Path of BlooDld

Ashen sat among the rubble of dead beasts. Silence blanketed the area, broken only by the trickle of blood seeping through the rocks, forming small pools around him. His eyes were blank, staring into the void, but within... it was chaos.

"Blood Chains... just one step," he murmured quietly, as if speaking to himself—or to something inside.

He raised his right hand and began activating the Blood Bear Grip Rune. A thick bloody aura surged from his arm, taking the shape of a massive bear limb—translucent, yet pulsing.

But this time, he didn't let it act on its own.

"Blood control... blood recoil... blood carving—they're all tools. What if I combine them?"

He released his blood slowly, letting it flow onto the aura, then activated the Blood Carving Technique. The blood began to harden gradually over the manifested aura, like a moving statue being forged.

Suddenly—an explosion of bestial intent!

A savage, primal bloodlust surged from deep within the rune, like another entity had awakened.

Ashen fell to his knees, screaming, clutching his head with both hands.

Within his consciousness, he stood before a giant bear—not made of flesh or blood, but pure rage.

The creature roared and attacked him without hesitation. The mental battle began. The strikes were invisible but felt like they were ripping his soul apart.

"I'm the one in control. Not you!"

Every time he tried to tame and stabilize the aura, it collapsed and exploded, overwhelming him with memories of violence, hunting, devouring raw flesh.

In a moment of weakness, something whispered inside his mind:

"Don't resist it... use it. Fuse, don't dominate."

He transferred the bestial intent into the aura itself. The bloody bear grip began to tremble—then to scream. Yes, scream. The aura was on the verge of shattering.

But he bit down on his fang, clenched his teeth, and continued.

The darkness within the aura cracked... then fused!

The result? A solid, sharp, blood-soaked bear grip filled with ferocity.

He extended his hand and felt the air itself shift. A grip made of flesh, blood, and the intent to kill.

His body trembled, but he smiled.

"First step... complete."

---

Next: Sky Panther Rune.

A surge of aura burst out behind him in the shape of panther feet. He felt light and fast.

But he didn't stop there. He released his blood again, then began hardening it over the manifested feet.

Suddenly... a lightning-fast growl echoed in his mind. A panther of shadows appeared, moving faster than perception.

Ashen fought it, but he couldn't even touch it.

"How do I fuse with something I can't catch?"

The answer came from his silence:

"Become a phantom... not a fighter."

He let himself sink into the speed. The sky panther's bestial intent merged with his body, then he poured it into the aura.

The result? A hardened aura that was extremely light—almost exploding from the energy.

Each step became a blink.

He vanished and reappeared ten times in the span of a breath.

---

Then came the Blood Crocodile Rune.

He released the defensive aura. Bloody scales wrapped around him—but the desire hidden in the rune… wasn't defense.

It was predation.

In his consciousness, a massive crocodile appeared, crouched on water. It didn't move, but its gaze… was lethal.

Ashen faced it without moving. Just approaching made him collapse.

"It's patience. Ambush. Killing at the perfect moment."

He sat in a squat, and waited. The intent didn't attack him.

When he opened his eyes, he transferred the intent into the scales.

They hardened further. Their surface shimmered with a dark black hue.

He tested them, striking his chest with his own fist. They didn't break.

---

He sat, exhausted. His body was burning, his mind aflame.

"I'm... on the edge."

He recalled everything he had gone through.

Three intents. Three battles. Three bloods.

Each bestial intent had its own will. Each rune shaped him as much as he tried to shape it.

Then came the final inspiration...

"The path isn't control... it's fusion."

He began trying to merge the three intents:

The bear's brutality, the panther's speed, the crocodile's predation.

Inside him, they clashed. But gradually... they began to blend.

In a fleeting moment, he saw his body in his consciousness transform.

One rune appeared.

A giant, terrifying rune, a mixture of all three forms.

A bear arm armored with crocodile scales, panther feet glowing with bloody light—

And an eye on the forehead, slowly blinking.

"The true Blood Beast Body... isn't complete yet, but it's being born."

Only then did he feel the wilderness stop attacking.

As if it, too... was watching.

He closed his eyes.

The birth of the technique had begun. And with it, a new path: refining the self through struggle.