Free Web NovelChapter 5: Chapter 5
The penthouse office of the Valor Guild local branch sat eighty floors above the smog of the mega city. The walls were made of reinforced glass offering a pristine view of the glittering skyline. Inside the air was temperature controlled and smelled of expensive synthetic cedar.
Guild Master Elias Vance stood by the window looking down at the sprawling urban maze below. He was an S Class Berserker a man whose sheer physical presence commanded absolute authority. His tailored suit barely contained the massive corded muscles of his chest and shoulders.
Behind him Duncan Carmichael sat in a plush leather chair sweating profusely. Duncan’s right arm was encased in a bulky medical cast his face pale from painkillers and lingering terror.
"Explain it to me again Duncan" Elias said his voice a deep rumbling baritone that vibrated the glass. "And this time do not insult my intelligence."
Duncan swallowed hard. "Sir I swear on my life. The E Rank dungeon suffered a mana fracture. It mutated into a C Rank death zone. The Vanguard party retreated. The A Rank Hunter we had on patrol went down to investigate and never came back."
Elias turned around. His eyes cold and calculating locked onto the trembling manager. "I read the casualty report Duncan. I know the A Rank died. What I want you to explain is the security footage from your logistics camp."
Elias tapped a button on his massive mahogany desk. A holographic projection flared to life in the center of the room. It showed the grainy security feed of the logistics camp. It showed a boy covered in blood walking out of the portal. It showed the boy effortlessly sweeping the Vanguard leader to the ground. And then it showed the boy vanishing in a blur of blue electricity reappearing behind Duncan and snapping his wrist like a dry twig.
"That boy" Elias said pointing a massive finger at the hologram "is registered in our database as Glen Mcdonald. An eighteen year old academy student. His class is F Rank Mimic. Yet he is moving with the exact velocity and mana signature of an A Rank Lightning Movement skill. He is also carrying the twin swords of our dead A Rank Hunter."
"He must have stolen them" Duncan blurted out panic rising in his voice. "He must have waited for the boss to kill the Hunter and then looted the corpse. Or maybe he backstabbed the Hunter while he was distracted. He is a rat from the slums sir. They have no honor."
Elias stared at Duncan for a long silent moment. "An F Rank Mimic backstabbed a veteran A Rank Hunter? A Mimic who somehow managed to copy a high tier movement skill without the standard power degradation? And then this same Mimic walked out of a C Rank death zone carrying a pristine boss core?"
Duncan opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.
"You are a fool Duncan" Elias growled. "If that boy killed our Hunter we have a murder on our hands. If he killed the boss we have an anomaly that defies every known law of the Awakening system. Either way I want the truth."
Elias pressed another button on his desk. The office doors slid open and a tall slender woman walked in. She wore sleek black leather armor and carried a pair of curved daggers at her waist. She was a B Rank Tracker one of the best investigators in the Valor Guild.
"Elara" Elias said. "Take an elite forensics team to the mutated dungeon. I want every inch of that boss room analyzed. Find out exactly how our Hunter died and find out exactly what that boy did in the dark."
"Understood Guild Master" Elara said bowing her head slightly before turning on her heel and leaving the room.
Elias looked back at the frozen hologram of Glen Mcdonald. The boy was smiling as he broke Duncan’s arm. It was a cold arrogant smile. It was the smile of a predator.
Miles away in the deep industrial underbelly of Sector Nine Glen Mcdonald pushed open the heavy glass doors of the Central Medical Facility. The hospital was a bleak overcrowded building where the unawakened citizens went to die slowly. The air smelled of bleach and despair. freewebnoveℓ.com
Glen ignored the crowded waiting room and walked straight to the front desk. The receptionist a tired looking woman with dark circles under her eyes did not even look up from her screen.
"Take a number" she said in a monotone voice. "Wait time is currently fourteen hours."
Glen reached into his pocket. He did not pull out a number. He pulled out a solid black cred stick.
Before coming to the hospital Glen had visited the underground exchange. The black market brokers had tried to lowball him for the C Rank boss core assuming he was just a dumb kid who had gotten lucky. Glen had politely disagreed. He had channeled a single spark of purple lightning into the broker’s metal desk melting it into slag. The broker had immediately paid him the full market value. Three million credits.
Glen placed the black cred stick on the reception desk. It landed with a heavy metallic clink.
"I am here for Mary Mcdonald" Glen said his voice calm and steady. "Ward 4B. Toxic mana exposure."
The receptionist finally looked up annoyed. "I told you to take a..." Her voice trailed off as she saw the black cred stick. Those were only issued for accounts holding over a million credits. She looked at Glen taking in his torn clothes and the faint trace of dried blood on his neck. She swallowed hard and quickly typed the name into her terminal.
"Yes sir" she stammered. "Mary Mcdonald. She has a past due balance of..."
"Pay it" Glen interrupted. "Pay the entire balance. Then upgrade her to the premium care ward in the upper spires. I want the best alchemists you have on staff, to treat her. Put it all on that stick."
The receptionist’s hands shook as she processed the transaction. The machine chimed a pleasant green confirming the massive transfer of wealth.
Ten minutes later Glen stood in the doorway of a sterile white hospital room. His mother lay in a narrow bed hooked up to a series of humming machines. Her face was pale her breathing shallow and ragged. The years of repairing toxic mana conduits had taken a brutal toll on her body.
Glen walked over and gently took her hand. It was cold and fragile.
"You are going to be okay Mom" Glen whispered. "They are moving you to the upper spires tonight. You never have to go back to the infrastructure zones. You never have to work again."
Mary slowly opened her eyes. She looked at her son her gaze filled with a mixture of love and deep worry. She saw the new scar on his cheek. She saw the twin silver swords strapped to his back.
"Glen" she rasped her voice weak. "What did you do? Where did you get the money?"
Glen smiled. It was not the dark cocky smirk he had used on Duncan or the black market broker. It was a genuine soft smile.
"I got a promotion" Glen said softly. "My class is a little more unique than we thought."
He stayed by her side until the elite medical transport team arrived to move her to the premium ward. He watched as they carefully loaded her into the hovering ambulance ensuring she was treated with the utmost respect. Money bought respect in this world. Power bought money.
As the ambulance flew away toward the glittering lights of the upper city Glen stood alone on the dark street corner of Sector Nine. The quiet kid who had worried about past due bills was gone. His mother was safe. His only weakness had been removed from the board.
He reached over his shoulder and gripped the leather wrapped hilts of his twin swords.
Tomorrow he was going back to the Academy. It was time to show Fraser Lennox and the rest of the elite students exactly what an F Rank Mimic could do.
