The barracks door shut behind Loid with a heavy thud, and for the first time in hours, he let his shoulders sag. The pouch of coins weighed heavy in his hand, heavier still in his thoughts. He pulled the string loose, peered inside, and saw the golden glow. Real, solid, one hundred coins.
For a moment, he just stood in the street, the night air cool against his face, the distant torches flickering along the palisade. His chest rose and fell with an uneven rhythm. Relief sat on him, but it wasn't pure. It was sharp, tight, a relief born of desperation more than victory.
"…Finally," he whispered to himself, almost disbelieving. "One hundred."
His fingers trembled slightly as he pulled open the translucent screen only he could see. The UI came alive, lines of glowing text hovering in the air before him.
---
[ Reputation Coins: 100.30 ]
[ Reputation Points: 279 ]
---
Loid's lips pressed into a thin line. The numbers felt unreal, abstract, detached. And yet, he knew better than anyone that every decimal point, every rising counter, was written in blood. Selvara's blood, if she wasn't careful. Goblin blood, endlessly so.
His eyes slid to the bottom of the display, where Selvara's panel rested.
---
Selvara – Silver Gale
Level: 5
Cost to Level 6: 1600 Reputation Points
Strength: 1 | Endurance: 4 | Agility: 5 | Spirit: 3
Abilities:
– Momentum Shift
Passive Slot: Empty
---
Loid exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening.
"Three hours ago," he muttered, half to himself, half to the silent streets. "I pushed her to level five that cost 800 reputation points… then made her spirit to three… That's the only reason she hasn't collapsed yet. She should've burned out. No one fights that long without rest. But Spirit's keeping her… holding her up."
He clenched the coin pouch.
"That's why I needed this," he continued, more firmly. "She's been in the forest since dawn. And the points keep climbing. Every time I check, they keep climbing. Hundreds of goblins, a thousand maybe. She hasn't stopped. If I don't give her something more, something that keeps her alive... she'll break. Spirit alone isn't enough. I know it."
Loid's eyes hardened. He opened the Passive Shop.
---
Passive Shop
Phantom Dash (120C)
Appearance: Each movement leaves behind lingering ghostly silhouettes, confusing enemies.
Buffs: +45% speed. Afterimages have a 10% chance to draw attacks instead of the real body.
Blade Cyclone (1.25C)
Appearance: Weapons leave glowing arcs in the air as if drawing circles of light.
Buffs: While moving at high speed, each swing creates a secondary slash of wind (half damage). Dodging into enemies auto-slashes them.
Lightning Veins (100C)
Appearance: Veins glow electric blue, sparks dance across the skin and armor.
Buffs: +40% movement + attack speed. Every 5th strike delivers a mini lightning shock, stunning for 0.5s.
Wind Reaper (100C)
Appearance: Cloak and hair whip violently, feet leave spirals of dust and wind blades.
Buffs: Running generates slicing wind that deals chip damage (small bleed) to nearby foes. Critical strikes after a dash gain +30% power.
Flowstate (80C)
Appearance: Body radiates a faint aura of flowing water, movements smooth and effortless.
Buffs: Grants perfect momentum control, no slowdown when changing direction. +30% agility. Parry chance increased when dodging.
Shadow Step (100C)
Appearance: Legs vanish into darkness when sprinting, footsteps go silent.
Buffs: +35% speed. First attack out of a dash is cloaked in shadow and ignores 20% armor. Moving through shadows increases dodge by +15%.
Bloodrush (140C)
Appearance: Eyes glow red, heartbeat audible like war drums, trails of crimson light follow.
Buffs: For every enemy slain within 10 seconds, speed increases by +10% (stack up to +50%). Killing resets fatigue for sprinting/dodging.
Falcon Dive (110C)
Appearance: Eyes gleam gold, faint spectral wings appear briefly when leaping.
Buffs: Jump distance doubled, falling attacks deal +200% damage. Running strikes stagger mounted foes.
Temporal Glimpse (150C)
Appearance: World flickers for a heartbeat when activating, eyes glow pale white.
Buffs: Briefly perceives future movements — first dodge each 10 seconds becomes automatic (perfect evade). Reaction time doubled.
Storm runner (130C)
Appearance: Feet leave crackling trails of electricity, dust ignites into sparks behind you.
Buffs: Sprinting charges static energy. After 5 seconds of running, next melee strike delivers a thunderclap that knocks back a squad.
Etc.
---
Loid scrolled slowly, though his eyes barely lingered on the others. He already knew.
"Storm Runner's good," he murmured. "Fits her speed, but… no. It's wasted. It's bursts, not sustained." His finger flicked downward. "Temporal Glimpse… Falcon Dive… too expensive and feels wrong for her."
The cursor settled over Lightning Veins.
Loid stared at it, lips parting slightly. "This one… This is it. Pure speed. Pure ferocity. Her veins glow, her body sparks. She'll cut through them faster, hit harder, stun them in between. If she can't keep the tide down, then…" He trailed off, eyes narrowing. "Then she dies."
He didn't hesitate. He pressed confirm.
The coins vanished from his pouch UI, the number zeroing out in a blink.
---
[ Passive Equipped: Lightning Veins ]
---
The glow dimmed, and Loid found himself staring at the faint afterimage lingering in the air. His reflection hovered faintly against it, pale in the torchlight, weary and lined with worry.
He shut his eyes for a long breath, whispering under it. "I hope you're safe, Selvara…"
---
Far from the village, deep within the eastern dark, Selvara crouched low behind a rotting log, her blades slick with drying blood. Her silver eyes scanned the tree line. The cave entrance was distant, but not too distant, the guttural howls echoed clear, goblins shouting, shrieking, rallying.
She exhaled softly. Her body ached, though Spirit had kept her going far beyond human limits. But she felt it still, the pull of exhaustion on her muscles, the dull ache in her bones.
Then it came. A spark, subtle at first, crawling across her skin. Her breath caught.
Her veins lit up with electric blue, pulsing under her pale skin like living lightning. Sparks danced across her arms, her armor, crackling faintly with every subtle movement. The ache dulled, washed away by a sharp, burning vitality.
She smiled, small and rare, her lips curling ever so slightly. "So... He gave me more."
A tremor rippled through the forest as the next wave of goblins spilled from the cave. These were cautious, not charging blindly like their kin before. Their guttural shouts carried suspicion, nerves, they smelled the trap, knew of the slaughter awaiting them.
Selvara rose to her feet, the glow of her veins throwing eerie light across the clearing. The goblins froze at the sight, their eyes widening, confusion twisting into fear.
She twirled her blades once, sparks crackling with the motion, and whispered to herself, though her voice carried cold across the air.
"Come, then."
The goblins hesitated, then screamed as one, rushing forward in rage.
Selvara vanished from where she stood, a flash of silver and blue tearing into the night.