Not like a beast breathing.
Like a furnace pulling air.
The space in front of its mouth glowed hotter and hotter until the air itself looked wrong. Warped. Shimmering.
Roth was already moving.
“Down!” he shouted.
Lyra dragged Mina backward so hard Mina nearly fell. I grabbed Mina’s elbow, because she still moved like her bones were new.
She was level one.
Level one should not be allowed to stand in front of a drake. The universe should reject it on principle.
The drake exhaled.
Fire poured over the street like a wave.
It was not normal flame.
It had a faint blue tint, the same sickly color that kept showing up everywhere lately.
The wooden fence at the corner did not catch fire.
It melted.
Stone hissed.
Iron screamed.
People screamed louder.
Roth slammed his sword into the ground and used his body as a wall, standing between the flame and the nearest civilians like he was trying to intimidate physics.
Lyra threw up a sheet of fire, not to attack, but to redirect the blast upward like a chimney. The air snapped and popped.
I felt heat punch through my cloak.
The system screamed in my face.
[BOSS ALERT]
Rampaging Drake
Threat: HIGH
Recommended Level: 30+
Warning: Corrosive flame signature detected.
Corrosive.
Of course.
Mina coughed once, weak.
Valeblade whispered from her hip, muffled by the liner but still smug.
“A drake. Finally. A worthy witness to my—”
“Quiet,” Mina rasped.
Valeblade whispered, offended. “No.”
I looked up.
The drake’s head cleared the wall, eyes reflecting firelight. It was not full dragon size, but it did not need to be. A drake was a dragon’s violent little cousin that skipped wisdom and went straight to arson.
It roared again.
The wall shook.
The town answered with panic.
Roth’s voice cut through it.
“Move to the wall. If it breaks through, the barracks and floodgate station go next.”
My stomach tightened.
The seal ring crates.
The quest.
The entire point of being here.
Pyon blinked onto my shoulder, ears flat.
A clear thought hit me.
…hurt.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “We noticed.”
We ran.
Athletics S turned my legs into machines. I did not even feel the ground. I just appeared at places.
Roth ran like a soldier, not fast, efficient. Lyra ran with the casual grace of someone who hates exercise but loves survival. Mina ran like a person wearing a body that had been emptied and refilled wrong.
I kept a hand on Mina’s elbow the whole time.
Then we hit the outer wall ramp.
Ballista crews were already there, scrambling.
A captain barked orders.
“Crank! Crank! Load! Again!”
A ballista bolt the size of a small tree slammed into the drake’s shoulder.
The drake barely flinched.
It turned its head.
Inhaled.
The captain’s face went white.
“Down!”
The drake exhaled at the wall.
Blue flame washed over stone.
The parapet blackened.
A ballista crew screamed as the heat rolled over them.
I threw up my arm and instinctively cast Minor Heal on the nearest burned guard because my brain could not handle watching people cook.
My palm glowed weakly.
The burns dimmed slightly. Not healed. Not fixed. But less screaming.
The system chimed like it was proud of me for doing the bare minimum.
[SKILL EXP]
Healing Magic +18%
Minor Heal +12%
I hated that I liked the chime.
Roth grabbed the ballista captain by the collar.
“Where are the heavier bolts.”
The captain pointed, shaking. “We used them! It broke two! It is not going down!”
Lyra’s eyes narrowed. “It is not a siege weapon problem. It is a kill it problem.”
The drake slammed its claws into the wall and hauled itself up, stone cracking under its weight.
It was climbing into the city.
Right now.
My brain did the fast math and came to a horrible conclusion.
If it gets inside, the town dies.
If we fail, we die.
If Mina stays level one, she dies later anyway.
That thought should have been separate. It was not. It all crashed together.
Roth raised his sword.
“Formation,” he said again.
Then Mina whispered, barely audible. “I cannot… I cannot do anything.”
Her voice was small.
Mina never sounded small.
I looked at her and it hit me like a punch.
The resurrection cost had not just taken her levels. It had taken her place.
She was the anchor. The healer. The moral center.
Now she was a fragile person in a crisis.
And I was the only one in this world with the kind of brain rot that could look at that and go, there is a solution.
A disgusting solution.
Because this world was a slot machine.
And Mina needed to pull the lever.
I opened my party menu.
Not because I wanted to.
Because I needed to see the numbers.
[PARTY: HERO STANDARD]
Members: 4
XP Distribution: Equal Share
Party Bonus: Coordination (Minor)
Options: Invite | Remove | Disband | Settings
Equal share.
Four members.
That meant any kill, any boss, any miracle experience, got split.
If we killed the drake as a party, Mina would get one quarter of the kill credit.
One quarter of a Level 30+ boss might still be insane.
But Mina was level one.
From level one, a full boss kill could launch her into orbit.
It could rebuild her levels in seconds.
It could give her back her spells, her strength, her ability to survive.
I looked at Mina.
I looked at the drake pulling itself higher.
I looked at the equal share setting.
Then I did the unthinkable.
My thumb hovered over Remove.
Lyra’s voice snapped. “Kenta. What are you staring at.”
I swallowed. My throat felt like sand.
“Mina,” I said fast, “listen to me. You need XP.”
Mina blinked, dazed. “Yes.”
“This drake is worth a ridiculous amount,” I said. “If the party gets it, you get a quarter.”
Roth’s eyes narrowed instantly. “Kenta.”
I kept going.
“If you get the kill credit alone, you get all of it. You might jump from level one back to… back to you.”
Mina stared at me. Her face went pale.
Lyra’s mouth opened slowly. “You are not saying what I think you are saying.”
I nodded once.
“I am,” I said.
Roth’s voice went hard. “You cannot remove our healer.”
“I am not removing her forever,” I snapped, sharper than I meant. “I am removing her for one minute. For one hit.”
Mina’s voice trembled. “You want me to last hit the drake.”
“Yes,” I said, and my chest hurt saying it. “And to do that, I have to kick you out of the party so the system credits you, not us.”
Mina’s eyes widened.
Then her expression changed.
Not fear.
Hurt.
Like I had slapped her.
“Kenta,” she whispered, “you are going to throw me out when I am weakest.”
The words stabbed.
Lyra flinched like she felt it too.
Roth’s jaw clenched.
Valeblade whispered from Mina’s hip, delighted. “Yes. Exile. Drama.”
Mina hissed, “Quiet.”
Valeblade whispered, “No.”
I grabbed Mina’s shoulders gently, because I could not afford to sound cold.
“I am not abandoning you,” I said fast. “I am doing the opposite. I need you to trust me for ten seconds. We get it low. You finish it. You get everything back.”
Mina’s eyes flicked to the drake.
Then to the burning street.
Then to the wounded guards.
She swallowed.
“I… I cannot even hold my symbol steady,” she whispered.
“You do not need a miracle,” I said. “You need one hit. One point of damage. That is it.”
Roth stepped closer, voice controlled. “If we do this, you protect her directly. No mistakes.”
“I will,” I said instantly.
Lyra’s expression was feral. “This is the most disgusting min-max thing I have ever seen.”
“Thank you,” I muttered.
Pyon blinked to the ballista rail and stared down at the drake.
Thought: …help.
“Yes,” I whispered back. “You help too.”
The drake hauled itself onto the wall.
Claws scraping stone.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Wings flaring.
It roared into our faces.
The smell of hot metal and burned wood and something chemical filled my nose.
The system screamed again.
[BOSS] Rampaging Drake
HP: 7,900 / 8,500
Resist: Fire (High)
Weak: Eyes, Wing Joints, Underjaw
Note: Corrosive Flame Gland detected.
Lyra stared at the resist line and swore. “Of course it resists fire.”
Roth looked at the ballista crew. “Aim for wing joints. Pin it.”
The captain yelled, “Load!”
I looked at the bolts.
Then at the seal ring crates we had stored.
Then at the ballista.
Then at my own hands.
My crafting obsession kicked in like a reflex.
“Give me one bolt,” I shouted.
The ballista crew stared at me like I was insane.
The captain recognized my cloak and flinched. “Hero, we do not have time for—”
“You do,” I snapped. “Or you die.”
He shoved a bolt toward me.
I grabbed it and opened my inventory mid-run.
Seal rings.
Resin.
Waxed thread.
Boar tusk shard.
My fingers moved without permission.
Cut thread, wrap ring, tie to bolt, resin seal, slap seal dust pattern for mana grounding.
My hands were a blur.
The system chimed like a machine gun.
[CRAFTING SUCCESS]
Seal-Pin Ballista Bolt (Rare)
Effect: Mana Dampening (Minor)
Effect: Anchor on impact (High)
Note: Improvised.
Lyra’s eyes went wide. “You just upgraded a bolt.”
Roth grunted. “Load it.”
The crew shoved it into the ballista.
The drake roared and slammed its tail across the wall.
Stone shattered.
A guard went flying.
I sprinted and caught him before he went over the edge, because Athletics S is unfair.
My arms screamed.
I dragged him back.
Then the drake inhaled again.
Blue flame building.
Roth charged.
No shield. Just steel and stubbornness.
He leapt and drove his sword into the drake’s underjaw.
The drake screamed.
The breath faltered.
Lyra hurled a tight flame bolt into the drake’s mouth.
Not to burn it.
To ignite its own breath inside.
The drake’s throat flashed.
It coughed blue fire backward.
It recoiled, stunned, furious.
Lyra grinned like a demon. “Eat your own breath.”
The ballista captain screamed, “Fire!”
The seal-pin bolt launched.
It hit the drake’s wing joint with a wet crack.
The ring on the bolt flared.
A thin lattice of light snapped outward like a net.
The drake’s wing jerked, then locked halfway.
The bolt anchored into the stone behind it like it had grown roots.
The drake roared.
Then it tried to blink away.
Not teleport, but that instinctive “escape” movement monsters do.
The net held.
The system chimed.
[EFFECT APPLIED]
Mana Dampening (Minor)
Movement restricted.
My chest tightened with relief.
We had it pinned.
Not dead.
Pinned.
Roth’s voice snapped. “Now! Hit the joints! Do not get in front of its mouth!”
The drake lashed.
Claws. Tail. Bite.
Roth took hits he should not be able to take and stayed upright anyway.
I sprinted under the wing, stabbed into the joint gap, and ripped out before corrosive blood could spray my face.
[SKILL EXP]
Precision Thrust +22%
Athletics +8%
Lyra switched from fire to heat control, making the air around the drake’s eyes shimmer until it blinked and shook its head, disoriented.
Mina stayed behind, pale, hands trembling, Valeblade whispering.
“I could slay it,” Valeblade whispered. “If only you would draw me.”
Mina whispered back, “I will. When it matters.”
My heart kicked.
Good.
She was listening.
The drake’s tail swept again.
Roth dodged, barely.
A guard got clipped and slammed into the wall, blood spraying.
I turned instinctively and threw Minor Heal.
My palm glowed.
The bleeding slowed.
Not stopped.
But slowed enough for a healer, if we had one.
We did not. Not right now.
Mina’s eyes flicked to the wounded guard, then to me, then away, guilt crushing her.
I hated it.
I hated the system for making her pay the cost.
I hated myself for needing to game the cost.
Roth’s voice cut through.
“Kenta! Wing is loosening!”
I looked.
The seal-pin bolt net was flickering. The drake’s mana was pushing against it like a tide.
We needed to end this.
We needed to end it carefully.
I checked the drake’s HP.
[BOSS] Rampaging Drake
HP: 2,600 / 8,500
It was dropping.
Fast.
Good.
Also terrifying.
Because if Lyra or Roth or I got greedy and finished it, Mina would stay level one.
And I would never forgive myself.
I shouted, “Do not kill it!”
Lyra snapped, “I know!”
Roth grunted, “Understood!”
Then the drake did something worse than rage.
It focused.
Its eyes locked onto Mina.
Maybe it sensed weak prey.
Maybe it sensed divine residue.
Maybe it just wanted to hurt something soft.
It pulled its pinned wing hard.
The net snapped.
The bolt tore free.
The drake lurched forward in a violent hop and landed inside the wall line.
Inside the city.
Guards screamed.
Civilians screamed louder.
The drake inhaled.
Mina was in front of it.
My blood went cold.
I did not think.
Heroic Shout fired out of my lungs like a weapon.
“HEY!”
The shout hit the air like a hammer.
The drake’s head jerked toward me.
Aggro.
Drawn.
My system chimed.
[SKILL EXP]
Heroic Shout +30%
Effect: Threat increased.
Good.
Bad.
Because now it wanted me.
I sprinted straight at the drake.
I climbed the broken wall stones like they were stairs.
Athletics S made it possible. Mental Resistance made it not suicidal.
The drake snapped at me.
I parried the bite.
Steel met tooth.
My arms screamed.
I riposted into the underjaw gap Roth had made earlier.
The drake screamed, furious, and swung its head sideways.
I went airborne.
For half a second I was flying through smoke and sparks.
Then Pyon blinked.
He appeared under me in mount form.
I landed on his back like the world had decided to cooperate for one second.
Pyon blinked again.
We reappeared behind the drake.
My stomach tried to exit my body.
Pyon’s thought was clear and proud.
…got you.
“Got me,” I gasped.
Lyra screamed from the wall, “STOP RIDING YOUR TELEPORT DEER LIKE IT IS NORMAL!”
“It is normal,” I yelled back, lying.
Roth charged again, sword in both hands, and drove into the drake’s leg joint with a brutal cut.
The drake stumbled.
It did not fall.
It slammed its wing down like a club.
Roth got clipped and thrown into a cart.
Wood exploded.
Roth grunted and stood anyway.
He always stood.
Mina ran to him instinctively.
Then remembered she was level one.
She froze.
Her hands shook.
I saw her face twist in helplessness.
My chest hurt.
Not now.
Not now.
I checked the drake’s HP again.
[BOSS] Rampaging Drake
HP: 540 / 8,500
Almost.
Too fast.
We were about to win by accident.
I turned to Mina and shouted, “Now!”
Mina stared. “What.”
“Trust me!” I shouted. “Right now!”
I opened the party menu with shaking fingers.
My thumb hovered over Remove.
Everything in me hated it.
Then I pressed it.
[PARTY UPDATE]
Remove member: Mina
Warning: Party bonuses will be reduced.
Confirm? Y/N
My throat tightened.
I hit yes.
[PARTY UPDATE]
Mina removed from party: Hero Standard
XP Distribution updated.
Mina’s eyes widened like she felt something snap.
She whispered, hurt again. “Kenta…”
I did not let myself hesitate.
I grabbed her wrist and shoved her backward, away from the drake’s head.
“I am sorry,” I said fast. “I will explain after. You are going to finish it. You are going to take all the XP. You are going to get your levels back.”
Mina stared at me.
Then her eyes filled.
Not tears yet.
Just emotion pushing hard.
“You planned this,” she whispered.
“Yes,” I said. “Because you saved four people and paid everything. I am not letting you stay level one.”
Valeblade whispered from her hip, thrilled. “Yes. Take me. Strike the final blow. They will sing of us.”
Mina swallowed.
Then she nodded once, small and violent.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Tell me where.”
I pointed at the wound under the drake’s jaw, where my blade had been carving a line. Corrosive blood dripped. The drake was staggering, furious, almost done.
“Heart is deeper,” I said. “Under left shoulder. But the jaw wound is open. You can end it if you push in and up.”
Mina’s fingers tightened on the sheath.
She drew Valeblade.
The blade flashed.
Valeblade whispered, reverent. “At last.”
Roth shouted, “It is almost dead!”
“Do not touch it!” I yelled back.
Lyra yelled, “I swear on my fire I will not!”
The drake lunged at me again.
I stepped in front.
Parry.
Riposte.
Not to kill.
Just to control.
Pyon blinked to my side, horn glowing, and headbutted the drake’s ankle to throw its weight off balance.
The drake stumbled.
Its head dipped.
That was the opening.
“Mina!” I shouted.
Mina moved.
Level one, shaking, but moving.
She sprinted in like she was running into a storm.
Valeblade screamed, loud even through the liner because drama broke the rules.
“WITNESS ME!”
Mina ignored him and drove the blade into the open wound under the drake’s jaw.
She pushed with everything she had.
The blade sank.
The drake’s eyes went wide.
It made a sound like a mountain cracking.
Then it fell.
Hard.
The ground shook.
The heat in the air faded like someone turned off a furnace.
Silence hit.
For half a breath, nobody moved.
Then the system exploded.
Not for me.
For Mina.
Her Hero Plate equivalent, the faint system aura around her, flared so bright I could see it without a window.
Blue text cascaded in front of her face like a waterfall.
[KILL CREDIT]
Mina has slain: Rampaging Drake
EXP Gained: 18,000
Bonus: Final Blow
Bonus: Defender of Rillhaven
[LEVEL UP] Level 1 -> Level 7
[LEVEL UP] Level 7 -> Level 11
[LEVEL UP] Level 11 -> Level 14
[LEVEL UP] Level 14 -> Level 16
[LEVEL UP] Level 16 -> Level 18
[LEVEL UP] Level 18 -> Level 19
[LEVEL UP] Level 19 -> Level 20
Mina’s knees buckled.
Not from weakness.
From the system punching her with growth.
I caught her instantly.
Her eyes were wide, dazed, disbelieving.
Her symbol, which had been dull, glowed faintly again.
Warm.
Alive.
Mina whispered, shaking, “I… I can feel it.”
Lyra ran over, face tight with relief. “You are back.”
Roth staggered closer, bruised, bleeding, but upright.
He looked at Mina and nodded once, serious.
“Good,” he said.
Valeblade whispered, smug again. “Of course. With me in her hands, victory is inevitable.”
Mina whispered, breathless, “Quiet.”
Valeblade whispered, “No.”
I laughed once, sharp and exhausted.
Then Mina looked at me, and the relief in her eyes collided with the memory of me kicking her out.
She held my gaze.
“You kicked me out,” she said quietly.
“I did,” I admitted. “I am sorry.”
Lyra crossed her arms. “Do not apologize too much. It was disgusting and correct.”
Roth’s voice was firm. “Reinvite her. Now.”
I opened the party menu with shaking fingers.
[PARTY: HERO STANDARD]
Members: 3
Options: Invite
I clicked Invite.
[INVITE SENT]
Recipient: Mina
Mina accepted.
[PARTY UPDATE]
Mina joined party: Hero Standard
Party Bonus restored.
The moment she rejoined, I felt the party link settle back into place like a strap tightening.
Mina exhaled, shoulders loosening.
Then she whispered, almost too soft, “Thank you.”
My throat tightened.
I nodded once, because if I tried to speak I was going to sound stupid.
Around us, guards began cheering.
Not polite cheering.
Survival cheering.
People hugged each other. Someone cried. Someone punched someone else in the shoulder in relief. The ballista captain stared at the drake corpse like he could not believe it was real.
A child shouted, “The priestess killed it!”
Lyra snorted. “Yes. The priestess did. Definitely not the three idiots who did ninety nine percent of the work.”
Mina’s cheeks went pink. “Lyra.”
Lyra smiled. “Let them have the story. It is a better story anyway.”
Roth sheathed his sword slowly.
“We stabilize the town,” he said. “Then we salvage.”
I heard the word salvage and my crafting brain woke up like a starving animal.
Drake scales.
Drake bone.
Drake hide.
Drake claws.
Fire gland.
Corrosive blood.
My hands itched.
Lyra saw my face and groaned. “No. Do not loot the dragon like a raccoon while people are still screaming.”
“I can do both,” I said.
Lyra pointed at me. “You are a problem.”
“Correct,” I said.
Pyon blinked onto the drake’s back and stared proudly over the town like he had personally slain it.
Thought: …big.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Big.”
It took an hour to get the fires under control and the wounded moved.
Mina’s healing returned in bursts. Not full strength. Resurrection Sickness still hung on her like a weight, but level twenty Mina could at least work.
She healed guards. She stabilized burns. She purified the worst of the blue flame residue. Each time she cast, her symbol glowed a little steadier.
I used Minor Heal too.
It felt weird.
Like wearing someone else’s shoes.
But every time it worked, the system fed me another chime.
[SKILL EXP]
Healing Magic +24%
Minor Heal +19%
Lyra watched me heal a burned child and shook her head slowly.
“You are collecting classes like problems,” she muttered.
Roth did not comment. He was looking at his broken shield remains like they had insulted his family.
When the last fire line was dampened and the last civilian was escorted to safety, the mayor of Rillhaven appeared.
A man with soot on his cheeks and fear in his eyes and a brave voice.
He bowed so deep it looked painful.
“Hero,” he said. “Captain Roth. Mage. Priestess. You saved our city.”
Lyra gestured vaguely. “We tried.”
The mayor held out a pouch.
Gold clinked.
“A reward,” he said. “From the city coffers. And from the merchant council. Please accept it.”
Lyra snatched it so fast it looked like magic.
Roth’s eyes flicked to the pouch, then away.
He did not care about gold.
He cared about gear.
The mayor looked at Mina and bowed again.
“Priestess,” he said softly. “You struck the final blow.”
Mina flushed. “It was… a group effort.”
The mayor nodded, but his eyes were still full of awe.
Because resurrection and drake slaying in the same day makes people start thinking you are a saint.
Mina did not look like she wanted that attention.
I understood.
The mayor finally looked at the drake corpse.
“Can you… take it,” he asked, voice hopeful. “We cannot handle it.”
I smiled before I could stop myself.
“Yes,” I said.
Lyra sighed. “Of course you said yes.”
Roth nodded. “We salvage. Then we depart. The escort mission continues.”
I looked at the drake again.
My hands started shaking.
Not fear.
Joy.
That is how I knew I was sick.
We set up a salvage perimeter.
Roth stood guard. Lyra kept people back with fire flickers like warning signs. Mina supervised so nobody touched corrosive blood.
Pyon blinked around the corpse like he was scouting a battlefield.
Thought: …smell.
“Yes,” I whispered. “It smells like victory and sulfur.”
I approached the drake and appraised.
[APPRAISAL]
Rampaging Drake Corpse
Materials available:
Drake Scales (Rank A)
Drake Hide (Rank A)
Drake Bone (Rank B)
Flame Gland (Rank A)
Corrosive Blood (Rank B, hazardous)
Note: Unusual mana residue detected.
Rank A.
Rank A.
Rank A.
My crafting brain nearly ascended.
Lyra watched my face. “Do not drool.”
“I am not drooling,” I lied.
I began harvesting like a man possessed.
Not sloppy.
Not greedy.
Precise.
Cut along seams. Separate scale plates. Drain blood safely. Remove gland without puncturing.
The system chimed for every clean cut like it was clapping.
[CRAFTING SUBSKILL EXP]
Metalwork +6%
Leatherwork +9%
Sealwork +4%
Roth watched me work for a minute, then finally said, “Can you make me a shield.”
“Yes,” I said instantly.
Lyra snorted. “He would make you a shield even if you asked for a sandwich.”
Roth ignored her. “A real shield.”
I held up a drake scale plate. It was thick, flexible, and faintly warm.
“Yes,” I said again, calmer. “A real shield.”
Mina sat on a crate, exhausted but stable now, watching me work with a tired smile.
“You are happy,” she said quietly.
I glanced at her.
Then looked away because admitting feelings is illegal.
“I am useful,” I corrected.
Mina’s smile softened. “You are happy.”
I did not deny it a second time.
I went into a crafting spree like a storm.
First: Roth’s shield.
I used drake hide as backing and drake scales as the face. I reinforced the rim with boar tusk resin composite because I did not have forge steel yet. I inlaid a seal dust pattern in the inner curve to dampen corrosive effects because I did not trust blue flame anything anymore.
The system chimed.
[CRAFTING SUCCESS]
Drakehide Kite Shield (Rare)
DEF: High
Effect: Heat Resistance (High)
Effect: Corrosion Resistance (Moderate)
Durability: 340 / 340
Roth took it.
He lifted it once.
He tested the straps.
His expression did not change, but I saw the tiniest release in his shoulders.
“Good,” he said.
That was Roth’s highest compliment.
Lyra looked at the shield and made an annoyed sound. “That is actually impressive.”
Mina whispered, “It is beautiful.”
Valeblade whispered from Mina’s hip, jealous. “Where is my upgrade.”
Mina whispered, tired, “You are quiet or you go in the river.”
Valeblade whispered, suddenly respectful. “Understood.”
Lyra blinked. “Did you just intimidate a sentient sword.”
Mina’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I am level twenty again.”
Lyra laughed. “Fair.”
Second: Pyon’s saddle.
A proper saddle, light, flexible, blink-synced.
I used drake hide because it was heat resistant and tough. I layered it with boar hide for padding. I stitched in a seal dust circuit that matched the blinkpack harness so Pyon could blink with rider without nausea spikes.
The system chimed.
[CRAFTING SUCCESS]
Blink-Saddle (Rare)
Effect: Rider Stability (High)
Effect: Blink Nausea Reduction (Major)
Effect: Mount Control +10%
Pyon blinked onto it immediately like it was his birthright.
Thought: …mine.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Yours.”
Third: a better liner for Valeblade because if I did not, I would suffer.
I layered drake hide inside the sheath for sound damping and heat resistance. I added a tiny seal dust sigil that triggered when Valeblade spoke above a certain volume.
The system chimed.
[CRAFTING SUCCESS]
Quiet Sheath Liner II (Rare)
Effect: Volume Reduction (High)
Effect: Unsolicited Commentary suppressed 60% of time
Valeblade whispered, offended, “This is tyranny.”
Mina smiled sweetly. “Yes.”
Valeblade whispered, quieter, “No.”
Lyra slapped the bench. “Sixty percent. We are saved.”
I worked until my hands ached in the good way.
Until the town calmed.
Until the drake corpse was reduced to neat stacks of materials like it had become inventory.
Then my knife hit something hard inside the drake’s chest cavity.
Not bone.
Not scale.
Something small.
Dense.
Cold.
My heart jumped.
I leaned in, careful, and pried it free.
It was a shard.
Not a scale.
Not a tooth.
It looked like a crystal and metal had fused, a dark core with faint blue veins inside.
It pulsed once against my glove like it recognized my touch.
My system did not chime.
It hesitated.
Then it did something it had never done before.
It went quiet for a full second.
Then it displayed a window in a heavier font, like this was not normal loot.
[MATERIAL DETECTED]
Unknown Catalyst Fragment
Grade: S
Warning: Authority tag present.
My breath stopped.
S.
My first S rank material.
My hands started shaking.
I appraised it.
The appraisal took longer than usual, like the system itself was reluctant.
Then it appeared.
[APPRAISAL]
█████████████ (S-Rank Material)
Type: Catalyst
Function: ███████████████████
Origin: Blocked
Authority: DIVINE
Note: “Do not expose to floodgate water.”
My stomach dropped through the floor.
Blocked.
Divine.
Again.
And the last line hit like a knife.
Do not expose to floodgate water.
I stared at the shard in my hand.
The drake.
The blue flame.
The sewer bloom.
The divine tag charms.
The floodgate heart.
The censored Demon King screen.
All of it started lining up in my head like pieces of a picture I did not want to see.
Lyra leaned in, curiosity sharp. “What is it.”
Roth’s voice was low. “Kenta.”
Mina’s eyes narrowed, suddenly alert. “That looks wrong.”
Valeblade whispered, eager even through suppression, “Give it to me.”
I did not answer.
I could not.
Because the shard pulsed again.
And for half a breath, behind my normal polite system UI, I thought I saw a black bar flicker.
LOCKED.
My fingers tightened around the S rank shard like I could crush it by will.
I looked up at my party.
At my teleport mount.
At Roth’s new shield.
At Mina, finally back from level one.
At the town still smoking in the background.
And I realized the drake was not the real problem.
The drake was just the loud part.
The real problem was whatever kept leaving divine tagged contamination in places that fed the world.
My system chimed softly, almost like a whisper.
[NOTICE]
S-Rank material acquired.
Crafting options expanded.
My hands shook harder.
Because my crafting brain did not hear “warning.”
It heard “expanded.”
And that was the chapter’s last, worst thought.
Because if this shard was S rank.
And it was divine.
Then the thing feeding this world was not just powerful.
It was close.