Fin backed toward the gap between two walls while his feet dragged through shards of debris.
[ Stamina: 9/100 ]
’Nine points left... nine points is basically dead,’ he thought, tasting copper where his teeth bit his tongue.
The amber numbers flashed in the corner of his vision, counting down the end of his private rampage.
Four monsters moved through the dust in a wide arc, dragging rusted cleavers along the ground.
The brute at the rear stepped over a shattered hydrant, wide shoulders blocking the road.
"Come on then," he called, lifting the bent pipe with fingers that shook with exhaustion. "Who wants to be number twenty-three... form a line..."
The first monster lunged forward with a guttural roar, swinging its cleaver in a flat circle.
He dropped his shoulder, yanking a loose cable that held an old awning above the alley entrance.
The frame tore free from the wall, dropping three meters of corrugated roofing onto the monster’s shoulders.
"Gkkhh!" The monster choked, pinned to the ground under the collapsed roof.
He drove the sharp end of his pipe through its neck before the creature could lift its arms.
[ Monster killed: orc (E-Rank) ]
[ Kill count: 23/10 ]
[ Stamina: 7/100 ]
The second monster jumped over the twisted frame without breaking stride, cleaver whistling toward his face.
He twisted his hips to the left, letting the blade bite into the doorway beside his ear.
The monster tugged hard to free the blade, exposing the green flesh beneath its arm.
He stepped into the pocket, driving his elbow into its jaw with a sharp crunch.
"Nngh!" The creature grunted, stumbling sideways into the corner.
He rammed the jagged pipe into its throat, twisting the point until the body went limp against him.
[ Monster killed: orc (E-Rank) ]
[ Kill count: 24/10 ]
[ Stamina: 5/100 ]
’Two down... three more to go,’ he thought, wiping black blood from his forehead with his sleeve.
His lungs burned from the smoke, struggling to pull enough air into his chest.
The giant brute stepped over the wreckage of the awning, crushing the roofing flat beneath its feet.
It shoved a green dumpster aside with one casual flick of its wrist, clearing the alley mouth.
"Oh... you really are built different," he whispered, backing three paces until his spine hit the wall.
The brute raised its cleaver with both hands, swinging downward in a blur of motion.
He lunged forward inside the swing, thrusting the pipe directly into the center of its chest plate.
The pipe crumpled against the thick bone underneath, bending into a useless knot of scrap.
"Fuck," he gasped, staring at his flattened weapon.
The brute’s left forearm smashed into his chest like a ram, launching him across the narrow gap.
He crashed into the opposite wall, his ribs groaning under the force of the strike.
"Gaaah!" He screamed, sliding down the wall until his knees hit the ground.
[ Stamina: 4/100 ]
His vision doubled, the dark alley swimming in yellow spots while his hands clawed at the dust.
The brute stepped forward slowly, raising its rusted cleaver high above its head for the execution stroke.
’Move your legs... get up... Jolly is still waiting,’ his mind screamed, but his body refused to obey.
Static crackled inside his skull, sharp and freezing, cutting straight through the ringing in his ears.
[ Sponsor channel: online ]
A woman’s voice drifted through the noise, laughing softly behind her hand with clear amusement.
"...told you... little spark..."
The voice dissolved into empty hiss before he could form a single word in response.
’Worst pep talk in human history,’ he thought, glaring at the gray letters as the channel died.
The cleaver began its descent through the dark air, aiming between his collarbones.
A silver blur dropped from the sky, cutting through the smoke with the force of a thunderclap.
The spearhead struck the brute straight through its right eye socket, driving deep into the skull behind it.
"Urgggh..." The monster gurgled, its thick legs folding as black blood sprayed across the alley.
The corpse crashed onto its face, shaking the ground inches from his feet.
A woman landed on the corpse, pulling her spear free as the two remaining orcs retreated.
She drove them toward the response squad at the intersection before turning back to Fin.
She wore white tactical armor with silver shoulder plates, holding a round shield in her left hand.
A blue crest shone upon her breastplate, marking her rank for the street to see.
’Rank C... Vega-6,’ he recognized the emblem from five years of watching district raid broadcasts.
She checked his face with a small pupil light, clicking the radio on her shoulder twice.
"Vega-6 to Central... loading dock sector secured," she reported briskly, stowing the light in her belt. "Found one civilian survivor with elevated pulse... no visible lacerations... processing evacuation now."
"I’m not a civilian," he rasped, clutching his bruised ribs while trying to stand up straight.
"You have no badge on your collar," she replied smoothly, pointing her spear toward the south boulevard. "The evacuation shelter sits two blocks south... follow the white floodlights... don’t stop for bags."
She turned toward the street, adjusting the strap on her shield with quick motions.
"The Association hosts a public gratitude event next Tuesday," she continued, checking her perimeter for movement. "Civilians who receive direct field assistance may register their names for the compensation voucher program..."
He stepped past her, placing one dirty index finger directly over her lips to silence her.
"Shh... hold that thought for three seconds," he muttered, dropping his right hand onto the brute’s skull.
"What are you doing? Back away from the carcass," she warned, raising an eyebrow in irritation.
"Just taking what’s mine," he replied under his breath.
[ Core assimilation complete: rank E capacity available ]
[ Absorb? ]
[ Target: orc brute (E-Rank) - deceased ]
[ Available: ]
[ > strength ]
[ > speed ]
[ > endurance ]
[ > skills / abilities ]
’Give me endurance... all of it right now,’ he ordered the system without hesitation.
The golden prompt flashed once, then the hunger ripped out through his palm in a surge of heat.
The monster’s corpse withered, its thick muscles drying into dust while the plate armor collapsed inward.
A flood of warmth surged through his veins, washing the exhaustion straight out of his muscles.
[ Absorbed: endurance +7 ]
[ Stamina: 4/100 → 61/100 ]
The painful ache in his ribs vanished, replaced by a deep spring of fresh physical energy.
"What did you just do?" She asked, her eyes widening as she stepped back in surprise.
He didn’t waste a single second answering her question or explaining the power she witnessed.
He sprinted past her, vaulting the hood of a crushed car before landing cleanly on the sidewalk.
"Hey! Stop right there!" She yelled after him, raising her spear as he tore down the street toward the east.
He pushed his legs into a sprint, ignoring the shouts fading behind him in the smoke.
Jolly was two kilometers east, while sixty-one stamina points burned in his chest.
Behind him in the alley, the woman clicked her radio once more, her voice tight with disbelief.
"Vega-6 to Command... updating report... young male anomaly... no registered rank... absorbed something from my kill... headed east fast."
He leaped over a fallen lamppost, disappearing into the dark streets where the real fight waited.