Sector Three of the mine was thick with the smell of ozone and burnt iron. This wasn't a gas explosion; it was a violent discharge of energy. Ether crouched behind a pile of jagged rocks, using his newly awakened perception to peer through the settling dust.
Meters away stood the (Spectral Rock Rat). It was no ordinary rodent; it was the size of a small wolf, its back covered in razor-sharp metallic scales, and its eyes glowing a deep, bloody red. The beast roared, cornered by three mine guards.
"Pin it down! Don't let it escape into the deep crevices!" one guard shouted, wielding a spear fused with a (Shark-Tooth Phantom).
Ether watched the scene with cold detachment. "Idiots... they attack the scales with spears. The Spectral Rat's defense isn't in its claws; it's in the 'Resonance Gland' beneath its jaw. It makes its scales vibrate to absorb impacts. If they continue like this, the essence will shatter before they even kill it."
Ether retreated into the shadows. He had no weapon except for his rusted pickaxe and a handful of black sulfur powder.
"The guards are Rank 1 cultivators, but they lack experience. They rely on brute force. I, at Rank 0, cannot face it head-on... but I can 'direct' its death."
Suddenly, the rat lunged, shattering a guard's arm with its bladed tail. Panic erupted. The other two retreated, and the beast looked for an exit—straight toward the tunnel where Ether was hiding.
"Now..." Ether whispered.
He threw the sulfur powder with surgical precision toward an energy-saturated rock above the rat's head, then struck it with his pickaxe to provide the "spark."
CRACK!
A small explosion destabilized the 'Resonance Gland' in the rat's jaw. Its scales stopped vibrating for a split second. That was the opening.
"Now! Strike the neck!" Ether shouted in a muffled voice, making it seem like a coincidental collapse.
The guards seized the moment, plunging their spears into the weakened neck. The beast fell, convulsing. The guards rushed to the carcass, eager to rip out the heart, proud of their "sudden" victory.
"Go... take the heart and the scales. Nobles love shiny things. I will settle for what you cannot see."
Ether slithered like a snake through the dust. He reached the severed tail of the rat. He wasn't interested in the tail itself, but in the (Twisted Motor Nerve) that was still pulsing with faint electricity. With a surgeon's speed, he sliced the nerve and tucked it into his tunic.
Ether returned to his spot, playing the role of the terrified slave, while the guards laughed and bragged, unaware that the true "rat" had just stolen the engine of his immortality from right under their feet.