The door light flickered like a dying firefly.
Shiva pushed himself up, every movement dragging pain through his ribs. The hospital smelled worse now — rot layered over antiseptic. The silence between machine beeps felt too thick, too alive.
Something wasn't right.
A low hum rippled through the air, and the Interface flared again above his chest.
A shape began to materialize in the glow — small at first, then solid.
A hammer.
His hammer.
The same one he'd forged months ago in the old forge district. Its head was split down the middle, half steel, half translucent green crystal, veins of light pulsing inside.
[Artifact Detected — "Vajra-Agnī"]
[Owner: Shiva]
[Reconstruction: Complete]
[Status: Bound]
He reached out. The handle was warm — alive. The hum in his chest steadied as his fingers closed around it.
"Still with me, huh?" he muttered. "Guess some things don't break easy."
Then came the sound — wet dragging, faint but close.
He froze.
[Warning: Hostile Presence – 9 meters ahead]
[Objective: Escape the Hospital]
The door creaked open.
A figure stumbled in — a nurse's uniform drenched in black-red.
Half her face hung loose. The other half… scaled.
Her eyes locked on him, glowing red.
[Target: Human (Infested)]
[Threat Level: Moderate]
[Tip: Head Trauma Recommended]
Shiva blinked. "Good. I'm a blacksmith."
She screeched and charged.
He swung.
The hammer connected with her skull in a burst of green fire.
The wall cracked. Bone shattered.
She dropped, twitching.
Still moving.
He raised the hammer again. The next blow lit the room in emerald flame.
When the light faded, only dust remained.
[Enemy Eliminated]
[Experience +25]
[Skill Unlocked: Kinetic Absorption Lv.1]
He stood there, chest heaving. His ribs felt like glass, but the hammer's hum was steady.
For a moment, he almost felt alive again.
"Still hits hard," he said quietly.
The Interface pulsed once — faint approval? He couldn't tell.
He limped into the hallway. Emergency lights painted everything red. The building groaned like something alive.
At the stairwell, wind roared through a shattered window.
He forced his aching body forward, gripping the hammer tight.
Then he saw it.
Patliputra — or what was left of it.
Ruined towers pierced the sky. Rivers glowed green, pulsing like veins.
Creatures moved between the rubble — too large, too fast, too wrong.
The sacred capital of Sādhakas had become a graveyard.
[Main Quest Unlocked — "Reclaim Patliputra"]
[Reward: ???]
[Failure: Permanent Death]
He laughed — low, bitter.
"Die once, get promoted. Great deal."
Something roared in the distance. Not human. Not beast either.
The sound rolled through the ruins like thunder through bone.
[Secondary Alert: Hostile Energy Approaching]
[Recommendation: Prepare for Combat]
Shiva tightened his grip on Vajra-Agnī.
"Five minutes alive and the world's already trying to kill me again," he muttered. "Fine. Let's see what's left of it."
He stepped out through the broken glass, the wind cutting against his bandages, the hammer glowing faintly in his hand.
The wasteland below stirred.
And somewhere deep inside the Interface — something watched him back.
End of Chapter 2