The dungeon was dying.
The rhythmic heartbeat that had pulsed through the walls of the Dragon Bones for millennia had gone silent. The extraction of the Dragon Heart by Sarae had destabilized the entire structure.
The ground shuddered. Cracks raced up the obsidian walls, weeping lava.
"Run, boy," Sylara's voice echoed in his mind, sharp and urgent. "The dungeon is purging itself. The core of the dungeon has been taken. It will collapse into the void within the hour."
Kael didn't need to be told twice. He sprinted toward the exit tunnel, his boots splashing through cooling magma.
SYSTEM ALERT
DUNGEON INTEGRITY: 15%
EVACUATION PROTOCOL: MANDATORY.
As he ran, he tested his new skill. He pictured the space ten meters ahead.
[SWIFT STEP]
Flash.
The world blurred. For a split second, Kael felt like he was underwater, the air thick and heavy, and then he snapped forward, bypassing the distance instantly.
He skidded to a halt, his stomach lurching.
"Disorienting," he muttered.
"It is not a movement speed buff," Sylara lectured, her tone bored but instructive. "It is a spatial fold. You are literally cutting a hole in space and stepping through it. Use it too much, and your internal organs will end up outside your skin."
"Good to know."
He came to a blocked passage. A massive slab of stone had fallen, cutting off the path. It was too heavy to move physically, even with his strength.
Kael looked at the sharp jagged rocks around him. He focused on his other new skill.
[BLOOD MANIPULATION]
He bit his lip, drawing blood. He didn't let it drip. He willed it.
The crimson droplets floated in the air, vibrating. He flicked his wrist.
SHING!
The droplets shot forward, hardening into needle-thin projectiles. They slammed into the cracks of the stone slab, expanding and exploding.
CRACK.
The slab split in two, creating a gap just wide enough for him to slip through.
"A crude application," Sylara critiqued. "But effective. You lack finesse. You swing your power like a club."
"I'm a brawler," Kael retorted, running through the gap. "It works."
He entered a large cavern. Ahead, a group of Lava Golems were rampaging, confused by the dying dungeon. They blocked the only exit.
Kael skidded to a stop. He didn't want to waste time.
He held out his hand. He tried to summon his lightning while simultaneously manipulating his blood. He imagined a blade of red lightning.
MANA RESONANCE...
ERROR.
INCOMPATIBLE FREQUENCIES DETECTED.
FUSION FAILED.
The lightning sparked and died. The blood splattered uselessly on the floor.
Kael cursed. "Why can't I combine them?"
"Because you are a broken vessel," Sylara answered instantly. "Lightning is order. Blood is chaos. Dragon fire is destruction. You have three distinct cores inside you, Kael. They do not know how to dance together. You force them, and they will tear you apart."
"So what? I just use them one at a time?"
"For now," Sylara said. "Until you find a Catalyst. A skill or item that bridges the gap. For now... use what you have."
Kael gritted his teeth. He focused purely on [BLOOD MANIPULATION].
He slashed his palm. A torrent of blood flowed out, floating around him like a crimson river.
"Swarm."
The blood broke into hundreds of tiny, razor-sharp shards.
FIRE.
The shards blasted forward, turning the Lava Golems into pincushions. The constructs crumbled, their cores shattered.
Kael didn't stop. He leaped over the debris and continued his sprint.
30 Minutes Later.
The shaking grew violent. The ceiling began to fall in chunks.
Kael reached the vent shaft Sylara had mentioned. It was a rusted grate high up on the wall.
He used [Swift Step] to teleport directly to the grate. He kicked it open and hauled himself inside.
The tunnel was narrow, smelling of sewage and rot. It was the ancient runoff system for the city above.
He crawled for what felt like an hour. The sounds of the collapsing dungeon faded behind him, replaced by the distant hum of city life.
He reached a manhole cover.
He pushed. It didn't budge.
"Locked," he grunted.
"Break it," Sylara commanded.
Kael placed his palm against the metal. [DEVOUR].
The metal aged a thousand years in a second, rusting into orange dust.
He pushed the remains aside and pulled himself up.
He emerged into the cool night air.
He was in a desolate industrial yard on the outskirts of the city. Mountains of shipping containers and rusted machinery surrounded him. The moon was high, casting long shadows.
Kael took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the smoggy air of the surface. He was out.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
DUNGEON EXIT SUCCESSFUL.
QUEST UPDATE: ESCAPE THE DRAGON BONES.
STATUS: COMPLETE.
REWARD: 2000 XP.
He sat on the edge of the manhole, checking his status.
LEVEL: 59 (C-RANK)
MANA: 2000/5000
He had survived. He had grown. But he was still miles away from the city center. And he was exhausted.
"Good," Sylara whispered in his mind. "You survived. Now, find me a sacrifice. I need more blood to maintain this link."
"I'll get you a rat," Kael muttered, standing up.
"I require human blood, or equivalent. Do not be stingy, boy."
Kael ignored her. He walked toward the edge of the yard. He needed to get back to the Lockwood Estate. He needed to retrieve the items he had stashed.
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
Kael froze. It wasn't an earthquake.
From the shadows of the shipping containers, a massive shape emerged.
It was a beast, easily thirty feet tall. It had the body of a lion, but with three heads, each one snarling and dripping toxic saliva. A mane of writhing snakes hissed around each neck.
SYSTEM WARNING
BOSS DETECTED.
NAME: CHIMERA OF THE WASTE.
RANK: B (PEAK).
LEVEL: 78.
The Chimera roared—a sound that shattered the windows of the nearby abandoned trucks.
"You've got to be kidding me," Kael groaned.
"That is not a dungeon monster," Sylara noted, her voice intrigued. "That is a summoned guardian. Someone set a trap here."
Kael's eyes narrowed. A trap? For him? Or for anyone escaping the dungeon?
The Chimera's middle head opened its mouth, gathering a ball of green fire.
Kael reached for his sword—
But before he could trace a blade, a shadow dropped from the sky.
BOOM.
A figure landed between Kael and the Chimera.
The figure was tall, wearing a black trench coat that fluttered in the wind. He held a single, curved blade in his hand.
SYSTEM SCAN
TARGET: UNKNOWN
LEVEL: ???
RANK: A
The newcomer didn't look back at Kael. He simply raised his sword.
"Go," the stranger said, his voice low. "This one is mine."
The Chimera fired the fireball. The stranger slashed his sword once.
A wave of darkness cut through the fireball, splitting it in two, and continued through the Chimera, slicing the massive beast cleanly in half.
The beast fell dead.
The stranger flicked the blood off his blade and turned to face Kael.
Kael tensed, ready to fight, but then he saw the man's eyes.
They were gold. Vertical slits.
And a faint, white scale pattern was visible on his neck.
"You have the Hart eyes," the man said, studying Kael. "But damn, you smell like a grave."
"Who are you?" Kael demanded.
The man smiled, showing fangs.
"I'm your worst nightmare, kid," the man said. "Or... your best hope. Depends on how much you're willing to pay for answers."
He sheathed his sword.
"My name is Cassian. And I think we need to talk."