Twilight came early to Draegor that day, the sun barely cresting the industrial skyline before sinking behind smoke and rainclouds. The sky turned the color of bruised steel. Kian stood at the edge of a crumbling skybridge, high above the shantytown markets of Ashridge. Beneath him, a thousand flickering neon lights blinked to life in fractured rhythm, painting the smog with dull color.
He wasn't here for the view.
He turned from the edge and disappeared into a hidden hatch tucked behind an old Guild barricade. The spiral stairwell led into the old crypt he'd repurposed beneath the forgotten cathedral. His training ground.
Codex Status: Active
– Bound Servants: 2
– Daily Regimen: 78% Complete
– Trial Status: In Progress (Trial 1 – Bind what death cannot hold)
The Hollow Arcanist floated above a chalk-marked circle, spinning slow orbs of flickering fire between skeletal palms. The Boneblade Knight stood motionless nearby, its rusted armor oiled and repaired, sword sheathed across its back.
"Again," Kian commanded.
The Arcanist's bones rattled as it drew another sequence of glyphs in the air. The flames burst forward, striking the stone target with a crackle of force. Not enough to harm anything real—but more than it had managed yesterday.
Kian nodded. Progress was slow but undeniable. The Codex wasn't just a power source—it was a teacher. Every time he channeled mana, every time he issued a command, it shaped him. He could feel his body responding. His movements were sharper. His mana didn't burn anymore—it flowed.
But time was running out.
His thoughts turned, as they often did, to Nyla and Dael—his younger siblings, still hidden somewhere in the countryside. He had sent them away months ago, bartering everything for their safety. But safety, he now knew, was fleeting.
Even out in the rural zones, the Guild sent scouts. Awakened conscription had begun. And if the children were discovered...
He couldn't wait.
He had to bring them home.
That night, Kian returned to his small house—barely large enough for four, but now it felt cavernous and empty. The walls were scuffed stone, once painted cream, now faded. Two rooms in the back remained untouched, the bunks still made, drawings still pinned to the walls. Nyla's sketch of a bird made of flame. Dael's collection of shiny metal scraps. Their laughter, once constant, haunted the silence.
He placed a hand on one of the doorframes.
"I'll bring you back," he whispered. "This time, I'll be strong enough."
Then he stepped into the main room, opened his battered notebook, and began sketching a plan.
Objective: Secure Safe Zone for Family
– Step 1: Upgrade Bound Servants to Tier C
– Step 2: Acquire Resources for Reinforcement (Weapons, Shields, Medical)
– Step 3: Establish Concealed Travel Route to Southern Farmlands
– Step 4: Construct Sanctuary Beyond Reach of the Guild
Each step carried risk. Especially the last. Traveling to the farmlands meant moving through Guild-controlled sectors and Outcast zones. But he had no choice.
That week, he pushed himself harder.
He began stealing mana cores—valuable, volatile essence stones used to power enchantments and machinery. Most were locked behind Guild barriers or buried in old raid sites. But Kian had a trick: his undead could slip through certain arcane wards unnoticed. He infiltrated a derelict Guild supply bunker outside East Grate and sent the Boneblade Knight through a rusted vent shaft. The knight returned with two glowing cores, clutched in skeletal hands.
Codex Notification: Inventory Expanded
Mana Core (Grade B): Acquired
Mana Core (Grade C): Acquired
He learned how to siphon the cores' raw energy without triggering arcane detectors. One mistake nearly killed him—a pulse of mana backlash that shattered part of the workbench—but he survived. He expanded the crypt's wards, creating false resonance fields to block tracking spells. He taught the Boneblade Knight how to mimic basic civilian motion—a trick that might let it move outside under an illusion.
He hunted in places no one dared go: old battlegrounds, forbidden ruins, forgotten duel sites. Places thick with death. He wasn't just building an army—he was collecting power from the broken pieces of history.
Codex Notification: New Directive Available
Blueprint Discovered: Bastion of Shadow Flame – Tier A Structure
Description: A necromantic sanctuary warded against divine and arcane intrusion. Structure functions as home, fortress, and ritual chamber. Conceals presence from Guild detection unless directly exposed.
Required Components:
– Blackstone Foundation Bricks (33%)
– Soulfire Core (1/1)
– Veil Shards (12/20)
– Binding Glyphs (Runed)
It wasn't just a safe house. It would be a symbol. A place no one could touch—not the Guild, not the city, not even other Awakened. A hidden bastion for himself and his siblings. He called it the Bastion of Shadow Flame.
Eventually, he succeeded again.
The third servant rose beneath a broken bridge: a massive armored corpse, claws for hands, a mask fused to its face.
Undead Bound: Dread Stalker – Tier C
Loyalty: Hostile – Leashed Only
The Codex fought him for control, but Kian held firm. He chained the Dread Stalker's will to a binding circle in the crypt and used it only during missions.
His forces were growing. But his resolve wasn't rooted in conquest—it was in protection. Every strike, every spell, was practiced with a singular goal.
To protect Nyla and Dael.
Days later, while returning from a supply run, he found Sylie waiting on his rooftop. She sat on the edge, legs dangling, flipping through a Guild newsletter.
"You've been busy," she said without looking up. "They're calling the Dread Stalker incident near Blackveil a 'mana anomaly.' Five patrols routed."
Kian dropped his pack beside her. "That wasn't me. Not directly."
She raised an eyebrow. "But it was one of yours."
He nodded.
"You're not just scavenging anymore, Kian," her voice was quiet. "You're building something. Preparing for something."
He didn't answer.
She finally looked at him, eyes softer than usual. "Is it for them?"
"…Yes."
"Nyla and Dael?"
He nodded. "They're in Greenthorn Valley. Farm zone seventeen. I sent them away when I had nothing. But that won't protect them forever. I need to bring them back—and protect them here."
Sylie looked down at the city below. "This place? It'll eat them alive."
"Not if I make it something else."
She smiled, bitter and fond all at once. "You're insane."
"I'm a necromancer."
She laughed. "Fair point."
Then she stood and reached into her coat. "Take this."
She handed him a folded parchment—hand-drawn maps, Guild patrol paths, outdated clearance codes.
"This is all I could get without triggering alerts. Use it to get in and out. But don't take too long. The Guild's been sniffing around farm zone seventeen lately. They're recruiting Awakened from the rural districts."
Kian's grip tightened.
"Thank you," he said.
"Don't die."
The next morning, before first light, Kian opened a portal—small, unstable, but passable.
The Codex pulsed with warning.
System Alert: Long-Distance Travel Detected
Mana Cost: High
Risk of Trace: Elevated
Do you wish to proceed?
He closed his eyes.
"Yes."
And stepped through.
Mist greeted him. Mist and the smell of soil. Greenthorn was quieter than he remembered—endless fields, mana-resistant grain, low walls built more to keep pests out than monsters. A windmill turned lazily in the distance.
Kian pulled his hood low, shadows clinging to his cloak. His servants remained hidden—Boneblade following under illusion, Arcanist in stasis, Dread Stalker chained back in Draegor.
He moved like a whisper.
He reached the edge of Zone Seventeen by nightfall. The small farmstead stood at the crest of a hill—wooden, charmed to resist flame, wards carved around its fence posts. A cow lowed softly in the barn. A lantern flickered in the window.
Then he saw them.
Nyla, now a little taller, still wearing her braid to the side. Dael, chasing after a chicken, laughing.
Kian's breath caught.
He stayed hidden, just for a moment longer.
Soon, he would reveal himself.
Soon, they would be together again.
But first, he had to make sure they would be safe.
End of Chapter 4