Exiting the depths of Sector C-4 proved to be an exhausting ordeal even for Sebastian's updated body. The Distortion mana in that zone was so thick that after a few hours of being there, the ordinary air of the lower levels seemed bland and empty. The boy made his way through tangled technical corridors where the rusty walls were gradually replaced by familiar concrete masonry covered with a layer of age-old dust and soot. His Strength of sixteen units allowed him to maintain a steady pace, despite the backpack that was frankly overfilled with heavy mana cores and parts from the Shredders.
Sebastian stopped at a fork in the tunnels to check his stats. He had very little experience left until level nine, and he didn't want to return home without closing this chapter. The money obtained from Bruno earlier had helped his mother pay off some of the debts, but Sebastian knew that peace in the Rotten Sector was only an illusion that dissipated with the very first new bill from the Aegis corporation.
He activated [Mana Resonance], and the world around bloomed again with a web of energy lines. Behind him, in a side branch leading to old fan units, he noticed several bright flashes. These weren't giants like the Brutes, but rather a pack of scavengers who usually picked up remains behind larger predators.
[Target: Tunnel Scavenger (Level 11)] x4
Level eleven was a serious challenge for most scavengers, but Sebastian felt only cold calculation. He knew that his Luck of thirty-three units would make this fight much simpler than the dry level numbers suggested. The boy drew the "Black Star" and moved silently toward the enemies. The scavengers, resembling overgrown rats with long fangs and metal plates on their backs, noticed him too late.
The first Scavenger tried to jump at Sebastian from a ledge on the wall, but at that exact second, the old mounting beam holding that ledge failed under the beast's weight and collapsed with a roar. The monster fell down, disoriented and open for attack. Sebastian was instantly there, and his knife entered accurately into the vulnerable gap between the neck vertebrae.
[Target neutralized: Tunnel Scavenger (Lvl 11)]
[Experience gained: 420 XP]
The other three lunged at him simultaneously. One of them should have caught his leg with its sharp tail, but Sebastian accidentally stepped on a sloping piece of pipe, which caused his body to shift a few centimeters to the right. The monster's tail only sliced through the air powerlessly. Sebastian turned and delivered a wide circular strike, slashing the belly of the second Scavenger.
The third and fourth enemies collided with each other in the darkness, as one of them slipped on a puddle of oil it hadn't noticed in the heat of battle. Sebastian gave them no chance to recover, methodically ending the fight with a series of precise lunges. Luck again guided his knife where the enemies' defense was weakest.
[Target neutralized: Tunnel Scavenger (Lvl 11)]
[Experience gained: 410 XP]
[Target neutralized: Tunnel Scavenger (Lvl 11)]
[Experience gained: 435 XP]
[Target neutralized: Tunnel Scavenger (Lvl 11)]
[Experience gained: 415 XP]
At that very moment, a familiar golden glow washed over his body, taking away the fatigue and small scratches.
[Level Up!]
[Your level is now: 9]
[You have received 3 Stat Points.]
Sebastian closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the surge of new strength. He called up the stat panel and, without hesitation, invested all three points into Luck. His luck had now reached a score of thirty-six units, and he felt the space around him become even more loyal to his presence. The boy quickly collected the cores from the killed creatures and headed for the main exit to the surface.
—
Heloplex greeted him with heavy, damp air and the smell of burnt plastic. The night over the Rotten Sector was torn by the dim beams of searchlights from corporate patrols flying somewhere high in the sky over the rich quarters. Sebastian walked through a labyrinth of abandoned buildings, trying not to attract the attention of the few passers-by who at this time were usually either robbers or those fleeing from them.
He was already a few blocks from his residential block when [Mana Resonance] suddenly flared crimson. It was a signal of such intensity that Sebastian had never seen on the surface of the Rotten Sector. It wasn't just a warning, but a true cry of alarm.
He accelerated and burst into an open wasteland in front of the entrance to his neighborhood. What he saw made his heart freeze for a moment. In the middle of the broken concrete, right on the path to his entrance, stood a massive creature. Its body was covered with stiff fur resembling a weave of metal wires, and its eyes burned with cold yellow fire. This was a Iron-Hide Wolf, a predator that usually never left the Distortion zones.
[Target: Iron-Hide Wolf (Level 16)]
Level sixteen. Rank E. This beast was on a completely different level of the System hierarchy. For a ninth-level Sebastian, such an opponent should have been a death sentence. The wolf slowly turned its head in his direction and emitted a low roar that made the metal sheets on the neighboring ruins vibrate.
Sebastian gripped the "Black Star" tighter. He realized that escape would not be possible — the wolf was too fast. And behind him, in the old apartment on the fourth floor, his mother was currently there.
"Not today," he whispered, activating [Stone Skin].
The wolf tensed its massive muscles and took the first step forward. The fight for survival in his own home had just begun.