Episode : 4

The Price of Power

The hospital smelled of antiseptic and silence.

Kael walked slowly down the sterile hallway, his boots echoing against the tiles. Nurses hurried past, their faces tired, their arms full of charts and medicine trays. None spared him more than a glance—he looked like every other broke Warden clinging to scraps of survival.

But when he stepped into Room 212, the weight in his chest eased.

“Kael…”

His sister, Lyra, sat propped up in bed. Her hair, once as dark as his, had grown pale and brittle, her skin nearly translucent under the curse that gnawed at her life. Yet her smile was still the same—gentle, stubbornly alive.

“You’re back,” she said softly.

Kael forced a smile. He pulled a chair close and sat beside her. “Of course I am. You know I don’t break promises.”

Her eyes lingered on the fresh cuts along his jaw, the stiffness in his movements. “You were hurt again.”

“Nothing serious.” He waved it off, though his muscles still ached from the shadows’ burning touch. “Just another raid. I’ll heal.”

Lyra reached for his hand, her fingers frail but warm. “You don’t have to keep doing this for me. I don’t want you to…” She hesitated, her eyes shimmering with guilt. “…to die for my sake.”

Kael’s throat tightened. For years, he had been told he was too weak, too useless, too disposable. But here, holding Lyra’s hand, he felt the only reason his fight mattered.

“I’m not dying,” he whispered. “Not until I see you stand again. Not until this curse is gone.”

She closed her eyes, as if holding back tears. Kael sat with her until she drifted into sleep, her breaths shallow but steady. Only then did he stand, pulling his cloak tighter around himself.

In the corner, unnoticed by anyone else, his shadow shifted. The goblin crouched low, watching over her like a silent guard.

Outside the hospital, the city pulsed with life. Neon signs flickered across crowded streets, merchants shouting from stalls, patrol drones hovering overhead. Gates had become part of life here—just another danger to be endured, like storms or famine.

Kael ducked into an alley, his breath misting in the night air. He needed answers.

“Come out,” he said quietly.

The goblin rose from his shadow, its body made of smoke and silence. Empty eyes stared back at him, waiting for command.

Kael studied it, unease curling in his stomach. This thing was no illusion. It was real—obedient, loyal, yet undeniably a monster.

“…Kneel.”

The goblin dropped instantly to one knee. Shadows curled around its frame, awaiting his will.

Kael exhaled. A part of him thrilled at the obedience, the sheer power at his fingertips. Another part recoiled. Was he still a man… or already something less?

Before he could dwell further, glowing text flared across his vision:

[System Notification]

New Quest Available

Test Your Strength

Objective: Defeat 5 monsters within 24 hours

Reward: +1 Stat Point

Penalty: Forced Extraction

Kael’s eyes narrowed. “Penalty?”

As if answering, pain seared briefly through his chest, the same burn he had felt in the throne chamber. He gasped, gripping his shirt.

So this was the price. The System wasn’t a gift—it was a chain. Refusal meant punishment.

He clenched his fist. “Five monsters, then.”

A scream cut through the night.

Kael’s head snapped up. Two streets away, people scattered in panic as a Gate shimmered open against a wall, spilling forth creatures—fang-beasts with molten eyes. A low-tier rift, unregulated, one of dozens that appeared randomly across the city.

Wardens on patrol shouted orders, rushing to contain it. But there were too few, and the beasts were already tearing into civilians.

Kael’s chest pounded. This was it—the System’s demand. His test.

For years, he had hidden behind stronger fighters, too weak to change anything. But now, shadows stirred at his heels, hungry for battle.

He stepped from the alley, pulling his hood low. The goblin-shadow followed, silent and unseen.

His first hunt had begun.

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