Kaelen held the silver rapier by the bare blade. Blood trickled down his fingers, but his magically hardened skin prevented the razor-sharp steel from biting bone.
The young Vanguard knight stared at his hand in absolute shock. Her aristocratic composure shattered completely. She planted her boots on the stone floor and tried to yank the weapon back. Kaelen did not budge a single inch. His newly acquired Bronze Tier strength rooted him to the spot like a mountain of iron.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice trembling.
Kaelen released the blade smoothly. He took a slow step backward, keeping his eyes locked on her glowing chestplate. "Someone trying to survive. Just like you."
Before she could respond, the overcharged Aether crystal embedded in her silver armor violently pulsed. A sickening crack echoed in the silent armory. The crystal fractured straight down the middle.
The young woman gasped and dropped her rapier. She fell hard to her knees, clutching her chest in agony. Blinding white light leaked through her silver gauntlets. The air in the room grew incredibly hot, smelling of burning ozone and melting copper.
Kaelen stepped back as the system interface erupted in his vision. The text flashed with critical red warnings.
[Warning. External Aether source destabilizing.]
[Target is experiencing critical Aether Overload. Catastrophic detonation imminent in thirty seconds.]
Kaelen stared at the floating letters. A catastrophic detonation would vaporize the entire ruined outpost. He would not survive the blast, regardless of his hardened skin.
The girl screamed. Her flesh began to glow with an unnatural, searing light. She was literally burning alive from the inside out, consumed by her own massive magical capacity.
[Solution: Initiate direct physical contact. Siphon excess Aether to stabilize the target.]
Kaelen did not hesitate. He lunged forward and grabbed her armored shoulders. The heat radiating from her body was unbearable, blistering the skin on his palms despite his passive resistance. He ignored the pain and pressed his right hand directly against the fractured crystal on her chestplate.
"What are you doing?" she choked out, her eyes rolling back in her head.
"Saving both of our lives," Kaelen gritted his teeth. "Feed."
The Void Core behind his sternum roared to life. Black, shadowy tendrils erupted violently from his palm. They pierced the glowing crystal and plunged directly into the girl's chaotic Aether core.
The energy feedback was completely different from devouring a feral beast. It was pure, refined, and incredibly dense. Liquid lightning flooded Kaelen's veins. He bit his lip until it bled to keep from screaming as the system rapidly processed the chaotic magic.
[Siphoning Overcharged Aether...]
[Host Mana Capacity expanding.]
[Target stabilized.]
The blinding light in the room rapidly faded. The suffocating heat dissipated into the damp air of the Deep Sump. The young woman slumped forward, completely exhausted but alive. She was breathing heavily, leaning her forehead against Kaelen's chest.
Kaelen slowly retracted his shadowy tendrils. The interface flickered with a calming blue notification.
[Aether pool expanded. Host has unlocked active Mana manipulation.]
Before Kaelen could explore his new power, heavy footsteps echoed from the dark corridor outside. Rough boots stomped carelessly across the cracked stone tiles.
"I saw the light flash from in here!" a gruff voice yelled. "The rat must have triggered an old defense trap!"
Three men walked into the ruined armory. They wore heavy leather coats adorned with jagged skull tattoos. Scrap Gang lieutenants. They carried rusted machetes and heavy iron crossbows loaded with toxic bolts.
The leader of the trio scanned the room. His eyes passed over the pile of gray ash, the shattered iron grate, and finally landed on Kaelen. Then his gaze shifted to the unconscious Vanguard knight resting against Kaelen's knees.
A cruel, greedy smile stretched across the lieutenant's scarred face. "Well look at this. The boss wants the boy dead, but a High Tier knight? That silver armor alone will buy us a ticket out of the slums."
Kaelen gently pushed the unconscious girl aside. He stood up slowly. He picked up the discarded Vanguard dagger from the floor. The chipped blade felt perfectly balanced in his grip. The dark Aether he had just siphoned thrummed in his muscles, begging to be unleashed.
"You should have stayed in the upper sectors," Kaelen whispered, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
The three thugs laughed. The man on the left raised his heavy crossbow and fired a toxic bolt directly at Kaelen's chest.
Kaelen did not even blink. His Bronze Tier agility made the bolt look like it was moving through thick mud. He tilted his torso slightly to the right. The bolt sailed past him and shattered harmlessly against the stone wall.
The thugs froze in absolute shock.
Kaelen activated his Street Stealth passive. He dropped his center of gravity and vanished instantly into the dim, bioluminescent shadows of the armory.
"Where did he go?" the leader panicked, swinging his machete blindly in the air.
Kaelen appeared directly behind the crossbow wielder. He drove the Vanguard dagger upward, slipping the blade effortlessly through the gap in the man's leather armor to pierce his spine. The thug dropped to the floor without a sound.
[Target Killed. Devour sequence initiated.]
Black tendrils lashed out from Kaelen's boots, sinking into the dying man's shadow and draining his weak essence instantly.
The second thug roared and lunged at Kaelen with a rusted axe. Kaelen sidestepped the sloppy attack. He grabbed the man's wrist, twisted it violently, and shattered the joint with his bare hands. The man screamed. Kaelen silenced him by driving the heavy iron pommel of his dagger directly into the thug's temple.
The gang leader backed away in terror. His two elite enforcers had been slaughtered in less than five seconds. This was not the weak, starving street rat they had been hunting. This was a monster.
"Wait!" the leader begged, dropping his machete to the floor. "I can pay you! I have Aether crystals! I can get you out of the Deep Sump!"
Kaelen stepped out of the shadows. His eyes glowed with a faint, abyssal black light. The Void Core pulsed hungrily in his chest, eager to consume the terrified prey standing before him.
"I don't need your crystals," Kaelen said coldly. "I just need your stats."
He lunged forward and plunged his bare hand directly into the leader's chest. The man convulsed violently as the shadowy tendrils ripped his Aether core to shreds, turning him into a pile of gray ash in mere seconds.
[Targets Devoured. Low density essence absorbed.]
[Agility +2]
[Strength +1]
Kaelen exhaled a long breath. The dark energy settled comfortably in his veins. He wiped the ash from his hand and turned around to check on the Vanguard knight.
She was awake.
The young woman was sitting against a collapsed stone pillar, clutching her fractured chestplate. She stared at the three piles of ash scattered across the floor, and then she locked her sharp eyes directly onto Kaelen's face. She had seen everything. She had seen the black tendrils. She had seen him devour human beings.
She slowly reached out and picked up her fallen rapier. She used the silver blade to help herself stand. Her legs were trembling, but her grip on the weapon was steady.
"You are a Devourer," she stated, her voice tight with a mixture of awe and absolute terror. "The legends of the Void are true."
Kaelen tightened his grip on his dagger, fully prepared to kill her to protect his secret.
Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the foundations of the entire outpost. The ceiling groaned violently, dropping heavy chunks of stone debris all around them.
A terrifying, magically amplified voice echoed through the dark corridors outside. "I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE, RAT! I AM BRINGING THIS ENTIRE RUIN DOWN ON YOUR HEAD!"
The Scrap Gang leader had arrived. And he had brought explosives.
Kaelen and the Vanguard knight locked eyes. The hostility between them vanished instantly, replaced by the immediate, overwhelming need to survive.