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Chapter 4 - Salvage Protocol

Simon didn't rush the decision.

Even after unlocking his first combat class, the numbers were clear: his growth wasn't in brute force. It was in observation. In understanding. He didn't want to fight creatures twice his size just to level up. He wanted to learn how the world worked, and then bend that understanding into power.

The ruined structure before him—a shattered tower or maybe a watch post—was old. Covered in lichen, its stone half buried under soil and time, it still pulsed faintly in the corner of his vision. Whatever systems had once operated here were long dead, but the structure still held data.

And Simon now had the skill to interface with it.

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Skill Gained Earlier: [Item Handling I] (Trash)

+2% chance to recover without damage.

+1 EXP gained

Daily Skill Acquisition: 1 / ??

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He crouched at the edge of a cracked stone basin, brushed away dirt and moss, and gently pried up a flat slate of etched crystal embedded in the floor. It resisted slightly, then lifted with a faint snap.

A dull hum echoed up his arm.

The slate flickered—just once—before darkening.

He didn't know what it was. But the system did.

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System Notification: Object Salvaged – Inert Rune Fragment

Material: System-Tagged Crystal Composite

Status: Uncharged

Salvage Grade: F

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Interesting.

Simon turned the shard over in his hands. It weighed almost nothing. The etched grooves felt like a circuit board or a runic glyph. Whatever it once did, it didn't anymore.

But that didn't mean it was useless.

He brought up his Production Class list, opened the now-highlighted option, and reviewed the details carefully.

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Production Class Available: [Runeforged Salvager] (Trash)

Specializes in retrieving fragments from system-bonded ruins.

Can disassemble, identify, and occasionally restore tagged materials.

Requires:

[Pattern Recognition]

[Item Handling]

[Basic Material Knowledge]

Unlock Cost: 100 EXP

---

He glanced at his EXP bank.

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EXP Bank: 20 / 2,000

---

Still short.

But at least he had direction.

Simon spent the next hour circling the ruin, finding half-crumbled panels, strange coreless brackets, and shattered tile with faintly glowing veins. Each time he handled something with precision and care, his skill ticked up.

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Skill Leveled: [Item Handling II] → +1 EXP

Skill Leveled: [Pattern Recognition IV] → +8 EXP

Skill Leveled: [Self-Analysis III] → +4 EXP

EXP Bank: 33 / 2,000

---

Progress. Methodical. Efficient.

This was how he liked to move. Not flailing in combat or swinging wildly, but working, step by step. The system responded to intentional effort, and now that he understood that, he worked like a machine himself.

He even noticed a second passive improvement within Forest Hunter Path as his balance improved during long movements.

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Class Passive Evolved: [Hunter's Poise II]

Now grants:

+15% terrain balance

-20% fall impact

+7% stamina conservation during movement

+2% ranged aim stability while crouched

---

The system hadn't notified him with a chime. It had just updated quietly.

That worried him slightly.

He'd assumed every improvement would be announced, but it seemed that not all changes were treated equally. Some updates came silently, requiring him to check actively.

The system didn't want him to feel like a hero. It wanted him to work.

Good.

He preferred it that way.

Later that afternoon, after collecting six more rune fragments and organizing them into neat piles by material type—stone-core, etched crystal, embedded metal—he pulled up his crafting inventory tab.

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Salvage Inventory

Inert Rune Fragment ×4

Shattered Runestone Plate ×2

Broken Anchoring Core ×1

Composite Sheath (Empty) ×3

Analysis Incomplete.

---

Most of the items had no function, but each was tagged. And system-tagged items were the bridge between knowledge and power.

He stepped back and took stock. He had the skills. He had the materials. He just needed to earn 67 more EXP to unlock the class.

Simon spent the rest of the daylight leveling existing skills, moving between analysis, testing rune configurations, disassembling safely, and sketching structural layouts using flat stones and charcoal.

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Skill Leveled: [Pattern Recognition V] → +8 EXP

Skill Leveled: [Item Handling III] → +1 EXP

Skill Leveled: [Mental Mapping III] → +4 EXP

Skill Leveled: [Controlled Breathing V] → +1 EXP

Skill Leveled: [Self-Analysis IV] → +4 EXP

Skill Leveled: [Flora Recognition V] → +1 EXP

---

EXP Bank: 52 / 2,000

Still not quite enough.

By sunset, he'd constructed a makeshift lean-to using fallen branches and broad leaves beside a broken wall. He wedged flat stones to make a windbreak, then sat down on a bed of dried moss and pulled his bracer interface open one more time.

The Class Panel hovered, waiting.

Still gray. Still locked.

But close.

Very close.

He chewed slowly on a handful of berries and roasted roots he'd dug earlier. It wasn't gourmet, but it filled him. And as he chewed, his screen flickered again.

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Skill Leveled: [Self-Analysis V] → +4 EXP

EXP Bank: 56 / 2,000

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Simon closed the interface and leaned back.

He felt tired in his muscles but sharp in his head. Everything in this world had rules. Everything he did was a data point, a transaction. A chance to learn. A chance to grow.

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