Way Of — Corruption -v0.24- By Shadow Blade

Kaelen tried to drop the book. His hands—no longer quite hands—wouldn’t let go. Vesper stood behind him, her dead lips moving. She wasn’t speaking to him. She was speaking for it .

He’d been a street blade in the Lower Sprawl, one of the un-chosen, the un-blessed. When the shadow-taint first whispered to him—a sliver of obsidian magic that slid into his blood after a near-fatal wound—he’d welcomed it. Power, at last. A way up. Way of Corruption -v0.24- By Shadow Blade

Version 0.24 Complete. Congratulations, Shadow Blade. You are now the vessel. Kaelen tried to drop the book

The shadows in the room congealed. From Kaelen’s own chest, a crown of twisted, living iron pushed through his ribs. He felt himself becoming a doorway. Behind that door, something vast and patient began to step through. She wasn’t speaking to him

The first node on the talent web was easy: Siphon Vitality . Kaelen drained a dying mongrel and felt his own cracked ribs knit. No price. Just gain.

Kaelen laughed. The sound came out like grinding stone.