The spear changed everything.
It was a simple, unadorned length of ashwood and iron, but in the confines of the sewer tunnel, it was a game-changer. The next Void-Touched Rat that charged me met a sharp, decisive end a full three feet before it could reach my legs. I didn't have to wrestle it; I just planted my back foot, angled the point, and let its own momentum do the work. The fight was cleaner, colder, and far less terrifying.
The second rat was more cautious, circling me. I kept the spear tip between us, a constant threat. When it finally darted in, a short, sharp thrust was all it took. The familiar dissolution into black smoke, the soft plink of a void crystal hitting the wet stone.
I collected it, my breathing steadier this time. The initial, panicked adrenaline was being replaced by a grim, focused determination. This was a grind. A brutal, disgusting, life-or-death grind. But it was a grind with a tangible reward.
[New Currency Acquired: Void Crystal (Rank 1) - Convert to 10 Aether Crystals?]
Convert.
[Conversion complete.]
[Current Balance: 10 Aether Crystals.]
Ten crystals. A tenth of the way to Aether Reinforcement. The progress was agonizingly slow, but it was progress. My leg and arm still throbbed, a constant reminder of my vulnerability. I needed to bank enough for a healing draught before I pushed my luck any further.
I moved deeper, my senses straining in the eerie gloom. The phosphorescent fungi cast long, dancing shadows that tricked the eye. Every drip of water sounded like a footstep. I was learning to read the environment, to listen for the specific skittering that signaled a threat versus the natural sounds of the decaying infrastructure.
An hour passed. Two. The tunnels began to look the same, a maze of dripping stone and rusted pipes. I'd taken down four more rats, my technique with the spear becoming more confident with each kill. My balance was now 50 Aether Crystals. Halfway to my goal.
And then I got sloppy.
I was following a wider tunnel, one that seemed to be a main artery. The water here was deeper, flowing more steadily towards some unseen outflow. I saw a cluster of rats up ahead, feeding on a lump of unidentifiable offal. Three of them. A manageable number now.
What I didn't see was the fourth, hidden in a dark crevice just above the waterline.
As I advanced on the feeding group, the hidden rat dropped onto my back.
Claws dug into my shoulders. I yelled, stumbling forward, my spear almost slipping from my grasp. The three feeding rats looked up, their red eyes locking onto me. Now it was four on one.
Panic flared, cold and sharp. I couldn't let them surround me.
I fell backward, slamming the rat on my back against the tunnel wall. I heard a satisfying crunch and a pained squeal. The weight lessened. I rolled, coming up to my knees just as the other three closed in.
There was no time for finesse. I swung the spear like a staff, the wooden shaft cracking against the lead rat's side, sending it spinning into the water. I thrust wildly, catching a second in the flank. It wasn't a clean kill, but it scrambled away, wounded and shrieking.
The third leaped. I brought the spear up, but I was off-balance. Its claws raked down my already injured arm, and I cried out, losing my grip on the spear. It clattered to the stone.
The rat landed and lunged for my throat.
Instinct took over. My hand shot to my inventory, and the Aether-Iron dagger materialized in my grip. I met its lunge, driving the blade up under its jaw. It dissolved into smoke mid-air.
I scrambled for my spear, my heart hammering. The one I'd wounded in the flank was still hissing at me from a distance. The one I'd knocked into the water was struggling to climb out. The one I'd slammed into the wall was stirring.
Gritting my teeth against the pain, I got to my feet, spear back in hand. I finished the wounded one with a precise thrust. I stomped on the head of the one trying to climb out until it stopped moving and dissolved. The last one, dazed from the impact, met the same fate.
The fight was over. I stood amidst the fading black smoke, panting, my body a symphony of fresh pain. My shoulders were bleeding, my arm was a mess of old and new cuts, and my leg ached fiercely. I'd gotten cocky. I'd almost died for it.
I collected the four crystals, my hands trembling from the aftermath of adrenaline.
[New Currency Acquired: Void Crystal (Rank 1) x4 - Convert to 40 Aether Crystals?]
Convert.
[Conversion complete.]
[Current Balance: 90 Aether Crystals.]
Ninety. I had it. I could buy the healing draught and still have a buffer. But as I looked at my bleeding arm, a new thought occurred to me. What if I got jumped again on the way out? I'd be back to square one, wasting the potion's effects.
I needed to get out of these sewers. Now.
I used the spear as a walking stick, limping back the way I came, every sense on high alert. The journey out felt ten times longer than the journey in. Every shadow seemed to move. Every sound made me jump.
Finally, I saw the grey light of day filtering down from the grate. I practically wept with relief. I climbed out, dragging myself into the alley behind the tannery, and collapsed against the wall, breathing in the relatively fresh, industrial stink of the air.
I was safe. For now.
I didn't wait. I pulled up the shop and purchased the [Minor Healing Draught] for 30 Crystals.
The vial appeared. I drank it greedily. The familiar warmth spread through me, stitching muscle and skin, washing away the pain and fatigue. The bleeding stopped. The deep aches faded to a memory. The relief was so profound it was almost emotional.
[Balance: 60 Aether Crystals.]
I was healed. I was armed. And I had sixty crystals left. It was a net gain of… fifteen crystals from when I'd entered the sewers, after accounting for the cost of the spear.
The math was brutally sobering. I had risked my life for over two hours, endured multiple injuries, and had a close call that could have been the end, all for the equivalent of fifteen dollars.
I looked at my hands. They were clean, the potion having healed the wounds, but I could still feel the phantom impact of the spear against rat bone, the slickness of the tunnel wall.
This was the reality of my new life. This was the cost of a crystal. It wasn't a game. It was a brutal, bloody economy where my life was the primary currency.
But I had survived. Again. And I was sixty crystals closer to Aether Reinforcement.
Pushing myself up, I stored the spear in my inventory. I couldn't go back to the flophouse covered in sewer muck and bloodstains, even healed. I needed a bath, a change of clothes, and a new plan. The sewers were too risky for solo hunting.
I needed to get out of the city. I needed to find a weaker hunting ground. And I knew, from the novel, exactly where to find one.
The plot was moving. The "hero" would soon be leaving the city on his first mission. And along that route was a forest known for its weak, Rank 1 monsters and, more importantly, a chance encounter with a certain guilt-ridden sword-saint who lived in seclusion nearby.
It was time to stop reacting. It was time to start following the script—just so I could tear it to pieces.