POV: Sullivan Prentiss Morteuxe (Age 12 - One year after Nen training)
The world beyond the Veil Mountains was exactly as Sullivan had predicted:
overwhelming, beautiful, and utterly chaotic.
He and Kaelin had taken a high-risk mission—a B-Rank Debt Retrieval—that took them across the Crimson Continent, a sprawling landmass filled with mega-cities, forgotten ruins, and volatile political states.
Their target: a former government agent named Valerius, who had absconded with a vast, heavily guarded repository of state secrets—the 'debt' they were retrieving.
Valerius was not only cunning, but a proficient Transmuter whose aura could take on the dangerous properties of plasma.
Sullivan, now twelve, looked less like a boy and more like a miniature tactician, his movements economical, his eyes constantly performing threat assessments. He wore a utility suit adapted to his King Engine—it contained small, kinetic-dampening plates that were irrelevant to Nen, but necessary for the aesthetic of his control.
Kaelin walked beside him, her crimson hair tied back, her movements silent and sharp. The debt from the Hunter Exam was paid, but their partnership had deepened into a functional, ruthless symbiosis.
"Valerius is cornered in the Ironclad Market," Kaelin whispered, checking the atmospheric gauge on her wrist. "The building is an abandoned naval warehouse. Lots of high metal content, poor visibility. His plasma aura will have an advantage in confined spaces."
"Agreed," Sullivan murmured, performing a rapid internal calculation.
He initiated the King Engine for the first time in a true combat scenario. His total available aura, though still small compared to a veteran Hunter, was perfectly disciplined.
"I am running a baseline Perception/Reflex bias," Sullivan informed Kaelin, his voice calm. "My primary goal is location and evasion. My offense is nominal. I will find his position and force him to commit his ability."
Kaelin nodded. "I'll be the offensive variable. Draw him out. He won't expect a close-quarters fight from a duo."
The Engagement
The Ironclad Market was a maze of rusted steel and black shadows. The air inside hummed with latent, unstable energy.
They split immediately. Kaelin moved to the east wing, using the high girders as cover. Sullivan stayed low, moving with a silent, gliding gait that was neither fast nor slow, but perfectly balanced.
Valerius was waiting. He was too professional to be surprised.
"Two whelps," Valerius's voice boomed, carrying a synthetic echo that made it impossible to pinpoint his location. "You want the data? You can retrieve it from my pulverized remains!"
A sudden, blinding flash erupted from the shadows: a ribbon of crackling, violet plasma—Valerius's Transmutation Hatsu. It moved with the speed of a projectile, tearing through a metal strut nearby with a sound like a physical scream.
Sullivan didn't panic. His highly boosted Perception (20%) tracked the faint Aura residue left by the plasma. Trajectory confirmed. Point of origin: high central catwalk, 40 meters out.
Simultaneously, his Reflex (20%) kicked in. His body executed a tight, instantaneous side-step, anticipating the secondary arc of the plasma blast before his conscious mind registered the need for the move.
The plasma sliced the air where his head had been a micro-second before.
"Too slow, boy!" Valerius shouted, firing a second, wider wave of plasma, aiming to clear the entire area.
Analysis: Valerius is confident and relies on overwhelming speed and heat. He is not conserving Nen. His flaw is overcommitment.
Sullivan had his confirmation. He spoke into his comm-bead: "Kaelin, execute maneuver Delta. He is relying on area denial. Force the close-in engagement."
The Sacrifice and the Shift
As Kaelin launched her counter-attack—a series of explosive smoke grenades designed to mask her movements—Sullivan initiated his first combat King Engine Shift.
Valerius was now focused on the smoke, launching plasma bolts blindly. Sullivan needed overwhelming, fast protection, and he needed it now.
He ruthlessly sacrificed every non-essential attribute:
Mind (10) -> Mind (5)
Perception (20) -> Perception (5)
Instinct (5) -> Instinct (0)
Speed (15) -> Speed (5)
Reflex (20) -> Reflex (5)
Focus (10) -> Focus(0)
He took all the stripped Aura and jammed it into his Defense attribute, forcing it over the threshold.
Defense (15) + 65 -> Defense (80)
The sudden, internal shift felt like a physical wrenching. Sullivan became an instant fortress. His skin felt like thick, reinforced rubber, and his internal organs were protected by layers of dense, solidified Aura.
Defense Specialist Mode Activated: Immovable Fortress.
Valerius, still targeting Kaelin's movement, fired a plasma bolt that, by random chance, hit Sullivan directly in the chest.
CRACK!
The sound was immense. The superheated plasma slammed into Sullivan's aura-hardened body. A normal Hunter would have been vaporized. Sullivan stumbled back three paces, his clothes scorched, but the plasma failed to breach the core Defense (80%) Aura layer.
He was virtually unharmed, but utterly vulnerable in every other aspect. His perception was dulled, his reflexes were sluggish, and his mind was struggling to process anything beyond Survival.
"What impossible...!" Valerius yelled, genuinely shocked. "That should have annihilated you!"
"I am untouchable," Sullivan stated, his voice flat, emotionless. He was telling the truth—he was an unmoving shield, sacrificing all mobility for absolute defense.
The Mind's Counter-Attack
This was Kaelin's opening. While Valerius was distracted by the unbreakable target, Kaelin struck from the high shadows, not with force, but with a highly specialized Manipulation ability: she projected a series of non-Nen-infused, metal-slicing wires, distracting Valerius's visual attention.
Valerius turned, firing a wild salvo of plasma at Kaelin.
This was Sullivan's moment to revert. His Defense (80%) had served its purpose—it had absorbed the unavoidable first hit and forced Valerius's tactical reset.
He instantly executed the King Engine Reverse Shift.
He stripped the aura from Defense and funneled it all into Mind.
Mind Specialist Mode Activated: Psychokinesis (Telekinetic Control).
Sullivan's body felt light again, but alarmingly exposed. His defense was gone, and his speed was minimal. But his mind was now operating at a terrifying frequency.
The Psychokinesis ability manifested not as visible force, but as an invisible, cold pressure. He didn't move the metal struts; he moved Valerius's weapon of choice: the plasma.
Valerius was preparing to launch his final, devastating plasma wave at Kaelin. But as the energy gathered, Sullivan's Psychokinesis acted on the volatile, chaotic nature of the plasma aura itself.
He applied an invisible, calculated pressure—not to the physical body of Valerius, but to the Transmuter's Aura release node.
The result was spectacular. The massive plasma charge—already unstable and charged to its limit—was twisted and contorted by Sullivan's mental force. It didn't fire outward; it coiled violently inward, exploding harmlessly only a few feet from Valerius's body.
The blast didn't kill Valerius, but the internal shockwave of his own unstable Nen ripping apart his concentration was devastating. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head, his concentration shattered.
Kaelin was on him in an instant, not using a rapier, but a simple, Nen-sealing tranquilizer dart.
The target was neutralized.
Aftermath
Sullivan stood, breathing deeply, waiting for the residual effects of the Mind Specialist Mode to fade. He was drenched in sweat, utterly drained, but victorious.
"You were nearly vaporized," Kaelin stated flatly, securing the unconscious Valerius and the data repository. "Seventy percent Defense? That was an extreme risk."
"No, Kaelin," Sullivan replied, adjusting his collar, his arrogance returning, tempered by the thrill of success. "It was a necessary sacrifice. Valerius's biggest strength was his opening burst. I had to sacrifice all maneuverability to neutralize his advantage. Once he was forced to commit, his Transmutation became a highly unstable system, susceptible to my Mind Specialist control."
He looked at the unconscious, powerful foe. He hadn't fought a battle of strength or speed. He had won a battle of resource management.
"The King Engine doesn't give me new powers," Sullivan concluded, looking out at the vast, chaotic city beyond the warehouse. "It gives me the discipline to choose what I must lose in order to win. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the temporary power."
They retrieved the data, secured the target, and left the Ironclad Market. Sullivan had passed his first true test. The world was now his complex, dangerous Ledger, and he had the tool to write the ultimate equations.