Chapter 40: I Killed a Noble. Predation Offered Me His Bloodline.

Valeria spoke from behind him.

"Raven."

"I see it."

"He’s using Bastion Manifestation. He won’t be able to maintain it for long."

Cassian looked at her.

"Shut up!"

Valeria raised an eyebrow.

"Now I definitely want him to win."

Raven didn’t take his eyes off Cassian.

"I appreciate the emotional support."

"You were useful."

Raven almost smiled.

"Fast learner."

Cassian roared and attacked.

Faster.

Raven used Kinetic Acceleration to get out of the way.

The fist hit a table.

CRASH.

The wood disappeared.

The wine fell.

Raven saw it.

"Now you’ve offended me."

Cassian looked confused.

"What?"

"That was a good bottle."

Valeria looked at the spilled wine.

"Not particularly."

"Then I withdraw the offense."

"CAN YOU TWO STOP TALKING?"

Raven looked at Cassian.

"He seems stressed."

Valeria answered:

"Must be the debt."

Cassian attacked again.

This time, Raven was ready.

He didn’t try to hurt him.

He made him move.

Left.

Right.

A stone.

Then another.

Knife recovered from the ground.

Feint toward the neck.

Cassian kept shifting the armor.

Every expansion released a faint pulse of mana.

Every section he withdrew seemed to sink partially back into his body.

Not free.

Raven knew this kind of system.

Dynamic defense.

Excellent until the user was forced to defend too many areas too quickly.

Raven increased the pace.

Kinetic Acceleration.

Stone at the eye.

Silver.

Knife toward the thigh.

Silver.

Kick to the knee.

Silver.

Feint at the throat.

Silver.

Cassian struck.

Raven partially took the hit.

Pain.

Stonehide.

Mana dropping.

He couldn’t maintain this much longer.

But neither could Cassian.

The plates were starting to lose their shine.

His breathing had grown heavy.

Raven saw sweat.

"Tired?"

"I’m going to rip your head off."

"That wasn’t a no."

Cassian charged.

Raven retreated toward the alchemical circle.

He’d noticed it earlier.

Paint.

Blood.

Vials.

A trap designed for the Mirehorn.

He didn’t know exactly what it did.

He didn’t need to.

He only needed to know Cassian probably wouldn’t want to step on it if it was active.

Raven stepped onto the edge.

Cassian stopped.

There.

Raven threw a vial of Mirehorn blood directly at his chest.

Cassian shattered it with a punch.

SPLASH.

Dark red blood covered the silver armor.

Cassian stared down.

"What the hell...?"

Raven stepped back.

Predator’s Instinct reacted.

Not to Cassian.

To the tunnel.

Something had smelled the blood.

"That."

A roar came from below.

Deep.

Cassian turned.

Mistake.

Raven used Burst Step.

Appeared in front of him.

Kinetic Acceleration through the knife.

Attack.

Cassian reacted late.

Silver began spreading across his abdomen.

It didn’t finish.

The blade entered beneath the ribs.

Cassian screamed.

Raven pulled it free.

Stonehide around his fist.

Strike to the throat.

Cassian staggered backward.

Tried to manifest more plates.

His mana faltered.

The Mirehorn blood covering him was doing something else.

Attracting.

Raven heard movement inside the tunnel.

Cassian did too.

His face changed.

"Get this off me."

Raven looked at him.

"What?"

"The blood!"

"I thought you knew exactly what you were doing."

Cassian tried wiping it away.

Too late.

Something struck the inside of the tunnel.

The workers screamed.

Valeria extended one hand.

"Raven. Finish it."

He didn’t need to be told.

Cassian looked toward her.

"Lady Valeria! Order your mercenary to—"

"He doesn’t work for me."

Raven appeared in front of him.

Cassian raised an arm.

Silver.

Raven didn’t attack there.

He kicked the abdominal wound.

Cassian folded.

Raven caught him by the neck.

Knee.

The noble dropped.

Raven placed the knife beneath his jaw.

Cassian looked up.

For the first time, there was no condescension.

Fear.

"Wait."

Raven didn’t move.

"We can make a deal."

"You already had one."

Cassian struggled to breathe.

"Money."

"I have some."

"I can give you land."

"Don’t want it."

"A position."

"I already turned down a better one."

Valeria made a small sound behind him.

Cassian looked toward her.

"My family—"

Raven sighed.

"There it is."

"What?"

"The surname again."

Cassian swallowed.

"If you kill me, House Orbrecht—"

"Will try to avenge you."

"Yes."

"That’s actually useful information."

Cassian thought he saw an opening.

"Then you understand."

Raven thought about it.

"Yes."

"Good."

"It means I’ll need to find out how many people are in your family."

The hope died.

"Wait—"

Cassian moved one hand.

Mana.

One final silver plate began growing over his fingers.

Raven saw the intent.

He didn’t need anything else.

He drove the knife in.

Beneath the jaw.

Upward.

Cassian convulsed.

One hand grabbed Raven’s arm.

The strength faded.

The silver slowly withdrew into his skin.

His eyes lost focus.

Raven kept the blade in place.

Five seconds.

Then pulled it free.

Cassian Orbrecht fell onto his side.

The roar inside the tunnel came again.

Closer.

Raven looked toward the darkness.

"We need to move."

Valeria didn’t answer.

She was staring at the corpse.

"What?"

"You just killed an Orbrecht."

"Yes."

"In front of six witnesses."

Raven looked around.

Three of Cassian’s guards were still alive.

The workers.

Roland.

Her.

"Seems so."

"Most people would try to come up with a better version of events."

"He ordered them to kill me."

"That helps legally."

"Perfect."

Raven cleaned the knife.

"Problem solved."

Valeria watched him.

"That’s not how it works with nobles."

"Then problem postponed."

"You have an extraordinary talent for simplifying political disasters."

"It’s easier when I don’t care about them."

Roland approached.

"One day that’s going to stop working."

Raven looked toward the tunnel.

"Probably not today."

---

They couldn’t leave immediately.

The creature inside the tunnel didn’t emerge.

It came close enough for everyone to hear its breathing.

Then stopped.

Mirehorn blood covered Cassian.

That seemed to interest it.

Raven pointed toward the corpse.

"Leave him."

One of the Orbrecht guards reacted.

"He’s our lord!"

Raven looked at him.

"Then you can stay with him."

The man went silent.

Valeria studied the tunnel.

"It wants the blood."

"Or whatever the blood is covering."

"That’s worse."

"For him."

Raven backed away.

The decision became collective without discussion.

The surviving workers began retreating toward the upper terrace.

Roland helped the injured man.

Valeria opened the cage with magic.

Raven collected the maps, two intact vials, and a coin pouch from Cassian’s table.

One of the guards saw him.

"That belongs to—"

Raven looked up.

The man reconsidered.

"Nothing."

"Good."

Raven also took the operations ledger.

Information.

More valuable than wine.

He was about to leave when Predation reacted.

Not toward the tunnel.

Behind him.

Raven stopped.

Turned.

Cassian’s corpse.

A window appeared.

At first, it was normal.

«"Compatible defeated organism detected."

Target: Cassian Orbrecht

Species: Human

Level: 13

Rank: Awakened»

Raven expected a Skill.

Maybe Bastion Manifestation.

Something equivalent.

But the next line was new.

«"Hereditary biological structure detected."»

Raven stopped walking.

Valeria noticed.

"What is it?"

Raven raised one hand.

Silence.

The interface continued.

«"Bloodline identified."

"ARGENT BASTION"

Classification: Hereditary Bloodline

Origin: House Orbrecht

Bloodline Integrity: 71%»

Raven looked at Cassian.

That was different.

Very different.

«Bloodline functions detected:

"Argent Marrow"

"Bastion Manifestation"

"Metallic Mana Reinforcement"»

Raven read it again.

Not a Skill.

Not an individual Trait.

A hereditary structure.

The system expanded the analysis.

«"Bloodline Traits are encoded across compatible biological and mana structures."

Predation Level 2 permits partial Bloodline assimilation.

Required biological sources detected:

Mana Heart tissue

Sternal bone marrow

Bloodline-active vascular tissue»

Raven remained completely still.

Valeria approached.

"Raven."

He didn’t answer.

She looked at the corpse.

Then at his face.

And understood enough.

"Did Predation find something?"

Raven looked at her.

He could lie.

Probably should.

Instead, he asked:

"Bloodlines are hereditary."

Valeria frowned.

"Yes."

"The Houses maintain their power because they pass abilities down through generations."

"In extremely simplified terms, yes."

"They can’t be learned."

"No."

"Copied?"

"Some rituals can imitate minor effects. Not an entire Bloodline."

Raven looked back at the body.

Valeria followed his gaze.

Her expression slowly changed.

"No."

Raven hadn’t said anything.

"Raven."

The interface displayed another line.

«"Compatible Bloodline detected."»

Valeria went still.

She couldn’t see the screen.

She didn’t need to.

She’d seen the way Raven looked at monsters before eating them.

Now he was looking at Cassian exactly the same way.

"Don’t tell me you can..."

Raven read.

«Potential acquisition:

"ARGENT BASTION — Partial Assimilation"

Estimated result:

— Increased skeletal durability

— Metallic reinforcement compatibility

— Potential evolution of "Stonehide"

— Bloodline pathway integration»

One final warning appeared.

«Human hereditary structure detected.

Acquisition may permanently alter host biological lineage.»

Raven raised an eyebrow slightly.

That was new.

Then:

«DEVOUR BLOODLINE?»

The sounds of the quarry seemed to disappear.

Human Skills could be stolen.

He already knew that.

But this wasn’t a Skill.

Asteria’s nobility built entire Houses around inherited abilities.

Surnames.

Marriages.

Alliances.

Succession.

Centuries of arrogance existed because certain families possessed something other people could never obtain.

Something they were born with.

Something they considered theirs by blood.

Raven looked at Cassian’s corpse.

Then at the window.

Predation didn’t see a dynasty.

It didn’t see nobility.

It didn’t see centuries of inheritance.

It saw compatible tissue.

Valeria spoke very slowly.

"What is it saying?"

Raven took a moment to answer.

A small smile appeared.

Not happy.

Interested.

"That apparently noble blood has a price."

Valeria held his gaze.

Raven looked back at the corpse.

The question was still waiting.

«DEVOUR BLOODLINE?»