The city was quiet.
Far removed from the grandeur of royal courts or the bloodstained battlefields of the gates, this small eastern city sat nestled beneath the shadows of cloud-capped mountains. Rin had chosen it for one reason,it was forgettable.
He arrived alone. No guards. No announcement. No one recognized him. He paid for a modest room at a narrow, creaking hotel with walls thin enough to hear the breath of the person next door.
And for days… nothing happened.
No assassins. No spies. Not even a shadow from Valen or one of his half-brothers. He had expected something,anything,but the days passed in silence.
He remembered the doctor's words before he left the hospital,
"Sir, in the entire month you were unconscious, no one came looking for you. Not even your family."
The words had left a mark deeper than he realized.
"They don't care... or they believe I'm already dead. No that is not possible. "
Rin stood in front of the cracked mirror in his hotel room. He looked into his own eyes, searching for the person he had been before all this. But that boy, the one who woke up in another body, who bled and crawled and endured hellish torment under Valen's hand,he was gone.
What remained was something else. Something new to him.
He had felt it on the third day after arriving: a strange pulsing inside him, like heat rising beneath his skin. It built slowly at first, then surged like a dam breaking.
"29%... 30... 31..."
By the time it stopped, Rin was at 32% blood purity,a level most would struggle years to achieve.
And he had done nothing.
No training. No blood refinement. No combat.
Just survival.
System Message
Your soul has been repeatedly exposed to fatal stress.
Through facing death, the soul will strengthen.
This principle applies to all who remain below the Soul Purification threshold.
Current progression path has adjusted. Estimated natural purity cap: 40–45%.
Upon reaching 40%, you will awaken two unique abilities derived from your strengthened blood.
Rin sat at the edge of his bed, hand trembling slightly as he absorbed the message.
"So… since my soul changed and got stronger it pushed my body,my blood to higher levels."
He remembered Valen's words,"When you finish purifying the body, the next is your soul."
It was true. His soul had changed. That endless cycle of torment, those years of pain compressed into what felt like a moment, had twisted him in ways even he didn't understand yet.
And now, his power grew on its own. The system had informed him ,his body might grow faster, but his progress would likely stall around 40–45%. Yet at that point, he would receive something even greater,abilities.
He recalled his past thresholds. At 10%, he had gained invisibility,a unique trait of the silver dragon bloodline. At 20%, his senses expanded, giving him awareness far beyond that of ordinary warriors. This ability was the most common among 20%.
"At 40%... what will I become?"
He stood and clenched his hand. Energy pulsed from his palm without the aid of his armor. It was raw, untamed, but it obeyed him.
"No armor. I can summon it on my own now."
Rin stepped out onto the rooftop of the hotel. The wind from the mountains was sharp. Cold.
He looked to the horizon ,eastward. Toward home.
"After 40%, I'll return."
Not to claim power. Not to seek vengeance.
But to understand.
He still didn't know why Valen had let him live. He didn't know if it was part of some larger plan, or just a cruel twist of fate. But he trusted the system's warning.
He would not approach the royal family,not until the two months were over.
"I'll trust the system."
Even if it was born from mystery, it had never lied to him. And right now, it was the only thing helping him survive.
"Two months," Rin whispered to the sky. "I'll be ready."