**Chapter 3: Blood and Broken Systems**
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### **The Chase**
Daniel's lungs burned as he sprinted, the dagger Kaela had thrown him slick with sweat in his grip. Behind them, the forest *screamed*. Not metaphorically.
The Voidspawn *shrieked*—a sound like grinding metal and tearing flesh—as they crashed through the undergrowth. They weren't just wolves. They were *wrongness given form*: six-legged, their hides peeling back to reveal pulsating violet muscle beneath, their maws split vertically like grotesque flowers of teeth.
Above their heads, their levels flickered:
**[Voidspawn Hunters – Level 8-12]**
**"Faster!"** Kaela barked, her sword cleaving through a low-hanging branch as she led the way. **"They're faster at night be careful!"**
Daniel didn't need the warning. He could *feel* them gaining. His golden veins flared, the System feeding him panicked updates:
>> **[Stamina: 42/100]**
>> **[Adrenaline Surge: +10% Speed]**
>> **[Warning: Pack of 5 Hostiles Detected.]**
A shadow lunged from the left.
Daniel twisted, slashing blindly with the dagger. It bit into something wet and bloody.
>> **[Critical Hit!]**
>> **[Voidspawn Hunter HP: 100% → 78%]**
**"Fuck!"** The thing barely flinched. Its claws raked his side, shredding fabric and skin. Blood sprayed.
>> **[HP: 120 → 89]**
Kaela was on it in an instant. Her sword *hummed*, a silver arc in the dark, and the Voidspawn's head tumbled free. Black ichor geysered from its neck.
>> **[Kaela Voss defeats Voidspawn Hunter!]**
>> **[Assist EXP Received: 30]**
There was no time to celebrate. Four more came.
They backed against a crumbling stone pillar—the ruins of some ancient bridge. Nowhere left to run.
**"Here they come,"** Kaela hissed.
The first Voidspawn pounced.
Daniel ducked, driving his dagger up into its belly. The blade punched through hide, but the monster *twisted*, its body contorting unnaturally to clamp down on his wrist. Bones *crunched*.
>> **[HP: 89 → 67]**
He screamed. Kaela's sword flashed, severing the creature's spine. It collapsed, spasming, but its jaws stayed locked on his arm.
**"Pull!"** she snarled.
Daniel yanked. Flesh tore. The beast's teeth stayed embedded in his wrist like grotesque piercings.
>> **[Bleeding Status: -5 HP/sec]**
No time to think. The next two attacked in unison.
Kaela moved like a storm, her blade a blur, but even she couldn't block everything. A claw caught her thigh, splitting armor and flesh alike. She grunted, but her counterstroke split the attacker from shoulder to hip. Its insides *sloshed* to the ground, still writhing.
Daniel fought beside her, his golden veins burning brighter with every hit.
>> **[Combat Reflexes Level Up!]**
>> **[Dagger Proficiency Level Up!]**
His strikes grew sharper, faster. He jammed the dagger into a Voidspawn's eye, *twisted*, and felt its skull *pop*.
>> **[Critical Hit!]**
>> **[Voidspawn Hunter Defeated!]**
>> **[EXP Received: 80 → 240 (Outlier Bonus)]**
>> **[Level Up!]**
>> **[You are now Level 3.]**
Power *erupted* through him. His wounds knit shut. The teeth in his arm *pushed out*, clattering to the ground.
But the last Voidspawn was the biggest.
**[Voidspawn Alpha – Level 15]**
It *slammed* into Kaela, sending her skidding across the stone. Her sword clattered from her grip.
The Alpha turned to Daniel.
Its maw unhinged, revealing a throat lined with *human hands* grasping blindly.
Daniel had no weapon. So he used its own hand.
As the Alpha lunged, he *jammed his bare hand* into its mouth, letting those grasping fingers seize his arm—then *yanked* with all his enhanced strength he gained.
The beast's jaw *ripped apart*.
Black blood flooded his vision. The Alpha thrashed, its body spasming, but Daniel didn't stop. He grabbed a fallen rock and *brought it down*, again and again, until the thing's skull was pulp.
>> **[Brutal Finish!]**
>> **[Voidspawn Alpha Defeated!]**
>> **[EXP Received: 200 → 600]**
Silence.
Then Kaela's ragged cough. She was alive, barely, propped against the ruins. Her thigh was a mess of blood and torn muscle.
Daniel stumbled to her, his own body screaming.
**"You're insane,"** she wheezed. **"But… good job."**
He collapsed beside her.
An hour later, they limped into a hidden cave behind a waterfall. Kaela's "safe place" was sparse—a bedroll, a chest, and a dying fire.
She sewed her leg shut with a needle and thread, not even flinching. Daniel watched, exhausted, as his golden glow faded.
**"Talk,"** he demanded.
Kaela sighed.
**"You're an Outlier. The System *hates* you because you break its rules."** She tossed him a waterskin. **"Most people take years to hit Level 10. You'll do it in days. But the faster you rise, the bigger the target on your back gets."**
**"Why?"**
**"Because the System isn't just a tool. It's a *test.*"** Her mismatched eyes locked onto his. **"And you? You're cheating."**
>> **[New Quest: The Truth.]**
>> **[Objective: Survive Long Enough to Learn It.]**
Outside, the howls began again.
Closer this time.
---
- **Brutal 18+ Action:** Gore, dismemberment, and visceral combat.
- **Character Growth:** Daniel's fighting style evolves (improvised brutality).
- **Mystery Deepens:** The System is more than it seems.
- **Stakes Raised:** The Voidspawn are *learning* to hunt