The tunnel reeked of rot.
Lyle's boots crunched over broken glass and bone fragments as he entered the collapsed subway line—what had once been part of New Arkvale's underground metro system, now a half-submerged, beast-infested warren of darkness and decay. Twisted metal support beams jutted from the walls like claws, and shattered lighting strips blinked intermittently, offering only the illusion of safety.
> Warning: Light Levels Critically Low
Status: Mana Field Interference – Visibility Reduced
Passive Detection Radius Reduced by 60%
Lyle paused just inside the tunnel mouth, eyes narrowing.
He hadn't planned to come this far.
But after the second crystal, the system had pushed an urgent prompt:
> Sub-Zone Cleared: District South-9
Optional Bonus Path Unlocked: Old Metro
Risk: High – Tier 2 Threats Detected
Reward: Bonus Crystals / Gear Fragment (Unclaimed)
He couldn't ignore that.
If there was even a chance he could secure better equipment—or upgrade materials—it was worth the risk.
Even if he had to fight blind.
His hand hovered near the ring. A soft pulse. Not danger yet. But something was close.
He moved forward.
---
Elsewhere aboveground, Juno leapt from a rooftop silently and landed in a crouch atop a crumbling school bus. Her silver lens flicked with tracking pulses as she traced the last point of mana flare.
> Subject Entered Danger Zone: Metro Line 14-B
Threat Level: 2.5
Time to Collapse: Estimated 37 Minutes
She narrowed her eyes.
That area wasn't just dangerous—it was unstable.
If he triggered the wrong floor plate or fought too hard near a weakened section, the entire substructure could cave in.
She hesitated, chewing her bottom lip.
Then she dropped down from the bus and vanished into the shadows.
---
Lyle's breath misted in the stale air.
The further he walked, the more the heat seemed to rise—not from fire, but from trapped humidity and stagnant spiritual energy. His fingers tightened into a fist.
Then he heard it.
A low growl. Wet. Gurgling.
Then a second voice—higher-pitched, like nails on rusted steel.
> Hostile Presence Detected
Tier: 2 – Dual Targets
Entity 1: Carrion Borer – Level 7
Entity 2: Mawling Imp – Level 6
Crystal Yield: 2 / 1
Status: Hunting
Recommendation: Evade or Divide
"Too late for that."
From the shadows emerged the first beast.
The Carrion Borer was a monstrosity—its centipede-like body gleamed with armored plates slicked with ichor, each segment bristling with twitching legs tipped in hooked claws. Its eyes were dull, milky. Its mandibles clicked hungrily.
And then came the second.
A pale imp—no larger than a child—scrambled along the tunnel wall, its eyes glowing red and its jagged teeth bared in a twisted grin. It giggled as it spotted him, tongue lashing across bloodstained lips.
They came from opposite directions.
Ambush.
> Mana: 27/30
Shadow Grasp – Ready
HP: 89/100
Stat Points: 2 (Unspent)
Suggest Allocation: Dexterity / Strength
Lyle didn't hesitate.
He slammed both fists together, and the system pulsed in response.
> [Allocate Stat Points?]
➤ Strength +1
➤ Dexterity +1
Confirmed.
The rush hit like fire in his veins. Speed. Power. His muscles tensed. He surged forward.
> [Shadow Grasp – Activated]
He cast the spell toward the Borer, knowing the larger threat had to be restrained first. The shadows erupted from the floor like a vice, clutching its front segments and wrenching it off balance. It shrieked, high and sharp.
But the Imp leapt—fast.
Too fast.
It crashed into him from the side, its claws raking across his ribs.
> HP: 75
Status: Bleeding – Moderate
Mana: 22/30
Cooldown: Shadow Grasp – 7s
Lyle slammed his elbow into its jaw, then rolled, ripping a broken metal pipe from the wall.
He spun and drove it into the Imp's gut.
It hissed and slashed again, tearing through his coat and drawing blood from his shoulder.
Then the Borer broke free.
It lunged, mandibles wide.
Lyle dove—
But the tunnel shifted.
The floor beneath the Borer gave way as it slammed down, sending a thunderous crack through the underground. Concrete split. Metal groaned.
The entire tunnel started to collapse.
> ALERT: Structural Collapse Detected
Time to Impact: 15 Seconds
"Damn it—!"
Lyle grabbed the reeling Imp and flung it at the Borer.
The collision bought him one breath of time.
He ran.
Behind him, the tunnel roared with falling debris and shrieking beasts.
Just as he reached the side access corridor—
A figure landed beside him.
A blur of white.
A blade flashed.
And the Imp's head rolled clean off.
Lyle blinked.
Juno stood before him, silver eyes glowing faintly, her long coat fluttering in the wind of the collapsing tunnel. Her sword shimmered faintly with internal light.
"You're reckless," she said.
"You're late," he shot back, panting.
They turned as the tunnel gave one final groan and caved in completely behind them, cutting off the Borer's screeching howl in a spray of dust and rubble.
Silence followed.
Juno lowered her weapon. "We need to talk."
Lyle looked at her—truly looked—for the first time.
She wasn't just a watcher.
She was something more.
Something powerful.
And maybe, for now… an ally.
Smoke curled from the carcass of the second beast—a limber, wasp-like creature with segmented armor and flaring venom sacs that now lay twitching in the moss. Lyle stood over it, chest heaving, one hand braced against his knee while the other clutched a crystal still warm from extraction.
> Beast Defeated: Wyrmstinger (Tier 1)
Crystal Yield: 2 – Collected
EXP: +12
Codex Tip: Venom glands can be harvested for basic toxin recipes. Risk of contamination: Moderate.
> Current Crystal Storage: 4/10
Mana: 17/30
Shadow Grasp: Ready
Status: Healthy
He wiped his blade—now a jagged scrap of reinforced piping wrapped in cloth—on the grass, grimacing. That fight had been closer than he liked. The damn thing had leapt from the ceiling of a collapsed bus, and it had nearly skewered him through the chest.
Still… he was learning. Every second out here taught him more than weeks in the academy ever had.
The system didn't level him for surviving.
It leveled him for killing.
And he was starting to get the hang of it.
A shift in the wind stirred the vines above, and his ring pulsed with a soft alert.
> Environmental Signature Change Detected
Residual Ki: Unknown Source
Status: Dormant
Lyle narrowed his eyes.
That was new.
He tucked the fresh crystal into his pouch, fingers brushing the others inside. Each one pulsed faintly with stored energy—a currency he still barely understood.
The Wild Zone stretched further ahead, broken by a jagged stairwell that led beneath a shattered parking structure. Shadows gathered there like a curtain, thick and wet with the scent of ash.
He moved slowly, descending the steps with care.
Halfway down, he stopped.
A strange stillness coated the air—thick and humming.
> Warning: Local Threat Signature Rising
Estimated Tier: 2
Unique Trait Detected: Fire Affinity
Status: Asleep
Something burned here recently.
The walls were scorched. Melted steel bones jutted from the ceiling. A pair of skeletons—human, or once-human—lay fused to the back wall where fire had kissed the concrete like a god's rage.
Whatever did this… it was still close.
He should've turned back.
But he didn't.
Instead, he inched closer, pulled by something deeper than instinct.
Drawn.
---
Above the surface, two figures moved through the ruins.
One was cloaked in white—her hood lowered, pale hair catching what little sun broke through the canopy. Juno moved with the grace of someone trained to observe and never be seen, her silver lenses scanning the residual arcane trails Lyle left behind.
Her voice came soft.
"He's adapting fast."
The other presence, barely visible, shimmered like heat haze in the air.
A second female figure, darker, cloaked in black.
Muka said nothing—just smirked.
But her eyes burned with interest.
The boy wasn't ordinary.
Not anymore.
The descent felt longer than it should have. Each step Lyle took echoed unnaturally, swallowed by the dense, scorched air. The underground chamber stretched wide, its far corners cloaked in smoke and flickering shadows. The only illumination came from veins of pulsing magma etched like scars into the cracked floor.
He paused just past the last stair.
Something was watching him.
> Hostile Presence Detected
Tier: 2
Level: 7
Class: Pyroscale Drake
Status: Dormant (Waking…)
Crystal Yield: 4–6
Unique Drop: Fire-Touched Bone Marrow (Rare)
Lyle's fingers curled into fists.
A Drake?
He wasn't ready for that.
Not at his level. Not with a half-broken weapon and one low-tier skill.
> [Codex Alert]
A higher-tier beast has sensed your blood. Fleeing is possible.
If you stay, survival chance: <22%
Estimated reward if successful: +200 EXP, 5–6 Beast Crystals, Unique Drop, Permanent Stat Bonus.
He took a shaky breath.
Most would run.
Most should run.
But he stepped forward instead.
The ring on his finger pulsed—bright red this time.
Not in warning.
In recognition.
As if it had seen this beast before.
The air thickened. The shadows shifted. Something massive stirred in the far smoke, and with a low, bone-rattling growl, the creature's eyes ignited—two embers in the black.
Lyle summoned the shadows beneath his feet, but even as his mana surged, he could feel the difference in scale.
This wasn't like before.
This wasn't a scrap for survival.
This was a challenge from something ancient.
And the Codex responded.
> [New Quest – "Trial by Flame"]
Defeat the Pyroscale Drake using only base-level equipment and system-awarded skills.
Optional Objective: Survive for 10 minutes without using healing items.
Bonus Reward: Unlock Hidden Codex Branch – "Elemental Bond (Emberroot)"
The Drake unfolded itself from the heat—massive, reptilian, coated in cracked volcanic scales that shimmered with internal fire. Each footstep left glowing prints behind as it stalked forward, smoke curling from its nostrils.
Lyle forced himself not to flinch.
This was madness.
But he'd come this far.
And he didn't crawl from the pit of mediocrity just to run from his first real test.
He lowered his stance, both hands ready.
The Codex chimed again, softer now. Encouraging.
> Shadow Grasp – Ready
Stat Points Available: 1
Suggested Allocation: Vitality (Survivability)
Mana: 19/30
Bonus Effect Active: Momentum – Gained from back-to-back beast kills. +10% skill activation speed for 3 minutes.
His pulse slowed.
His mind focused.
He wasn't faster. He wasn't stronger.
But he was calm.
And that would have to be enough.
The Drake roared—heat blasting outward like a furnace as it launched forward.
And the battle began.
---
Elsewhere...
The two women remained perched atop a broken overlook, their eyes locked onto the shifting heat signatures from deep below. The smoke rising from the underground chamber had darkened, tinged with bursts of red.
"He's engaging it," Juno whispered, stunned.
"Insane," Muka chuckled softly. "He doesn't even have a real weapon."
Juno frowned.
"No... he has something else."
The cloak around her shimmered as she adjusted the dials on her wrist.
"His Codex is evolving again. I'm reading a bonded signature forming in real time. That ring… it's interfacing with the system directly. But I've never seen this format before."
"Then maybe," Muka murmured, voice low and almost reverent, "we finally found him."
"Who?"
"The one they thought never existed."