Kaien didn't wait long before he left the darkened tunnel. The man in black? He was gone, and Kaien wasn't the type to chase ghosts—at least, not yet. But something about his words gnawed at him.
Power is never given. It's always taken.
Kaien gripped his side, feeling the still-throbbing pain of the Feral Beast's claws. His body had healed, but his mind? That was another story.
[Neural Instability: 72%]
He was running on fumes.
The city streets had become an unrecognizable blur—lights flickered on, off, and everything felt colder. Distant sirens wailed, but they were too far to matter.
"What now?" Kaien muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes.
He could feel it now—something stirring beneath the concrete. Not just the underworld, but something much darker. Every corner seemed to whisper his name, and in the distance, he heard faint thumping noises that made his skin crawl.
There was an old building in front of him—a warehouse. There was a neon sign flashing erratically above the door. The Raven's Roost.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
[DANGER DETECTED.]
Kaien paused.
"Great. More fun," he said, half sarcastic, half fearful.
As he stepped inside, the stale air hit him first. Then the noise—low, rhythmic thumping that seemed to come from deep beneath the ground. A group of figures sat around a table in the center, eyes hidden beneath shadows.
At the far end of the warehouse, an old man in a hood sat at a desk, scribbling something on a piece of paper.
Kaien walked in, deliberately making noise to announce his presence.
"Well, well," the old man said, not even glancing up. "You are brave, I'll give you that. Or stupid. Maybe both."
"What is this place?" Kaien asked, his voice hoarse.
The old man chuckled darkly. "This is where people like you end up—those who ascend. You'll be needing us soon enough. Everyone does."
A woman—probably in her twenties, with short red hair and a scar across her cheek—looked up, a smirk forming on her face. "Don't listen to him. He's just trying to mess with your head."
She stood up, walking over to Kaien. There was an energy about her that made Kaien uneasy.
"You want to survive the System, don't you?" she asked, her voice sharp, eyes piercing. "Then stop pretending you can do it alone."
Kaien raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think I need help?"
She shrugged, a lazy grin spreading across her lips. "Because if you don't learn to control your power, it'll control you. And that's a real nice way to die in the streets. Unless you want the Order to finish the job."
Her words hit like a punch to the gut. The Order. Again. The people who had already tried to kill him.
"Do you know what they really want?" she asked, voice low, as though she was letting Kaien in on a secret. "They want to keep everyone weak. The System? The Store? It's all just a tool. To control you."
"I'm done being controlled," Kaien snapped.
She laughed—a sharp, knowing laugh. "Oh, sweetheart. You're already controlled. You just don't know it yet."
Kaien's fists clenched. He wasn't going to let her push him around. But something in her words made him stop, just for a second. He wasn't the only one ascending. And if this woman could level up, maybe he should listen.
The old man suddenly looked up, eyes glinting in the dim light.
"You'll need this, boy," he said, pushing something toward Kaien.
Kaien stared at the object—a black crystal. Just like the one the man in the tunnel had offered.
"Another one of these?" Kaien muttered, skeptical. "What's this one supposed to do?"
The woman stepped forward, her smile turning vicious. "That's a Corruption Stone. It'll give you real power—something the System's too scared to hand out. But it'll cost you. Everything has a price."
Kaien reached for it, but the woman's hand shot out, blocking him.
"Think about it carefully, Kaien," she said, voice low, almost seductive. "This is your chance to unlock something the System will never let you have. But the more you take from the Corruption Stone, the less human you'll become."
Her words hung in the air like a warning.
Kaien stared down at the stone. It pulsed in his hand, like it had a heartbeat of its own.
Take it.
Something inside him urged him forward, and before he could second-guess it, his hand closed around the stone.
The world tilted.
His vision split. His mind shattered.
[Warning: Corruption Stone Engaged.]
The stone burned through his palm, its dark energy racing up his arm like fire. His body trembled under the weight of it. The air itself thickened, as though the city was breathing with him.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him cracked open, and for a moment, Kaien thought he was falling through.
And then, everything stopped.
Kaien gasped for air, chest heaving.
[Corruption Unlocked.]
[Skill: Chaos Surge – 1%]
For a moment, Kaien just stood there, trying to process the pain that was now searing through him. The Corruption Stone had changed him—but at what cost?
The woman watched him carefully, her grin widening. "You've made your choice."
Kaien's heart pounded in his chest.
The Order wanted him, but now… now he had the power to tear apart anyone who tried to stop him.