The Vanguard Initiate Barracks resembled a palace rather than a military camp. Kaelen walked down the gilded hallway, leaving a trail of toxic mud and black blood on the pristine white carpets. He ignored the disgusted stares of the passing servants and the wide-eyed glares of the other initiates.
He found his assigned quarters: Room 402. He pushed the heavy mahogany door open, locked it behind him, and headed straight for the bathing chambers.
Hot water was a luxury he had not felt in five years. Kaelen stood under the brass showerhead, watching the gray ash of devoured men wash down the marble drain. The searing heat soothed his bruised, magically hardened skin. He stepped out, wrapped a thick towel around his waist, and looked at his reflection in the steamed mirror.
His malnourished frame was gone. His muscles were dense, coiled like iron cables under his skin. The faint black veins of the Void Core pulsed steadily beneath his sternum, hungry and demanding.
The ethereal interface flickered to life in his vision.
[Host Status]
[Rank: Iron Tier (Initiate)]
[Next Evolution: Silver Tier Sentient Essence Required.]
He wiped the condensation from the glass to read the text more clearly. The mirror cleared. It reflected the glowing blue text.
It also reflected the shimmering, translucent silhouette dropping silently from the ceiling directly behind him.
Kaelen did not turn around. He threw himself backward, smashing his right shoulder completely through the thick mirror.
Two silenced throwing daggers buried themselves deep into the marble tiles exactly where his neck had been a fraction of a second prior.
The intruder landed without making a single sound. The assassin wore a sleek, light-bending stealth suit that distorted the air around them. A Silver Tier infiltrator. House Valerius was not wasting any time seeking revenge for their humiliated heir.
The assassin lunged forward, drawing a thin, curved short-sword dripping with corrosive green poison.
Kaelen activated Street Stealth. His center of gravity plummeted instantly. He slid across the wet tiles, narrowly dodging the vicious horizontal slash. He had no weapon. His stolen Vanguard dagger had shattered in the labyrinth. He had nothing but his bare hands.
The assassin pivoted with unnatural speed and thrust the poisoned blade straight toward Kaelen's chest.
Kaelen did not dodge. He raised his bare left forearm and stepped directly into the strike.
The poisoned blade slammed into his arm. The Ironclad Carapace sparked violently. The magically hardened skin halted the razor-sharp edge from drawing blood, but the heavy impact carried immense momentum.
Kaelen's new passive skill activated. The Kinetic Absorption system drew the sheer blunt force of the strike directly into his muscles, storing the energy like a coiled spring. His right arm immediately began to glow with a blinding, volatile white light.
[Kinetic Energy Absorbed. Warning: Ten seconds until internal tissue damage.]
Kaelen clamped his left hand down, trapping the assassin's sword arm in a vice-like grip. The killer's eyes widened in sheer panic behind their dark visor. They tried to pull away, but Kaelen's Bronze Tier strength locked them completely in place.
"Tell Valerius he should have sent an army," Kaelen whispered.
He drove his glowing right fist directly into the center of the assassin's chestplate.
The stored kinetic energy detonated on impact. The massive shockwave shattered the bathroom walls, blowing the assassin backward through the heavy oak door and out into the main living area. The light-bending stealth suit short-circuited and sparked, revealing a gasping, terrified man with a completely crushed ribcage.
Kaelen stepped through the settling plaster and dust. He stood over the paralyzed killer. The Void Core roared in his chest, demanding the rich, Silver Tier magic bleeding out on the expensive rug.
Kaelen reached down, his fingers turning into shadowy black tendrils.
Then he stopped.
The Guild Hub was heavily monitored. If he devoured a Silver Tier wielder in the middle of the initiate barracks, the resulting magical vacuum would instantly trigger every Aether alarm in Sector One. Guildmaster Sterling would personally kick down his door.
He needed the essence to survive, but eating here was suicide.
The crimson interface flashed violently in his vision, adjusting to his hesitation. New, jagged text carved itself into his retinas.
[Target subdued. Immediate consumption poses critical exposure risk.]
[Initiating advanced Void manipulation.]
[Skill Unlocked: Core Extraction.]
Kaelen stared at the bloody red text as the shadowy tendrils on his hands morphed. Instead of lashing out to devour the man's flesh, the shadows condensed into a single, razor-sharp black claw.
[Extract the Core. It can be consumed later.]
Footsteps pounded heavily in the hallway outside. Initiates and guards were running toward his room, drawn by the explosive sound of the shattered wall.
"Open the door!" a Platinum guard shouted, pounding on the heavy wood. "By order of the Vanguard, open this door!"
Kaelen looked at the dying assassin. He looked at the heavy door rattling on its hinges. He had less than five seconds before they breached the room.