ROAAAAR!
A wave of black fire incinerated the spot where Kael had been standing a millisecond ago. The heat was so intense that the concrete walls began to melt, dripping like wax.
Gareth stood in the center of the room, laughing maniacally. The red crystal in his chest pulsed violently, pumping corrupt mana into his veins.
"Is that all you can do, Mad Dog?!" Gareth taunted, swinging a clawed hand. "Run? Hide? Where is your arrogance now?!"
Kael reappeared on top of a surgical table on the other side of the room. He was panting slightly. His suit was singed at the edges.
Analysis, Kael thought calmly.
[Target: Gareth]
[Status: Berserk]
[Weakness: The Crystal Implant is unstable. It is overheating his core.]
"You talk too much for a dead man," Kael said.
"Dead?" Gareth sneered. "I am reborn! The Abyssal Eye gave me power that Seraphina hoarded for herself!"
Gareth clapped his hands together. A sphere of compressed black flame formed between his palms.
"Burn to ash!"
He threw the sphere. It wasn't a projectile; it was a bomb.
Kael's eyes widened. He couldn't dodge this with Shadow Step—the blast radius would cover the entire room.
[Defensive Skill: Mana Skin (Overclock)]
Kael crossed his arms. He poured every drop of his mana into his defensive aura.
BOOOOM.
The explosion rocked the foundations of the steel mill. Dust and debris filled the air.
Gareth grinned, waiting for the smoke to clear. "F-Rank trash. Did you really think a toy sword could stop an A-Rank Mage?"
But as the dust settled, a violet glow pierced the darkness.
Kael was still standing.
His barrier was shattered. His shirt was torn, revealing a nasty burn on his left arm. But he was alive.
And he was smiling.
"You're right," Kael said, coughing up a bit of blood. "My stats are lower than yours. My magic is weaker than yours."
He deployed the Chain-Blade, letting it drag on the floor.
"But you made a mistake, Gareth."
"Mistake?" Gareth growled, preparing another spell.
"You modified your body with garbage."
Kael vanished.
[Shadow Step]
Gareth spun around, expecting an attack from behind. "I can see your shadows moving, boy!"
Gareth unleashed a wave of fire behind him. But Kael wasn't there.
Above.
Kael dropped from the ceiling, gravity aiding his descent. He didn't aim for Gareth's neck. He aimed for the glowing red crystal in his chest.
CLANG.
Gareth reacted with supernatural speed. He caught Kael's blade with his bare hand. The mutated skin was as hard as steel. The poison on the blade sizzled against his palm, but Gareth's regeneration was fighting it off.
"Got you," Gareth grinned, his face inches from Kael's. "Now I will crush your skull."
Gareth squeezed. The titanium blade began to bend. He raised his other hand to deliver the killing blow.
Kael didn't struggle. He didn't try to pull his sword back.
Instead, he let go of the handle.
He lunged forward, closing the distance, and pressed his bare palm directly onto the burning red crystal embedded in Gareth's open chest.
"What are you—?" Gareth paused, confused.
Kael's eyes glowed with a blinding purple light.
"That crystal doesn't belong to you," Kael whispered. "It's a foreign contaminant. And do you know what I do with contaminants?"
[System Active.]
[Target Object: "Abyssal Ember (Corrupted Core)"]
[Proximity: Direct Contact.]
[Initiating Forced Recycling.]
"I recycle them."
ZZZZZTTT!
A vortex of suction appeared at Kael's palm. It wasn't sucking air; it was sucking raw power.
"NO! STOP!" Gareth screamed.
He tried to push Kael away, but his strength was evaporating. The red light in the crystal began to dim, flowing like liquid into Kael's hand.
The black veins on Gareth's body began to recede. His muscles withered. The fire in his hands sputtered and died.
[Recycling... 20%... 50%... 80%]
"Give it back!" Gareth shrieked, his voice returning to its normal, pathetic pitch. "It's mine! It's mine!"
"It was never yours," Kael said coldly.
CRACK.
With a final tug, the System drained the last drop of energy. The red crystal turned gray and crumbled into dust in Gareth's chest cavity.
Gareth fell to his knees. He looked at his hands. They were trembling, weak, human again.
He looked up at Kael. Kael stood over him, practically radiating power. The energy he had just absorbed was rushing through his veins, healing his burns instantly.
[Recycling Complete.]
[Obtained: 2,000 System Points.]
[Obtained: "Essence of Fire (Fragment)"]
[Mana Capacity Increased by +50.]
Kael picked up his Chain-Blade from the floor.
"Please..." Gareth begged, tears streaming down his face. "Kael... I can tell you about the Cult! I can be useful! Don't kill me!"
Kael looked down at the traitor. He thought about the men Gareth had sent to beat him. He thought about the poison he tried to spread about Seraphina. He thought about the girl on the altar upstairs.
"You had your chance to be useful, Gareth," Kael said softly. "You chose to be trash."
Slash.
A single, clean stroke.
Gareth slumped forward. Silence returned to the basement.
[Quest Complete: "The First Hunt"]
[Target Eliminated.]
[Reward: Rank Up (F -> E).]
[System Level Up!]
Kael didn't celebrate. He felt a wave of exhaustion hit him as the adrenaline faded.
He quickly looted the room, finding a stack of documents with the Cult's sigil. He shoved them into his inventory. Evidence.
He checked the time. 04:30 AM.
"Damn," Kael cursed. "Seraphina wakes up at 6."
The Frostfall Estate
The sun was just beginning to paint the horizon purple when a shadow materialized on the balcony of the Master Suite.
Kael stumbled in, suppressing a cough. He quickly stripped off his tactical gear, shoving it into his inventory, and put on his pajamas.
He checked himself in the mirror. No blood. The System had healed the burns. He looked normal.
He crept back to the bed.
Seraphina was exactly where he had left her—hogging the blankets, mumbling in her sleep.
Kael sighed with relief. He climbed into the bed, sliding under the covers.
"Cold..." Seraphina murmured, shivering as the draft from the balcony hit her.
She instinctively rolled over and latched onto Kael like a heat-seeking missile, throwing her leg over him and burying her face in his chest.
Kael stiffened, then relaxed.
[Contact Re-established.]
[Passive Recycling Active.]
He closed his eyes. He had just killed an A-Rank mage, dismantled a Cult cell, and gained massive power.
But as the Empress of the Sword snuggled closer, drooling slightly on his shirt, Kael realized this was the hardest part of his job.
How am I supposed to explain why I smell like sulfur and smoke when she wakes up?
Kael decided that was a problem for Future Kael.
He fell asleep instantly.
07:00 AM
"Kael?"
A soft voice woke him up.
He opened one eye. Seraphina was propped up on her elbow, staring at him. Her eyes were clear, her skin glowing with health.
But she was frowning.
She leaned closer, sniffing his neck.
Kael's heart stopped. Here it comes.
"Why do you smell like... barbecue?" she asked, confused.
Kael didn't blink.
"I got hungry in the middle of the night," he lied smoothly. "I tried to cook. I burned the toast."
Seraphina stared at him for a long, intense second. She narrowed her eyes.
Then, she shrugged and flopped back onto the pillows.
"Next time, ask the chef," she yawned. "You're a terrible cook."
Kael let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"By the way," Seraphina added, closing her eyes again. "The police commissioner just called me. Someone wiped out a Cult cell in the industrial district last night. Left twenty paralyzed cultists and a dead leader."
She cracked one eye open, looking at him.
"You wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Mad Dog?"
Kael smiled innocently.
"I told you, Princess. I was burning toast."