Kenji woke up thirty minutes later, coughing up sludge and bile. The Slime Rats were gone, dissolved by the sheer residual heat of the absorbed Scrap.
He stumbled out of the sewer D-H entrance, collapsing onto a fire escape in the back alleys. He was alive, which was a miracle. But the massive red Scrap felt like a volatile, humming bomb resting in his center.
He looked at his System display, checking for fatal damage. The usual, boring Rank D screen was gone, replaced by a deep, dark blue interface.
[SCAPSMITH PROTOCOL: EVOLUTIONARY PATH]USER: KENJI TANAKA (RANK D)CORE INTEGRITY: 10% (CRITICAL) - UNSTABLE HIGH-RANK SCRAP INTEGRATED.
OBJECTIVE 1: FORGE THE COREThe Core is unstable. Seek a 'Primary Scrap' to act as a stabilizing catalyst. Without it, the integrated High-Rank power will consume you within 72 hours.
REQUIRED PRIMARY SCRAP: Echo of Resonance (Fragment of sonic magic) LOCATION PROBABILITY: 78% (Old District 7, Residual Gate Area) REWARD: Permanent Skill Slot Unlock (1/5) & Stability. FAILURE: Core Collapse & Death.
The System is talking to me, Kenji thought, sweat beading on his forehead. Not the Academy System. Something else. Something I triggered.
He had 72 hours. He had to find a relic—a Primary Scrap—in a forgotten part of the city. He needed a safe haven, gear, and, most importantly, information about residual magic that only a madman or a fellow 'Scrap' collector would know.
Kenji remembered the old man who ran a junk shop near the Academy—a notoriously dusty, almost magical artifact known as 'Finnian's Fragments.' He found the shop late that night. It smelled of ozone, rust, and ancient magic. Behind the counter sat Old Man Finnian, a grizzled man with eyes that seemed to track the invisible currents of the air.
"Don't waste my time, boy," Finnian grumbled, polishing a broken mana conduit. "I don't buy copper, and I don't sell hope."
Kenji slammed a fistful of Ember currency onto the counter—the last of his savings. "I need a job. I need to know where the oldest, most concentrated residual magic is stored in this city. I can smell it."
Finnian froze, slowly lifting his head. His eyes narrowed, focusing not on Kenji's face, but on the faint, dark red aura pulsating around his heart.
"You smell it, do you?" Finnian's voice dropped to a terrifying whisper. He reached out and lightly tapped Kenji's chest.
"What have you got rattling around in there, kid? That much power shouldn't belong to a Scrapsmith."