The sky that night was the color of old bruises.
I didn't sleep.
Not really.
I sat cross-legged on the bus roof while the ash drifted sideways instead of down, because gravity was already getting weird around the crater zone.
I focused on the threads again.
Arcane Affinity.
They were clearer now.
Before, they felt like static.
Now they felt like… currents.
Like invisible rivers flowing through everything.
When I reached out not physically, but mentally—I felt warmth gather in my palms.
Green light flickered faintly between my fingers.
Unstable.
Wild.
Untamed.
I grinned.
"Okay… magic 101."
The glow sputtered and popped like a dying sparkler.
I flinched.
The bus roof dented slightly under my sudden tension.
Note to self: control excitement. You're stronger now.
A soft chime interrupted me.
Daily Tasks – Day 3
Travel 10 km toward a High-Magic Zone.
Eliminate 5 Hostile Mutants.
Absorb 200 EXP from Magical Entities.
Reward: +2 Stat Points
I looked west.
The map showed a pulsing violet distortion about nine kilometers away.
Probably not safe.
Definitely not safe.
But High-Magic Zone meant opportunity.
"Field trip," I muttered.
The city grew stranger the further I moved from my old apartment district.
Buildings weren't just collapsed anymore.
Some were… twisted.
Bent like soft clay.
A subway train had fused halfway through a skyscraper.
Sideways.
A playground floated three meters above ground, chains swaying though there was no wind.
Reality was loosening.
Not fully melted like it would be centuries later in the weird patches of Ooo.
But the cracks were showing.
Mutants prowled openly now.
Not scavenging.
Hunting for human survivors.
They'd begun forming packs.
Five of them stalked me near what used to be a shopping mall.
Their movements were coordinated.
Smarter.
Adaptation wasn't exclusive to me it seems.
One charged low.
Another flanked right.
I exhaled slowly.
Agility carried me forward instead of back.
I met the first mid-sprint and drove my shoulder into its torso.
The impact shattered its sternum.
+140 EXP
I pivoted and grabbed the second by its elongated arm, twisting until bone snapped.
My strength surprised even me.
Three more lunged at once.
I let Arcane Affinity pulse outward instinctively,
A shockwave.
Small.
Crude.
But real.
Green light flared from my body in a ripple.
The mutants staggered as if struck by wind.
I blinked.
"Oh you don't like that huh, you piece of green shit."
That worked better than expected.
I capitalized immediately.
Three precise strikes to the head and chest.
Three down.
+620 EXP Total
Silence returned to the ruined mall entrance.
I checked my hands.
Faint green veins pulsed under my skin before fading.
Not corruption.
Integration.
I felt… slightly more attuned with the energy around me..
Assimilation triggered again.
Minor adrenal regulation.
Improved muscle efficiency.
This was stacking fast.
By midday I reached the edge of the High-Magic Zone, the air hummed audibly here like standing next to power lines.
The asphalt had liquefied into crystalline growths.
Purple crystal spires jutted from the ground in unnatural symmetry.
And at the center,
A sinkhole.
Deep.
Glowing faint red.
My senses sharpened.
Vampires.
More than one.
Underground.
"Ah yes, So this is where they're nesting."
Canon memory flickered.
The ancient Vampire Court would eventually dominate large territories before being hunted down centuries later.
This could be the proto-court or a small early faction.
If they were organizing already…
That was bad.
And very good EXP.
I crouched at the sinkhole's edge and listened.
Voices.
Calm.
Intelligent.
"…the green-robed one walks the plains," a voice echoed from below. "We do not interfere with death incarnate."
The Lich.
They were aware of him.
Smart.
Another voice, sharper: "But the altered human... "
That's me.
"he burns like the sun yet does not crumble."
Silence.
Then:
"Bring him."
I smiled slowly.
"Oh, I don't think so."
I jumped.
The fall was fifteen meters.
I landed in a crouch inside a cavern carved from broken infrastructure and old subway lines.
Five vampires waited.
Not feral.
Composed.
The suited one from earlier stood among them, half-healed.
"You came," it said pleasantly.
"Yeah," I replied. "Didn't want to miss the meeting."
They moved as one.
Not chaotic like mutants.
Two attacked high.
One low.
One stayed back observing my actions .
Must be the leader or something.
I let my body respond instead of overthinking.
First vampire's claws grazed my cheek—regeneration sealed it instantly.
I grabbed its wrist mid-swipe and hurled it into a support pillar.
Concrete cracked.
Second lunged for my throat.
I channeled Arcane Affinity deliberately this time.
Not outward.
Inward.
Magic wrapped around my fist.
I punched.
Green light exploded on impact.
The vampire flew backward, turning into sparkle smoke .
+810 EXP
Level up energy surged.
LEVEL 5 ACHIEVED
+6 Stat Points
I didn't allocate yet.
No time.
The low attacker clamped onto my leg.
Teeth sank in.
Pain flared,
But something unexpected happened.
My minor blood absorption trait activated instinctively.
Instead of losing strength
I felt a surge.
Warmth.
Energy siphoned backward.
The vampire recoiled in confusion.
"What.. ?"
I drove my elbow into its skull.
+770 EXP
The observing leader stepped forward slowly.
Its eyes were older.
Calmer.
"You are evolving unnaturally fast for a human"
"Yeah," I said between breaths. "Thirty-day deadline."
It tilted its head.
"Ah. You hear it too."
That made me pause.
"what ?"
It smiled faintly.
"A convergence."
The air trembled slightly.
Dimensional stress pulsed.
This close to the High-Magic Zone, reality felt thinner.
The leader moved.
Faster than the others.
Faster than me,
At first.
Its claws raked across my chest.
Deep.
Deeper than anything before.
I stumbled back.
Blood dripped.
Regeneration struggled for a moment.
Okay.
This one's different.
I steadied my breathing.
Its movements weren't just physical.
There was a shimmer before each dash.
Like a micro-blink.
Short-range phase shifting.
I closed my eyes for half a second.
Trusted my senses.
Enhanced hearing.
Heat detection.
Arcane pulse detection.
There...
A distortion spike just before it reappeared.
I swung early.
My fist collided with its jaw mid-materialization.
The impact sounded like thunder in the cavern.
Its head snapped sideways.
For the first time, It looked surprised.
We traded blows.
Concrete shattered around us.
Crystal spires cracked.
The remaining vampires hesitated, uncertain whether to join.
I pushed harder.
Stat points unallocated burned in my mind.
I dumped all six into STR mid-combat.
Power surged.
My next strike sent the leader crashing through a support column.
The cavern ceiling groaned.
Debris fell.
It rose slowly from rubble, smiling faintly even as smoke rose from its skin.
"You will not remain human long," it said.
"Good," I answered.
I lunged.
Channeling every thread of Arcane Affinity I could grasp, I compressed it into a single point in my palm.
Unstable.
Wild.
I drove it forward.
The explosion of green light consumed the leader entirely.
When the glow faded,
Only ash remained.
+1200 EXP
Silence.
The remaining vampires fled.
Not disorganized.
Strategic retreat.
Smart.
Very smart.
LEVEL 6 ACHIEVED
+6 Stat Points
The cavern trembled violently.
The broken support column gave way.
Ceiling collapse imminent.
I sprinted toward the sinkhole shaft as debris rained down.
Agility carried me up fractured surfaces.
I leapt the final distance just as the entire underground nest collapsed into itself.
Dust and ash billowed upward.
I stood at the edge breathing hard.
The High-Magic Zone pulsed brighter for a moment,
Then stabilized.
Assimilation flooded in.
NEW TRAITS ACQUIRED
Minor Phase Perception
(Detect short-range spatial distortions)
Enhanced Regeneration (Improved)
Arcane Channeling (Primitive)
Superior Predatory Senses
I laughed breathlessly.
"Okay. That was worth it."
The sky above flickered.
And this time,
I saw it clearly.
For just a second, layered over the ruined city,
A silhouette of something impossible.
A mountain with a face.
Watching.
Then it vanished.
My Convergence timer ticked down.
26 Days 03:09:11.
The wind shifted.
Far off in the plains, a green flare erupted.
The Lich was still moving.
Still harvesting.
Still shaping the long road to extinction that would echo through centuries.
And now,
The vampires knew about me.
Which meant others would too.
Mutants.
Magic-born anomalies.
Survivor factions.
Maybe even future early magic-kingdom seeds.
I checked my stats again.
Stronger.
Faster.
Not invincible.
But climbing.
I looked toward the horizon.
"Alright," I muttered.
"time to see what's next "
And I started walking west,
Toward the deeper magic.
Toward the chaos.
Toward the thousand-year story that hadn't even begun yet.