Raden arrived home gasping for air. He pushed his cart into the narrow courtyard of his rented house, locking it with two large padlocks. His heart wouldn't settle until he examined "the item."
"Nila, I'm home!" he called out, trying to sound normal.
Nila was folding clothes in the living room. "You're early, Mas? I thought you were going to work late?"
"Fortune smiled on me today, dear. Everything sold out," Raden placed a plastic bag containing sweet martabak next to Nila. "Here, eat this first. I want to tidy up some new stock in the back for a moment."
"Wow, martabak! Thank you, Mas." Nila's eyes lit up. She didn't suspect a thing.
Raden immediately headed to the back area of the house, a cramped 2x2 meter room that served as both his warehouse and workshop. He closed the plywood door tightly.
With slightly trembling hands, he took the keris out of the sack.
Under the dim light of a 5-watt bulb, the ancient dagger looked even more terrifying. Thick rust covered its entire surface, making it look like a shapeless lump of scrap metal. But Raden could feel it. The cold pulse was still there, stronger now that he was holding it directly.
[Object: 7-Luk Keris, Carubuk Style (Sealed)]
[Warning: Negative aura detected. Prolonged direct contact may cause mild hallucinations.]
Raden swallowed hard. "Hallucinations?"
He almost dropped it, but curiosity—and greed for power—held him back. He needed money. He needed strength to change his fate. If this thing was dangerous, it meant it was powerful.
"Okay, the System said it needs to be cleaned first," he muttered.
He grabbed a wire brush and a bottle of rust remover liquid he usually used for cleaning motorcycle parts. He began scrubbing the blade.
Scraaape... Scraaape...
Every stroke of the wire brush sparked tiny, unnatural flames. Not ordinary orange sparks, but cold, bluish ones.
The more rust fell off, the stronger the cold pulse became. Raden felt the temperature in the cramped room drop drastically. His breath started to fog up.
"Crazy... this really isn't just random junk," he whispered, his hands working relentlessly even though his fingers were starting to stiffen from the cold.
After nearly an hour of scrubbing in cold sweat, the true form of the keris began to emerge. Its pamor—the pattern on the metal blade—started to appear faintly. It wasn't a regular pattern. The lines were intricate, like the roots of an old banyan tree intertwining with each other.
[Physical Seal Weakened (Progress: 60%)]
[Echo Resonance Increasing.]
Suddenly, Raden's vision blurred.
The noise of the flea market, the sound of Nila watching TV in front, everything vanished. Replaced by screaming. The hoarse screams of hundreds of people. The metallic stench of blood was so thick it stung his nose, making him nauseous.
He was no longer in his warehouse. He was standing in the middle of a vast, muddy field... no, that wasn't mud. It was soil soaked in blood. Corpses littered the ground around him.
In his hand, it wasn't a wire brush anymore, but that keris. Clean, sharp, and gleaming horribly, dripping with thick red fluid.
In front of him, a man dressed as an ancient soldier knelt, looking up at him with eyes full of terror.
"Mercy, My Lord... I was only following orders..."
Raden's hand—which wasn't his hand—moved on its own. Raised, then thrust downward without a shred of hesitation.
SHLUCK!
"ARGH!" Raden jerked back, falling onto the hard floor of his warehouse.
His breath came in ragged gasps. He was back in his small warehouse. The keris lay on the floor, half-cleaned.
[Mental Warning! Psychic Attack Detected.]
[User Soul Resilience: Critical (15/100)]
[System initiating emergency intervention...]
The Whetstone in his pocket suddenly felt searing hot. Raden groaned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the black stone. It glowed with a soft golden light, countering the cold aura emitted by the keris.
Slowly, Raden's heartbeat returned to normal. The cold in the room receded.
[Intervention Successful. User Soul stabilized.]
[Echo Identified: "Wrath of the Butcher General".]
[Danger Level: HIGH.]
Raden stared at the keris in horror. "Butcher... General?"
He had just seen—felt—the memory of a massacre committed by the owner of this keris hundreds of years ago. It was real. Too real.
If he didn't have this Whetstone, his soul might have been permanently damaged just now.
"Mas? Are you okay? Was that something falling?" Nila knocked on the warehouse door.
Raden hurriedly hid the keris behind a stack of old newspapers. "I'm fine, dear! Just tripped over a chair."
"Be careful, Mas. It's late, just get some rest."
"Yeah, in a minute."
After making sure Nila was gone, Raden looked back at the keris. His fear remained, but now it was mixed with a strange thirst.
Power.
Earlier, when he (in his vision) thrust that keris, he felt an overwhelming surge of power. The feeling of having absolute control over someone's life and death. It was an intoxicating feeling for someone who had never had any power his entire life.
[System Suggestion: User is too weak to absorb this Echo fully. It is recommended to absorb 'Residual Skills' only for now.]
"Residual Skills? What's that?"
[Explanation: Remnants of physical techniques left in the Echo's muscle memory, without the emotional burden/memories of the owner. Safer, but less power gained.]
Raden didn't think twice. "Do it. Absorb Residual Skills only."
He didn't want to go mad. He just needed to be strong.
Raden dared himself to touch the handle of the keris again. This time, with the Whetstone in his left hand as a shield.
[Initiating Residual Skill Extraction...]
The sensation was different this time. No horrifying visions. Just a pure stream of information flowing rapidly into his brain.
He saw—no, he felt—the correct way to hold a keris. How to step silently. Weak points on the human body: neck, underarm, groin. He knew exactly how much pressure was needed to pierce skin, sever muscle, or break bone.
His thin body, rarely exercised, suddenly felt... denser. His muscles twitched, adjusting to this new knowledge.
[Extraction Complete.]
[New Skill Acquired: Silent Step (Level 1)]
[New Skill Acquired: Lethal Anatomy (Basic)]
[User Physique Increased: Strength +2, Speed +5]
Raden stood up. He felt light. Incredibly light.
He tried taking a step. Usually, the wooden floor of his warehouse always creaked. But this time, he moved without a single sound. His feet instinctively landed in a way that dampened noise.
He looked at his own hands. He clenched his fist. It felt far more powerful.
A thin smile appeared on his lips. This was just the beginning.
The next day, Raden felt like a new person. He woke up before dawn, his body feeling fresh and fit despite only sleeping for four hours.
Walking to the market, he noticed another change. His eyes—now equipped with 'Appraisal Eye' and 'Lethal Anatomy' knowledge—saw the world in a terrifying way.
He saw old Pak Ogah at the end of the street.
[Target: Human Male, 45 years old. Weak Point: Old left knee injury, vulnerable right kidney.]
He saw the market thugs who usually extorted traders.
[Target: Human Male, 30 years old. Threat: Low. Slow movements due to alcohol influence. Fatal point: Exposed throat.]
Raden quickly shook his head, banishing the information. Crazy. He could kill them if he wanted to. The thought was terrifying yet... exhilarating.
"Oi, Den! Pay your dues!"
The heavy voice shattered his daydream. Bang Jampang, the head thug of the block, stood in front of his stall with hands on his hips. Two of his henchmen grinned behind him.
Usually, Raden would immediately bow his head, tremble, and hand over five thousand rupiah with sweaty hands.
But today, Raden just stared at him.
His eyes scanned Bang Jampang from toe to head.
[Target: Human Male, 40 years old. Threat: Medium. Carrying a sharp weapon on his back left waist. Weak point: Solar plexus unprotected when laughing.]
"Did you hear me? Are you deaf?" Bang Jampang kicked one of the legs of Raden's stall table.
Raden slowly stood up. He didn't bow. He looked straight into the thug's eyes.
"I just opened, Bang. Haven't made any sales yet," he said calmly. Too calmly.
Bang Jampang was surprised. Usually, this little rat would piss his pants immediately. "Wow, brave enough to fight back now, huh? Just because you sold a lot yesterday?"
One of his henchmen stepped forward, about to grab Raden's collar.
Before that dirty hand could touch him, Raden moved.
It wasn't a conscious movement. It was a reflex. 'Silent Step' activated. His body shifted sideways with a speed the thug's eyes couldn't follow.
THWACK!
Raden parried the thug's hand. Just a light deflection, but he instinctively hit a nerve point on the wrist.
"AARGH!" The thug screamed, clutching his hand which had suddenly gone completely numb.
Bang Jampang glared. "You devil! What did you do to my man?"
He pulled a folding knife from his waist.
Raden didn't panic. Time seemed to slow down for him. He could see the trajectory of Bang Jampang's attack even before the man started swinging his knife.
Too slow, Raden thought.