The transit tube dropped Kade at the edge of the city's industrial district where the skeletal remains of old manufacturing plants crouched like rusted corpses. Beyond them, the wilderness began—untamed forest that had grown wild in the thirty years since the Rifts opened.
Hollowbreak Passage was two kilometers into that forest.
Kade walked.
His body felt strange—not wrong anymore, but *different*. Every step registered with crystalline clarity: the pressure distribution across his feet, the micro-adjustments in his balance, the efficiency of each muscle contraction. It was like going from piloting a broken machine to operating precision equipment.
[MOTOR CONTROL ADAPTATION: 47%]
[ESTIMATED FULL CALIBRATION: 3.2 HOURS]
The system's text appeared in the corner of his vision, unobtrusive but constant. A reminder that he wasn't alone in his own head anymore.
"Can you be quiet?" Kade muttered. "I need to think."
[ACKNOWLEDGED]
[ENTERING MINIMAL INTERFACE MODE]
The text shrank to a small icon—just a faint silver shimmer at the edge of his peripheral vision. Still there. Still watching. But at least not talking.
The forest swallowed him gradually. First the buildings thinned, then disappeared entirely. The sounds of the city faded—replaced by wind through trees, the distant cry of something that might have been a bird or might have been something worse.
Kade checked the time. 10:47 AM. He had roughly sixty hours before his medical deferral expired and someone came looking.
Plenty of time to die in a dungeon.
The thought should have scared him. Instead, it felt almost... comfortable. Familiar. Death had been his companion for years—the quiet voice suggesting he'd be better off gone, that no one would notice, that it would be easier.
Now he had power. Now he had options.
Now death would have to work harder to catch him.
***
Hollowbreak Passage announced itself with a chain-link fence topped with razor wire. Warning signs plastered every ten meters:
*ACTIVE RIFT ZONE - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY*
*DUNGEON CLASS: F-RANK*
*MINIMUM PARTY SIZE: 4*
*ESTIMATED CASUALTY RATE: 12%*
Kade studied the fence. It was designed to keep civilians out, not to stop determined hunters. The gate itself had a card reader—military issue, requiring proper credentials.
He didn't have credentials.
He did have enhanced Agility.
Kade backed up twenty meters, checked that no one was watching, and ran.
His body responded with startling efficiency. Muscles fired in perfect sequence. His stride lengthened. The fence approached faster than it should have—
He jumped.
For a moment, Kade thought he'd miscalculated. The razor wire was right there, close enough to see the rust on the barbs—
He cleared it by half a meter.
Kade hit the ground on the other side in a roll that he didn't remember knowing how to do. Momentum dispersed cleanly. He came up in a crouch, heart hammering.
[AGILITY ATTRIBUTE DEMONSTRATION: SUCCESSFUL]
[BASELINE HUMAN VERTICAL LEAP: 0.4-0.6 METERS]
[YOUR PERFORMANCE: 1.8 METERS]
[ANALYSIS: APPROXIMATELY 3X NORMAL CAPACITY]
Kade stared at the fence behind him.
Three times normal. And that was with his stats *limited* to appear F-Rank.
"What happens if I remove the limiters?"
[NOT RECOMMENDED]
[CONCEALMENT PROTOCOL EXISTS FOR YOUR PROTECTION]
[FULL OUTPUT WOULD REGISTER AS C-RANK ON ANY SCANNER WITHIN 500 METERS]
Right. Stay hidden. Stay F-Rank. At least on paper.
Kade stood and continued into the forest.
***
The dungeon entrance looked like a wound in reality.
It hung in the air between two ancient trees—a vertical slash of blue-white light approximately three meters tall and two meters wide. The edges flickered with energy that made Kade's eyes hurt to look at directly.
Rift energy. The same stuff that had nearly destroyed humanity thirty years ago. The same stuff that now powered every Awakened ability in existence.
The same stuff he was about to walk into.
There were no guards. No other hunters. Hollowbreak was low-priority—an F-Rank training ground that saw maybe a dozen groups per week. Mid-morning on a weekday, Kade had the place to himself.
Perfect.
He approached the Rift slowly, studying it. Up close, the light had texture—like looking at water, except the water was vertical and glowing and led to somewhere that shouldn't exist.
[DUNGEON DETECTED: HOLLOWBREAK PASSAGE]
[CLASSIFICATION: F-RANK]
[PRIMARY INHABITANTS: RIFT HOUNDS (F-RANK), SHADOW RATS (F-RANK)]
[BOSS ENTITY: CORRUPTED HOUND ALPHA (E-RANK)]
[ESTIMATED ESSENCE YIELD: 180-250 UNITS]
An E-Rank boss. That was higher than standard for an F-Rank dungeon, but not uncommon. It's why parties of four were recommended—three F-Ranks could handle the regular creatures, and together they could overwhelm the boss.
Kade was alone.
"Calculate survival probability," he said quietly.
[ANALYZING...]
[FACTORS: ENHANCED PHYSIOLOGY, LIMITED ABILITY OUTPUT, SOLO OPERATION, E-RANK BOSS PRESENT]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 71%]
[ESSENCE ACQUISITION PROBABILITY: 89%]
[SERIOUS INJURY PROBABILITY: 34%]
Seventy-one percent. Better odds than Outpost Seven.
Kade took a breath, steadied himself, and stepped into the light.
***
Reality twisted.
For a moment, Kade existed in two places at once—the forest and somewhere else. Then the forest snapped away like a severed rope, and he stumbled forward onto stone.
Cold stone. Damp stone. The air smelled like rot and copper.
Kade's eyes adjusted quickly—another gift of his enhanced Perception. He was in a tunnel maybe four meters wide, carved from rough stone that glistened with moisture. Bioluminescent moss clung to the walls, providing faint blue-green light.
Behind him, the Rift entrance glowed—his exit, if he needed it.
Ahead, the tunnel descended into darkness.
[DUNGEON ENTRY CONFIRMED]
[ESSENCE COUNTER ACTIVATED: 0/1000]
[RECOMMENDATION: PROCEED WITH CAUTION]
Kade started walking.
His footsteps echoed slightly. Water dripped somewhere in the distance. The tunnel curved gently to the right, descending at a shallow angle.
Then he heard it: scratching. Claws on stone.
Multiple sources. Getting closer.
Kade stopped and raised his right hand, palm forward. He focused on the feeling the system had taught him during integration—that sense of energy coiled inside his chest, waiting to be shaped.
Force Cascade.
The power responded instantly. Silver-white energy flickered around his fingers—barely visible, but there. Ready.
Three shapes burst around the tunnel curve.
Rift Hounds. Dog-sized creatures with too many joints in their legs and heads that split vertically into three mandibles. Their skin was black and slick, like oil given form. Eyes that glowed sickly yellow.
They saw Kade and screamed—a sound like metal tearing.
Then they charged.
Kade thrust his palm forward and pushed.
Kinetic energy erupted from his hand—invisible force that caught the lead hound mid-leap and slammed it backward into its companions. All three tumbled in a tangle of limbs and mandibles.
[FORCE CASCADE ACTIVATED]
[OUTPUT: 15% (F-RANK LIMITATION)]
[AMPLIFICATION SEQUENCE INITIATED: x1]
Fifteen percent. He'd barely used any power, and it still hit like a concussive blast.
The hounds recovered fast—too fast. They separated and came at him from three angles.
Kade didn't panic. His enhanced Perception tracked all three simultaneously, breaking down their trajectories like mathematical equations.
Left hound: fastest, but overcommitted to its angle. Right hound: hanging back slightly, waiting. Center hound: wounded from the first blast, favoring its front left leg.
Kade targeted the wounded one.
Another pulse of force—this time focused into a spear-like projection. It caught the center hound in the chest and *crushed* it against the tunnel wall with a wet crunch.
[RIFT HOUND DEFEATED]
[ESSENCE ACQUIRED: +3]
[AMPLIFICATION SEQUENCE: x2]
The remaining two hounds hesitated—just for a moment. Long enough.
Kade pivoted left and *shoved* with his power. The hound flew sideways, hit the wall, and crumpled.
[ESSENCE ACQUIRED: +3]
[AMPLIFICATION SEQUENCE: x3]
The last hound turned to run.
Kade's next pulse caught it in the hindquarters and shattered its spine.
[ESSENCE ACQUIRED: +2]
[AMPLIFICATION SEQUENCE ENDED: 60 SECONDS ELAPSED]
[TOTAL ESSENCE: 8/1000]
Silence returned to the tunnel.
Kade stood there, breathing hard—not from exhaustion, but from adrenaline. His hands were shaking.
He'd just killed three monsters.
Alone.
In under thirty seconds.
"I'm not F-Rank," Kade whispered. "Not even close."
[CORRECT]
[YOUR PERFORMANCE SIGNIFICANTLY EXCEEDS F-RANK PARAMETERS]
[REMINDER: MAINTAIN CONCEALMENT PROTOCOLS]
Kade looked at the dead hounds. Their bodies were already starting to dissolve—Rift creatures didn't leave corpses, just essence that the system absorbed automatically.
No cores. No loot. Just raw power flowing into him.
He felt it—a faint warmth spreading through his chest. Not much. Eight essence out of a thousand needed. But it was progress.
Kade continued deeper into the dungeon.
***
The tunnel opened into a cavern.
It was large—maybe fifty meters across—with multiple passages branching off like arteries. The bioluminescent moss grew thicker here, providing enough light to see clearly.
And in the center of the cavern, dozens of Rift Hounds were clustered around something Kade couldn't quite make out.
They hadn't noticed him yet.
[THREAT ASSESSMENT: 24 RIFT HOUNDS DETECTED]
[RECOMMENDED APPROACH: STEALTH ELIMINATION OR TACTICAL RETREAT]
Twenty-four. A normal F-Rank party would turn around. Even E-Ranks would think twice about engaging that many at once.
Kade felt that familiar darkness rising in his chest—the same impulse that made him talk back to bullies, the same self-destructive urge that had nearly gotten him killed a hundred times.
Except now he had the power to back it up.
"What's the amplification maximum again?"
[FORCE CASCADE MAXIMUM AMPLIFICATION: x8]
[REQUIRES 8 SUCCESSFUL CONSECUTIVE APPLICATIONS WITHIN 60-SECOND WINDOW]
Eight times his normal output. And his "normal" was already three times a regular human's capability.
Kade smiled—sharp and cold.
"Let's test that."
He stepped into the cavern and clapped his hands together once.
The sound echoed like a gunshot.
Every hound turned toward him.
Then they charged.
[WARNING: ENEMY COUNT EXCEEDS SAFE ENGAGEMENT PARAMETERS]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY DROPPING: 71% → 54%]
Kade ignored the warning and attacked.