Chapter 23 – Weakness Is a Sin
Meanwhile, in the same forest where Kaden had just rested, a young girl was running for her life.
The trees blurred past her as she pushed her legs to the limit, her breaths ragged, desperate.
But "girl" wasn't quite right.
Her body shimmered with green, snake-like scales. Her hair was a deep emerald, and her slitted eyes glowed like venom under moonlight. She wasn't human.
She was a beast. A snake beast.
And she was being hunted.
Behind her, snapping at her heels, were green wolves—the same kind Kaden had faced during the start of his trial. Fast. Ruthless. Merciless.
HUFF— HUFF— HUFF—
Her name was Inara.
And right now, she was losing.
'Please… someone… save me…'
She pleaded in her mind, over and over. She had slipped out of their grasp until now thanks to her slippery nature, but she was running out of time. Out of breath. Out of luck.
And when you're exhausted—
BAM!
She stumbled over a rock and smashed into the dirt. Face-first.
The fall was almost comedic—if the situation wasn't so goddamn tragic.
"Arghhh…!" Inara groaned, pain shooting up her leg. Her eyes welled up with tears as she turned back.
The wolves had slowed.
They weren't running anymore.
They walked now.
Step by step. Patient. Playful.
They were toying with her.
They always did that with prey they knew couldn't fight back.
And Inara? She looked every bit like prey.
She tried to lift her hand. Her fingers trembled. A slow puff of green mist began to form, swirling like a weak fog. Poison.
But it was pitiful.
She could barely concentrate.
Sweat poured down her face. Her body shook. She clenched her jaw, forced the poison into a small orb, and launched it at the wolves.
One orb.
Five wolves.
They didn't even dodge.
The poison hit one, and… nothing happened. The wolf blinked. Licked its lips.
They were Awakened. Just like her.
But why?
Why were they so powerful, while she was…
So weak?
A question that had plagued her since the day she awakened.
'Why me?'
Her body trembled harder.
She was afraid.
So afraid of dying.
'I don't want to die… someone… anyone…'
'Please save me.'
But she didn't scream.
She didn't even move.
Fear had wrapped around her spine, strangled her will, paralyzed her body. She couldn't even think clearly anymore.
And that's what fear did.
It stole everything.
'I just wanted to prove them wrong…
That I wasn't useless. That I wasn't weak. That I wasn't a mistake just because of my origin rank.'
But now?
I don't care anymore.
'Let me be weak. Let me be nothing. Just don't let me die…'
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She couldn't move. Couldn't even crawl.
The wolves drew closer.
Growl.
"Ah…ah… please… please don't kill me…"
She choked out the words between hiccups. Her face was wet and contorted.
"Please… hic… please…"
The wolves grinned.
And then they lunged.
Her eyes widened. Her scream pierced the forest like a banshee's cry.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! SOMEONE HELP ME!!"
And then—
A voice. Calm and cold.
"Blood spear."
The moment the words rang out—before she could even fully process them—one of the wolves dropped.
THUD!
A blood-red spear had pierced its skull, pinning it to the earth.
The other four wolves froze. Turned.
Inara turned, too, vision still blurry from tears.
There, standing a few meters away, was a boy. Dressed in all black, his chest bearing a crest of two crossed swords above a pool of red blood.
His hair was jet-black—like a sky that never knew stars.
And his eyes…
His eyes were oceans of blood. Deep. Endless. Quietly furious.
Kaden Warborn.
The moment the wolves looked at him—pure fear gripped them.
It wasn't magic. It wasn't a skill.
It was instinct. Animal instinct screaming one word into their skulls—
Run.
And like true beasts, they obeyed.
Or at least, they tried to.
"Where are you going?" Kaden asked, stepping forward.
Blood swirled around him like smoke.
"You're already here. Might as well stay."
Dozens of red spears formed behind him and shot forward.
They didn't even get the chance to yelp.
SHUNK! SHUNK! SHUNK!
Silence.
All five wolves lay dead.
Only the hiccups remained.
HIC—HIC
Inara stood frozen. Eyes wide. Body trembling.
'How…?'
She couldn't understand how someone her age—maybe even younger—was that powerful.
Kaden just looked at her.
He hadn't meant to interfere. He had sensed the disturbance from afar, thanks to his high perception stat. He almost ignored it. Almost.
But something pulled him in.
Curiosity. Instinct. Or maybe—
Something else.
She reminded him of… himself.
He didn't know why.
But she did.
And maybe that's why—
"Weakness is a sin," he said, voice low and sharp.
"So…be strong."
He turned and vanished into the trees.
Gone. Like a shadow.
Leaving behind a stunned Inara, still kneeling on the dirt, her tears not yet dry.
And then—
"Princess Inara! Princess Inara, you're safe!!"
A group of Snakemen burst from the trees, weapons drawn. Their faces, once tight with panic, relaxed as they found her.
"Oh… yes…" she muttered, still half-lost in thought.
Her mind wasn't on them.
It was on him.
On Kaden.
Those words…
She already knew them.
She'd heard similar things her whole life.
But hearing it from him—a stranger who saved her life and didn't even look back—
It hit different.
"Princess, please, we must hurry! The Matriarch will skin us if anything happened to you!" one of the guards said, panicked seing the blood on the ground.
Inara nodded absently. "Yeah…"
But even as they walked, her fists clenched tighter.
His words echoed again in her mind.
Be strong.
But how?
She didn't know yet.
But now she wanted to find out.
And maybe…
Just maybe…
'I'll meet you again.'
—End of Chapter 23—