The moment Kevin stepped through the dungeon gate, the air changed.
It was heavier inside.
Thicker.
Mana pressed against his skin like humidity before a storm. The world behind him vanished as the portal sealed with a dull, echoing pulse. What remained was a cavern of jagged stone and dim blue crystals embedded along the walls, casting uneven shadows across the ground.
Hunters were already engaged ahead.
Shouts ricocheted through the tunnels. Steel clashed against stone. Spells flared and fizzled out in chaotic bursts of light.
Kevin tightened his grip around the standard-issue academy blade they had handed him earlier that day. It felt light. Cheap. Temporary. Much like the value others had placed on him.
He moved forward carefully, staying near the backline.
Then the ground shook.
A thunderous roar exploded from the central chamber ahead. Dust rained from the ceiling as something massive struck the stone floor. Hunters were thrown backward like dolls.
"This isn't E-Rank!" someone shouted in panic. "It's at least D-Rank!"
Kevin entered the chamber just in time to see it.
The Stone Golem.
Nearly three meters tall, its body was carved from dense black granite layered with glowing veins of unstable mana. One arm was cracked from previous strikes, but the damage seemed to be regenerating as fragments of stone pulled themselves back into place.
Luke Derin stood at the front, golden aura blazing.
"Hold formation!" Luke commanded. "Attack the joints!"
A coordinated assault followed. Fire spears streaked across the air. Ice blades formed mid-flight. Arrows coated in mana struck the creature's knees.
The golem staggered.
Then it roared again.
Its fist slammed into the ground.
The shockwave rippled outward violently.
Kevin barely raised his arms before the force hit him. The world flipped. His body slammed into a pillar. Pain erupted across his ribs. His blade flew from his hand and skidded across the stone floor.
Dust clouded the chamber.
Through blurred vision, Kevin saw chaos.
A C-Rank hunter's sword snapped in half against the golem's shoulder. A mage misfired a spell that detonated prematurely. Hunters began retreating, abandoning broken weapons in their haste.
Discarded blades.
Failed spells.
Shattered mana constructs.
The system pulsed violently in Kevin's vision.
Discarded Energy Detected.Discarded Equipment Detected.Absorb?
The golem's shadow loomed over him.
He tried to stand.
His leg buckled.
The monster lifted its massive foot.
This was how it ended.
Not dramatically. Not heroically.
Just crushed.
Luke's voice cut through the chaos. "Kevin, move!"
Kevin looked up at the descending stone foot.
Absorb.
Yes.
Everything changed.
The dungeon floor flickered.
Broken swords dissolved into streams of blue light. Fragments of failed magic peeled away from the air like burning paper. Cracked shields disintegrated into raw energy.
It all rushed into him.
Kevin screamed.
It felt like swallowing lightning.
His veins burned as foreign mana forced itself through pathways never meant to hold it. His muscles tightened violently. His vision fractured with static.
The golem's foot crashed down.
Impact thundered through the chamber.
Silence followed.
Dust settled slowly.
Hunters stared.
The golem's foot had not crushed flesh.
It was stopped.
Kevin's arms were raised above his head, skin coated in a thin layer of hardened stone. Cracks spread across the surface, but it held.
System notification flickered.
Skill Fragment Acquired: Stone Skin (Damaged)Stability: 23%Warning: Mana Overload
Kevin's breathing was ragged.
He shoved upward.
The golem stumbled back half a step.
Shock rippled across the room.
Luke's eyes widened.
"That's impossible…"
Kevin's heart pounded violently. The energy inside him was unstable, wild, fighting against his body. He could feel it tearing at him from the inside.
Another notification appeared.
Broken Blade Fragment Acquired.Minor Mana Core Fragment Acquired.Synchronization in Progress.
The golem roared again and swung its cracked arm sideways.
Kevin couldn't dodge.
The impact sent him flying across the chamber. Stone shattered beneath him as he crashed through a column and hit the far wall. Something inside his chest cracked. Blood filled his mouth.
The Stone Skin shattered off his arms.
His vision dimmed.
Too much.
He had absorbed too much.
Mana surged uncontrollably beneath his skin, flickering visibly like lightning trapped inside veins. His body wasn't strong enough to contain it.
The system screen glitched.
Stability: 12%Warning: Critical Failure Imminent
The golem advanced slowly, heavy steps shaking the floor.
Hunters hesitated.
Some were already retreating toward the exit tunnel.
Luke stood frozen, calculating.
Kevin tasted iron.
So this was the cost.
Trash trying to hold too much weight.
The golem raised its arm for the finishing blow.
Kevin forced his mind to focus.
Recycle wasn't just absorption.
The description had said repurpose.
He had been taking.
But he hadn't tried shaping.
Through the haze of pain, he reached inward — not to absorb more — but to compress what he already held.
The broken blade fragment.
The damaged Stone Skin.
The unstable mana core.
Instead of letting them rage separately, he forced them together.
The process felt like grinding shattered glass inside his veins.
System prompt flickered.
Fusion Detected.Create New Skill?
Kevin clenched his teeth.
Yes.
For a fraction of a second, everything went silent.
Then the energy stabilized.
New Skill Created: Reforged GuardRank: UnclassifiedDescription: Temporarily converts absorbed fragments into adaptive defense.
The golem's fist descended.
Kevin stepped forward instead of back.
The punch landed squarely against his chest.
A shockwave burst outward.
The floor cracked.
But Kevin did not move.
The impact dispersed across his body in a ripple of hardened energy that shimmered briefly before fading.
The chamber fell silent.
Kevin looked up slowly, eyes no longer uncertain.
He drove his fist into the cracked joint of the golem's knee.
The sound of splitting granite echoed through the cavern.
The creature staggered.
Mana leaked from its core.
System pulse intensified.
Core Instability Detected.High-Value Fragment Available.
Kevin leapt.
For someone with an F-Rank physical rating, the speed was unnatural.
He climbed the collapsing creature's body as it tried to swat him off. Stone broke beneath his grip, but he used the falling debris as footholds.
At the top, he drove his hand directly into the glowing crack along its chest.
Raw dungeon energy exploded outward.
Hunters shielded their eyes.
Kevin screamed as he absorbed the surge.
Dungeon Core Fragment Acquired.
The golem froze.
Then shattered.
Silence filled the chamber except for the sound of falling debris.
Kevin landed heavily on one knee.
The mana within him stabilized — not perfectly, but controlled.
System update flickered slowly.
Growth Rating Reassessment in Progress…Error.Insufficient Data.Progress Increased: 3%
Kevin looked up.
Hunters were staring.
Not laughing.
Not mocking.
Staring.
Luke stepped forward slowly, golden aura flickering uncertainly.
"What are you?" Luke asked quietly.
Kevin met his gaze.
For the first time since the Awakening Hall, he did not feel small.
"I'm what you left behind."
The dungeon lights flickered violently.
Somewhere deep below the chamber, something stirred.
Something ancient.
And it had just felt Kevin's presence for the first time.