The katana was unsheathed, its edge flashing across Mortimer’s neck.
For a brief moment, Mortimer remained frozen in shock, while Declan’s eyes widened to their maximum as the purple-haired man suddenly collapsed onto his knees.
Before his body could even fall forward, his head fell and rolled across the ground, finally coming to rest directly before the kneeling Declan.
Their eyes seemed to meet for one final moment, Mortimer’s filled with absolute disbelief, as though he hadn’t even realized what had happened or even seen the face of the person who had attacked him before his death.
Declan stared back with equal horror.
A violent lurching sensation suddenly twisted through his stomach, and in the next moment, the entire world turned black as he collapsed to the side, immediately losing consciousness.
PSSCHT!
The sound of a lighter being opened rang through the darkness as a figure stepped forward.
It was none other than Boss Morg.
She lit her cigarette and took a deep inhale before turning her gaze toward the unconscious Declan.
Picking him up, she slung him over her shoulder before stepping away from the scene.
"How troublesome..."
BEEP
BEEP
BEEP
The sound of beeping came from somewhere far away, but with every passing moment, it seemed to draw closer and closer until it was finally near enough for him to hear clearly.
His eyelids shook slightly, and in the next moment, they fluttered open, revealing a pair of clear green irises.
[Congratulations on your survival, Host. You have completed the Secret Mission.]
The golden panel was the first thing Declan saw as he slowly sat up from the bed.
As he did, pain immediately gripped him, causing his hands to instinctively shift toward his ribs.
He found bandages upon bandages wrapped tightly around his entire torso, and only then did he realize that he was lying on the bed in a room that felt more than familiar.
It was the room he had chosen in the mansion.
"Mission?" he asked, struggling to piece together his disarranged memories, but the panel flashed once more before him.
[Secret Mission: Survive the Death Intent of a Seedian Nexian.]
[Rewards:
+2,000 EXP!
+3 Ability Upgrade Cards
+3 Level Up Cards]
It blinked before him, and finally, everything began to piece together as Declan gave one more look around the room before exhaling in relief.
"I survived... and it seems I even gained a little something from the beating."
He said it with a snicker, mocking himself, but that expression quickly disappeared when he noticed the knob on the door twitch.
The door opened, and Boss Morg walked in.
"Finally up?" she asked, wisps of smoke leaving her lips as she spoke.
"Finally?" Declan asked, and she nodded as she came to sit on a chair beside the bed.
"Yes. You’ve been out for three days now," she said, causing his brows to furrow.
’That’s quite a long time. Perhaps if I had leveled up before getting knocked unconscious, I could have been awake earlier.’
He quickly shooed the thought away before turning back to her.
"So, how was the sample? Did you get it?"
In response, she brought out a simple test tube containing a purple liquid.
"That’s... an Arcane Serum," Declan said, his eyes almost shining with light.
That was a new source of power.
"It took 76 men, 23 women, and 9 children, all of them experimented on and dying in the most horrifying way you could imagine, to bring forth its success."
She said it, and the light in Declan’s eyes immediately died, his jaw hanging open.
Yet when he looked into her eyes, they remained as cold as ever, without the slightest sign that she was joking.
’That’s terrible.’
She slipped the serum back into her coat.
"That is just how far some people are willing to go to gain power in this world," she said, leaving him in silent contemplation.
"By the way."
PSSCHT!
She lit another cigarette.
"I’ve recommended you to the base."
"They’ll be sending the plane later in the night, and we’ll be leaving Veyron City."
Declan paused, a glint flashing in his eyes.
"So I passed the test?"
"You did. The aim itself was to see what type of person you are when faced with danger."
"If you panic or break down like most, then you’re useless for the base," she said coldly and calmly.
"But you were able to accomplish the orders given to you, even using your smarts to lure and overcome your opponent."
"What’s more, you still survived the attack of a Seedian Nexian, keeping that sharp thinking throughout instead of kneeling and begging like most would."
"Something that never helps them survive death, by the way," she added, exhaling smoke.
"You handled the mission very well," she said, and Declan watched as her hand reached out and rubbed his hair.
His lips parted slightly for a moment before he whispered, "You know, it’s really weird if you pat someone while keeping such a cold face."
She silently withdrew her arm.
"While your injuries are healed, there are still some strains. Don’t move around too much."
"You’ve got about ten hours before the plane arrives anyway," she said, rising from the seat and moving toward the exit.
"If the plane leaves Veyron City, where is it headed next?" Declan asked as she gripped the knob and opened the door.
"Can’t disclose," she replied curtly before the door shut.
"As cold as ever," he mused beneath his breath before falling back onto his back.
"Initiate Mecha Overlord System Protocol," he ordered, and in the next moment, the panel flickered to life.
[ SYSTEM INTERFACE ]
[▸ Name: Declan Ezra ]
[▸ Race: Human ]
[▸ Age: 17 ]
[▸ Level: 6]
[▸ EXP: 2,000/2,000 ]
[Does Host Wish to Level Up?]
Yes.
[Congratulations, Host has leveled up to Level 7.]
[+15 Attribute Points Obtained.]
[Level Up Cards: 3]
[Does Host Wish to Use Level Up Cards?]
Yes.
[-1 Level Up Card!]
[Congratulations, Host has leveled up to Level 8.]
[+15 Attribute Points Obtained.]
[-1 Level Up Card!]
[Congratulations, Host has leveled up to Level 9.]
[+15 Attribute Points Obtained.]
[-1 Level Up Card!]
[Congratulations, Host has leveled up to Level 10.]
[+20 Attribute Points Obtained.]
’Oh, my attributes increased by +5 after reaching Level 10?’
Declan noticed.
═══STATS═══
[Strength: 40]
[Agility: 40]
[Endurance: 40]
[Intelligence: 40]
[Charisma: 40]
[Attribute Points: 65]
[How Does Host Wish to Distribute Attribute Points?]
With him leaving for the so-called base soon, and after narrowly surviving the harrowing fight against the Nexian, Declan knew exactly what he needed.
"Add 20 attribute points to Strength, 20 attribute points to Agility, 10 attribute points to Endurance, and 15 attribute points to Intelligence."
[Points Successfully Added.]
═══STATS═══
[Strength: 60]
[Agility: 60]
[Endurance: 50]
[Intelligence: 55]
[Charisma: 40]
[Attribute Points: 0]
══════
For now, Declan had decided to hold off on his Charisma in favor of more important stats like Strength and Agility.
If he had been faster and more agile during his last fight, perhaps he wouldn’t have been reduced to such a pathetic state throughout it.
But he didn’t blame himself for the loss.
Nexians were full superhumans, beyond twice as strong as regular adults, not to mention that Mortimer had also been using a destructive Techno Weapon.
Getting beaten up wasn’t a shame in such a situation. He ought to be proud that he had managed to survive it in the end.
And he was.
But something more came after the level-up.
Just as expected, after distributing the attribute points, he didn’t merely feel his strength reach an entirely different level. Even more importantly, the pain around his ribs had faded away.
Leveling up served as the best form of regeneration for him.
In the next moment, he rose to his feet, feeling more energetic than ever before.
Peeling off the bandages revealed his underlying musculature, which seemed to have become even more defined.
Declan moved toward the wardrobe in the room, opened it, and found some clothes inside before quickly dressing in something simple: a white shirt and trousers, along with a blue jacket.
His destination wasn’t far away, just at the top of the mansion, where the wide-open city of Veyron City waited for him.
But then his eyebrows furrowed when he noticed ambulances and law enforcement vehicles moving through the streets.
Only now could he witness the true extent of the destruction, with buildings blown apart, roofs missing, and a particular area barricaded with yellow tape.
The sight made a memory flash through Declan’s mind, causing him to back away from the wall as if he had been electrocuted.
He sat upon the ground, his eyes flashing with memories, and once more his stomach lurched as he gripped his head tightly.
It was that scene.
The scene of Mortimer’s head falling to the ground, the severed head’s eyes gazing directly at him.
And it overlapped with an earlier scene.
The scene of his own murderer swinging his weapon toward his head.
It was similar...nauseatingly similar.
"Are you alright?"
The voice echoed from behind, and Declan jerked upward with such force that he shot nearly two meters into the air, rolled twice, and landed crouched upon the railings.
When he turned around, he found Boss Morg looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
He stepped down from the railing, scratching the back of his head.
"I’m fine," he said.
Her expression remained suspicious.
She stepped toward the railing, her eyes moving over the scene below, and soon enough, they settled upon the bandaged-off area and Mortimer’s corpse, which was currently hidden beneath a white sheet as it was being whisked away into an emergency truck.
"First time seeing someone die?"