Absolute Cheater

In the Shaderift Valley, outside, Veyra was sitting quietly with Valeris watching over her. She had finished eating and gently leaned against the grass, eyes drifting shut for a moment before she sensed Asher near her.

"You okay?" Valeris asked, turning to see the familiar shadow of Asher approaching.

Asher gave a small nod as he came closer.

"Did you find anything?" Valeris asked.

"Yes," Asher replied. "There was a vampire city hidden deep in the valley."

Her eyes narrowed with curiosity. "by the way why I smell a vixen scent on you?"

"Its not waht you think," he said. "One offered me her blood. She felt... drawn to me. Probably because I carry the Progenitor's bloodline."

"You just drank her blood and nothing else?" Valeris raised a brow, studying his expression.

Asher shrugged, casual. "Yes. Just blood. Vampires are bound by instinct, especially when it comes to powerful lineages. There's no need to complicate it."

Valeris nodded, then added softly, "You know... even if you take others, even if you gain more strength or followers, a strong man can have many wives."

Asher glanced at her, expression unreadable. "She's not my type. I might think differently in the future, if I decide to build a family. But right now... it's just you. And Freya."

Valeris's lips curved faintly. "Freya? You mean that flame-eyed girl from your memories, right?"

Asher nodded slowly. "Yeah. She's from my original world. She's also one of the reasons I want to return someday."

"I look forward to meeting her," Valeris said sincerely. Then her voice lowered slightly as she added, "By the way... will she accept me? I mean, you and I are already married. Won't she feel betrayed?"

Asher exhaled through his nose and looked toward the sky. "There's a fifty-fifty chance. In my old world, polygamy wasn't uncommon—especially among cultivators or highborn bloodlines. She might be angry and feel like I replaced her... or she might accept you."

Valeris's gaze softened. "Whatever her decision ends up being... I will accept it."

Asher turned to look at her, then nodded. "That's all I can ask."

Asher glanced toward the jagged cliffs that loomed at the edge of Shaderift Valley, where the winds whispered secrets through twisted stone and ancient trees. His voice was quiet but firm.

"How is Veyra doing up until now?"

Valeris turned her eyes toward the horizon. "She's holding up well," she said thoughtfully. "Pushed to the edge, yes, but not broken. She's been living rough, as expected—but she's adapting. That's what matters."

Asher nodded slightly, his expression unreadable.

Valeris continued, her tone carrying the calm certainty of someone who had already peered through the haze of time. "This valley... it was always her fate. Even if we hadn't brought her here, her path would have twisted and brought her to this place eventually. It's where her soul needs to be."

She closed her eyes briefly, sensing the flow of fate. "I can feel it. Within the next week, she will get her chance—whatever form it takes. A breakthrough, a test, perhaps even a confrontation. But it'll be hers."

Asher's golden eyes shimmered faintly with bloodlight as he looked toward the deeper reaches of the valley, where crimson winds stirred with Corruption and wild spirits roamed. "That's all she needs. One chance."

He turned, beginning to walk again. "And when it comes, I'll make sure she has the strength to take it."

Valeris walked beside him in silence, a faint smile playing on her lips.

***

Deep within the jagged heart of Shardrift Valley, Veyra ran.

Blood trickled down her arm, her breath ragged as the sound of claws scraping stone echoed behind her. The beast—no, the Master of this region—was unlike anything she had faced before. It wasn't just strong. It was ancient. Malicious. Something that had long outgrown the rules of mortal prey and predator.

She had tried everything—Bloodroot tendrils, bloom bursts, even her strongest cutting arcs—but nothing had worked. The creature had shrugged them off like rain on iron. When it lunged again, a black shadow with glowing violet veins, Veyra didn't fight back. She fled.

Branches tore at her arms. Shadows clawed at her vision. She leapt over a broken ridge and tumbled hard down a steep incline. Stones bit into her skin. The world turned upside down—and then everything vanished into darkness.

When she awoke, she was lying at the mouth of a cave—icy, damp, and strange. The walls glittered with faint frost, though no snow had fallen in the valley. The entrance was low, carved through age or perhaps by some forgotten beast. Veyra dragged herself inside.

Within moments, the echoes of monstrous howls followed her. Not just one now. Many. A nest?

She pressed forward anyway, deeper into the cave. Blood bloomed from her palms as she summoned her roots and vines, using them to camouflage herself. She wove an illusion of stone and frost across her skin, disappearing into the cavern's wall.

The beasts entered moments later—hunched, twisted things with black hides and pale eyes. They sniffed, growled, snarled... and passed her by.

She didn't wait. She ran.

Her feet led her to a chamber further in, where the air changed—warmer, heavier, touched with a strange metallic scent.

There, she found it.

A great black door, covered in red vines and etched with silver runes. At its center was the sigil of a rose wrapped in dusk—a symbol she didn't recognize, but her soul did. Her blood pulsed with recognition.

She reached out. The moment her hand touched the door, pain lanced through her. Blood spilled. The vines writhed, absorbing her offering, and the door opened with a deep, ancient groan.

She stepped through.

Far away, on a nearby plateau, Asher paused mid-step. He closed his eyes.

"She's found it," he murmured.

Valeris turned toward him, her expression curious.

"The bloodline legacy of the founder of the Duskroot family," Asher continued. "That door… it only opens for those on the edge of death. Those who carry potential—raw, wild, and unshaped."

He looked down into the mists that covered the valley. "Veyra's chance… was always this. She just had to survive long enough to take it."