The plaza in the Iron District was a graveyard of broken stone and fading mana, the air thick with the acrid tang of scorched earth and Void-tainted blood. The bone wyrm lay shattered at Kai Ashura's feet, its runed skull cracked open like a dropped egg, leaking green ichor that hissed against the ground. Kai stood over it, chest heaving, his fists still tingling with the raw power of Bonecrusher Strength. The Death Reversal – Evolution Unbound skill had brought him back twice now, each death forging him anew: Stonehide Resilience from the dracolisk's blow, and now this brute force that let him punch through bone like paper. His new Mana Sense hummed, mapping the faint pulses of energy in the air—the wyrm's lingering mana, the rift's unstable glow, and the sharp, predatory aura of the A-Rank woman watching him from across the plaza.
Sylvara, they called her. Crimson armor gleaming under the Riftveil's red glow, her black hair tied high, she leaned against a shattered pillar with a smirk that said she'd found a new toy. Kai met her gaze, his own grin sharp and defiant. "Enjoying the show, princess?" he called, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Tickets are free, but I don't do encores."
Her eyes narrowed, but the smirk didn't fade. "Bold words for a scavenger," she said, her voice like a blade wrapped in silk. "You're no F-Rank. Not anymore." She pushed off the pillar, her movements fluid, predatory. An A-Rank's aura pressed against him, heavy with mana, but Kai's Mana Sense picked out her rhythm—calm, but curious, like a cat circling a strange new beast.
'Trouble with a capital T,' Kai thought, his tactician's mind already plotting. Sylvara was from the Tower of Crimson Flame, if the rumors were true—an A-Rank prodigy who'd climbed the ranks by burning her rivals to ash. She didn't just notice F-Ranks; she crushed them. Yet here she was, intrigued, maybe because he'd come back from a death that should've ended him. 'Great. Survive a wyrm, get a stalker.'
The rift in the plaza pulsed again, its green light flaring brighter, and a low, guttural roar shook the ground. Kai's Mana Sense spiked, warning of something bigger—much bigger—stirring in the Void. Scavengers scattered, their ragged cloaks vanishing into alleys. Even the D-Rank healer girl who'd tossed him a bandage was gone, her faint glow lost in the dust. Kai's grin faded. 'Lila's medicine won't buy itself, but I'm not suicidal.' He needed to move, but his new strength urged him to stay, to test this impossible skill that made death a stepping stone.
'Read the board, Kai.' His Tactician's Eye scanned the plaza: the rift's unstable mana, Sylvara's watchful stance, the distant flashes of Veyra and Torren battling deeper in the district. The Towers' wards flickered, weaker here in the slums than in the Upper Spires, where the elite hoarded mana like dragons. Varkis was a city built on power, its obsidian spires and crystal Towers fueled by mana wells that only the ranked could access. F-Ranks like Kai lived in the Undergrit, where leaking wells poisoned the air, leaving kids like Lila coughing up blood. The Towers didn't care. They never had.
Kai's thoughts drifted to their hovel—a damp, one-room shack with a cracked roof, Lila curled on a mat, her coughs echoing. Mana poisoning, the black-market healers called it, from living too close to a broken well. Medicine cost a fortune, and every shard Kai scavenged went to keeping her alive. He'd sworn to get her to the Upper Spires, where mana purified the air and sickness was a myth. This skill—Death Reversal—was his chance, but it came with a price. The Towers hunted anomalies, and an F-Rank with an SSS-Rank skill was a glitch they'd erase.
The rift's roar snapped him back. A new beast emerged, its form a nightmare of jagged bone and writhing shadow—a Voidspawn Behemoth, twice the wyrm's size, its six eyes glowing like molten iron. Its claws gouged the plaza, and the wards shattered, mana sparking wildly. Kai's Mana Sense screamed danger, but his Tactician's Eye saw an opening: the beast's underbelly, soft and pulsing with mana veins.
'Run or fight?' His old self would've bolted, but the skill changed the game. He could die, come back stronger, and walk away with shards that could save Lila. 'Screw it. Let's play.'
He darted forward, weaving through debris with unnatural speed. His Stonehide Resilience made his skin feel like armor, and Bonecrusher Strength thrummed in his fists. A D-Rank scavenger—a wiry girl with a healer's glow, maybe the same one from before—screamed, trapped under rubble as the Behemoth's claw loomed. Kai's protective instinct kicked in, hard. 'Not another kid dying on my watch.'
"Hey, ugly!" Kai shouted, grabbing a mana-charged rebar. He hurled it at the Behemoth's eye, the metal sinking deep. The beast roared, turning on him. Kai tackled the girl free, shoving her toward an alley. "Move, or I'm billing you for the rescue!" he snapped, his sarcasm sharp despite the chaos.
She stared, wide-eyed, her healer's aura flickering. "You're insane!" she yelled, but ran, her cloak vanishing into the dust.
Kai faced the Behemoth, his Tactician's Eye plotting a path. Its underbelly was the target, but its claws were a blur. He dodged, Stonehide dulling a grazing blow, and slid beneath it, aiming for the mana veins. His fist, heavy with Bonecrusher Strength, slammed into the soft flesh, tearing a gash. Green blood sprayed, burning his skin, but Stonehide held.
"Take that, you oversized piñata," Kai grinned, ruthless glee surging. He punched again, mana veins rupturing. The Behemoth screeched, thrashing, and Kai's Mana Sense felt its core destabilizing. 'One more hit.'
Sylvara's voice cut through the chaos. "Reckless fool," she called, now closer, her crimson armor glinting. "You'll die again." Her tone was mocking, but her eyes burned with fascination, like she was dissecting him with every move.
"Keep up, princess," Kai shot back, dodging a claw. "I'm just warming up." Her laugh was sharp, but he caught a flicker of respect—or maybe obsession—in her gaze. 'A-Rank prodigy, my ass. She's trouble, but I'm trouble too.'
The Behemoth's tail swept low, too fast to dodge. It crushed him against a spire, pain exploding as bones snapped. Darkness swallowed him, colder this time, but familiar.
He woke, gasping, whole again. The voice spoke: [Death Reversal – Evolution Unbound: Activated]
[Adaptation gained: Ironclad Endurance.] [Random skill upgraded: Shadowstep (Active)]
Kai's body surged with new power. His muscles felt tireless, Ironclad Endurance pushing past human limits. Shadowstep activated instinctively, his form blurring into a flicker of darkness, reappearing ten feet away. The Behemoth's claw missed, smashing stone instead. Kai's Mana Sense locked onto its core—a pulsing orb in its chest. His Tactician's Eye screamed 'now'.
He Shadowstepped again, blurring under the beast, and drove both fists into its core. Bonecrusher Strength and Ironclad Endurance combined, shattering the orb in a burst of mana. The Behemoth collapsed, its body dissolving into shards that glowed like stars. Kai grabbed one, its heat searing his palm, enough to buy Lila's medicine for months.
Sylvara appeared beside him, her aura crackling. "Impossible," she said, her voice low, eyes locked on him. "You died. I saw it." Her smirk was gone, replaced by a hunger that made Kai's skin crawl. "What are you, scavenger?"
Kai grinned, twirling the shard. "Just a rat who bites, princess. Better watch your fingers." He turned, but his Mana Sense caught another presence—a faint, warm glow in the alleys. The healer girl, watching, her eyes wide with awe. 'Great. Another fan. Or another problem.'
The rift pulsed again, a deeper roar shaking Varkis. The ground cracked, and a shadow loomed—something ancient, its mana dwarfing the Behemoth's. Sylvara tensed, her hand on her sword. "This isn't over," she said, glancing at Kai. "You're not leaving my sight."
Kai's grin widened, ruthless and ready. "Good. I'd hate to bore you." He gripped the shard, his new powers humming. Lila was waiting, and Varkis wasn't done testing him. 'Bring it on.'