The moon above Oakhaven didn't just fade; it bled. As the lunar eclipse reached its zenith, the sky turned the color of a bruised plum. In the Gutter, the air grew thick with the scent of damp earth and forbidden magic.
Elian stood at the entrance of a massive, vaulted chamber hidden behind a waterfall of sewage. This was the Umbra Vault, the site of the Black Market's most prestigious event. To enter, he had to surrender five silver credits just for a seat—a staggering price for a commoner, but Elian paid it without blinking.
He was guided to a shadowy alcove. Around him, masked figures sat in silence. Some were accompanied by hulking, leashed beasts that growled in the dark. Ignis stayed hidden within the depths of Elian's oversized cloak, his "Obsidion Plating" active to dampen his heat signature.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and those who prefer the dark," a voice boomed from the stage. The auctioneer was a tall, spindly man wearing a mask made from a crow's skull. "Tonight, we trade in the impossible."
The first few items were standard for the underworld:
A Cursed Dagger that bled when drawn (Sold for 12 Silver).
A Bottle of Siren's Breath for illusionists (Sold for 8 Silver).
A "Fallen" Paladin's Shield (Sold for 20 Silver).
Elian waited, his pulse steady. He wasn't here for steel or potions.
Finally, the Crow-Mask clapped his hands. Four muscular guards wheeled out a cage covered in a heavy, lead-lined shroud. The air around the cage seemed to distort, as if the light itself was being bent.
"Many of you have heard the legends of the Void-Step Lynx," the auctioneer whispered, his voice echoing. "A beast that walks between the folds of reality. Extremely rare. Almost impossible to capture."
He whipped the shroud away.
The creature inside was pathetic. It was a small, feline beast with fur that shimmered like a starless night sky. But its body was riddled with translucent, glowing green chains—Mana-Suppressors. Worse, its right eye was missing, replaced by a jagged, pulsating green crystal that looked disturbingly similar to the energy Elian had seen in the Iron Woods.
[System Alert: High-Level Warning!]
[Target: Void-Step Lynx (Spatial-Type)]
[Condition: Infected by 'Void-Parasite' Essence. Spatial Core is 40% Corrupted.]
[Evaluation: The beast is dying. In its current state, it will implode within 48 hours, taking everything within a 10-meter radius into a spatial rift.]
The crowd gasped. They saw a rare beast; Elian saw a ticking time bomb.
"The bidding starts at 40 Silver!" the auctioneer shouted. "A bargain for the power of teleportation!"
The room went silent. 40 Silver was a fortune, and the beast looked half-dead. The veteran hunters in the room sensed the instability.
"40 Silver for a corpse?" a voice yelled from the front. "That thing is leaking spatial mana. It's a hazard!"
"Going once..." the auctioneer prompted, sweat visible on his brow. He knew the beast was failing.
Elian's mind raced. System, if I fuse a corrupted core into Ignis, won't it kill him?
[Analysis: The 'Infinite Synthesis Matrix' can act as a filter. During fusion, the Matrix can isolate the 'Void-Parasite' essence and convert it into raw energy, while keeping the 'Spatial Property' intact. However, the cost will be the total depletion of your current mana and silver.]
"40 Silver!" Elian's voice rang out from the shadows, disguised by a vocal-distortion spell.
The room turned to look at the hooded figure in the back.
"Going twice..." The auctioneer didn't wait. He wanted this liability out of his vault. "Sold! To the gentleman in the alcove!"
As Elian was led to the back to settle his debt, he felt a cold gaze on his back. In a high balcony, a man in obsidian armor—one of the Wardens he had seen in the forest—was watching him.
Elian paid his remaining silver, his pouch now completely empty. He was handed the lead-lined cage. The Lynx hissed, its one good eye wide with terror.
"Don't worry," Elian whispered, looking at the glowing green corruption in the cat's eye. "I'm not going to keep you in a cage. I'm going to take that poison out of you."
He rushed out of the Gutter, taking a zigzagging path through the rain-slicked alleys. He could feel the spatial distortions getting stronger; the Lynx was reaching its limit.
He ducked into an old, flooded sewer junction—the only place deep enough to muffle a magical explosion.
"Ignis, out!"
The charcoal fox emerged, his ribs glowing bright violet. He looked at the dying Lynx with a mixture of pity and hunger.
"System," Elian's hands shook as he touched the bars of the cage. "This is it. Initiate Triple-Synthesis. Target: Ignis. Substrates: The Void-Step Lynx, the corrupted Crystal Eye, and the remnant fire-essence from the beetle slabs. Goal: Spatial Mobility."
[Warning: This process will destroy the donor beast entirely. 90% chance of extreme pain for Ignis.]
"Do it before that cat implodes!"
[Synthesis Initialized.]
The sewer was suddenly illuminated by a sickly green light clashing with a fierce orange roar. The Lynx dissolved—not into soot, but into shards of broken glass that floated in the air. The green crystal eye shattered, and as the "Void-Parasite" essence tried to escape, a blue grid of light from the Matrix slammed down on it, crushing it into pure, neutral mana.
The "Spatial Shards" then began to orbit Ignis. One by one, they pierced the fox's skin. Ignis didn't roar; he screamed, a sound that bypassed the ears and hit the soul.
[Filtering Corruption... 100% Success.]
[Integrating Spatial Core... 50%... 80%...]
Suddenly, Ignis's form began to flicker. One moment he was there, the next he was a foot to the left, his body blurring like a heat haze.
[Synthesis Complete!]
[Evolution: Ignis has reached Bronze-Mid Rank.]
[New Skill Acquired: Flicker (Rare/Spatial)]
[Effect: Ignis can 'Blink' up to 10 meters in any direction. Every 3rd Blink leaves behind a 'Cinder-Remnant' that explodes on contact.]
Elian slumped against the damp wall, his silver gone, his mana at zero, and his heart pounding. Ignis trotted over to him. The fox looked the same, but his shadow no longer followed him quite right—it seemed to lag behind, a dark echo in a different dimension.
[Note: A hidden property has been discovered. Due to the 'Void-Parasite' filtering, Ignis has developed 'Void-Atheism'—he can now sense the presence of extraterrestrial beasts within a 1-mile radius.]
"Good," Elian wheezed, petting the fox's head. "Because the guy watching us at the auction? He's right outside the tunnel entrance."
Elian looked up. At the end of the sewer tunnel, the man in obsidian armor was standing, his blade drawn.
"Hand over the fox, boy," the Warden said. "You've played with forces you don't understand for the last time."