Chapter 12: One Who Knows
1039 Words
The morning mist hung over the town like a second heaven and drifted low and slow between rooftops and pine-shadowed alleys. Caleb moved through it with his hood up, ears tuned, eyes alert.
He was trying to become normal once more.
But nothing about him was normal anymore.
His strength didn’t settle. His eyes caught too much light—his perceptions—quicker than before—picked up people's movements well before his own eyes could.
[Vitality: Stable | Bloodlust: 78% – Suppressed]
[Instinct Surge: Passive Mode Activated]
He didn't respond to the prompt, as usual. He had to pretend. Especially now.
Since he had gotten a feeling that something was wrong in the market. Caleb had gotten it as soon as he came into Blackwood's market square. Vendors, never once taking their eyes up from their stalls, had been mid-haggle. A piece of apple rolled out of a crate and spun by itself on its stone, unnoticed. The typical market was waking slowly—creaking wooden carts, thudding boots, voices haggling softly on berries and bread—but all custom had stopped dead for her. They were whispering about her before she had said a single word.
At its center, around the old clock tower, was a stranger. She didn’t stroll like a wanderer. She didn’t look like it either. No tattered coat, her posture firm—almost military posture. Silver-blonde hair was loose and sleek, white as pale rock, and streamed its braid behind its back. And eyes, serene and gray as dawn fog, looked at the square as if she had been expecting her.
Caleb's pace slowed.
She doesn't belong here,
But she’s not afraid to be seen.
He came slowly, his steps measured.
“You new to Blackwood?” he asked flatly.
She spun at the sound of his words, as serene as stone. Her gaze never wavered as she looked into his.
"Just passing through,” she answered.
Her voice was steady. Not defensive. Not curious. Just… honest.
"You've been out here a while."
“I look around before going into a place,” she said. “Blackwood's a town that can change people.”
Caleb studied her. “Doesn’t mean it wants strangers.”
She smiled faintly. “I’m not looking for trouble.”
How she uttered these words merely increased their likelihood.
He could not question further as Clara came out from behind the inn stall, wiping her hands on her apron.
“You're early, Caleb,” she said to him. “I was just getting ready to unlock.”
Caleb nodded once, never for once breaking the gaze of this stranger.
Clara turned to her. “And you are?”
“Astrid,” the woman replied. “Just a traveler. Figured I’d have a look around here before heading on.”
Clara smiled politely, though her body told a different story. “There's a lot to see. There's not much to stay for.”
Astrid's tilted her head. “I've been told differently.”
Caleb's face stiffened.
[Instinct Surge Identified.: Possible Deceit Anomalies Spotted – Unconfirmed
[System Scan: No Signature. No reference to the topic. Scans from a distance – no threat, just watching.]
The system didn’t read danger. But he could not refrain from feeling that she knew more than she was revealing.
Though she never did. She could not. No one could.
Yet she had glanced a little too long.
"You see something in you?" he asked cautiously.
Astrid stared at him for a time, her face devoid of any emotion. “Just whatever you let people see.”
A scream shattered the moment.
It was born out of the butcher's stall. A wooden beam had fallen. Blood sprayed. And out of under street drainage, black claws ripped upwards.
Bent legs. Closed eyes. Acid spittle oozing out of its mouth.
[System Warning: Riftspawn - Tunnel Class - Tier 3]
Traits: Ambush Predator, Echo Pulse, Acidic Blood
Absorption Estimate: 65-80 LP
City Sector Breach - Civilian High Risk of Exposure
Everyone ran. Children shrieked. Vendors ran after their carts.
No time to plan.
Caleb launched forward.
He crashed into the Riftspawn mid-lunge, shoulder-bashing it into a fruit cart. Wood shattered. Apples rolled in all directions. Claws out, energy flowing at every strand. He battered it into the cobblestones, and spun to his left—its claws by a hair's breadth missing his ribs.
It hissed—spewing out acid spittle.
Then its body was divided, splitting into two, two small body parts created out of one. Its body shuddering and hissing.
[Hydra Split Trait Discovered – Target's build is Multiform]
Bloodthirst: 91% -Control Recommended
Caleb slipped lower, grabbed one by its hand filled with claws, and then rolled over to safety. The other body flung itself—jaws snapping—to which Caleb caught it in midair and slammed the creature into the pavement with a growl.
One down. One to go. The second creature spat and hissed again.
Acid was splashed onto his coat.
[Condition: Burn detected – Minor Tissue Damage]
Vitality Surge Active. Healing Initiated.
Bloodlust: 84%
Caleb pressed on, growling, not giving heed to the pain. He charged into the creature as it thrashed around in mad motions. Dodging a blow, he struck-- his punch sent the monster stumbling before he drove a brutal knee into its face. Dirt scattered as it hit the ground, then crumbled to dust.
Silence returned. The ash of Riftspawn faded like soot on the wind.
The villagers stared at him, not cheering. Just stunned.
Then a whisper, “That… was not normal.”
Caleb glanced around the market square and sighed. The Riftspawn were getting bolder. The veil between the hidden and the known was starting to tear.
And across the square, Astrid had not budged either.
She didn’t applaud. Didn’t blink. Merely stared.
She looked at Caleb for a moment, then spoke softly—just loud enough for him to hear. “You react fast.”
He shrugged. “Been through worse.”
“I bet you have.”
Then she spun around to leave-- but held his gaze a fraction too long, just enough to add, "You keep your blaze well hidden, Caleb. But you're not the only match."
- Writer
