The Core Synthesis God
Chapter 5: Shattering the Velocity
The silence of the steam conduits was deceptive. To Kael, it was a drum being slowly tensioned, the air growing tighter with the approaching threat.
He moved through the maze of ancient pipes and narrow crawlspaces, the combined resilience of his Troll Skin and the fluidity of his Serpent Core making the rough terrain an advantage. Every move was silent, efficient, and ruthlessly calculated.
Anya shadowed him, not running but flowing, a ribbon of darkness against the occasional shaft of sickly emergency light. She was impressed despite herself. Kael had spent the ten minutes since the last synthesis doing more than moving; he'd been mapping the system, instantly identifying pressure valves, unstable support joints, and defunct electrical conduits that could be weaponized.
"Thirty seconds to estimated Binder arrival," Kael whispered, his voice echoing faintly off the curved metal walls. He paused at a junction where four thick, rusted water pipes converged over a two-meter drop into a concrete basin. It was the perfect chokepoint. "Anya, the two Velocity Cores will outpace the Granite Anchor by twenty seconds. They are impatient and overconfident. They will not anticipate a counter-ambush this deep into a pursuit."
"And the Granite Core?" Anya murmured, her shadow weaving across the ceiling.
"Irrelevant to the initial phase," Kael replied, already climbing onto the largest overhead pipe. "He is their durability. We take that away by eliminating their speed.
The Velocity Cores are fragile. Their power is movement; their weakness is any force that restricts or impacts their momentum."
He pointed to a corroded pressure valve near the floor. "I need you to disrupt the air currents around that valve. Create a micro-vortex—just enough chaotic energy to make them hesitate for half a second. My physical impact window is minimal."
Anya studied the valve, her lips twitching with a professional challenge. "You're asking me to throw off their center of gravity in a two-meter space without creating feedback that shatters this whole junction. That's precision work, Strategist."
"You are the specialist in chaotic precision," Kael stated, placing absolute faith in her unique power. He moved to the edge of the pipe. He didn't carry a weapon; his body, now a vessel of permanent, integrated power, was the weapon.
Three seconds.
A low, mechanical whine vibrated through the metal. The Velocity Cores were here.
They didn't arrive via the tunnel; they arrived as silver blurs, slamming through the final wall of the conduit. They were sleek, fast, and radiating pure, kinetic power—a stark contrast to the heavily armored Binder Zero-One.
The moment their feet touched the ground, Anya moved. Not with a flash, but with a silent, internal command. The atmosphere around the pressure valve rippled. It was a silent, violent chaos rift—not visible, but tactile.
The lead Velocity Core (Binder Delta) hit the micro-vortex first. His movements, which had been flawless, jerked violently to the left. He didn't fall, but the disruption shattered his momentum and forced him to brace against the wall.
That half-second of hesitation was Kael's entire plan.
He launched himself from the pipe, not jumping over the two Binders, but straight down into the narrow gap between them. The sudden, vertical application of his Troll-enhanced Density meant he hit the ground like a collapsing ton of iron. The impact sent a violent kinetic shockwave radiating through the concrete floor.
The Binder closest to the wall, Binder Delta, was thrown off balance by the floor tremor, his focus entirely on regaining his footing.
Kael's mind was operating in pure reflex. He didn't waste time attacking the armor. His Serpent Agility gave him the speed needed to bypass the durability entirely. He grabbed Delta's arm and twisted, leveraging the man's own momentum against him, slamming the Binder hard against the thick water pipe. The sound was a dull, sickening thwack.
The Binder's Velocity Core sputtered. Kael immediately located the power conduit on the Binder's back, driving the sharp, reinforced knuckles of his Troll-enhanced fist directly into the junction. The core shattered. Delta went limp, the silver kinetic energy draining away instantly, leaving behind a husk of a man.
The second Binder (Binder Gamma) was already moving, his speed terrifying, a silver blur attempting to circle behind Kael. But Kael's Serpent Core integration had also enhanced his reflexes. He tracked the motion, ducking low and sweeping his leg out in a fast, dense arc.
Binder Gamma, focused entirely on speed, was blindsided by the raw, dense mass of Kael's leg. He went down hard, skidding across the debris-strewn floor like a skipping stone.
Kael was instantly on him, planting one Troll-dense knee squarely on the Binder's chest. The air rushed out of Gamma's lungs. Kael reached for the visible power conduit on his neck, his face grim.
"No!" Gamma screamed, his voice muffled by the helmet.
"Efficiency," Kael whispered, and tore the conduit clean away.
The second Velocity Core failed.
Anya emerged from the shadows, her eyes wide. The entire exchange had taken less than five seconds. It wasn't a fight; it was a military execution based on flawless tactical analysis.
"That was... calculated," she admitted, her moral disgust momentarily buried by professional admiration. "You weaponized the floor. And your speed is terrifying."
"They were too fast for your chaos. Too slow for my synthesis," Kael said, standing up. He ignored the two neutralized Binders. His focus was entirely on the remnants. "Zero-One is thirty seconds out. We need to harvest and move."
He knelt beside Binder Delta, locating the remnant of his Velocity Core. It was a pulsing, luminous silver essence, radiating kinetic energy.
"Unbonded Core Identified: Velocity (Tier-B). Superior Agility and Kinetic Absorption. Compatibility with Synthetic Core: 98%. Synthesis Recommended."
Kael's heart hammered. A Tier-B Core. This was a significant jump in quality. It would not only solidify the Agility gained from the Serpent Core but enhance it exponentially, making him truly untouchable in close quarters.
"I need your protection, Shadow Weaver," Kael commanded, holding the silver core. "The Granite Anchor is a brute. He will be enraged. I need ten seconds of absolute cover. No less."
Anya watched the silver energy pulse in his hand. She hated the act of soul consumption, but she loved the strategic advantage it offered. The white-haired strategist was becoming the most dangerous weapon in the city, and she was the only one who understood how to aim him.
"Ten seconds of absolute chaos," Anya conceded, her decision made. She moved away from him, towards the mouth of the tunnel. "But if you come out of this with wings or a lizard tail, I'm throwing you back to the corporate goons."
Kael didn't reply. He pressed the Velocity Core to his chest and slammed it into his Synthetic Core.
The synthesis was immediate and catastrophic. It wasn't the agonizing slow burn of the first two. This was a Tier-B power colliding with a newly formed composite soul. The sound was a sharp, internal crack, followed by the sensation of his entire musculature being injected with liquid lightning.
Kael roared, a sound of pure, unadulterated pain and power. Silver light enveloped him, weaving violently with the green of the Troll Core and the purple of the Serpent Core. For one terrifying moment, the psychic energy was so intense that Anya's shadows fled, the light pushing them back.
The transformation was fast and final. Kael felt his entire frame refine itself. The raw density of the Troll Core was now perfectly married to the instantaneous speed of the Velocity Core. He was a perfect synergy of immovable force and uncatchable momentum.
The light subsided just as a new, deep tremor announced the arrival of Binder Zero-One.
Kael stood, breathing heavily, the silver glow fading from his skin, leaving behind the network of glowing green and purple traces. He was taller, his physique was sharper, and when he moved, it was less a motion and more a shift in space.
Binder Zero-One—a massive man encased in thick, stone-like armor—stomped into the junction. He saw his two fallen comrades and the white-haired anomaly standing over them. Rage contorted his face.
"You killed them," the Granite Core boomed, the sound shaking the pipes. "You stole their cores. You are an aberration!"
Kael didn't argue. He looked past the raging brute, his mind already formulating the next strategic move. He was stronger, faster, and permanently augmented. But Binder Zero-One was still too durable for a prolonged fight.
"Anya," Kael said, his voice calm, his eyes locked on the Granite Binder. "The unit is running a deficiency check. We need his Granite Core."
Chapter 5 complete.