Adrean alucard's Arc

Chapter 2 of 28

Adrean walked toward the meat and the men who had ignored him. He did not get far. Four figures peeled out of a doorway and spread across the narrow way. He knew them. This gang had beaten him twice for scraps last winter. The biggest one grinned and cracked his knuckles. "The dead boy walks," the leader said. He held a rusted knife. His three friends fanned out, cutting off the road behind Adrean. Wet stone walls pressed close on both sides. There was no gap to slip through. "Empty your pockets, or we empty you." Once, Adrean would have curled up and taken the blows. Now his ears caught their fast heartbeats. He smelled the blood under their skin. New words burned in the air before his eyes, seen by no one else. QUEST: Slay your first prey. Reward: Level 2. Strength awakened. Adrean pressed accept. Something cold moved through his arms. "You picked the wrong boy tonight," he said. His own voice surprised him. It did not shake. The leader lunged. Adrean caught the knife hand and squeezed. Bone snapped like a dry twig. The man howled. Adrean pulled him close and bit down on his throat. Hot blood flooded his mouth. Strength poured in with it. The other three froze, staring. Adrean dropped the body. It hit the stones and did not move. He turned to the rest. They ran. He let them go. His hunger was quiet for the first time in his life. The system flashed bright. LEVEL 2. STRENGTH AWAKENED. HIDDEN PATH: 1 KILL. Then gold light spilled into the alley. The small old god stood over the corpse, beard falling to his knees, flames curling at his sandals. Yahweh Christ had warned Adrean that most came to hate the gift. Now he stared at the blood on the boy's chin, and his golden eyes went hard. "I gave you life so you would not starve," the god said. "Not so you would hunt men in the dark." Adrean wiped his mouth. He felt no shame. "He would have killed me. I am done being weak." "You feel no hunger now. That was my gift." The god's voice dropped low. "This killing is not mine. Something else moves in you, boy. Something I did not make." His burning gaze swept over Adrean, searching. For a moment Adrean feared the god could see the glowing words. But the system stayed hidden, as it always had. The god had felt the power grow. He could not see its shape. "Walk the wrong path," the god said, "and I will take back what I gave." The gold light pulled inward and vanished. The alley went dark. Adrean stood over the body. He was stronger now, and marked. The god was watching. The castle still waited beyond the slums, and every kill would bring him closer to its throne. He stepped over the corpse and kept walking.