The blue text hovered in Kaelen's vision like a promise of violence.
[Prey Detected.]
The blonde noble sneered in absolute disgust. He drew his jeweled rapier from its velvet sheath. The blade hummed with a pure, golden Aetheric light. It was a beautiful weapon, forged in the pristine armories of the High Tiers and completely untainted by the grime of real combat.
"I told you to crawl back to the slums, parasite," the noble declared. His two lackeys drew their own swords, stepping out to flank Kaelen on either side.
Kaelen did not draw his Vanguard dagger. Drawing a weapon first in broad daylight in Sector One was a guaranteed death sentence. The Vanguard guards patrolling the nearby docks wore heavy platinum armor. They carried repeating crossbows charged with lethal kinetic energy. He had to be smart. He had to play the victim until the absolute last second.
The Void Core throbbed heavily against his sternum. It begged him to rip the arrogant boy apart. It desperately wanted to consume the pure, unpolluted magic radiating from the jeweled sword. Kaelen forced the hunger down. He took a slow breath and kept his hands casually at his sides.
"Get out of my way," Kaelen said coldly.
The noble laughed aloud. His lackeys chuckled nervously, trying to match their leader's bravado. "A slum rat giving orders in the High Tiers. I think I will cut out your tongue before I throw you back down the chutes."
The noble lunged.
He executed a flawless, textbook thrust aimed directly at Kaelen's right shoulder. The golden Aether flared, creating a trail of blinding light designed to disorient an opponent. In a formal dueling ring, it would have been a perfect, crowd-pleasing strike.
In the slums, a textbook strike was completely useless.
Kaelen's ethereal interface flickered. His newly acquired Agility stats pumped pure adrenaline through his nervous system. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl. He watched the polished tip of the rapier inch toward his collarbone. The noble was channeling magic perfectly, but his footwork was entirely unbalanced. He was putting all his weight onto his front foot, leaving his center of gravity completely exposed.
Kaelen activated his Street Stealth passive.
His silhouette blurred for a fraction of a second. The unnatural cooling sensation washed over his skin, dropping his weight and masking his sudden movement. He sidestepped the thrust with minimal effort. The golden blade sailed harmlessly past his ear, cutting nothing but empty air.
The noble's eyes widened in sheer panic. He tried to pull his sword back, but his forward momentum betrayed him.
Kaelen struck like a coiled viper. He did not use a blade. He brought his right hand up in a vicious, open palm strike. He slammed his magically hardened skin directly into the underside of the noble's wrist.
The sickening sound of cracking bone echoed loudly across the pristine marble dock.
The noble shrieked in sudden agony. His fingers spasmed open. The expensive, glowing rapier dropped from his grip and clattered loudly against the stone tiles.
Kaelen did not stop moving. He pivoted smoothly on his left heel and swept his right leg out in a brutal, low kick. His heavy boot connected solidly with the back of the noble's knees. The arrogant teenager collapsed backward. He hit the marble floor hard, the air rushing out of his lungs in a sharp, pathetic gasp.
The two lackeys froze in absolute shock. They stared down at their fallen leader and then up at the filthy, bloodstained boy standing over him. Neither of them dared to swing their weapons.
Kaelen stared down at the gasping noble. His eyes burned with a faint, abyssal black light. "Your stance is too wide. Your grip is too tight. You telegraph your attacks a full second before you move. If we were fighting in the Deep Sump, you would already be gray ash."
Heavy metallic footsteps pounded aggressively against the marble. Three heavily armored Vanguard guards rushed toward the commotion. They leveled their glowing crossbows directly at Kaelen's chest.
"Stand down!" the lead guard barked, his voice amplified by magic. "Step away from Lord Valerius immediately!"
Kaelen smoothly raised his empty hands in the air. He did not show a single ounce of fear. He reached into his torn pocket with two fingers, moving slowly to avoid startling the armed men. He pulled out the heavy bronze token Captain Vane had given him.
With a flick of his wrist, Kaelen tossed the token through the air.
The lead guard snatched the flying metal out of the sky. He inspected the sword and shield engraving. His eyes narrowed slightly behind his platinum visor. He instantly recognized the personal seal of a Vanguard Captain.
"He is a registered initiate," the guard announced to his squad.
The other two guards immediately lowered their crossbows. The leader looked down at Valerius with a mixture of profound annoyance and quiet pity. "Get up, my lord. The docking bays are not a dueling ring. If you have a grievance with another initiate, you will settle it legally in the trials."
Valerius scrambled awkwardly to his feet. His face was beet red with pure, burning humiliation. He clutched his bruised wrist tightly against his chest. He glared at Kaelen with absolute, unadulterated hatred.
"You are a dead man, parasite," Valerius hissed through gritted teeth. "I will break every bone in your filthy body before this day is over."
Valerius turned and stormed away toward the towering crystal spires of the upper city. His lackeys hurried nervously after him, scrambling to pick up his dropped sword from the ground.
The guard tossed the bronze token back to Kaelen. "The Guild Hub is straight ahead. Sector Four administrative building. Do not cause any more trouble here, scavenger."
Kaelen caught the token and secured it in his pocket. He walked forward without offering a single word of thanks. The golden sunlight felt strangely harsh and invasive on his skin after spending his entire life living in the permanent twilight of the slums. He passed through the massive, gilded gates of Sector One.
The Vanguard Guild Hub was a sprawling fortress constructed of white marble and floating observation platforms. Hundreds of initiates milled around the massive central courtyard. They wore expensive silk tunics and highly polished leather armor. They were laughing, boasting, and showing off their glowing Aether crystals.
Kaelen walked through the pristine crowd like a walking plague. His clothes were shredded into rags. He was covered in dried mud, toxic sludge, and the lingering gray ash of devoured monsters. The wealthy initiates parted quickly to give him a very wide berth. They whispered cruel insults to one another and openly covered their noses in disgust.
He saw teenagers polishing immaculate swords that had never tasted actual blood. He saw girls fixing their hair in the mirrored reflections of their brand new shields. They were playing a grand game of war. Kaelen had been fighting a brutal, desperate war for survival since he could walk.
He ignored their stares. He kept his eyes locked entirely on the massive registration desk at the far end of the courtyard. He needed to secure his spot in the trials. The system hunger was a constant, dull ache in his chest, reminding him that he needed to secure stronger prey very soon.
A booming, magically amplified voice echoed violently through the courtyard. It silenced the murmuring crowd in an instant.
"Initiates! Listen closely!"
A towering man in Gold Tier armor stood on a floating platform high above the crowd. His voice carried the heavy weight of absolute authority.
"The Vanguard Guild does not care about your noble titles. We do not care about your immense wealth. The monsters of the Abyss do not care about your pedigree. They only care if you bleed. Your trial begins in exactly one hour. You will be sent directly into the artificial labyrinth located beneath this Hub."
The crowd shifted nervously. The golden knight continued his speech.
"It is a pure survival test. You may form pairs if you wish. You will fight simulated beasts and navigate deadly, archaic traps. Only the strong will earn the right to wear silver. Only the survivors will become Vanguard knights. Find your partners now."
The courtyard erupted into frantic, panicked whispering. Initiates scrambled wildly to find suitable partners. They clustered tightly into groups of allied wealthy families, completely ignoring the few commoners scattered throughout the courtyard.
Kaelen stood entirely alone near a stone pillar. He preferred it that way. A partner would only get in his way. Worse, a partner might discover the horrifying, parasitic nature of his Void Core during the heat of battle.
Suddenly, the hair on the back of Kaelen's neck stood straight up.
The air around him grew unnaturally hot. It smelled strongly of burning ozone and melting copper. The Void Core inside his chest pulsed violently against his ribs. It was not a warning of danger. It was reacting to a massive, highly unstable source of Aether approaching from behind.
Kaelen turned around smoothly. He rested his hand instinctively on the hidden hilt of his Vanguard dagger.
A girl was walking directly toward him through the parting crowd. The wealthy initiates stepped quickly away from her, complaining loudly about the sudden, suffocating heat wave she generated. She wore plain civilian clothes, hiding her armor beneath a simple dark traveling cloak.
Kaelen recognized her sharp, aristocratic features instantly. It was Lyra. The High Tier knight he had saved in the ruins of the Deep Sump.
She looked incredibly pale. The fractured Aether crystal embedded in her chest piece was hidden beneath her thick cloak, but the dangerous heat leaking from her body was undeniable. She was suffering from magical overload again. Her body was generating far more power than her physical form could safely contain.
Lyra stopped exactly two feet away from him. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Her intense, burning eyes locked onto his face with absolute, unwavering determination.
"You are going to be my partner for the labyrinth trial," Lyra whispered. Her voice was strained, clearly fighting the agonizing heat boiling inside her own veins.
Kaelen narrowed his eyes. He did not release his grip on his dagger. "I work alone. Go find another noble to carry you through the test."
"I do not have the time or the patience to argue with you," she hissed. She took a step closer until Kaelen could literally feel the blistering heat radiating from her skin. "My magic is destabilizing faster than last time. You are the only person in this entire city who can siphon my excess Aether without dying. You will team up with me, and you will keep me from exploding."
Kaelen smirked coldly. "And what exactly happens if I say no?"
Lyra leaned in closer. Her eyes flashed with a highly dangerous, desperate light.
"If you say no, I will scream to every single Guild Master in this courtyard that you possess a Void Core. I will tell them exactly how you devoured those gang members in the slums and turned them into ash. We either pass this trial together, or we burn together."