The next mission request appeared on the board just before dawn.
On the surface, it seemed ordinary and material recovery in Sector Low Nine, a fractured industrial zone that bordered the deeper forest line.
Classified as moderate risk, open to F and E rank teams, with shared objectives and multiple routes. Kaelen understood immediately why Eren had warned him.
Shared routes meant separation.
SC's projection hovered beside his shoulder, scanning the data with precision. "Probability of controlled division is high," it said. "The Guild prefers witnesses who do not compare notes."
Kaelen signed the mission anyway. He needed to see it for himself.
The team assigned to them was small, six adventurers in total. No clear leader. That in itself was telling. The Guild thrived on chaos when it wanted plausible loss.
There was Vask, a thick-built man with reinforced arms and a habit of smiling in the midst of combat. Mira, quiet, sharp-eyed, her rifle always perfectly aligned.
Two younger men whose names Kaelen barely caught, eager and oblivious to their disposable nature. And an older scout named Rell.
They moved through the eastern gate as the city's lights dimmed behind them. The forest greeted them with a familiar pressure, the air thick and heavy with unseen energy. Kaelen felt the curse respond immediately, a low vibration beneath his skin.
Mira noticed his hesitation. "First time outside after infection," she said flatly.
Kaelen glanced at her. "You can tell?"
She nodded. "It changes the way you breathe. Changes the way you move."
The ruins of factories rose between warped trees, metal skeletons wrapped in creeping vines and blackened growth.
SC fed Kaelen constant data, mapping energy fluctuations, marking zones of instability, highlighting potential threats.
Half an hour in, the ground shifted beneath them. A sharp crack tore through the earth, splitting the path like jagged glass.
Dust and debris erupted upward. Kaelen leapt instinctively, landing hard on the opposite side. Three of them were immediately separated.
Vask and one of the younger men fell back toward a rear route. Mira and Rell vanished into the twisted industrial ruins, while Kaelen found himself alone with the remaining adventurer, a thin man gripping his weapon too tightly.
This was no accident.
The thin man swallowed. "We should regroup."
Kaelen scanned the chaotic terrain. "The path won't allow it. We move forward."
They advanced cautiously, stepping over collapsed walls and twisted piping. The curse pressed into him, heavier with every step, a living weight that made his wound throb and dark mist leak from beneath his skin.
Then a sound tore through the air.
A scream. Not human, not animal. Layered, fractured, a chorus of pain and rage.
The thin man froze. "What....what was that?"
Kaelen said nothing.
They followed the noise to a partially collapsed warehouse. Inside, the air glowed faintly red, thick with cursed energy. Machinery lined the walls, humming despite decades of decay. In the center, something knelt.
It had once been human.
Now it was wrong. Limbs elongated, spine reinforced with metallic growths, muscle fused with Zerg-like plating. Tubes ran from its back into a generator embedded in the floor. Its head twitched erratically, eyes flickering between clarity and madness.
A soldier stood nearby, weapon lowered, expression bored.
The thin man gasped. "Hybrid."
The soldier's head turned slowly. "You're not cleared to be here."
Kaelen's hand tightened around his rifle. "What is this place?"
The soldier smiled faintly. "Recycling."
The hybrid screamed again, a sound that tore into Kaelen's chest and resonated with the curse. For a horrifying moment, he felt the same bindings around his limbs, the same internal pressure, the same complete loss of control.
The thin man stepped back. "We should report this."
The soldier raised his weapon.
Kaelen fired first. The beam struck cleanly, cutting the soldier down without a sound. The hybrid thrashed violently, restraints straining.
SC's voice cut through the chaos. "Kaelen, energy levels are spiking. This system is tied directly to the Foundry."
Kaelen approached slowly. The hybrid's eyes locked onto him.
"Kill me," it begged, voice breaking through layers of distortion. "Please."
Kaelen hesitated. He had killed enemies, monsters, beasts, but this was different. This was execution. The curse pulsed violently, urging him forward.
The thin man stared, horrified. "What are you doing?"
Kaelen turned to him. "Leave. You will die if you stay."
Fear won, the man fled.
Kaelen looked back at the hybrid, its breathing shallow and uneven.
"I won't leave you like this," he whispered. He aimed carefully and fired.
The generator exploded. Energy surged outward, slamming Kaelen against a wall.
Pain ripped through him as the wound tore open, dark mist pouring out in thick waves. He collapsed to one knee, gasping.
SC deployed an emergency stabilization field. "Kaelen, your curse is reacting violently. Exposure threshold exceeded."
Through blurred vision, Kaelen saw soldiers pouring into the warehouse. Too many to fight. He triggered a flash charge and ran.
The escape was a blur of pain and instinct. Debris cut his path. Shadow guided his steps. SC's frantic navigation kept him alive, the curse warning him of threats before they appeared.
Minutes later, he collapsed behind a ruined structure, body shaking ' This damn wound that doesnot heal '
SC's voice projected urgently. "You witnessed a conversion site. This confirms Eren's information."
Kaelen wiped blood from his mouth. "And now they know someone saw it."
"Yes," SC said. "Which means escalation is inevitable."
Hours later, they regrouped at the extraction point. Mira and Rell were missing. Vask returned alone, armor cracked, smile gone.
"They didn't make it," he said quietly. No one asked how.
Back at the Guild, the mission was marked successful. No mention of casualties, no mention of hybrids. Rewards were issued in silence, simply no care for life.
Kaelen sat alone in his assigned quarters, staring at his trembling hands. SC hovered close. "Your condition is worsening."
Kaelen exhaled slowly. "I know."
His mind replayed the hybrid's eyes. The way it begged. The Foundry was not just beneath the city. It was beneath everything. And now he had seen it.
He lay back, staring at the cracked ceiling, listening to the faint hum of machinery through layers of stone and steel.
Somewhere below, more screams were being processed into silence. And the curse inside him listened carefully, remembering its way home.