The faint, ozone-like scent of discharged Prana hung in the air of the command center, a testament to the morning's grueling session in the Sanctum. Silas was massaging his right hand, the knuckles slightly bruised from repeatedly punching through metaphysical resistance. Kai was muttering to himself, sketching meridian diagrams on a holographic pad. Li Yue moved through a slow, flowing kata, refining the channeling of energy she'd just begun to grasp.
Ash watched them, a quiet satisfaction settling over him. The spark had been lit; now it was a matter of fanning it into a sustainable flame.
"The adaptation rate is 38% faster than initial projections," he stated, the Nexus feeding him the data directly. "But brute-force repetition will lead to diminishing returns. We need to integrate this with our existing operations."
Aurora, who had been cleaning a disassembled rifle component with unnerving focus, looked up. "You're thinking about the field test. The one the Association just posted."
A holographic bulletin board flickered to life above the central console, displaying a notice from the Metropolitan Awakener Association.
[URGENT: C-Rank Gate Manifestation. Location: Old Industrial District, Sector 7-B. Energy Signature: Fluctuating. Composition: Aberrant-type entities suspected. Requesting C-Rank and above teams for containment and clearance. Reward: Standard C-Rank bounty, plus hazard pay.]
"Fluctuating energy signature," Kai read aloud, his business mind clicking into gear. "That's code for 'we don't know what's in there, and we don't want to risk our A-listers.' It's a perfect testing ground. Low enough rank to be beneath notice, high enough to pose a legitimate challenge."
"And it's infested with Aberrants," Silas added, a grim smile touching his lips. "Their incorporeal forms are a pain for conventional Awakeners. Perfect for testing Prana-based attacks."
Li Yue finished her kata, her breathing steady. "It is a logical next step. Theory must meet practice."
Ash nodded. "My thoughts exactly. But we do this under the Ash Protocol."
"Which is?" Aurora asked, reassembling her rifle with a series of sharp, precise clicks.
"We operate as we always have. Silas is the front. Aurora provides overwatch and intel. Kai handles external support and systems override. Li Yue and I are flexible support. The world sees a standard, if unusually well-equipped, B-Rank team carrying their useless E-Rank friend."
He paused, letting the plan solidify in their minds.
"The difference is, inside that Gate, I am no longer a liability. I am the contingency. You will engage the enemies with your conventional abilities, pushing your limits. But the moment you face something your powers cannot harm, the moment the situation deviates from the profile... I intervene."
"And how do you explain a hole punched through an Aberrant by an E-Rank?" Kai pointed out.
"I don't," Ash said simply. "The official record will show that Silas's new prototype ammunition, or Li Yue's refined internal energy techniques, or a well-placed shot from Aurora, was responsible. Misdirection. Confusion. The Ash Protocol means I act from the shadows, even within the shadows. My power remains our secret, and our ultimate weapon."
It was elegant. It allowed the team to grow and be tested genuinely, while having a safety net of divine proportions. They would get real combat data on integrating Prana, and Ash would get a controlled environment to test his abilities against real-world threats.
"Let's gear up," Silas said, his voice a low rumble of anticipation. "It's time to go to work."
An hour later, their armored van, outwardly nondescript but housing enough firepower to level a city block, pulled up a block away from the shimmering, sickly-green tear in reality that was the C-Rank Gate. The air crackled with distorted energy, and the smell of rust and ozone was overwhelming.
The Association controller at the perimeter checkpoint glanced at their credentials. "Team Helios? B-Rank clearance. You're cleared." His eyes then fell on Ash, who stood slightly behind the others, wearing a simple, non-combat jacket. "And the E-Rank? You know the rules, Silas. He stays in the safe zone. Liability waiver must be signed."
"Already handled," Silas replied, his tone leaving no room for argument. "He's our strategist and systems monitor. He stays at the rear."
The controller shrugged, inputting the data. "Your funeral. Try not to get him killed. The paperwork is a nightmare."
As they crossed the threshold into the distorted landscape of the Gate—a nightmarish version of the industrial park with twisted metal growing like trees and a viscous, green fluid dripping from broken pipes—Ash felt the Nexus hum to life.
[New Environment: Corrupted Foundry.]
[Mana Density: C-Rank. Contaminated with residual despair.]
[Quest Updated: Field Test - The Ash Protocol.]
• Objective: Clear the Gate while maintaining operational secrecy.
• Sub-Objective: Ensure team members land the final blow on at least 3 Aberrant-type entities using Prana-infused attacks.
• Reward: EXP, Increased team synergy, Data on Prana efficiency in combat.
"Eyes open," Aurora's voice came through the comms, crisp and clear. "I'm taking high ground on that central refinery structure. I have a visual on multiple contacts. They're... shifting."
Ahead, three humanoid shapes made of swirling smoke and angry red light solidified. Wailers—low-level Aberrants whose screams could disorient and paralyze.
"Engaging," Silas said, hefting his massive shield and charging. He moved with practiced efficiency, drawing their agro. Li Yue flanked left, her movements a silent blur.
Kai's voice was in their ears. "Their core oscillation is every 2.3 seconds. The brief solidification is your window."
Silas bashed one with his shield, the conventional impact doing little but angering it. As it shrieked, he focused, drawing on the well of Prana he'd just begun to access. His next punch wasn't faster or stronger in the conventional sense, but it carried a weight that reality itself seemed to acknowledge. It struck the Wailer during its oscillation, and the creature exploded into motes of dissipating shadow.
"Target down," Silas reported, a note of triumph in his voice.
"Confirmed," Ash said, monitoring the energy signature from the rear. "Prana signature was minimal and contained. Undetectable to external sensors."
They pushed deeper, a well-oiled machine. Aurora's sniper rounds, now subtly etched with the first runes Kai had designed based on the meridian maps, began to punch through Aberrants with lethal effect. Li Yue weaved through the chaos, her palms striking with soft silver flashes that unraveled the monsters from within.
They were doing it. They were integrating the power.
Then the Nexus pinged a warning in Ash's mind.
[Alert: Boss-level entity detected. Signature does not match C-Rank parameters. Evolution in progress.]
A deep, guttural roar echoed through the foundry, and the very metal around them groaned. From a massive smelting pit emerged a horror—a colossal, amorphous blob of molten metal and tortured spirits, with a dozen screaming faces pushing against its surface. A Forge-Fiend. It was at least a high B-Rank, pushing A.
A blast of superheated spectral fire erupted from it. Silas intercepted it with his shield, but the force and the psychic agony behind it sent him skidding back, his boots leaving grooves in the concrete. The shield glowed red-hot.
"My attacks are ineffective!" Aurora called out, her rifle shots vanishing into the molten mass without effect.
Li Yue danced back, a glancing blow from a spectral tentacle sending a wave of nausea through her. "It resists physical and pure energy! My Prana isn't strong enough to pierce its core!"
The Protocol was failing. Their tested abilities were useless.
Ash watched from the shadows, his analysis complete. The Nexus had already highlighted the core—a pulsing, black heart buried deep within the molten form.
"This is it," Ash said, his voice calm over the comms. "The contingency. Kai, I need an EM pulse from the van, maximum localized burst, on my mark. It will blind external sensors for three seconds. Aurora, provide a concussive round to the left of its mass as a distraction. Now."
He didn't wait for confirmation. As Kai's pulse fried external monitoring and Aurora's round drew the Fiend's attention, Ash moved.
He didn't run. He flowed. Prana surged through his body, not just to his fist, but to his legs, enhancing his speed to an impossible degree. To any observer, he would have been a blur, a trick of the light in the chaotic environment.
He reached the Forge-Fiend in a heartbeat. The heat was immense, the psychic screams deafening. He ignored it all. His right fist glowed not with a faint aura, but with the concentrated power of a thunderbolt.
VAJRA FIST.
He didn't punch the outer shell. He plunged his fist directly into the molten mass, the Prana around his arm creating a temporary bubble of immunity. His fist closed around the black, beating heart of the creature.
There was no sound. Only a sudden, violent cessation of all things.
The Forge-Fiend froze. The screams died in its throats. Then, from the inside out, it silently disintegrated into fine, black ash, which was then burned away by the lingering golden light of Ash's Prana.
Three seconds later, the sensors came back online.
The command center saw Silas standing firm, Li Yue poised for another strike, and the massive boss monster simply... gone. Vanished.
"Threat... neutralized," Kai reported, his voice laced with feigned confusion that was mostly real. "The entity's energy signature just... collapsed."
Silas looked down at his still-smoking shield, then back to where the monster had been. He glanced towards the rear, where Ash now stood, looking slightly winded and utterly harmless.
"Helios to Control," Silas said, his voice a masterclass in gruff nonchalance. "Gate is clear. Boss entity was unstable. Self-destructed upon taking critical damage. Awaiting extraction."
As the extraction team arrived, the controller shook his head in bewilderment. "Lucky break. You guys must have hit a weak point right as it was evolving. And the E-Rank... he actually survived. Amazing."
Ash offered a simple, grateful smile. "I just stayed in the back, like you said."
As they walked out of the Gate into the afternoon sun, the team was silent, processing what had happened. They had faced a genuine threat, pushed their new powers, and witnessed their friend—their secret weapon—erase a nightmare in the blink of an eye.
Back in the van, Aurora was the first to speak, her voice a low murmur. "So that's the Ash Protocol."
Ash leaned his head back against the seat, the adrenaline fading. "That's the protocol," he confirmed. "The world sees luck, coincidence, and a lucky E-Rank. They see nothing."
"And we," Kai said, a slow grin spreading across his face, "we see a god."
Ash closed his eyes. Not a god. Not yet.
But he was on his way.