ADEXANDER: THE CRIMSON ASCENDANT
Volume 1 – Chapter 3: Blood for the Path
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[Panel opens: Inside the lair, corpses of beasts steam on the cold stone. Adexander limps toward a glowing shard near the lair's core.]
Adexander (thinking):
This... feels familiar. A Core Fragment? How is this in a lair this weak?
[He touches the shard. Crimson energy pulses into his palm. His veins glow briefly.]
[System Notification Panel appears in red text:]
[Core Fragment absorbed. Basic Crimson Flow unlocked.]
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[He staggers out of the lair at dawn. Villagers gasp as he enters, wounded but standing.]
Villager 1 (whispering):
"That kid… did he survive the lair?"
Villager 2:
"Impossible."
Adexander (quietly):
"...I need more."
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[Scene shift: A dark council chamber. Five cloaked figures kneel before a shadowy throne.]
Unknown Voice:
"The Crimson Essence is stirring again. It seems… the traitor lives."
Council Member:
"He must be eliminated before he regains his past strength."
[A figure rises – armor black and twisted, a single horn spiraling from his helm.]
Voice of the Knight:
"I'll deal with him."
[Panel text: "Introducing: Zha'Tor, The Void-Blooded Executioner."]
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[Back in the village, Adexander sharpens a broken blade. The old man from the inn approaches.]
Innkeeper:
"Kid, you survived a lair. That's either luck or something darker."
Adexander (smirking):
"Both."
Innkeeper (tosses a wrapped item):
"Found this in my cellar. Old gear. Might suit you."
[He unwraps it to find leather armor with a crimson crest.]
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[Montage: Adexander begins training again—climbing cliffs, fighting summoned spirits in old ruins, surviving blizzards.]
[Panel: He collapses beside a tree, heart pounding. His vision blurs. Flash of Kael'Rith meditating in the snow. Flash of Velessia surrounded by flames.]
Adexander (thinking):
Why… do I keep seeing them? Who the hell are you two...?
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[Meanwhile, Kael'Rith opens his eyes.]
Kael'Rith (to himself):
"He remembers... barely. It's not time yet."
[Scene shift to Velessia, gazing into a glowing crystal ball.]
Velessia:
"Adex... Stay alive until I find you."
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[Final Panel: Zha'Tor's demonic army marches through a burning wasteland.]
Zha'Tor:
"Let the Crimson Pup come. I'll crush him before he howls."
To Be Continued…