered together with rusted nails. Bleached bones were spiked into the ramparts like decoration—or warning.
"Stop there," the guard shouted from the wall, raising a crossbow. "You look flammable."
I let my hand ignite, just enough to make the fire dance across my knuckles. "Good instinct."
"…Hold," he grunted. "Let me get Saela."
A few moments later, the gates groaned open, and a woman in battered plate mail stepped through.
She moved like she was born from war—deliberate, scarred, calm. One of her eyes glowed with an artificial rune.
"You're marked," she said. "Infernal class?"
I didn't answer.
She tilted her head. "Emberwatch?"
I nodded.
"I heard the screams carried for miles. Whole place was overrun in a blink."
"She died," I said, and I didn't even realize I was speaking. "My sister. Right in front of me."
Saela didn't offer pity.
Good. I didn't want it.
She nodded once. "Follow me."
The walls closed behind me like the jaws of some great beast.
I stepped into the guildhall with nothing but my name and the fire in my chest.