Donald wiped sweat from his forehead. He had been walking in the smelly dark Scrap Tunnels for an hour. It smelled awful, like wet dirt and rotting garbage.
But so far, things were going well. He had killed three more Cave Crawlers. He had four glowing green E-Rank mana cores in his pocket. He could sell them for two hundred credits. It was enough money for one good meal, but Donald wanted more. He wanted to finish the System’s quest to feed Evelyn for three days.
He turned a sharp corner in the tunnel and stopped.
Twenty feet away, two Cave Crawlers were fighting over a dead rat. They stopped and turned their heads toward Donald at the exact same time. They clicked their sharp claws and hissed.
Fighting one E-Rank bug was easy. Fighting two was dangerous.
Donald held his heavy steel wrench tight. His [Valuation Eye] lit up. Red circles appeared under the bugs’ soft necks.
The first bug charged fast. The second bug moved to the side, trying to attack Donald from the right.
Donald raised his left arm. "Aura of the Vanguard," he whispered.
The faint, hard shield wrapped around his arm. When the first bug snapped its big claw at his chest, Donald punched his glowing arm forward to block it. BANG. The claw hit the magic shield and stopped.
But Donald made a mistake. He forgot about the second bug.
While Donald’s arm was stuck blocking the first bug, the second bug jumped from the wall. It smashed its hard, heavy head right into Donald’s left shoulder.
SHATTER!
The sound was like a window breaking. The Aura of the Vanguard was only an F-Rank skill. It could not take two heavy hits at the same time. The invisible shield broke into pieces of light and vanished.
The force of the hit knocked Donald backward. He tripped and fell hard on the wet concrete. A sharp point on the bug’s shell cut a deep scratch into his shoulder. Blood started to run down his arm.
A golden box flashed in front of his eyes.
[Warning: Aura of the Vanguard has shattered.]
[Cooldown Period: 15 Seconds.]
Donald rolled quickly to the right as both bugs snapped at where his head used to be. Fifteen seconds. He had no magic shield. If they grabbed him now, they would cut off his arm.
He had to fight smart. He used his [Valuation Eye] not just to see their weak spots, but to watch how they moved. The System showed him bright yellow lines on the floor, guessing where the bugs would step next.
The first bug rushed forward. Donald saw the yellow line. He didn’t try to hit the bug. Instead, he kicked a pile of loose, heavy trash right into its path. The bug tripped on the trash, sliding on its face.
Ten seconds left.
The second bug jumped at him. Donald ducked low. He swung his heavy wrench sideways, hitting the bug in its hard legs. It didn’t kill the monster, but it pushed it back into the wall with a loud thud.
Donald kept backing up, pulling the bugs into a narrower part of the tunnel. Because the tunnel was tight, the two bugs bumped into each other trying to reach him. They got in each other’s way.
Five seconds left.
Donald kept his eyes on the timer. He dodged another claw, letting it hit the brick wall behind him. Dust fell from the ceiling.
Three. Two. One.
[Cooldown Complete.]
"Aura of the Vanguard!" Donald yelled.
The comforting magic shield quickly wrapped around his arms again. He stopped backing away. He planted his boots firmly on the ground.
When the first bug reached out with its claw, Donald didn’t block it. He let the claw hit his glowing left arm. The shield held. While the bug was stuck on his shield, Donald spun and smashed the heavy wrench right into the red circle on its soft neck.
CRUNCH. The first bug dropped dead.
The second bug hissed and lunged. Donald was ready. He ducked under its jump, lifted his glowing left arm to protect his head, and drove the wrench straight up into the bug’s belly.
The second bug jerked twice, then fell dead next to the first.
Donald leaned against the dirty wall, breathing very fast. His shoulder was bleeding and stinging, but the cut wasn’t deep. He learned a very important lesson. His F-Rank skill was not absolute. He could not just stand there and take hits. He still needed to move, dodge, and think.
He used his wrench to dig the two green cores out of the dead bugs. Six cores total. Three hundred credits. It was enough.
An hour later, Donald climbed out of the Scrap Tunnels. He walked to a noisy market street in Sector 4. He traded the six mana cores for a small bag of heavy metal coins.
He didn’t buy cheap soup or stale bread. He went to a good food stall. He bought hot roasted meat, fresh flatbread, and two bottles of clean, purified water. It cost almost all his money, but he didn’t care.
He walked quickly back to his tiny apartment. When he unlocked the door, Evelyn was sitting on the bed. She was trying to fix the straps on her broken leather armor. She looked up when he walked in.
The smell of the roasted meat filled the small room. Evelyn’s eyes went wide. She hadn’t eaten a real meal in days.
"I bought dinner," Donald said with a small smile. He handed her the warm food and a bottle of clean water.
Evelyn took the food slowly. "Kid... how did you get this? This looks expensive."
"I went hunting," Donald said, sitting on the floor. He started eating his own piece of bread. He didn’t tell her about the cut on his shoulder, hidden under his jacket.
Evelyn looked at the food, then at Donald. Her hard, cynical eyes softened just a little bit. "Thank you," she whispered.
A golden box quietly popped up in front of Donald.
[Quest Update: ’The Road to Recovery’.]
[Progress: Day 1 of 3 Complete.]
[Bonus: Target’s Trust Level has slightly increased.].