Outside the Silent Hollow, the air was crisp, scented with the pine of the surrounding forest—a sharp contrast to the tomb-like stench within. Victor Drake leaned against a customized armored transport, a mana-recovery potion in his hand.
"A pity about the kid," one of the mages muttered, though her eyes were busy scanning the loot they'd managed to haul out. "The school board might ask questions."
"Questions?" Victor scoffed, wiping a smear of monster blood from his silver pauldron. "The record will show Alex Kane panicked and tripped, triggering a trap that even I couldn't save him from. He was an F-Rank scavenger. His death is a statistical rounding error."
The team laughed, a shallow, nervous sound. They were the "elites," the future of the Blue Star, and their conscience was easily bought with the promise of high-rank gear.
"Besides," Victor added, his eyes narrowing with greed. "With him gone, his 'SSS-Rank' mystery dies too. The world doesn't need a scavenger god. It needs warriors."
BOOM.
A muffled explosion vibrated through the ground beneath their boots. The heavy stone doors of the dungeon entrance—magically sealed from the outside—shuddered.
"What was that? An aftershock?" the mage asked, her hand flying to her staff.
CRACK.
A second impact followed, louder this time. A massive fissure snaked across the surface of the ancient stone. The runes etched into the gate flickered violently, then shattered into sparks of dying mana.
Victor stood upright, his heart skipping a beat. "Impossible. That gate is rated for B-Rank impact strength..."
SHATTER.
The center of the gate didn't just break; it erupted outward. Shards of reinforced granite hissed through the air like shrapnel. One jagged piece grazed Victor's cheek, drawing a thin line of red.
From the dust and the billowing sulfurous smoke of the dungeon, a silhouette emerged.
Alex Kane stepped out into the sunlight.
He looked like a ghost returned from the abyss. His clothes were shredded, soaked in a mixture of black ichor and crimson blood, but his posture was different. The slight hunch of the overworked laborer was gone. He stood tall, his shoulders broad, his eyes glowing with an unsettling, predatory silver light.
"You... you're alive?" Victor gasped, his hand instinctively reaching for the hilt of his sword. "How did you get past the Behemoth?"
Alex didn't answer immediately. He took a slow, deliberate breath of the fresh air, his [Divine Sight] scanning the group. In his eyes, Victor was no longer a terrifying A-Rank warrior. He was a collection of glowing nodes—weak points in his joints, a fluctuating mana core in his chest, and several "active" attributes in his gear that Alex's fingers itched to strip away.
"The Behemoth was surprisingly generous," Alex said, his voice low and raspy, carrying a weight that made the surrounding mages flinch. "He gave me things you never could, Victor. Strength. Purpose."
"You think surviving a fluke makes you a match for us?" Victor's face twisted in a mask of wounded pride. He drew his blade, the steel humming with golden energy. "You're still just a scavenger. You're still trash!"
Victor lunged. He was an A-Rank Warrior; his speed was legendary among the students. To the others, he was a golden blur.
To Alex, he was moving through water.
Alex saw the [Strength] flow from Victor's core to his shoulder, saw the [Agility] spark in his calves. And he saw the gap.
As the sword descended in a lethal arc, Alex stepped half an inch to the left. The blade whistled past his ear, cutting nothing but air. Before Victor could recover, Alex's hand shot out—not a fist, but an open palm.
[The Void Hand: Activated.]
Alex's fingers clamped onto Victor's silver chestplate.
"Let's see what an 'elite' is made of," Alex hissed.
[Detected: 'Refined Steel' Attribute in armor. Scavenging...][Detected: 'Minor Haste' Enchantment. Scavenging...]
Victor's eyes widened as he felt a terrifying, cold vacuum pull at his very soul. The golden glow of his armor dimmed instantly. The metal beneath Alex's hand began to turn gray and brittle, the magical essence being s*ck*d out like water from a sponge.
"What are you doing?! Let go!" Victor screamed, trying to kick Alex away.
Alex didn't budge. He felt the stolen [Haste] flood his own nervous system. With a sudden burst of speed that left an afterimage, he drove a knee into Victor's gut.
The A-Rank warrior doubled over, the wind leaving his lungs in a pathetic wheeze. Alex didn't stop. He grabbed Victor by the throat and lifted him off the ground with one hand—a feat of raw strength that shouldn't have been possible.
The other students stood frozen, their spells half-cast, paralyzed by the sheer impossibility of the scene.
"This armor," Alex said, his voice devoid of emotion as the silver plate crumbled into dust under his touch. "It was too good for you anyway."
[Scavenge Complete: You have gained +15 Agility (Temporary) and 'Mana-Conductive' Essence.]
Alex tossed Victor aside like a bag of literal garbage. The "genius" of the Drake family rolled through the dirt, his expensive gear ruined, his dignity shattered.
Alex looked at the remaining team members. He raised his hand, and for a moment, the void energy swirling around his palm made the very shadows of the forest stretch toward him.
"Does anyone else have 'trash' they'd like me to clean up?"