The air felt like concrete pressing down on his lungs. The Troll-King - this massive, scarred mountain of stone and muscle - filled Vorn's entire field of vision. This wasn't some game monster. This was a walking disaster.
[WARNING: ACTIVE ENTITY DETECTED - TROLL-KING (RANK C-)]
'C-minus rank?' The system message felt like a sick joke. This thing radiated power like a nuclear reactor. Its presence alone made breathing difficult.
Then came the message that made his blood freeze:
[IMMINENT DEATH PROBABILITY: 99%]
His heart hammered against his ribs with cold, desperate clarity. A direct fight wasn't just suicide - it was like bringing a butter knife to a tank battle.
'Im just an ant about to be stepped on.'
The Troll-King didn't rush him. It just... watched. Those glowing red eyes held a malicious intelligence that was somehow worse than mindless rage. It was savoring this moment, enjoying his fear.
DRAG.
The monster's first move was casual - just stepping forward while dragging its massive tree-trunk club across the stone floor. The scraping sound was like nails on a chalkboard, but a thousand times worse.
WHOOSH.
The club came around in a lazy, backhanded swing.
Vorn tried to use his phantom-enhanced speed, but it was nothing compared to the troll's deceptive quickness. He dodged, but not completely.
The wind from the blow hit him like a physical wall, launching him sideways into the cave wall.
CRACK.
Pain exploded across his ribs - blinding, white-hot agony that made him see stars.
'One glancing blow. Just the wind from one glancing blow.'
This wasn't a fight. This was a demonstration of how screwed he was.
His mind went into overdrive, the system's analyzer working faster than ever. He scanned the troll, looking for any weakness. Hide too thick. Muscle density too great. His matter manipulation was still too weak to affect something this massive.
'I need an solution.'
A low scraping sound echoed from a side tunnel. His glasses flickered, highlighting a new target.
[TARGET IDENTIFIED: CAVE-SPIDER QUEEN (RANK D+)]
'D-plus rank. Still dangerous, but manageable.'
Vorn's mind started racing. The Troll-King was overwhelming direct force. The Spider Queen was a hunter, a trap-setter. He wasn't just a victim here - he was a player. And he was about to make a very dangerous move.
The Troll-King grunted, red eyes locked on him, club held casually in one massive hand.
Vorn didn't wait. He sprinted - not away from the troll, but toward the side tunnel where the spider lurked. He used his matter manipulation to launch sharp debris at the troll's feet, just enough to get its attention and piss it off.
ROARRR.
The Troll-King charged like a landslide of pure rage.
Vorn ran for his life, leading a mountain of malice straight into a spider's nest. He made it to the tunnel mouth and threw himself aside just as-
CRASH.
The Cave-Spider Queen was not happy about uninvited guests. Eight feet of segmented black chitin and razor-sharp legs, with glowing red eyes that pulsed with territorial fury. It had been waiting in its web-covered nest, and the sudden intrusion was an act of war.
HISSSSSS.
The sound was pure, concentrated rage.
The Troll-King, still focused on Vorn, didn't notice the new threat until a razor leg slashed across its arm, drawing a line of thick, black blood.
"ROARRR."
Now the troll was pissed at the spider instead.
Two apex predators, each king of their own domain, locked in a standoff.
Vorn didn't hesitate. This was his chance.
He became a ghost in the chaos, using the two monsters' battle as cover. When the Spider Queen lashed out with a venomous leg, he dodged and let it hit empty air. When the Troll-King swung its massive club, he made sure it smashed into the spider's chitinous shell instead of him.
"SHRIEK."
The queen's rage was now laser-focused on the troll.
Vorn was caught in the middle of a two-sided war - a deadly dance between titans. He was the puppeteer, using their hatred against each other.
The fight was brutal. A symphony of crushing blows and slashing claws, stone and chitin tearing and smashing. Vorn watched from relative safety, his glasses giving him a front-row seat to the carnage.
The Troll-King's raw power met the Spider Queen's speed and venom in a clash that shook the entire cave system.
He was battered and exhausted from that first blow, but he was alive. While the monsters fought, he took a moment to absorb power from the blood drops of earlier kills.
Warm energy coursed through his body, wounds healing at an accelerated rate.
[LEVEL UP!]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 2]
[ALL STATS INCREASED]
[NEW SKILL AVAILABLE]
'Finally.'
The battle reached its climax. The Troll-King, covered in wounds and black blood, managed to land one final, crushing blow that shattered the Cave-Spider Queen's skull.
CRACK.
It let out a triumphant roar, battered but alive.
Then it turned those burning red eyes back to Vorn.
'Oh shit'
A C-Rank monster that he'd just thoroughly pissed off. Even wounded, it could squash him like a bug.
'Time to go.'
Vorn used his last bit of energy for one desperate gambit. He focused his matter manipulation on the tunnel ceiling, weakening the structural integrity of key support points.
RUMBLE.
The ceiling started to collapse, tons of stone crashing down to block the tunnel entrance. He didn't wait to see if it would hold the Troll-King. He just ran.
He stumbled out of the dungeon, using every stealth technique he'd learned to avoid Bureau monitoring. Slipped back into the hospital like a ghost, avoiding agents who might be watching the entrances.
He made it back to his room and collapsed into bed, pretending to be asleep just as footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Bureau Office - Same Night
"Squad Leader, I'm telling you, something's not right about this kid," Agent Finn said, pacing nervously. "Vorn comes out of a D-Rank Gate with zero aura signature. His sister Seren has some kind of mana surge and she's still in a coma. And now he disappeared from the hospital for hours and just... shows up back in his room like nothing happened."
Squad Leader Thorne listened with cold, calculating eyes. He was a tall man with the kind of face that never smiled - all sharp angles and suspicious stares.
"Unawakened civilian or someone hiding massive power? Mana surge or external possession? Disappeared and returned or was never gone at all?" Thorne's voice was sharp as a blade. "Too many variables, Finn."
Finn looked to his superior for guidance, clearly out of his depth.
Thorne leaned back in his chair, a predatory smile playing at his lips.
"Here's what we're going to do, Agent Finn." His voice dropped to something dangerous. "You're going to get close to him burrow into his friend zone, Build trust. Find out what he's hiding."
Finn nodded nervously.
"Because I guarantee you, something is definitely not right with Vorn. And when we figure out what it is..." Thorne's smile widened, "we're going to use it."
[CURRENT STATUS]
[LEVEL: 2]
[EXP: 15/200]
[PATH: VEILED NOIR - INTEGRITY 91%]
[BLOOD MIRROR COUNTDOWN: 09:12:47]
[NEW THREAT: BUREAU SURVEILLANCE ACTIVE]