Senz pivoted on his heel. The whip's tip missed his throat by less than an inch, shattering the stone wall behind him. Before the Overseer could retract the weapon, Senz stepped into the man's reach.
The Overseer panicked, dropping the whip handle and throwing a heavy, Qi-infused punch toward Senz's chest. The air groaned under the weight of the blow.
(Logic check: Parry vs Dodge.)
(Parry window: 2 frames. Success rate: 85 percent.)
Senz didn't move away. He met the punch halfway. He rotated his lead hand in a circular motion, catching the Overseer's wrist and redirecting the momentum downward. It was the "Soft Deflecting Palm" technique from the Righteous Sect, executed with the ruthless efficiency of a machine.
The Overseer's own power pulled him off balance. Senz didn't waste the opening. He drove his elbow upward, aiming for the man's chin.
Thud.
The impact was solid, but the Overseer was a mid-tier martial artist. His skin was hardened by demonic cultivation. He gritted his teeth, absorbing the blow, and wrapped his thick arms around Senz in a crushing bear hug.
"I have you now!" the Overseer hissed, his muscles bulging as he prepared to snap Senz's spine.
The pressure was immense. Senz felt his ribs groaning, the internal bleeding status on his HUD beginning to flicker red. But he didn't struggle against the grip. Instead, he closed his eyes and triggered the Marrow Resonance at maximum output.
(System: Overclocking. Internal Qi consumption: 2 per second.)
A high-pitched, tectonic whine filled the cell. Senz's entire body began to vibrate at a frequency that defied biology. The Overseer screamed, his own bones rattling so violently he felt his teeth were going to shatter in his skull. The man's grip loosened as his nervous system went into shock from the localized earthquake Senz was emitting.
Senz slipped through the man's arms like water. He spun behind the Overseer, the rusted dagger reappearing in his hand.
(Critical Strike Window: Open.)
He drove the blade into the gap between the Overseer's shoulder blades, aiming for the spinal column. The rusted metal ground against bone, but the vibration of Senz's Qi acted like a saw, cutting through the demonic protection.
"Forgive me," Senz whispered into the man's ear.
The Overseer collapsed to his knees, his legs going limp as the connection to his lower body was severed. He let out a wet, rattling gasp, his head lolling forward. He wasn't dead yet, but his combat status had dropped to zero.
Senz stood over him, his chest heaving, his blue eyes glowing with a faint, electric intensity. The black sludge on his skin was being washed away by a fresh layer of sweat. He looked at his hands, which were finally steady.
(System: Combat resolved. Experience gained: 250.) (Level up: 2 to 3.)
Attributes:
Strength: 10 to 12
Agility: 9 to 11
Stamina: 11 to 13
Internal Qi: 10/25 (Recovering)
Senz wiped the blood from his dagger on the Overseer's expensive silk robes. He felt a strange, cold clarity. The panic was gone, replaced by the familiar calculation of a pro who had just cleared the first floor of a dungeon.
He reached down and stripped the Overseer of his remaining items: a heavy brass key, a small pouch of high-grade spirit stones, and a scroll sealed with the Blood Shadow Sect's emblem.
(Tutorial finished,) Senz thought, looking toward the iron door that led to the rest of the sect.
He stepped out of the cell, the darkness of the hallway swallowed by the blue glow of his status window.
The hallway outside the cell was a narrow vein of cold stone, lit only by the flickering, sickly green glow of spirit-lanterns. Senz leaned against the wall, his breath coming in shallow, ragged bursts. The fight had only lasted seconds, but the toll on his Level 3 martial body was severe. His shoulder was a mess of torn fabric and raw, weeping flesh from the whip strike, and his ribs felt like they had been crushed in a hydraulic press.
(Internal Bleeding: Moderate. Stamina: 3/13. Internal Qi: 4/25.)
The blue text of the HUD flickered in his vision, warning him of his critical state. Even with the marrow resonance tempering his bones, his flesh was still that of a malnourished lackey. He had pushed the engine too hard for a first encounter.
(I need a safe zone,) Senz thought, his fingers trembling as he clutched the heavy brass key he had stripped from the Overseer. (The guard barracks are five minutes to the north, and the Blood Pond is to the south. Neither is an option. If I'm caught looking like this, I'm dead.)
He looked at the small pouch of spirit stones in his palm. In the game, these were just a basic currency, but here, he could feel the raw, chaotic energy vibrating inside them. It was a low-grade demonic fuel. To any other disciple, these were used to bribe superiors or power minor artifacts.
He sat down in the shadows of a recessed alcove, his back screaming in protest as he hit the cold rock. He didn't have time for a traditional meditation. He took two of the stones and crushed them in his hands, using the last of his focus to trigger a localized marrow vibration.
(System: Forced Energy Absorption initiated. Efficiency: 40 percent. Warning: High risk of meridian corruption.)
(I don't have meridians to corrupt, you stupid machine,) Senz thought, his teeth gritting so hard they groaned. (Just put it into the bone marrow. Filter the demonic toxins through the calcium.)
The energy from the stones was violent. It felt like liquid glass being poured into his palms. Instead of letting the energy flow through his arms, he used the high-frequency hum of his skeleton to "shatter" the energy into smaller, manageable particles. He drew it straight into his radius and ulna, then pushed it up toward his humerus and into his spine.
(System: Internal Qi recovering. 5... 12... 18... 25/25.) (System: Stamina recovering. 8/13.)
The pain in his ribs subsided into a dull, manageable throb. The internal bleeding status stabilized, shifting from a flashing red to a steady yellow. He wasn't healed, but he was combat-ready again.
He stood up, his jet blue eyes scanning the darkness. He knew this floor. This was the Seventh Circle of the Blood Shadow Sect, the bottom-tier dormitory for the "expendables." To his left, a set of heavy iron doors led to the communal bathing area.
(The impurities,) Senz remembered, looking at the black, foul-smelling sludge still coating his forearms. (If I walk into the main hall smelling like a marrow-tempered master.)
He moved toward the bathing area, his steps silent and efficient. He didn't use the main entrance; he found a ventilation grate near the floor that the developers had left as a "shortcut" for stealth-build players. He pried it open with the rusted dagger and slid inside.
The room was filled with steam and the heavy scent of sulfur. A large, circular pool sat in the center, fed by a waterfall of heated mountain water. Two other lackeys were there, their backs to him, whispering in hushed, terrified tones.
"Did you hear?" one whispered, his voice shaking. "Overseer Yan hasn't come out of the Seventh Cell. They say the 'expendable' inside finally snapped."
"Don't be stupid," the second one hissed. "That kid was a corpse three days ago. Yan probably just got bored and decided to practice some new torture techniques. No one survives severed meridians."
Senz watched them from the shadows of the ventilation shaft. He analyzed their posture, their levels, and their gear.
(Target 1: Level 4 Lackey. HP: 120. Stance: Weak. Opening: Back of the skull.)
(Target 2: Level 5 Lackey. HP: 150. Stance: Relaxed. Opening: Throat.)
(No. Killing them is a waste of time and resources,) Senz calculated. (The alarm would trigger the moment their hearts stopped. I need a disguise.)
He waited until they stepped into the water, their clothes piled neatly on the stone benches. He reached out with a thin, wire-like cord he had found in the Overseer's pouch and snagged a set of standard initiate robes. He pulled them into the vent, then quietly backed out the way he came.
Ten minutes later, he emerged from a different grate in a secluded corner of the hallway. He was washed, his jet blue eyes hooded, and his midnight hair tied back with a strip of leather. In the dark robes of an initiate, he looked like just another nameless face in the crowd.
He opened the scroll he had taken from the Overseer. It wasn't a technique or a map. It was a transfer order.
(Order: Deliver the 'Special Asset' from Cell 7 to the Moon-Shattering Pavilion for the Sect Leader's banquet.)
Senz's eyes narrowed. The "Special Asset" was him. And the "banquet" wasn't a dinner party it was a ritual. In the game's lore, the Sect Leader used the blood of those with rare constitutions to prolong his own decaying life.
(The original Han Senz didn't die from a beating,) Senz realized, the pieces of the code falling into place. (He was supposed to be the main course. If I don't show up, they'll send the high-level Enforcers.)