They didn't stop running until the river cut through the valley below.
Grey's lungs burned.
Lyra stumbled once.
He caught her.
"Chain hurt?" he asked.
"Yes."
Simple.
But her breathing wasn't steady.
The mark suppression must've cost her more than she showed.
They reached the riverbank and crossed through waist-deep water.
Cold.
Fast.
Grey almost slipped twice.
Luck steadied him.
On the far side, they climbed into dense pine forest.
Only then did they pause.
Grey activated Emotional Insight.
Nothing nearby.
For now.
He opened his status.
Level 8.
Close.
Too close to something bigger.
"We need experience," he said.
Lyra blinked.
"What?"
"If I hit Level 10, I evolve."
She stared.
"You're already near threshold?"
"Two levels."
Her expression shifted.
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Calculation.
"Evolution at 10 is early."
"I'm early."
That almost made her smile.
Almost.
A howl cut through the trees.
Not wolves.
Deeper.
Heavier.
Lyra's head turned.
"River Drakes."
Grey swallowed.
"Level?"
"Six to nine."
"Perfect."
"That's not what that means."
But it was too late.
Three scaled shapes emerged between the trees.
Long bodies. Crocodilian jaws. Blue-tinted scales.
River Drake – Lv. 9
Grey exhaled slowly.
"Okay."
Lyra stepped back.
"You're serious."
"Yes."
"If you die—"
"Then intervene."
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
The first drake lunged.
Grey rolled aside.
Its tail smashed into a tree trunk.
Wood splintered.
He triggered Micro-Analysis.
The drake's right foreleg lagged slightly in rotation.
Injury.
He dashed forward—
Slashed with the short blade Lyra had given him earlier.
Shallow cut.
It roared.
Second drake charged.
Grey sidestepped—
Slipped—
And collided into the first drake's injured leg.
It buckled.
They both fell.
The third drake lunged at the chaos—
Only for the first to twist at the wrong moment.
Jaws collided.
Blood sprayed.
Grey scrambled up and drove his blade into the exposed throat of the injured one.
[River Drake Defeated][Level Up!]Level 9
The remaining two circled.
Angrier now.
Lyra's tension increased.
Grey felt it.
But he also felt something else.
Momentum.
Luck Alignment pulsed rhythmically.
One drake charged again.
Grey ran toward it.
Not away.
At the last second, he ducked—
The drake overshot—
Its tail smashed into a weakened tree—
The tree cracked—
Fell sideways—
Crushed the second drake mid-lunge.
The forest shook.
Grey stared.
"…I love this stat."
He didn't waste the opening.
He climbed the fallen trunk and leapt—
Driving his blade down into the final drake's skull.
Silence fell.
System chimes layered over one another.
[River Drake Defeated x2][Level Up!]Level 10 Achieved
The world froze.
Lyra's voice sounded distant.
"Grey—?"
A massive window unfolded before him.
EVOLUTION AVAILABLE
Choose Your Path:
— Fortune WalkerProbability manipulation through subtle influence.
— Probability BreakerForcefully rewrite minor outcomes at cost of mana and stamina.
— StormboundLightning affinity awakened.Storm resonance increased.Unknown inheritance detected.
The third option no longer flickered faintly.
It blazed.
He felt it in his chest.
Like something answering.
Lyra stepped closer.
"What do you see?"
He looked at her.
And in her eyes—
He saw lightning reflected.
Not from the sky.
From him.
"…Stormbound."
Her breath caught.
"Grey—"
Too late.
He selected it.
The sky darkened instantly.
Thunder cracked directly overhead.
Pain exploded through his veins—
But not like before.
This wasn't destruction.
This was recognition.
[Evolution Confirmed: Stormbound Initiate]Mana Capacity UnlockedLightning Affinity GainedTitle Acquired: Lightning Touched
A bolt struck the river.
Not him.
But close enough that energy arced across the ground.
It didn't burn him.
It flowed through him.
Lyra staggered backward.
Her seal flared violently in response.
Above them—
Clouds formed from nothing.
Far away—
Kael stopped walking.
And smiled.
"They chose."
