The scent of salt and rotting fish usually defined the city's industrial shipyard, but tonight, it was replaced by the metallic tang of ozone and the iron-scent of fresh blood. Kaelen's Wraith-Bike skidded to a halt, the gravity-grip tires carving black grooves into the asphalt.
[System: Mana-Density reached 3.5%. Warning: Ambient energy is highly unstable.]
[Scanning for Primary Objective: Mana-Generator 'The Spark of Aeons'...]
Kaelen dismounted, his boots crunching on broken glass. In his past life, the "Spark of Aeons" had been claimed by a local gang within the first hour of the Rift opening. They hadn't known what it was—they just thought it was a glowing blue artifact. They had traded it to a passing high-level hunter for a few crates of canned food. That "artifact" had eventually powered an entire floating city.
"Not this time," Kaelen muttered, his right hand tightening into a fist as his gauntlet hummed.
He moved like a shadow between the towering stacks of shipping containers. His [Structural Analysis] skill, unlocked at Level 10, began to feed him data. He could see through the steel walls of the containers, highlighting the heat signatures of creatures lurking in the dark.
Suddenly, a sharp click echoed behind him.
"Drop the bike keys and the fancy glove, pretty boy."
Kaelen didn't turn around. He closed his eyes, sensing the mana in the air. There were four of them. Humans. Scavengers who had already decided that the apocalypse was an excuse to become monsters. They were armed with rusted pipes and one handgun—a 9mm that was shaking in the hands of a terrified teenager.
"You're making a mistake," Kaelen said, his voice devoid of emotion.
"The only mistake is you walking into our territory!" the leader barked, stepping into the light. He was a large man with a scarred face, holding a heavy iron wrench. "This shipyard belongs to the Iron-Dogs now."
Kaelen turned slowly. His eyes weren't human anymore; they held a faint, crystalline glow. "The world ended five minutes ago. Your 'territory' is just a graveyard you haven't realized you're standing in."
The leader roared and swung the wrench. In his past life, Kaelen would have been too slow. But now, his body was a vessel for Technomancy.
[Skill Active: Kinetic Reversal.]
Kaelen didn't dodge. He caught the wrench with his gauntlet. The impact should have shattered his arm, but the gauntlet hissed, absorbing the energy and glowing bright blue.
"My turn," Kaelen whispered.
He released the stored energy back into the wrench. The shockwave traveled up the metal bar and into the leader's arms, snapping his collarbones instantly. The man flew backward, crashing into a container with a sickening thud.
The other three froze. The teenager with the gun pulled the trigger in a panic. Bang!
Kaelen tilted his head. The bullet whizzed past his ear, missing by an inch. With a flick of his wrist, he pointed his gauntlet at the boy. A thin beam of blue light—a [Mana-Tether]—shot out and yanked the gun from the boy's hand, crushing it into a ball of scrap in mid-air
"Run," Kaelen commanded.
They didn't need to be told twice. They scrambled over the rubble, leaving their leader groaning on the ground. Kaelen didn't chase them. They were irrelevant. He had a bigger problem.
A low, guttural growl vibrated through the metal floor. From the top of a crane, a massive shape descended. It wasn't a Crawler. It was a Tier-2 Ravager—a beast with four eyes and skin like hardened obsidian. Its claws were long enough to pierce tank armor.
[System: Boss Encounter Detected.]
[Target: Shadow-Stalking Ravager (Level 12).]
[Probability of Victory: 62%.]
Kaelen felt the adrenaline surge. This was it. The first real test of his second life. The beast landed twenty feet away, its tail lashing out and slicing a shipping container in half like it was made of paper.
Kaelen tapped his gauntlet, shifting it into [Overdrive Mode].
"62 percent?" Kaelen smirked, his eyes locking onto the beast's throat. "The system doesn't account for my spite. I've died once. I'm not doing it again for a overgrown lizard."
The Ravager lunged, a blur of shadow and teeth. Kaelen dived forward, sliding underneath the creature's belly, his gauntlet sparking as he prepared to deliver a mana-burst to its softest point.
The forge was hot, and the Architect was ready to kill.