The academy guards parted.
The captain, who moments before had been so arrogant, just stared. His mouth was open. He didn't say a word.
He just watched the Rankless boy with the predator's eyes disappear into the street.
Edward moved. His senses were sharp. He stuck to the shadows of the alleyways.
He wasn't just hiding. He was avoiding attention. A new, primal part of him was wary of other predators.
His dorm room at Sunstone Academy was a cell.
A narrow bed. A rickety wooden desk. A single, sputtering oil lamp.
While the noble students had lavish suites, his room was a glorified closet. A place for the academy to store its failures.
He closed the door behind him. The heavy thud of the old wood sealed him in.
For the first time since he woke up, the adrenaline began to fade.
The weight of his new reality crashed down on him.
He sank onto the edge of his bed. He looked at his hands. They were still covered in a fine layer of black dust. The last remnant of the wraith-hound he had consumed.
The memory was vivid. Horrifying.
The feeling of the rock. The crunch of bone. The icy, exhilarating rush of the soul pouring into him.
He was a monster.
Not a metaphor. A literal one. A creature that fed on the essence of other beings to survive.
The Hades Core hadn't saved him. It had cursed him.
He needed a distraction. His gaze fell on the blue screen that still hovered in his vision. The HUD. It was the source of his curse, but it was also the only thing that offered answers.
He began to explore it. Calmly. Systematically.
He focused on his status page. Level 2. The single level-up had granted him a point in every stat.
He could feel it. A subtle change. The ache was less. His thoughts were clearer.
He found a different section.
[Skills].
There was only one entry.
[Skill: Soul Rend (Active) - Lvl. 1]
Cost: 10 MP
Description: Fires a non-physical bolt of soul energy. Deals minor physical damage, but significant damage to a target's spiritual essence. Effective against ethereal beings.
'Ghost bullets,' he thought. 'How subtle.'
It was a powerful tool. But it was another confirmation of his monstrous nature. This wasn't a knight's smite or a mage's fireball.
It was a weapon designed to attack the soul itself.
His eyes scanned the HUD. [Quests]. [Inventory]. [Map].
Then he saw it. A tab in the corner, pulsing with a faint light.
[Market]
Curiosity overrode his grim mood. He focused his intent on it.
The dorm room vanished.
He was in a vast, black void, filled with scrolling lists of glowing blue text. An armory. A library. A place of impossible power.
And the only currency it accepted was SP.
He went to the [Weapons] category. The list that appeared stole his breath.
[Sol, the Sunfire Greatsword (Legendary)]
Price: 8,500,000 SP
[Whisperwind Bow (Mythic)]
Price: 12,000,000 SP
[Armor of the Immortal King (Divine)]
Price: 25,000,000 SP
Edward stared at the numbers. A short, bitter laugh escaped his lips.
"Right."
He glanced at his own SP count. `20`.
He was a beggar standing at the gates of a king's treasury.
He found a filter function. He set the maximum price to 20 SP.
The grand armory vanished. The list changed.
Now, it was junk. Rusted daggers. Splintered shields. Robes with more holes than fabric.
He scrolled through the miserable selection. This was his reality.
While nobles like Chris were gifted rare equipment, he was shopping in the cosmic bargain bin.
Still, a weapon was a weapon. He needed something.
He narrowed his options to two items.
The first was a [Worn Infantry Shortsword]. The description was honest. "Notched edge, loose hilt. Better than a sharp stick. Probably." It cost 10 SP. A sensible choice. A soldier's weapon.
The second option was different.
[Bone Dagger].
A primitive, vicious-looking thing. The description was short. "Honed from the femur of a wraith-hound. Carries a faint echo of its former owner's predatory hunger." It cost only 5 SP.
He stared at the two choices. The sword was the "hero's" choice.
But he wasn't a hero. He wasn't a knight.
He was a hunter.
His mind flashed back to the Howling Abyss. The frantic, close-quarters struggle. The brutal kill.
A sword would have been too slow.
He looked at the Bone Dagger again. It was a killer's tool. Made for stealth. For exploiting weakness. For ending a fight before it began.
It felt honest about his new reality.
His choice was made.
He selected the Bone Dagger. A confirmation window popped up.
`[Purchase Bone Dagger for 5 SP? Y/N]`
He willed the `[Y]`. Five of his Soul Points vanished.
The air shimmered. Black dust swirled into a tight vortex. It solidified.
The Bone Dagger dropped into his waiting palm.
It was cold. Unnervingly light. Perfectly balanced. The edge was sharper than any steel.
As he wrapped his fingers around the hilt, he felt a faint, hungry vibration.
It felt… right.
He gave it a test swing. The blade sliced through the air with a whispering sound. This would do. It was a pathetic start, but it was his. A weapon earned, not given.
He was about to close the Market when his HUD flashed.
A new notification. A warning.
`[Item synchronized. User's DEX is insufficient for optimal handling.]`
`[Penalty: 10% chance of self-injury on critical strikes.]`
Edward froze.
He read the message again. A penalty. The system hadn't just sold him a weapon. It had sold him a liability.
A cruel joke. His one step forward came with a chance of him stabbing himself in a fight.
A cold, humorless smile touched his lips. Of course.
Why would anything be easy?
The system wasn't a benevolent god. It was a cold machine. And it seemed to enjoy kicking him while he was down.
He looked at the dagger. Then back at the warning.
A 10% chance.
He gripped the bone hilt tighter. His knuckles turned white.
Fine. Let the system play its games.
He would just have to get better. Faster. Stronger. He would become so skilled that the 10% chance would never trigger.
He would adapt. He would survive.
It was the only thing he knew how to do.