Kai sat cross-legged on the wooden floor of his rented room, the curtains drawn tight. His fingers hovered over the Gene Scanner, its new interface humming with faint blue light.
He opened the Evolution Path menu, and three distinct routes appeared, each one etched in alien glyphs and translated into human words.
Path of the Buried Sun – A route focused on stealth, mimicry, and viral infiltration. Prioritizes hiding in plain sight, biological disguise, and subversion-based combat.
Path of the Bone Maw – Heavy mutation focus. Graftable limbs, dense armor, and direct offense. Slow but unstoppable.
Path of the Mind Nest – Mental domination, parasite projection, swarm control. Dangerous to user stability.
He stared at them, brows furrowed. Buried Sun's good for spies… Bone Maw's a tank… but this one—Mind Nest—this has potential.
With a deep breath, he tapped Mind Nest.
The screen blinked. He selected thirty of his weaker gene fragments, all from the low-tier spiders. They shimmered, compressed, and transformed into 34 Normalized Fragments. He pressed "Confirm."
Immediately, heat rushed through his veins. His back arched as something slid along his skin—not pain, but pressure, like a million legs skittering under his flesh. He gritted his teeth and dropped the Scanner. His ears burned.
Then, he heard it. A slithering noise, right beside his ear.
He reached up instinctively, and his fingers brushed against something small and alive.
He pulled it out slowly.
It was a parasite—barely two inches long, curled like a shrimp, grey with bone-like ridges and symmetrical runes etched into its shell. It didn't fight back, just twitched calmly in his grip.
Then the interface pinged again.
[Parasite Count: 1]
[Use 10 Normalized Fragments to generate another Mind Parasite?]
Kai blinked. "Wait... I can make more of these?"
He stared at the tiny parasite now coiled calmly in his palm, then back at the screen. He had 4 fragments left.
Six more and I get another one... I could grow a swarm with this. A real army. But at that cost? He clenched his jaw. It's expensive, really expensive.
Still, a slow grin crept onto his face.
"This changes everything."
Kai leaned back and reopened the Evolution Path Log. His eyes widened when he noticed something new.
There were now four branches listed.
Branch I: Neurospike Core
Specializes in breaching neural networks to implant override commands in low-intelligence Riftborn. Enables short-term domination of single targets.
Branch II: Swarm-Kernel Bloom (Swarm Branch)
Implants a biological node in the host that spawns controllable micro-parasites. These units act as scouts, saboteurs, or living munitions in coordinated strikes.
Branch III: Echo-Brood Field (Swarm Branch)
Creates a passive psychic network that links allied swarm parasites within range. Enhances swarm coordination, response time, and tactical adaptation.
Branch IV: Mirage Cortex
Manipulates bio-psi fields to generate phantom swarms or illusory doubles, overwhelming enemy perception and disrupting formations.
The Path of the Mind Nest was glowing softly, marked as [Selected], while the other two from before—Path of the Buried Sun and Path of the Bone Maw—were still unlocked and available. But there was also a fourth one below them, greyed out with a lock symbol and marked [Unknown Evolution Path - Requirements Not Met].
He stared at it, mind racing. Wait… so I can unlock more? I thought it was a one-time choice. If I can collect enough fragments... I might be able to access all of them.
He muttered, "Damn… if I could unlock all of these, I'd be broken."
But he knew it wouldn't be that easy. The cost was steep, the risks higher, and each path probably carried its own drawbacks. He glanced at the parasite resting calmly on the table—his first soldier.
"George," he said with a smirk. "That's your name."
George twitched in response, either from instinct or acknowledgment.
Just then, the wooden door creaked open.
A young woman stepped inside. She had short dark hair and wore a simple tunic with a belt slung loosely around her waist. Her expression was neutral, but her tone was firm.
"The General's calling for you. He said it's important."
Kai blinked and sat up. "Me? Did he say what it was about?"
She shook her head. "No, just said it was urgent."
He gave a slight nod, stood, and pocketed the scanner.
"Alright then. Let's see what this is about."
---
Kai was deep inside the castle, in one of the many stone-walled rooms they had given him. The place was large, almost unnecessarily so, and he still hadn't memorized half of it. But when the knock came and he was told the General had summoned him, he didn't hesitate.
He moved quickly through the corridors, passing rows of aging banners and armed guards who gave brief nods.
Eventually, he reached the General's chamber—a wide room filled with old maps, open books, and the lingering smell of dried ink and iron polish.
General Ozark stood near the window, his brow furrowed.
"Ottokai," he began immediately. "The outer farms—those by the eastern ridge—were hit just an hour ago. Survivors are fleeing, but some families are still trapped."
He placed a trembling hand on the table and looked Kai in the eye.
"I beg you. Help them."
Kai didn't wait. "I'll do it."
The General exhaled in relief and barked orders. Within minutes, Kai was outside the gates, mounted on a strong warhorse. Ten riders followed him, each armored and ready. Riding wasn't new to Kai, but it had been a long time since he'd done it seriously. His body wobbled slightly in the saddle as the group began galloping toward the farmland.
As they rode through the grassy fields and past villagers trying to gather what little they had left, it hit him.
I'm leading again... Just ten people, but it's still a squad.
They arrived at the smoke-wreathed edge of the farmland. The homes had been clawed through, livestock scattered, and there were screams from inside a collapsing barn.
Kai jumped off the horse and ran. His scanner lit up in his hand as he charged toward the chaos.
The screen flashed.
[Mutated Widowspawn]
[F Threat - Enhanced Variant]
His jaw clenched. It's stronger than before.
Kai heard it—wailing, sharp and broken—cutting through the chaos. He turned toward the sound and saw a small figure crouched beside two torn corpses.
A child, no older than seven, covered in ash and blood, clinging to what was left of his family.
Kai's heart sank, but his legs moved.
He dropped off the horse and sprinted through the wreckage, ignoring the burning hay and broken planks. He knelt beside the child and grabbed his shoulders. "It's okay, I'm here. We'll get you out."
But the ground trembled.
Behind him, the Widowspawn dropped from a broken silo—its legs like spears, its eyes flickering in rows of red.
The monster was massive, more bloated and armored than the others. Its chitin glistened like stone soaked in oil.
Kai twisted, shouting, "Run!"
He pushed the child back and transformed his right arm. His muscles swelled, turning gray and dense like compressed stone, and he lunged.
He struck hard—once, twice—but the hits only made the creature stumble. It didn't even bleed. The Widowspawn let out a screech and retaliated. Its limb smashed into Kai's side, throwing him off-balance.
Kai landed hard, rolled, and pushed himself up again, panting. Why's it this strong?
He charged again, this time aiming for its legs, but his blow glanced off the armor. Another hit knocked him back, this time into the wreckage of a cart. His scanner blinked erratically.
Then he heard it.
The scream.
He turned—and saw the child skewered, limp in the air, one of the Weaver's claws lifting him like paper.
"No—!"
He froze.
The body dropped.
Kai's hands shook. He couldn't look away. I could've saved him. I should've moved faster. Why didn't I just—
The Weaver lunged.
He didn't dodge.
Its strike landed, and Kai flew backward. He hit a stone wall, and pain cracked through his ribs. Darkness started pulling at the edges of his vision.
I'm still this weak... even after everything...
And then, everything went black.
---
Kai woke up to the stench first—sour rot, smoke, and old blood. His eyes blinked open, but all he saw was gray.
Then, the weight pressed down on him.
Bodies.
He was buried under them. Limbs draped across his back, cold skin brushing his cheek, and one child's small hand curled around his fingers like it had reached out to him before dying.
His stomach twisted. He pushed himself up and crawled out from the heap, shaking, gagging. As he emerged, the world came into focus—charred houses, flickering fires, a collapsed wall not far off.
They'd thrown him here, in the corpse pit.
They thought he was dead.
He stood, legs trembling, and looked around. Dozens—no, hundreds—were piled here, and too many were small. Too many wore the same red-stitched tunics the farmers' children had worn.
He stepped forward and staggered, foot slipping on something soft.
Then he froze.
The smell… the heat… this again…
He blinked—and the fire burned brighter.
The sky turned red. Not from sunset, but from flames consuming the trees and the watchtower. The air filled with screams, and ash clung to his skin like snow.
He was a child again, walking through the burning ruins of his village. Charred bodies lined the road.
His cousins, his neighbors, and his best friend, Ines, still clutching the wooden bow he'd carved for her.
Then Wenzel was there, face bloodied, grabbing his arm and dragging him forward. "Don't look, Kai! Don't slow down!"
That day… the day I died inside.
That was why. That was why it always felt wrong, back in the Heloxian cave, when he'd killed without hesitation. Why the screams echoed in his skull for days after. Why he could never sleep easy after a battle.
He hated death.
And yet here he was, crawling through it again.
Kai fell to his knees, covering his face, breathing ragged.
Then, footsteps.
A figure approached, armored boots stepping over rubble without pause. A tall knight, his silver armor stained, his expression unreadable beneath a crested helm.
"You're awake," the man said. His voice was calm, too calm. "They told me you died."
Kai looked up slowly, hollow-eyed.
"I told them you'd help us, that you'd save my sister," the knight continued, removing his helmet.
His face was youthful. He looked like the princess might, if she were still smiling.
"I'm her brother. Crown Prince Albrecht."
Kai didn't answer.
"I argued with them and told them you were a strong GeneDevourer. But they laughed. They said that you're weak and you fainted at the first real fight. They told me you can't even protect a child."
Kai flinched.
Albrecht's face twisted—not in pity, but resignation. He dug into a pouch and pulled out a small silver coin, flicked it to Kai, and turned to walk away.
"Buy some bread, find a Gemstone, and leave this Rift."
Kai caught the coin without thinking.
It was heavy.
And for the first time since he'd woken up, he felt the weight of something else settling on his back.
Not just failure.
But the need to make it right.