The Hollow Beast screamed again.
It dived from the shattered sky, wings stretched wide. Its body looked stitched together from bones of different creatures — claws of a bear, fangs of a serpent, ribs of a dragon. Smoke poured from its joints, and fire burned inside its skull.
Ashen's legs moved before his mind did.
He dashed into the ruins, heart racing. Dust and ash flew around him. The cracked ground shook under the beast's landing — stone shattered as claws tore into the earth.
> "You can't outrun it forever," the ring growled. "Use what you've taken."
Ashen ducked behind a half-fallen wall. "What do I even use?! I don't know anything!"
> "You absorbed the Forgotten Flame. Reach for it. Feel it. Let it burn through your weakness."
He clenched his fists.
A flicker of heat rose in his chest — faint, like the last ember of a dead campfire. He focused on it. It pulsed once. Then again.
Flames danced across his hands, trembling like they didn't belong.
[Skill Activated: Ember Grasp – Lv. 1]
Temporary fire-based strikes. Weak but fast. Burns stronger with emotion.
The Hollow Beast roared and turned toward him. Ashen stepped out from the wall, flames crawling up his arms.
"I don't know who I am," he muttered, "but if you're going to kill me…"
His feet shifted into a stance he didn't remember learning. His body moved like it knew war.
"…then you're not the first monster I've faced."
He rushed forward.
The beast swiped with one massive claw — Ashen slid beneath it and slammed his flaming fist into the creature's leg. The fire hissed, leaving a mark, but not much. The beast howled in rage and kicked him through a wall.
Pain exploded across Ashen's back. He coughed blood.
> "Get up," the ring snarled. "You want power? Then earn it. Suffer for it."
Ashen stood again, legs shaking. Blood ran down his face. His fire flickered — and then flared brighter.
He rushed again. This time, faster.
Another strike. More heat. The Hollow Beast shrieked as a patch of its bone armor cracked. Ashen dodged, weaved, struck again. And again. Until his whole body burned — from effort, not power.
The beast raised both claws and smashed downward.
Ashen didn't move fast enough.
CRACK.
The ground split. Smoke and dust filled the air.
Silence.
Then… a pulse of heat.
The dust cleared — and Ashen stood, holding up the beast's claws with both hands, fire erupting from his arms like wild wings.
His eyes glowed red.
> [Title Gained: Flameborn]
Those who face death with fire in their heart cannot be extinguished easily.
+5% resistance to fear. +1 to all stats when HP is below 30%.
Ashen roared.
He screamed everything — fear, pain, rage — and slammed both fists into the beast's chest. Fire exploded outward. The Hollow Beast staggered back, chest scorched. It tried to fly — but its wings crumbled.
Ashen didn't stop. Blow after blow. Fire and fists. Until the beast collapsed.
And didn't rise again.
He stood over the broken body, chest heaving, flames fading.
> [Echo Absorbed: Hollow Core]
A cursed echo. Grants ability to sense Decay nearby. Increases resistance to spiritual attacks.
Ashen fell to one knee, exhausted.
But he was alive.
And the ring whispered again — quieter this time.
> "Good. You didn't die. That's the first step."
Ashen looked up at the sky. The cracks seemed a little wider now.
"First step to what?" he asked, barely able to speak.
> "To surviving this world. And maybe… breaking it."