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Everyday you wake up is another chance to be better than you were before.
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[Low Health Detected]
"Yep, I detected that too," Eren muttered under his breath, his voice hoarse and strained as he lunged forward. The aberrants thundered toward him, their grotesque forms illuminated by the faint, ethereal glow of the Paths.
His boots struck the shifting sand with every movement, sending ripples through the fog-laden air.
"How many are there...?" His question dissipated into the cold air, unanswered, as the first lunging titan swung a massive fist at him. Eren dodged, vaulting onto its arm with practiced ease.
His body felt heavy, his muscles screaming for respite, but his resolve was ironclad. He sprinted up the titan's arm, using the momentum to launch himself skyward, his blade gleaming like a shard of starlight.
With a single fluid motion, he slashed through its nape. The titan let out a deafening groan before crumbling, but there was no time to bask in his victory.
As he descended, another titan loomed beneath him, its cavernous maw snapping shut around his frame.
"Ugh—!" Eren grunted, his legs and arms pressing against the inside of the titan's jaws, straining to keep them open. He could feel its rancid breath searing his skin, its teeth scraping against his blades.
With a swift, brutal slash, he dismembered its face entirely, chunks of steaming flesh falling around him. As he plunged his blade into the nape, he felt the familiar warmth of steaming blood coat his hands. The titan crumbled like the rest, but his respite was short-lived.
[Low Health Detected]
The notification flashed again, taunting him as he staggered to his feet, chest heaving.
Eren whispered bitterly, wiping blood from his cracked lips. "How ironic... the system's more worried about me than I am."
The sound of thunderous footsteps broke through his thoughts. His gaze snapped over his shoulder just in time to see five more aberrants spawning in the haze behind him. Their grotesque silhouettes stretched against the unnatural blue light of the Paths.
Before he could react, one of the titans reached out with shocking speed. Its massive hand closed around his torso, its grip vice-like, the crunch of his ribs unmistakable.
"UCK—!" A guttural sound escaped him as blood dripped from his mouth, staining the pale sand below.
[Heart Rate Decreasing]
He coughed violently, a crimson grin forming on his lips.
[Low Health Detected]
Ignoring the system's incessant warnings, Eren gripped his blades with trembling hands. With a primal roar, he severed the titan's hand at the wrist, freeing himself.
He dropped like a stone, landing hard on the cold sand below. His vision blurred, the world spinning as he tried to force himself upright.
"Heal..." he whispered weakly, his voice barely audible.
[Inventory Locked]
[Unable to Use Healing Potion]
"Great..." Eren muttered, spitting blood onto the sand. His legs trembled as he stood, his frame battered and broken but unwilling to fall. His crimson eyes locked on the approaching titans, glowing with defiance.
The fog swirled around him, and the air grew colder. A faint blue light emanated from the massive tree in the distance, its branches stretching infinitely across the desolate expanse of the Paths. Its glow painted the ruins in ghostly hues, casting long shadows across the shifting sands.
Eren took a deep breath, mist curling from his lips into the frigid air. He adjusted his grip on the blades, his fingers slick with his own blood as a wave of realization washed over him.
"It...It's been a while since I felt like this... This—this is what gets my blood pumping."
It had been a while since he smiled like this. A rare, eerie curve tugged at Eren's bloodied lips, the kind that spoke of madness rather than joy. Slowly, his eyes drifted shut, and the world disappeared into darkness.
A black aura began to emanate from his battered frame, rippling like smoke in the wind, snaking along the crimson streaks on his torn skin. It coiled and hissed, twisting against the unnatural stillness of the Paths.
When his eyes opened, they were no longer the familiar turquoise that held flickers of humanity. Instead, they were void-like orbs, black as the abyss itself, sucking the light out of the world around him.
His shoulders hung limp, his arms dangled at his sides like a predator waiting to strike, but the tension was palpable.
A low growl escaped his throat as he clenched his daggers. The once-pristine scarlet and purple handles cracked under his grip, shards splintering and embedding themselves into his palms.
Blood seeped out in rivulets, pooling at his feet. Yet he didn't flinch. Pain was a memory long forgotten, replaced by the hunger for destruction.
A notification blazed in his vision, one he barely acknowledged:
[Stats Boost: +50 per Attribute]
It wasn't a potion this time. No cheat code. No external crutch. This was raw, unfiltered power, drawn from the sheer, terrifying will of a man who had decided to tear apart everything that stood in his way.
"ARRRGHHH!"
A titan roared, its massive fist swinging toward him with earth-shattering force. But before the blow could connect, Eren had already moved. The silence of the strike was deafening. The beast's body exploded in agony, deep, bone-deep lacerations tearing through its flesh like invisible blades.
Blood poured out in sickening streams, its flesh hanging loosely from mangled muscle. The titan screeched, writhing in torment, until Eren ended its misery with a single flick of his blade.
The remaining titans advanced, their hulking forms casting long, oppressive shadows over the glowing expanse of the Paths. Their heavy footfalls shook the ground, but Eren stood unmoving in their approach.
Saliva dripped lazily from the corner of his mouth, a macabre contrast to the blood trickling down his body. The crimson soaked into the sand beneath him, painting the blue-tinged landscape in streaks of violence.
His voice was a whisper, barely audible over the thunderous approach of the titans, but it carried a weight that silenced even the howls of the damned. His black eyes radiating....
"This feels so fuckin' good...."