"H…Hey… hey girl."
The voice cut through the haze like a stone through still water, dragging Zhu back from wherever she had drifted.
"How long do you plan on ruminating in your own blood, my dear?" it drawled, equal parts amused and impatient.
Not fully conscious but fully irritated, Zhu frowned. "Shut up," she muttered, the words rough against her throat.
Reality came back to her in fragments.
First, the cold press of earth against her cheek. Then the metallic tang of blood, thick and suffocating in the air. And beneath it all, a dull, spreading ache that pulsed through her body, deep and insistent.
Her lashes fluttered. Lifted. Fell. Lifted again each movement heavy, as though even opening her eyes demanded more strength than she possessed.
For a moment, she did nothing, thought nothing. She simply existed in that narrow space between waking and oblivion.
Then the pain sharpened.
Her breath caught, shuddering as awareness rushed in all at once. Her limbs felt distant, unresponsive, as though they no longer belonged to her. Every shallow inhale burned her chest, and somewhere deep within something at her very core shifted uneasily.
"Ugh… Faral, today drained me," she groaned weakly. "I quit life."
She forced her fingers to curl into the dirt, grounding herself as she pushed upward. Muscles protested. The world tilted.
"I see you haven't lost your penchant for dramatics," Faral replied dryly, and she could practically hear the eye roll.
"Never," Zhu breathed.
It took more effort than she cared to admit but she managed to drag herself into a sitting position. The motion sent a wave of dizziness crashing over her, but she stayed upright, focusing until the blur steadied.
For the first time, her gaze lifted beyond the patch of dirt before her.
She swallowed.
It was daytime. The camp's barrier still stood, shimmering faintly like a veil of light refracting the sun that filtered through the towering trees of the forest. It might have been beautiful, under different circumstances.
But beneath that fragile glow,
There was only carnage.
Blood soaked the ground in dark, uneven pools. Bodies lay scattered in grotesque disarray, torn apart and discarded like refuse. Severed limbs—hands, feet, heads—were strewn across the earth, while glistening coils of intestines caught the light in ways they never should.
Hollowvail beasts prowled freely among the remains, their movements unhurried as they fed.
A low whimper broke through the silence.
Zhu's attention snapped toward the sound.
In the far corner of the camp, a woman huddled against a tree, her body curled in on itself as though she could disappear into the bark. Her eyes wide, glassy, trembling were locked onto Zhu.
Not with relief.
With terror.
As if she were looking at a monster.
Zhu blinked, then followed the woman's gaze for a brief moment before glancing back at her, faintly bemused.
Really?
Her eyes drifted to a nearby creature, something reptilian, idly chewing on what looked unmistakably like a human hand.
There are far scarier things in this camp, she thought dryly.
She almost pointed it out.
A soft, low mewling pulled her attention away from the carnage and the woman.
The cubs came trotting toward her as her fragmented memory started to snap into place. Thorn reached her first, nudging Zhu's hand insistently with her head, while Rose clambered closer, tongue out, eager and unrestrained.
"Hey, none of that," Zhu laughed, lifting a hand to gently swat him away. His tongue was rough, ticklish against her skin, and she squirmed despite herself. "Down, little one."
Reluctantly, he obeyed, though not without one last attempt.
Still smiling, Zhu gathered them into her arms, settling them against her as her fingers moved in slow, soothing strokes over their heads.
"Good little ones," she murmured, her voice softening.
For a moment, she allowed herself that small pocket of calm. Warmth. Something untouched by the horror surrounding her.
Then she tried to remember.
She shifted slightly, preparing to stand and pain lanced through her skull.
"Ah—!"
The cry tore from her throat before she could stop it.
Memories surged forward.
At first they came blurred, indistinct, like shadows beneath murky water. Then they sharpened, snapping into focus all at once.
Zhu gasped, her body jerking violently as her pulse spiked. Her breathing quickened, uneven, almost panicked.
"Oh my goddess—"
Her hand flew to her head, fingers pressing against her temple as if she could physically hold the memories back.
They didn't come gently.
They struck. She remembered the camp, the blood. Her almost death and her awakening.
"Faral!" she shouted, the name echoing across the ruined camp.
The Hollowvail beasts stilled. Several turned toward her, their movements pausing mid-feast. Eyes, too many eyes, fixed in her direction.
But none dared to approach.
Something instinctual passed between them, something ancient and wordless. They understood, in the way beasts often did, that the most dangerous thing in this camp was not predator nor prey but the girl seated calmly with the Nyxari cubs.
Zhu, blissfully unaware of the silent agreement among these deathly creatures, sucked in a breath.
"I've unlocked some next-level, final-boss type mana system!"
She squealed, high-pitched, entirely too delighted for the setting.
Faral winced internally. It sounded, to him, disturbingly like a pig.
He chose not to say that, lest she call him that infernal name.
"What does that even mean?" he asked instead.
"I don't know," Zhu admitted brightly. "I heard it on a TV show once. It felt right."
"I see your awakening has done nothing to improve your brain function," Faral replied dryly.
Zhu frowned. "Hey, you stinky fort, my brain is perfectly fine. And I'm normal now. No longer a null."
"I beg to differ," Faral said, his tone sharpening slightly. "Yes, you have a system now. But normal?" He paused, letting the word hang. "You are anything but. Case in point, do you remember what you did when your power emerged?"
Zhu's expression faltered.
A flicker of something, it wasn't clear if it was unease, or recognition, crossed her face.
She remembered.
Not all at once. Not cleanly. But enough.
The moment her eyes had snapped open in that strange mental space. The surge of red. The screaming images clawed their way through her mind. The pain and suffering she unleashed on her enemy with a power that was entirely her own, no borrowed energy from Faral.
"Oh…"
The word barely escaped her lips, hoarse and thin. Something inside her had broken.
Or perhaps for the first time in a long time set itself right and now she had awakened.
The power had come like a flood, rushing through her veins, burning, overwhelming, impossible to contain. It had felt like stepping into something that had always been hers… and yet, something she had never known.
Her gaze dropped to her hands, now, they looked normal. But she remembered the claws. Black-tipped. Vicious.
Her twin blood system. She had felt it then.
Fully. For the first time, that power within her.
Her hand trembled as she pressed it weakly against her chest. She did not regret the pain she had caused her enemies. She had never hurt anyone before but today she took lives. That fact she acknowledged with solemnity. Zhu had long known this world was the survival of the strongest. Today she used her strength to survive and she did not regret the ruin she had left behind.
If anything, the memory settled into her like something solid, something certain. A quiet resolve took root.
From this moment on, she would live exactly like this.
Unforgiving. Unyielding. She would use her strength to trample on her enemies and protect what was important to her.
Every hurt dealt to her… she would return it.
Every wrong… she would repay it a thousandfold.
Sensing the rise of anger and bloodlust in Zhu, Faral distracted her.
"Call on your mana screen," Faral instructed.
Zhu blinked. "...Mana screen?"
The words had barely left her lips when a translucent blue panel flickered into existence before her, hovering just above her lap.
Her eyes widened.
Name: Lin Zhu
Mana Type: Mutation Mana (Extremely Rare)
Potential Tier: SSS
System: Twin Blood
Status: Unregistered
Skills: Blood Drain, Blood Shift (partially locked), Blood Read (Locked), Blood Mist (Locked)
Mana Core Stability: 38% — Unstable Core Evolution
Bonded Entity: Nyxari Cubs — Hollowvail Beast (Rare)
Bond Skill: Active — Veilcloak
ALERT:Host in critical condition. Emergency medical treatment required. Recommended: Mana meditation to stabilize core. Recommended: Register awakening at nearest mana center.