Location: Dharavi Slums, Abandoned Godown
Date & Time: January 2, 2025 | 06:30 PM
The suffocating shadows of the narrow Dharavi alleys were beginning to deepen. Exhausted and battered after a day of dodging both drones and the overwhelming chaos of the crowd, Rudra finally found a secluded spot—an abandoned, decaying godown surrounded by heaps of waste. His body was screaming for rest.
He had barely stepped through the half-broken iron shutter of the godown when [Primal Adaptation] suddenly triggered a violent alarm in his mind.
The heavy, ragged breathing of something lurking in the pitch-black corner echoed through the hollow space. A sickening, rotten stench hung in the air, and a faint vibration rattled the dusty floor beneath his feet.
"Rudra, stop. Grip your bat—now," Ruin Soul's voice resonated in his mind. The usual mockery was gone, replaced by a cold, deadly seriousness. "This isn't just another street mutant. This is a D-Rank heat signature. He's gone feral; there's nothing human left in him."
A massive silhouette emerged from the darkness. The man was taller and broader than any normal human. His veins had turned a necrotic black, pulsing visibly against his skin, and his eyes held nothing but a predatory, animalistic hunger. Without a single warning, the feral D-Ranker lunged, his body cutting through the air like a projectile.
Rudra barely had time to raise his bronze baseball bat in defense.
CLANG!
The impact was so violent that Rudra's hands went completely numb instantly. He was sent flying backward, slamming hard into the jagged brick wall of the godown. A sickening 'crack' echoed from his chest, and a spray of blood escaped his lips, staining the cold floor.
"Get up, kid! If you stay down, you're dead!" Ruin Soul roared, snapping him back to consciousness. "You can't win this with raw strength. Use the environment! His skin is as thick as stone, but his joints and skull are still his weak points."
Wiping the blood from his mouth, Rudra forced himself to his feet, fighting through the blinding pain in his ribs. The D-Ranker charged again. This time, Rudra didn't meet him head-on. He lunged into a narrow gap between two crumbling walls of the godown—a space too tight for the mutant's massive frame.
The D-Ranker's broad shoulders got wedged, his frantic swings smashing uselessly into the bricks instead of Rudra.
This was the window. Channeling every ounce of his E-Rank energy into his arms, Rudra swung the bronze bat with everything he had left. He aimed straight for the mutant's knee. The sound of shattering bone filled the room as the D-Ranker collapsed to his knees, his momentum halted.
Without wasting a heartbeat, Rudra swung again, bringing the bat down in a brutal arc onto the mutant's head. A heavy, sickening thud followed. The D-Ranker slumped to the ground and finally went still.
Rudra was gasping for air, his lungs burning. His bronze bat was now dented and mangled, stained with dark blood. His entire body was shivering from the shock; his ribs were definitely broken, and the world was beginning to spin.
"You did it," Ruin Soul said, a faint trace of pride in his voice. "But your body is at its limit. Use [Gluttony]. Absorb his energy now, or you won't survive these injuries."
Trembling, Rudra crawled over and placed his hand on the chest of the fallen mutant. As [Gluttony] activated, a thick, icy torrent of energy rushed into his body.
"You've just devoured energy a level above your own," Ruin Soul explained. "This dark energy will knit your bones back together. You won't need food or water for the coming days, but to process this, your body must shut down completely. Sleep now. I will watch over you."
Darkness slowly clouded Rudra's vision. He collapsed onto the freezing floor of the godown, slipping into a deep, heavy slumber—a coma-like state that wouldn't break for an entire week.
Chapter Summary
Location & Time: Abandoned Godown, Dharavi | Evening of January 2, 2025.
The Encounter: Rudra faces a feral D-Rank mutant. Despite the massive power gap, he manages to win by using tactical positioning in a narrow space and targeting joints.
The Cost: Rudra suffers severe injuries, including broken ribs. His bronze baseball bat is heavily damaged and dented from the intensity of the fight.
The Absorption: Using [Gluttony], Rudra devours the D-Rank energy. Ruin Soul explains that this high-level energy will heal his mortal wounds but requires his body to enter a forced 'Deep Sleep' to assimilate the power.
Current Status: Rudra is in a coma-like sleep on the godown floor, protected by Ruin Soul. He is scheduled to wake up on January 9, 2025.