The ballroom was a symphony of chaos. Screams echoed against the vaulted ceilings as the "Dampening Field" turned the elite students' powerful spells into pathetic sparks. Noble heirs who had spent their lives bragging about their mana capacity were now being hunted like sheep in silk.
Kaelen watched the assassin's blade descend. Time seemed to slow. He could see the micro-fissures in the steel, the smell of the paralyzing toxin—it was all so… amateur.
"Seraphina," Kaelen said, his voice calm amidst the screeching. "The key is hanging from the Headmaster's belt. It's a silver prism. He's currently busy fending off three assassins near the punch bowl."
"And you?" Seraphina asked, her stiletto darting out to parry a strike with lethal precision.
"I have a reputation to maintain," Kaelen smirked.
He didn't draw a weapon. Instead, he activated The Scoundrel's Strike, but he poured every drop of his new Void Heart mana into it.
As the assassin's blade reached his throat, Kaelen didn't dodge. He stepped forward, inside the man's guard. His palm slammed into the assassin's chest, but he didn't use a blunt force. He used a technique from his past life: The Void's Vacuum.
The air in the assassin's lungs was instantaneously erased. The man's chest collapsed inward, not from a hit, but from the sudden lack of internal pressure. He dropped like a stone, silent and breathless.
[NOTIFICATION!] [You have neutralized an Assassin!] [Calculated Intent: 100% Brutality / 0% Mercy.] [Karma Adjustment: -50 (Cruelty) / +100 (Protecting Others).] [Net Gain: +50 Karma.]
Kaelen frowned. "The System is stingy today."
He looked across the room. Elara was cornered by two assassins. She was trying to summon a Holy Shield, but the Dampening Field was choking her light. She looked terrified, her eyes searching the crowd. When she saw Kaelen, her expression shifted from terror to a desperate, heartbreaking hope.
"KAELEN!" she screamed.
Kaelen felt a surge of cold calculation. This was it. The "Golden Opportunity."
"Seraphina, go for the key now!" Kaelen shouted, loud enough for others to hear. "I'll save the Saintess!"
He began to run. But he didn't run like a hero. He ran like a man "struggling" against the dampening field. He stumbled, he gasped, he made sure every instructor saw how much "effort" he was putting in.
One assassin raised a jagged dagger over Elara. Kaelen "lunged" from ten feet away, throwing himself between them.
The dagger plunged into Kaelen's shoulder.
[CRITICAL DAMAGE!] [Health: 65/100] [Pain Sensors: 100%]
"Kaelen!" Elara wailed, catching him as he slumped against her.
Kaelen groaned, blood—bright, red, and very real—soaking his borrowed suit. He looked up at her, his eyes glassy. "I... I told you... I wouldn't let anyone hurt you."
[DING! DING! DING!] [HEAVENLY DEED DETECTED!] [Act: Selfless Sacrifice for the Saintess of Light.] [Base Reward: 1,000 Karma.] [Multipliers: 'True Pain', 'Low Survival Chance', 'False Saint's Halo'...] [Total Reward: 5,000 Karma Points!]
Kaelen's internal screen was flashing like a supernova. He had just made ten times his monthly interest in a single second by taking a flesh wound.
Worth it, he thought, even as the poison in the blade began to numb his arm.
While Elara sobbed and finally found the strength to erupt in a burst of Holy Light—shattering the assassins around them with the power of her grief—Kaelen looked toward the Headmaster.
Seraphina was there, moving through the shadows like a ghost. As the Headmaster blasted an assassin back, Seraphina "stumbled" into him in the confusion. Her fingers blurred. When she pulled away, the silver prism was gone.
She looked back at Kaelen, seeing him cradled in the Saintess's arms, looking like a dying martyr. She mouthed a single word: "Monster."
Kaelen closed his eyes, leaning his head into Elara's shoulder.
[Current Karma: 5,350] [Status: Injured / Beloved by the Saintess / Heist Ready.]
"Don't cry, Elara," Kaelen whispered, his voice fading perfectly for dramatic effect. "Just... stay with me..."
I'm going to need a lot of Shop Credits to fix this shoulder, Kaelen thought as he "fainted." But damn, being a Hero pays well.