The corpse of the Obsidian Stalker was heavy. It smelled like burnt ozone and wet cat.
Ravi knelt in the mud, gasping for air. His hands were raw and bloody from heaving the stone rubble off the monster's carcass. "Status," he wheezed.
[STATUS WINDOW] Name: Ravi Level: 5 HP: 22/150 (Bleeding) Mana: 1/15 Active Seat: Seat 7 (Musashi) - [Inhabiting: Rusted Trap]
Level 5. He had jumped three levels from one kill. That was the benefit of fighting monsters ten times your level—the XP scaling was insane. But the cost was high. His left arm was numb from the shockwave of the collapsing archway, and his stamina was blinking red.
"Musashi," Ravi muttered. "Stop floating. We need to work."
The rusted bear trap hovered near his shoulder, clicking its jaws impatiently. "Work?" Musashi scoffed. "I am a Grandmaster, not a butcher. Do not ask me to skin this beast."
"I don't need the skin," Ravi said, pulling a jagged rock from the ground. He jammed it into the Stalker's paw, right between the joints of its massive central claw. "I need the tooth."
He leveraged his weight against the rock. CRACK. It took ten minutes of sweating, cursing, and prying, but finally, the connective tissue snapped.
Ravi held it up to the moonlight. The Obsidian Claw. It was a curved, black talon about twelve inches long. It was light as a feather but harder than steel. The edge was so sharp it seemed to cut the light itself.
[MATERIAL DETECTED: OBSIDIAN STALKER CLAW] [GRADE: D+] [COMPATIBILITY WITH SEAT 7: 85%]
85%. A massive jump from the bear trap's 12%.
"Alright, Old Man," Ravi grinned, wiping sweat from his eyes. "Time to upgrade."
He placed the rusted trap on the ground next to the black claw. "Transfer."
"Finally," Musashi breathed. "Get me out of this garbage."
Ravi extended his hand. His mana was almost empty, but a transfer didn't cost much—it was just moving the file. "INHABIT."
HUMMM.
The blue wireframe grid appeared again, wrapping around the bear trap. The rusted iron dissolved into blue particles of light. The soul of the Sword Saint floated in the air for a split second—a shapeless, glowing blue wisp—before slamming violently into the Obsidian Claw.
SHING.
The sound was different this time. It wasn't the clunky CLANK of iron. It was the high-pitched SING of a razor slicing the wind.
The black claw didn't change shape, but the texture shifted. The rough organic bone smoothed out into polished, glassy perfection. A faint blue hilt formed at the base, made of solidified mana.
It floated up, spinning lazily in the air.
"Oh..." Musashi's voice was no longer raspy. It was clear. Sharp. Deadly. "This... This is balance."
The dagger whipped through the air, performing a figure-eight slash faster than Ravi's eyes could follow. "It is light. Too light. It lacks the weight of steel, but the edge... the edge is hungry."
Ravi grabbed the hilt. It felt cold. It felt right.
[WEAPON ACQUIRED: SHADOW FANG] [TYPE: DAGGER] [ATTACK: 45] [EFFECT: BLEED (High chance to cause unhealable wounds)]
"Attack 45," Ravi whistled. "The trap was Attack 5. Now we're talking."
He stood up, sliding the dagger into a makeshift belt loop he'd cut into his trousers. "Let's go. The noise from that archway collapsing probably woke up half the forest."
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
They traveled North.
The Spirit Wilds began to change. The glowing purple trees became scarce. The ground turned from soft mud to hard, grey gravel. The air grew colder, and the smell of rotting leaves was replaced by the acrid scent of Sulfur and Coal.
Ravi didn't stop to rest. He couldn't. His hunger bar was low, but his adrenaline kept him moving. He needed a Safe Zone. He needed clothes that weren't rags. He needed information.
"Architect," Musashi whispered from his hip. "Do you feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"The vibration in the earth. Rhythmic. Heavy. Machines."
Ravi crouched low behind a ridge of slate rock. Ahead of them, the forest ended abruptly. It didn't fade away; it was Cut. A massive, unnatural clearing stretched for miles. Stumps of giant trees littered the ground like gravestones.
And beyond the stumps... The Kingdom of Steel.
Ravi's eyes widened. It was a fortress city built into the side of a mountain range. Massive pipes, thick as highways, snaked out of the mountain, pumping thick black smoke into the sky. Gears the size of houses turned slowly in the distance, grinding with a sound that shook the ground. It looked like the Industrial Revolution on steroids.
"Steam-Tech," Ravi muttered. "Low-level magic mixed with high-level engineering. This is Omega's territory."
"Ugly," Musashi sniffed. "No elegance. Just noise and soot."
"It's civilization," Ravi corrected. "Which means food."
He scanned the perimeter. Between the forest edge and the city walls lay a wasteland of scrap metal and mud—the Junkyard. And patrolling the Junkyard were lights. Searchlights.
[WARNING.] [HOSTILE FACTION DETECTED.]
Ravi squinted. A group of three figures was walking through the junk, poking at debris with long spears. They weren't human. Not entirely. They wore bulky, rusted diving suits made of brass and leather. Their faces were covered by gas masks with glowing green lenses. Steam hissed from vents on their shoulders.
[MOB: STEAM-KNIGHT SCAVENGER] [LEVEL: 8] [HP: 200/200]
"Scavengers," Ravi whispered. "They patrol the border looking for scrap... or intruders."
"Three of them," Musashi noted. "They are armored. Brass plating. The dagger can pierce the joints, but not the chest."
"We need their gear," Ravi said, eyeing the heavy coats under their armor. "And we need to get into the city."
He looked at his HP. 22/150. If he got hit once, he was dead. If he tried to fight three Level 8s head-on, he was dead.
"Musashi. How much mana do we have?"
"1 point. Enough for one throw."
"One throw," Ravi calculated. "Meaning we have to kill one instantly, steal his weapon, and kill the other two the old-fashioned way."
"Risky," Musashi warned. "If you miss the throw, I am on the ground, and you are unarmed against three armored golems."
"Then don't miss."
Ravi stood up. He picked up a loose bolt from the ground. He threw it—not at the knights, but at a pile of hollow pipes to their left.
CLANG.
The three Steam-Knights stopped. Their heads snapped toward the noise. Green lenses flared. "Sector 4... Noise detected..." one of them rasped. Its voice was mechanical, filtered through the mask.
Two of them walked toward the pipes. The third one—the straggler—stayed behind, adjusting a valve on his steam rifle.
"Now," Ravi whispered.
He stepped out from the ridge. He didn't run. He didn't scream. He simply raised his right hand. The Shadow Fang floated into his grip. He pulled his arm back and hurled the black dagger.
[SKILL: TELEKINETIC THROW (LIMITED)]
The dagger didn't fly straight. Mid-air, Musashi took control. The blade curved around a pile of junk, correcting its trajectory. It accelerated, turning into a black streak.
THWIP.
The dagger slammed into the Scavenger's neck—right between the helmet and the brass collar. Black blood sprayed against the gas mask. The Knight gurgled, dropping his rifle.
[CRITICAL HIT.] [INSTANT KILL.]
The Knight fell. Ravi was already moving. He sprinted across the mud, sliding on his knees as he reached the falling body. He grabbed the falling Steam Rifle before it hit the ground.
The other two Knights turned around. "Intruder!" one screeched. Steam vented violently from its suit.
Ravi rolled over the dead body, leveling the rifle. It was heavy. It was hot. He had no idea how to aim it. But he didn't need to aim. Musashi, still embedded in the dead knight's neck, vibrated.
"PULL IT!" Musashi roared in his mind. "THE TRIGGER! PULL IT!"
Ravi pulled.
HISSS-CRACK.
A bolt of superheated steam and a lead slug erupted from the barrel. It hit the second Knight in the chest. It didn't pierce the armor, but the force knocked him backward into a pile of scrap.
The third Knight charged. He raised a jagged spear. Ravi tried to fire again. Click. Jammed. Or out of steam.
The Knight lunged. Ravi dropped the gun and ducked. The spear tip grazed his ear, drawing blood. [HP: 18/150]
The Knight raised the spear for a killing blow. Ravi was on his back. He had no weapon.
"Musashi!"
From the corpse ten feet away, the Shadow Fang ripped itself free. It flew through the air, spinning like a buzzsaw. But it didn't hit the Knight. It ran out of momentum halfway. Ravi's mana was zero. The dagger clattered to the ground just out of reach.
The Knight looked down at Ravi. Its green lenses glowed. "Eliminate," it said.
Ravi stared at the spear coming down. Think. Think. Use the environment. He looked at the Knight. Specifically, at the hissing tank on the Knight's back. The Steam Tank.
Ravi grabbed a handful of mud and gravel from the ground. As the Knight thrust the spear down, Ravi threw the dirt—not at the Knight's face, but at the Exhaust Vent on his shoulder.
The gravel jammed the vent. The steam had nowhere to go. Pressure built up in a microsecond.
WHEEEE-
The Knight froze. A high-pitched whine erupted from his suit. "Pressure... Critical..."
BOOM.
The tank on the Knight's back exploded. Ravi shielded his face as brass shrapnel and boiling water blasted outward. The Knight was blown forward, face-planting into the mud, his armor smoking and ruined.
Ravi lay there for a second, ears ringing. He looked up. The third Knight—the one he shot—was groaning, trying to stand up.
Ravi scrambled to his feet. He grabbed the Shadow Fang from the mud. He walked over to the struggling Knight. He didn't hesitate. He drove the black blade into the Knight's eye lens.
[ENEMIES DEFEATED.] [LEVEL UP!] [LEVEL: 6]
Ravi collapsed against a pile of tires, gasping for breath. Three dead. He had almost died twice.
"You possess incredible luck," Musashi noted, floating back to his hip. "Or incredible stupidity. Jamming a steam vent with gravel? That was a 10% chance of working."
"10% is better than 0%," Ravi coughed. He looked at the bodies. Three Steam Rifles (one broken). Three Brass Armor suits. And... food rations in their pockets.
Ravi tore open a pouch—dried meat. Real meat. He shoved it into his mouth.
"Eat up, Musashi," Ravi chewed, looking at the towering walls of the Kingdom of Steel in the distance. "We just got our ticket into the city."
He looked at the dead Knight's armor. "And I think I found my new disguise."