Red light engulfed the street, consuming Nyx’s mechanical shoulder in tendrils of illumination.
For the briefest of moments, I was certain that I had made the gravest of mistakes, because the System had just siphoned my last five Upgrade Energy into the woman I had only just met.
Nyx’s eyes widened in alarm as the machinery embedded in her coat began to separate.
Metallic plates came away from one another in a series of clicks, revealing a tangle of wires and broken gears beyond.
The broken mechanisms levitated away from her shoulder as if detached by invisible hands.
"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded.
"Honestly?"
I watched in fascination as another set of broken machinery detached itself from her person.
"I have no idea."
Her expression was one of alarm.
The red light pulsed furiously.
Aether energy coursed through the newly formed appendage in rivers of fire, and the air around us grew unbearably hot.
The System gave no warning.
[Structural reconstruction: 34%.]
[Aether circulation: 51%.]
[Neural synchronization: 68%.]
[Crimson Arm evolution proceeding.]
Nyx gritted her teeth.
"Something is burning."
"That’s probably normal."
"You don’t sound confident."
"I’ve known about this ability for less than an hour."
She gave me a long look.
"You are a terrible person to trust."
"Yet you’re still standing here."
She studied me for a moment, her expression becoming slightly less hostile.
"What’s your name, anyway?"
"Riven Vex."
She repeated it quietly. "Riven Vex."
"And you?"
She gave me a crooked smile. "Nyx Veyra."
"Nice to meet you, Nyx."
"Let’s see if we survive first."
"Fair point."
The bounty hunters finally arrived on the scene.
There were six of them in total.
They wore dark coats reinforced with metallic plates and carried an assortment of firearms, some mundane, others with strange blue orbs affixed to their barrels.
The leader of the group stepped forward, his face partially obscured by a brass mask.
"There she is," he said.
His masked eyes locked onto me.
"And who’s the idiot standing beside her?"
I gestured at myself.
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
"I’ve been wondering the same thing."
The man’s expression darkened.
"Move."
I turned to Nyx, who was still staring at her mechanical arm.
Her arm was surrounded by the same red light as before, and she looked as helpless as a statue.
"Can’t do that."
The leader leveled his rifle at Nyx.
"Then you die with her."
I sighed.
"People here really don’t like negotiating."
The rifle fired, and I instinctively dove to the side.
The bullet impacted the brick wall at the side of my head, sending a shower of dust and debris into my hair.
I stumbled back, heart hammering in my chest as the reality of the situation finally dawned on me.
These people were not some fictional villain gang.
They were real, and they actually intended to kill me.
"Riven!"
Nyx’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
I turned to look at her.
The red light had vanished, and a strange silence fell over the street.
Something in my chest constricted as I took in the sight of Nyx’s new appendage.
Her left shoulder was exposed, revealing a mechanical arm encased in dark metallic plating.
Strange red lines traversed up and down the length of it, and her fingers flexed one after another, impossibly smooth.
Nyx’s expression was one of shock as she raised her arm, flexing her wrist and fingers in turn.
"What did you do to me?"
I gave her a small smile.
"Upgraded you."
She turned to look at me, eyes wide.
Then she turned to look at the bounty hunters.
"Can it shoot?"
I blinked.
"Probably?"
Her smile was positively feral.
"Good."
The leader of the bounty hunters shouted.
"Fire!"
All six of the hunters raised their weapons at once.
Nyx moved.
She did not dodge the barrage of gunfire; she vanished before it could strike her.
One moment she was standing beside me, and the next she was behind the first bounty hunter.
Her new mechanical arm moved impossibly fast, faster than I could follow, and she had already drawn a revolver when the first shot was fired.
The bounty hunter’s weapon spun from his grip as Nyx fired point blank into his chest.
She turned on the next one, mechanical fist impacting his sternum with enough force to send him flying into a wooden stall, shattering it completely.
I stared in astonishment.
"Okay."
The next bounty hunter charged at Nyx with a metal axe, but she caught it with one hand.
Nyx looked at the man with a predatory grin.
"You should run."
She punched him in the face, and he flew backwards.
I had no idea how much strength the System had added to her, but it was apparently enough to launch grown men into the air.
Two of the remaining hunters raised their rifles at Nyx, but I had had enough. I raised my newly upgraded knife, which suddenly looked incredibly small.
"Right."
I wasn’t about to let them kill her when I could do something about it.
I lunged at one of the hunters, dodging his fire as I closed the distance.
The bullet that had meant to take my life whizzed past my head, and I slashed at the man’s rifle barrel with my upgraded knife.
The metal cut through it like it was made of paper, and the hunter’s eyes widened in alarm as I kicked him in the gut.
He staggered back, weapon useless in his hands, and I looked at my knife in astonishment.
"That’s new."
The System appeared before me.
[Combat action detected.]
[Host has defeated a hostile target.]
[Upgrade Energy acquired: +1.]
My eyes widened in shock.
"You’re kidding."
Another bounty hunter charged at me, but I sidestepped him and drove my shoulder into his chest.
He reeled back in surprise, and Nyx’s mechanical fist drove into his back, sending him rolling across the street.
[Host and Unique Individual demonstrating combat synchronization.]
[Potential reward detected.]
"Later," I muttered.
The last two bounty hunters looked at each other before turning and running.
Nyx raised her revolver, but she simply lowered it when none of the others followed suit.
"Let them go."
I gave her a strange look.
"Why?"
"Because they’ll tell whoever sent them after you what happened."
She flexed her fingers.
"And I want them to tell them."
The street was silent as the two of us stood there, watching the last of the hunters disappear. People began to trickle out from their hiding places, peering at the ruined stalls and the unconscious bounty hunters.
No one seemed particularly interested in me, and that was probably for the best, because Nyx looked like she could snap a man’s spine in two with a look.
I opened the System.
[Upgrade successful.]
[Target: Nyx Veyra.]
[Upgrade: Crimson Arm.]
[Mechanical strength increased.]
[Reflex synchronization increased.]
[Aether circulation improved.]
[Potential unlocked: Crimson Valkyrie.]
I stared at the last line.
"Crimson Valkyrie?"
Nyx heard me.
"What?"
"Nothing."
She stepped closer, her boots clicking against the wet pavement.
"Riven."
"Yeah?"
She looked at her mechanical arm again.
Then she looked at me.
"You saved my life."
I shrugged.
"You saved mine too."
"I did?"
"You killed the guys who were about to shoot me."
She mulled this over for a moment.
"Fair."
For the first time since I had met her, her expression softened, if only slightly.
Then her stomach gave a loud, unpleasant growl.
We both stared at her stomach for a moment before Nyx looked up at me.
"Don’t."
"I didn’t say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was."
She sighed.
"I haven’t eaten since yesterday."
I looked at the market district.
"I don’t have any money."
"Neither do I."
We stood in silence for a moment before the System appeared before me again.
[New objective detected.]
[Objective: Establish a sustainable source of income.]
[Reward: 10 Upgrade Energy.]
I stared at the message for a moment before looking at Nyx.
She raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
I smiled.
"I think we’re going to become criminals."
Nyx smiled back.
"In Aetheria?"
She looked around at the ruined street.
"That’s probably the easiest career to get into."
And so, I gained my first companion.
I only had no idea that the woman standing beside me would eventually become the first monster in my crew.e