Something slipped out from the narrow vents in the wall. Zeph turned toward the adjoining room, where thick smoke was pouring in from that direction.
“They are trying to harm me!”
He quickly covered his nose in panic, only to realize a second later that he was already wearing a mask that concealed most of his face.
His breathing turned uneven as he understood how fast the smoke was spreading into the room, swallowing the air inch by inch. He ran toward the door and grabbed the handle, twisting it hard, but it would not move. Someone had clearly locked him in from the outside.
He tried to force it open, yanking and pounding against the solid wall, yet the room kept filling with heavier clouds of smoke that coiled around him.
Zeph stepped back, his eyes darting around as he searched for another possible escape. The glass window on the wall was small, far too narrow for him to squeeze through.
He rushed toward it and slammed his fist against the glass. Then he hit it again, harder this time, but nothing happened. He should have been able to shatter it easily, so why was it not even cracking?
The room grew more suffocating by the second as the smoke thickened, blurring the walls and ceiling until everything looked hazy and distorted.
The mask was supposed to filter the smoke. At least that was what he had believed. Yet his body began to feel unbearably hot, and sweat poured down his skin, soaking his clothes.
His legs finally gave out, and he dropped to the floor, landing on his knees.
He struggled to breathe, but each breath felt heavier than the last, as if his lungs were filled with sand. His vision blurred, dark spots creeping into the corners, and he collapsed forward, barely catching himself with his arms.
They had deliberately trapped Zeph in this place, whatever their reason might be. But…
His body grew weaker with every passing second, until a dull thud echoed through the smoke as he finally fell flat against the floor. His eyes slid shut, and everything slowly faded into complete darkness.
**
A sharp mechanical hum echoed through the room as a hidden device began sucking out the remaining smoke. The thick haze twisted into swirling currents before being dragged away completely.
The door suddenly burst open. Three figures stood in the doorway of the small chamber, their bodies reduced to dark silhouettes against the brighter light spilling in from the corridor behind them.
“He is too weak, hah. Maybe he has only just awakened. We might as well make use of him. He will not become anything worthwhile anyway,” one of the men said casually.
They stepped inside, and a moment later the lights in the room flickered back on. Their faces became visible under the white glow.
A man with a thick beard walked to the center of the room and stopped right over the body of a boy who looked frail, dressed in worn and ragged clothes.
“He looks like he has lost his family or something. I doubt anyone will come searching for him,” the bearded man said with a sneer. “Hah, how lucky for him to walk right in and hand himself over to me. This is going to turn into easy money.”
Another man, the one with long black hair, knelt beside the boy.
“A mana core is still a mana core. Even if it belongs to a newly awakened one, it still has some value,” the long haired man muttered. “Well, it is better than getting nothing.”
He grabbed the boy’s small body and turned him over until he was lying on his back. The long haired man suddenly froze in shock.
“What mask is this?” he said.
“He was not wearing any mask when he came earlier,” the thick bearded man replied, frowning. “It looks unusual. Maybe it is his sigil ability?”
The long haired man reached out and touched the mask, then fell silent.
“It feels attached to his face. But it is strange if a sigil ability stays active while the user is unconscious like this. And if he has a sigil, that means he is at least a Rank 1 Apprentice. I thought you said he had only just awakened.”
The thick bearded man shrugged. “That does not sound very different to me. He still ended up unconscious, did he not?”
“Just drag him now and take the core. Let us finish this quickly,” the third man said, the one with curly blond hair.
The long haired man lifted the small body and slung it over his shoulder. The boy looked fragile and weightless against his broad frame as he straightened up.
They stepped out of the room, and the door closed behind them.
The three of them walked down the corridor as if nothing had happened. After a while, they stopped again in a quieter section of the building.
The man with the thick beard stood in front of the other two.
“Pay up, and this business is done,” he said casually.
The long haired man lifted his chin slightly.
“All the security cameras are down. No one will trace this back to us. No one saw the boy enter this place, and no one will come looking for him. It is clean.”
“You are sure he is not registered with the Hunter Association?”
“Yes, do not worry. He looks poor and forgotten. No one will recognize him, and no one will care enough to search for him.”
The long haired man smirked and glanced at the curly blond man beside him.
The blond man stepped forward and shook the thick bearded man’s hand, slipping something into his palm during the handshake.
After that, the two men walked past the bearded man.
“Such a pitiful boy. Truly pitiful. They could have lived quietly if they had not ended up becoming Awakened,” the bearded man muttered coldly.
“They are the reason this world fell into chaos. Power falls into their hands, and destruction follows wherever they go. The world was better before them. It would be better if every last one of them disappeared. Only then would things return to normal.”
“ARGH…!”
The thick bearded man flinched at the sudden scream and quickly turned toward the commotion ahead.
“You little bastard, what have you done?!” the long haired man shouted, clutching his shoulder as blood seeped through his fingers.
The frail boy he had been carrying was no longer on his shoulder. Zeph had already dashed away and now stood several steps from them.
“Damn it! Why is he still standing? He should not be able to wake up for at least two full days. That poison was extremely strong!”
The thick bearded man hurried forward. “Grab him. He is not that strong!”
Zeph stood there, steady and focused. He could feel the mask still covering his face, pressed firmly against his skin. And they were not wrong. The poison they had used was indeed powerful.
Powerful enough to kill him.
What they did not know was that killing him only made him stronger. And that was exactly what had just happened.
He straightened his posture as he felt his body completely restored. Every muscle responded smoothly, as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately, he had not leveled up this time. Still, it was not entirely bad, even though the situation itself was truly terrible.
The thick bearded man now stood behind Zeph, while the other two faced him from the front, boxing him in.
“We should have just used force from the start. Why did we bother with all that trouble if he is just going to get back up like this?” the long haired man snapped.
“Idiot. I did not want to stain this place with blood,” the thick bearded man replied coldly.
“So now what? You are the one who should take responsibility for this.”
“You are not seriously complaining about a skinny little boy, are you?”
“Just grab him now. He is not carrying any weapon,” the long haired man said. “His ability only gives him that stupid mask. Maybe that mask is what made him immune to the poison. But he will still struggle if we…”
He reached to his side and pulled something out. A knife gleamed in his hand.
The curly blond man also drew a knife, gripping it tightly as both of them prepared to lunge forward.
“Damn it,” the thick bearded man muttered again. “Do it quickly. I do not want blood all over this place,” he said firmly.
Zeph quickly shifted his stance, lowering his body into a steady fighting position. He did not even know where the posture came from. It simply felt natural, as if his body understood that this was the most effective stance for a situation like this.
He had to fight the two of them. Hopefully, they were not Awakened. At least that would give him an advantage. Normally, he should be physically stronger than ordinary humans.
But this time, he was facing two opponents. Or three, if that bastard manager was counted. Still, the manager looked fatter and slower. He was the one who had tried to sell Zeph, so he was probably the weakest among them.
“Let us see how strong you really are.”
The long haired man dashed forward at high speed and swung his knife at Zeph. The blade flashed toward him. Zeph saw the movement clearly and leaped back just in time.
His foot nearly slipped, but the man lunged again, slashing repeatedly. The knife came dangerously close to cutting him several times.
The man’s face twisted in frustration when his blade failed to land a single hit.
Zeph sprang to the side, but the curly blond man rushed in from the opposite direction, reaching out to grab him.
Zeph immediately rolled away, barely slipping out of his grasp.
“Damn it! Stop running, you little rat!” the long haired man shouted furiously, his face dark with anger as he charged after Zeph again.
The curly blond man quickly regained his footing and prepared to attack once more.
“He is just a weak kid. Do not let him fool you!”
Both men chased after Zeph, trying to corner him against the wall where he would have no space left to escape.
Zeph kept running, but he knew they would corner him sooner or later if he kept avoiding them like this.
The long haired man caught up with his long strides and slashed his knife toward him.
Duck!
Zeph dropped low at once, throwing himself down to avoid the blade.
The man kicked toward him. Zeph raised his arms to block, but the force sent him skidding hard across the floor.
The curly blond man moved in from the other side. “Got you, idiot!” he shouted as he drove his knife downward again and again.
Zeph rolled desperately to avoid each stab.
Damn it. This was far harder than he expected.
Then, in a sudden opening, Zeph shot forward. He locked both his legs around the curly blond man’s neck. The man’s eyes widened in shock, but Zeph planted his hands against the ground and pushed his body upward with explosive force.
In that brief second, his legs tightened and twisted sharply. A clear cracking sound rang out as Zeph flipped over and landed behind the curly blond man. The man’s body collapsed to the floor, his neck bent at an unnatural angle.
The long haired man froze when he saw his partner drop lifelessly.
“You filthy little freak! I will kill you! I will rip you apart, you damn monster!” he roared, his teeth grinding as rage twisted his face.
Zeph quickly grabbed the knife from the man he had just killed, but the long haired man had already dashed forward and swung his blade toward him.
It was too fast.
Zeph gritted his teeth and forced his arm up with all his strength. The knife in his hand was thinner, weaker, yet he managed to block the attack. A loud clang rang out as the two blades collided.
In the next second, Zeph shot to the side. He twisted his body and slashed at the back of the man’s left calf.
The man screamed, “Damn it!”
Zeph did not hesitate. He lunged upward and drove the knife straight into the man’s jaw, the blade piercing through and thrusting deep into his mouth. Then, in one swift motion, he yanked the blade downward toward the man’s throat and twisted it hard.
Blood burst out and poured heavily down the man’s neck, spilling over his collar as his body jerked in shock.
He choked and gasped as his life slowly drained away. The knife slipped from his trembling hand and clattered loudly onto the floor. His body went limp almost instantly.
Zeph released his grip as the man fell forward with a heavy thud.
He stood there, breathing hard, chest rising and falling rapidly. Then he turned toward the last person remaining in the room.
The thick bearded man stood not far from him, watching in silence. His face was mostly hidden by the backlight behind him, yet his outline was clear and unmoving.
“I thought you were just trash. Seems I was wrong.” The man said calmly.
Zeph gave a faint smile and took a step forward. Blood dripped from his right hand, not his own, but from the men he had just killed.
In the dim light, Zeph noticed something strange. A faint glow began to appear, tracing along the left side of the thick bearded man’s face. It looked like a thin pattern of light carving itself into his skin.
“An Awakened?” Zeph muttered under his breath.
“You really are troublesome,” the thick bearded man replied. “But I will not let you walk out of here alive. I hate the Awakened. Every single one of you. I have sworn to wipe you all out.”
As he spoke, his body began to change. His frame expanded, muscles swelling larger than before. The clothes he wore started to tear apart under the sudden growth.
“Transformation type sigil,” Zeph whispered quietly. “What rank is he?”