Scar

"Who was that?"

Deep in the cemetery, among the layered shadows of the tombstones, a squat figure stood. Its fixed stare caught Zhou Kai's attention.

Just as Zhou Kai tried to get a better look, a burst of buzzing exploded in his mind. White light flashed before his eyes, and every image seemed to fast-forward, skipping frames.

It was as if the scenes related to White Shadow had been skipped.

When he came to, Zhou Kai's viewpoint had shifted. He was standing before a solitary tombstone.

A black-robed man spoke hoarsely. "Child, your father is buried here... Go on, take 'it.' May the legacy of our ancestors protect you on your path."

From Zhou Kai's perspective, the boy nodded mechanically.

He watched helplessly as several black-robed figures gathered around. The sound of shovels biting into the damp soil was especially grating.

They pried open the grave and circled the coffin, their throats emitting a low hum like some ancient prayer.

A moment later, the black-robed leader approached, holding something in both hands.

It was a withered piece of skin peeled from a hand, like a yellowed sheet of parchment.

"Swear the blood oath."

The black-robed man's voice held no emotion.

The boy reached out with a trembling hand. The dagger's cold glint flashed across his palm.

"So that's how it is."

Zhou Kai looked ruefully at the skin in his hand as a flood of information about it surged into his mind.

[Scar: A supernatural power passed down through a secret faction of the Church of Light. Bloodlines serve as its vessel, and it is inherited from generation to generation: from elder brother to younger brother upon the former's death, and from father to son upon the former's death. Each inheritor grows stronger than the one before.]

And now, the skin in Zhou Kai's hand bore the inscription that the boy, Yabo Soraka, had inherited from his father...

[Scar: Chariot]

Along with the crucial memories of inheriting the Scar, countless fragmented images churned through Zhou Kai's mind.

The boy's laughter and tears, his triumphs and humiliations, and things even heavier than those.

These memories made Zhou Kai's body tremble involuntarily just from seeing the words "Chariot."

It wasn't fear or excitement. It was the overwhelming shock of witnessing history flow through the bloodline and endure through the generations.

"Swear the blood oath!"

In a hallucination, a voice much like Yabo's, but older and rougher, barked the command.

Zhou Kai silently raised his hand and sliced the pad of his index finger with his thumb.

His skin split, and blood welled up in beads.

Crimson blood dripped onto the withered skin.

Strangely, the skin grew drier as it soaked up the blood. At last, it silently crumbled into a heap of gray-black powder, merging with the blood to form a thick, sticky Blood Ink.

Zhou Kai stared expressionlessly at the substance.

He dipped a finger into the Blood Ink and, imitating the images in his memories, drew a totem-like mark on the outside of his left arm.

"Always press forward; never retreat, even in death!"

"Resolve like gold; overcome every foe!"

Yabo's oath echoed in his mind.

The instant the mark was completed, Zhou Kai felt excruciating pain lance through his left arm, as though a red-hot iron brand had seared through the entire limb, leaving an indelible mark.

He had become a Scar bearer.

Amid the agony, the crude design began to writhe and shift on its own, its lines growing intricate and refined.

A lone warrior clad in heavy armor charged toward the boundless darkness, prepared to fight to the death.

In a daze, Zhou Kai heard a heartbeat like a war drum. The neighing of warhorses even rang in his ears.

Thump!

Thump! Thump!

His heart began to pound with unprecedented force.

Golden-red lines burst from the Chariot Mark, like a web of red-hot wires, and instantly spread across Zhou Kai's body.

Unbearable pain swept over him like a tide. His bones ground together with the sound of misaligned gears, while his muscles seemed to tear apart and then be forcibly stitched back together.

His physical abilities were being violently enhanced.

The process lasted a full five minutes before finally subsiding...

By then, Zhou Kai was drenched in sweat, as if he had just been hauled out of the water.

"Phew..."

Drained, Zhou Kai dropped to one knee, his throat releasing a strained, ragged breath.

"The Chariot Mark? What exactly..."

He moved his limbs, feeling the unceasing power surging through him, along with the unfathomable information.

Gradually, Zhou Kai began to understand what the Chariot Mark did.

"A major boost to physical abilities, and another thing... a skill called 'Victory Charge'?"

His consciousness was already connected to the Scar on his arm.

As long as he steeled his resolve and charged at an enemy, he could expend his stamina and mental energy to unleash a collision that surpassed his physical limits.

Press forward without hesitation; shatter all obstacles.

"Now I finally have a trump card to keep up my sleeve."

Zhou Kai let out a long breath and looked back at the panel.

A new category had quietly appeared beneath the status bar.

[Scar: Chariot · One (0/100)]

Victory Charge hadn't appeared in the skill list and couldn't be upgraded with experience points, but the Chariot Scar itself could be upgraded. That was a pleasant little surprise.

"One hundred experience points... That's ridiculous. Have I even earned a hundred points in total so far?"

Zhou Kai shook his head, and more memories surfaced—memories of the usual ways to improve a Scar.

There were two methods.

One was to train on his own, though the criteria for judging progress were unusual...

"I have to keep 'winning' to have a chance of improving the Scar?"

The definition of "victory" was fairly broad. It could be as small as winning a fight or as large as winning a contest of wits. As long as he came out on top, it counted.

In that case, training didn't seem as absurdly difficult as he'd imagined.

The second method was to absorb other Scars.

That might be the path best suited to him.

Because...

Zhou Kai's eyes shifted. "If I'm not mistaken, those armored monsters in the town—the abominations that used to be the Soraka Family's guards—all have Scars."

"Phew... Looks like I really can't afford to let these walking bundles of experience points go from now on."

Clear-headed, Zhou Kai was extremely satisfied with what he'd gained.

"Even if this is only a blank Scar, it's still my greatest gain since entering the Nightmare!"

If he was feeling it right, just reaching level one had boosted his physical abilities by at least forty percent.

That effect was even more terrifying than the boost from a level-three skill!

"Yabo..."

"I've accepted your power. I'll carry it with me and keep surviving in this hellhole!"

Zhou Kai clenched his fist, and it cracked with a sharp pop.

A while later, flames of an eerie hue rose from Yabo's corpse.

The bequest began to emerge.

[The failure who was lost in the Eternal Night turns to smoke in the flames... You have obtained Yabo's bequest.]

[Soraka Swordsmanship experience +4. Since you are completely unfamiliar with some of the skills, the exclusive experience points have been converted into Universal Experience Points.]

[Universal Experience Points +3]

[Universal Experience Points: 14→17]

[Soraka Swordsmanship lv. 2 (6/25)→(10/25)]

With the Scar in hand and his skills improved, Zhou Kai was brimming with fighting spirit.

"Put the points into Two-Handed Sword. Let's keep hunting!"

Zhou Kai's gaze was sharp as a blade as he studied the slab-like greatsword in his hands.

["Two-Handed Sword" has become sharper and sturdier. You have spent 3 Universal Experience Points.]

Perhaps the sword was made from better material. It had cost only three experience points to upgrade, yet the result was even better than that of his previous sword, which had cost five.

Cold light rippled along the blade, its edge razor-sharp.

Zhou Kai gripped the sword in both hands, the glow of the fire illuminating his face.

He casually spun the sword a few times. Silver light flashed, and each swing tore through the air with a sharp crack.

Very pleased with the result, he swung the sword onto his back and strode out of the Sanctuary.

His strength had surged, and he had a temporary abundance of firewood and plants.

Zhou Kai's gaze swept across the darkness outside, his fighting spirit soaring.

"Sooner or later... the hunter and the hunted will switch places!"

However...

Zhou Kai plunged straight into the rain.

Three seconds later, the rain spat him back out in a sorry state.

With his back against the cold door, Zhou Kai's heart pounded as he gasped for breath.

He hadn't gone far when a terrifying silhouette came into view.

He instinctively wanted to spend points upgrading the Sanctuary, but when he checked his Universal Experience Points, he saw that only eleven remained after upgrading the greatsword.

That was nowhere near enough to improve a house this big... Upgrade only the door?

What a joke. He didn't even like using doors himself. Sometimes he just crashed straight into other houses.

And he was supposed to count on those monsters... to knock politely?

"I can only take a gamble and hope that thing doesn't come looking for trouble."

Frowning, Zhou Kai considered the situation for a moment, then quietly went up to the second floor.

He stood in front of the full-length window, carefully pulled aside one corner of the curtain, and warily peered out at the world beyond.