The jungle mist hadn’t lifted. If anything, it thickened—like the world itself didn’t want Obinna to see too far ahead.
He emerged from the shrine as if being exhaled by it. Behind him, ancient stone doors sealed themselves with a whisper of finality. Ahead, a canopy of black leaves filtered dawn into a palette of bruised gold and grey. The world here didn’t roar—it watched.
His boots crunched softly on damp earth as he stepped forward. Somewhere in the air above, birds chirped a warning tone he couldn’t quite decipher. The storm in his chest had dulled, but not vanished. It pulsed under his skin like a heartbeat trying to remember its rhythm.
He opened his hand. Sparks danced lazily between his fingers—echoes of Storm Pulse. The energy didn’t feel obedient yet. It felt... curious.
Then came the ping.
[SYSTEM SYNC COMPLETE]
[STAT INTERFACE UNLOCKED]
Obinna blinked as translucent glyphs spun into focus before his eyes. Blue light arranged itself into panels—jagged, divine, alive.
---
[OBINNA UCHIDA – STORMMARKED]
LVL: 2 (Newblood Ascendant)
Essence Pool: 124 / 200 ?
Vitality: 63% (Recovering)
Soulweight: 1.3
Affinities: Storm (Primary), ??? (Locked)
Lineage: Igbo – Ancestral Path: “Heir of Okwu” (Dormant)
TRAITS:
? Adaptive Resonance – Skills evolve through lived experience.
? Rebellion’s Seed – Resistance against judgment-based systems amplified.
? Lightning Tether – Passive crackling storm effect on melee strikes.
SKILLS:
? Storm Pulse [Rank 1] – Unleash a burst of kinetic lightning.
? Static Echo [Locked] – ???
? ??? – [Sealed by Bloodline Trial]
COMPANIONS: None active. Bond potential detected nearby.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
---
Obinna exhaled through his nose, steady and slow. Reading it was like seeing a mirror you weren’t ready for—raw, hungry, full of questions. But the stats didn’t scare him. They whispered opportunity.
The HUD shimmered, then faded. The silence that followed wasn’t peace. It was prelude.
Then: a crack. A twig, deliberate.
He pivoted, feet firm. From above, a cloaked figure dropped with fluid grace.
She landed like a wolf in human form. Blade already drawn. Eyes sharp. Scar catching the light.
“You’re not dead,” she said.
Lightning curled around his knuckles. “I’m not in the mood.”
She paused, then sheathed her dagger with a click. “Good. Then listen while the jungle still lets us speak.”
---
They sat near a flickering fire. Smoke coiled into the canopy like secrets looking for ears.
“Asha,” she said. “Scout. Tribunal exile.”
He didn’t respond. His body was relaxed. His spirit wasn’t.
“They train us to hunt things like you,” she continued. “Storm-touched. Blight-marked. Dreamborn.” She didn’t say it with contempt. Just accuracy.
“You? You’re all three.”
He smirked, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “So why help me?”
“I hesitated,” she said. Her voice was steel dulled by regret. “Didn’t finish a mark. Tribunal labeled me unstable.”
“And they exiled you.”
She nodded once. “Then tried to collect me.”
He stared. “Collect?”
“They take the ones who break and make them Watchers. Half-soul things. Obedient. Masked.” She tossed a twig into the fire. “Empty.”
His chest tightened. That could’ve been him. Maybe still would be.
The HUD blinked:
[NEW QUEST: COMPANION PATH – ASHA THE EXILE]
[Bond Risk: 47% Instability | 63% Compatibility]
He didn’t answer. Just watched the fire, letting it reflect the thunder in his eyes.
---
Far below the jungle, stone breathed.
In a chamber of forgotten geometry, seven figures encircled a spirit pool. Their masks—ivory, bronze, obsidian, cracked—gazed inward. The cracked one pulsed first.
[SUBJECT: OBINNA UCHIDA – PATH DEVIATION DETECTED]
A feathered robe brushed against the stone. The Collector emerged, faceless, silent. As always.
“Let him believe he has time,” it whispered.
The others remained still. But one thought stirred in a judge's mind—a question.
*What if we’re wrong about him?*
It went unspoken. And unanswered.
“We are always watching.”
---
Back in the clearing, the fire hissed low. A glyph lit beneath Obinna’s boot.
The HUD flared.
[Trial Beacon: Activated]
[Shrine of Judgment Proximity: 14%]
Asha tensed. Dagger in hand.
Obinna didn’t flinch.
“I think it just began,” he said.
TO BE CONTINUED...
