Ozriel stared at the glowing interface, his pulse quickening despite his exhaustion. The notification stayed suspended in the air, a digital ghost in the dim light of the underground cellar. He had gambled his life on a contract with a woman the world called a monster, and now it was time for the house to pay out.
[Emergency Mission: Save the Villainess — COMPLETED.]
[Calculating Rewards...]
[Reward 1: System Integration finalized.]
[Reward 2: 1x Random Skill Slot — UNLOCKED.]
[Reward 3: 1x Unique Skill — GRANTED.]
A sudden, violent heat erupted in the center of Ozriel's chest. It wasn't the draining sensation from before; this was an expansion. He gasped, arching his back as he felt his mana core being restructured by an invisible force. It felt like an endless void was being carved out inside him, a hollow space that stretched into infinity.
[Unique Skill Acquired: Infinite Abyss Core.]
[Description: Your mana core has been transformed into a conceptual singularity. Its depth is immeasurable. No matter how much mana is gathered, it will never be full. Side Effect: Due to the immense volume of the core, your mana signature will always appear 'Empty' or 'Negligible' to outside observers.]
Ozriel pressed a hand to his chest, his eyes wide. In a world where status was determined by the visible radiance of one's mana, he had just become a phantom. To a king or a high mage, he would look like a commoner with no talent. In reality, he was a reservoir that could never overflow.
Then, the second reward flickered into life.
[Random Skill Slot Rolling...]
[Skill Acquired: Mana Recovery (Passive).].
[Description: Your body has become an efficient vessel for ambient energy. You absorb mana from the atmosphere at 2x the rate of a standard human.]
A dry, sharp laugh escaped his throat. "Infinite storage and a high-speed pump," he whispered. While the multiplier was modest, the synergy was terrifying. He could pull mana from the world twice as fast as any other person, and he would never have to worry about his core reaching its limit or exploding from the pressure. He could keep drawing power long after others had been forced to stop.
He turned his attention toward the sleeping woman. "Now," he muttered, "let's see what I bought with my life."
"System, open Vespera's status panel."
[Target: Vespera Shadow-Step]
[Class: Shadow-Weaver Villainess]
[Rank: Silver-Tier (Suppressed)]
[Bond Level: 0% (Wary/Hostile)]
[Stamina: 15/100 (Recovering)]
[Mana: 2/250 (Severely Depleted)]
[Available Skills for Selection:
| Phantom Dash: High-speed movement that leaves an afterimage.
| Shadow Pillar: AOE darkness eruption (Observed).
| Viper's Reflex: Passive reaction speed boost.
| Night's Embrace: Wide-scale blindness field.
| Heart-Seeker: A precision strike that ignores 20% of physical armor.]
Ozriel studied the list. He recalled the way she had vanished into smoke to avoid the spear and the sheer, destructive force of the Shadow Pillar that had leveled the street. He had three slots to fill, but he didn't have to take them all now. He needed something to keep himself alive while he built his foundation.
"I'll take the first one," Ozriel decided. "Phantom Dash."
[Skill: Phantom Dash has been successfully copied to Host Skill Slot 1.]
He felt a strange twitch in his calf muscles, a ghostly sensation of weightlessness. He didn't test it yet; the cellar was too small, and he was still physically weak. Instead, he looked at the description of his new absorption skill.
"Mana Recovery," he read. "Sit in a meditative state. Clear the mind. Allow the skin to breathe like a lung."
Ozriel sat cross-legged on the dirt floor, a few feet away from Vespera. He closed his eyes and tried to forget the smell of the damp cellar and the lingering taste of blood in his mouth. He focused on the air. In this world, the air felt thick, almost like it was saturated with invisible dust. That was the mana.
He followed the skill's instructions, imagining his pores opening up like a thousand tiny mouths. The effect was immediate. Usually, mana absorption was a slow, meditative grind. For Ozriel, it felt as though a steady stream had been opened. A flow of cold, crystalline energy rushed toward him, swirling around his body in a visible vortex of white mist. It surged into his skin, through his veins, and plunged into the Infinite Abyss Core.
He waited for the feeling of being "full." He waited for the pressure that usually told a mage to stop. It never came. The mana fell into the void of his chest and seemingly vanished, leaving behind only a sense of sharpened clarity. He was essentially a bottomless pit, and with his doubled recovery speed, he was filling it faster than any mortal should be able to.
He continued for an hour, then two. His physical exhaustion began to fade, replaced by a cold, buzzing energy. He felt more alive than he ever had on Earth. He was no longer just a bank manager who had been betrayed; he was a predator in training.
A soft groan from the floor interrupted his focus.
Ozriel opened his eyes. The white mist of mana dissipated instantly. He looked over to see Vespera stirring. Her hand moved instinctively toward her neck, feeling for the chains that were no longer there. Her eyes snapped open—sharp, dark, and full of immediate violence.
She bolted upright, her back hitting the stone wall as she stared at Ozriel. Her breathing was ragged, and the brand on her collarbone pulsed with a faint, warning light.
"Where are we?" she demanded, her voice a low, dangerous rasp. "And why can I still feel you inside my head?"
Ozriel didn't move. He stayed in his meditative pose, looking at her with a calm that bordered on indifference. "We are in a cellar. You are alive because I chose to save you. And you feel me because your life now belongs to the contract."
Vespera's gaze darted to the broken chains in the corner, then back to him. She looked at his mana signature—or the lack of it. To her, he looked like a weakling, a man with almost no power at all. Yet, he was the one who had broken the royal suppression iron.
"You look like a peasant," she spat, though her eyes betrayed her confusion. "How did you break those chains?"
"Looks can be deceiving, Vespera," Ozriel said. "I am the man who saved you from a spike. That is all you need to know for now."