Chapter 5: Into the Depths
The stench hit Mano first—damp earth, rotting flesh, and moldy stone. He stood at the edge of a broken sewer grate behind an abandoned chapel in Lower Velaria. The weak moonlight barely reached the crumbling opening where the creature had vanished hours ago.
"If this is where they're hiding... then I'll drag them into the light."
He crouched and dropped into the dark.
---
[Quest Progress: 14%]
Entering: Forgotten Passageway – District C13
Warning: Ambient Mana Levels Unstable
---
The tunnel was far older than the rest of Velaria's sewers—made from black stone lined with rusted symbols. The air was thick, not just with moisture, but with something far worse: corrupted mana.
Mano lit a torch and moved cautiously, blade drawn.
He passed claw marks on the walls. Bones littered the ground, most stripped clean. Some had jewelry still clinging to them.
People had died here. Recently.
---
Suddenly—a sound.
Not footsteps.
Not breathing.
A low, rhythmic chanting.
He pressed forward, torch extinguished, moving like a wraith in the dark.
The passage widened into a chamber, its center pulsing with sickly green light. Hooded figures stood in a circle around a writhing figure tied to a slab. A child.
And behind them… the same ghoul-like creature—but larger now. Twisted. Almost sentient.
---
[New Monster Identified: Forsaken Spawn – Tier C]
---
Mano's eyes narrowed.
"I won't wait for them to act."
He struck.
---
[Skill Activated: Skycut Slash]
The green light shattered with his entrance. His blade cleaved one cultist instantly. Chaos erupted.
The larger Spawn roared and charged.
Mano sidestepped, his blade flashing, carving a deep gash into its arm—but it didn't slow. Instead, the creature surged mana through its body and slammed him into the wall.
Pain flared through Mano's ribs. But he gritted his teeth and smiled.
"So you're not mindless after all."
---
[Trait Activated: Battle Instinct – S-Rank Passive]
Prediction: 0.8s window to counter incoming left hook.
He ducked, rolled, and plunged his blade straight into the beast's stomach. It screamed.
The cultists tried to run—he didn't let them.
One after another, his sword tore through flesh and magic alike.
Within minutes, the chamber fell silent again—except for the child's sobs.
---
Mano approached and cut the ropes gently.
"You're safe now."
The boy stared at him, eyes wide with awe and fear. "Y-you're... one of them, aren't you?"
Mano paused.
"No. I'm not like them. I'm the one who ends them."
---
[Quest Completed: Shadows in the City]
Reward: 600 EXP, 2 Skill Points, Item: "Ring of Mana Filtering"
Hidden Achievement: Slayer of Forsaken – Title Gained
---
Mano stood among the corpses, heart steady but mind storming.
The cultists weren't working alone.
They'd called him "Heaven Fragment."
And the beast… had a system.
"Someone down here knows exactly who I am… and what I'm becoming."
He looked down the next tunnel—its end lost in darkness.
And kept walking.