For a long, quiet stretch of time, Len and Ayush walked side-by-side in absolute silence.
Ayush moved at a measured, slightly sluggish pace, still recovering from his internal fatigue, while Len strode with an effortless, heavy aura of natural dominance—every step radiating the undeniable, suffocating presence of an apex demon lord. Ayush, on the other hand, kept his head on a swivel, taking in every bizarre, breathtaking detail of the underground sanctuary. He felt a swirling cocktail of complex emotions: deep-seated excitement, heavy-hearted sadness, and sheer, unfiltered surprise.
"This place is genuinely unbelievable... it's so damn pretty," Ayush thought, staring up at a cluster of glowing crystal trees. "But man... if Vikas, Aryan, and the rest of the squad were right here with me, it would be a hundred times better. I miss those idiots so damn much. Just wait for me, guys—I'm going to figure this out and come back to you very soon. Haha... why am I even stressing out? It's nothing. I'll be able to escape this underground base in no time—"
"Ayush," Len's calm voice cut straight through his mental monologue without slowing his pace. "Now that we have a moment, tell me everything about your powers and status."
Ayush blinked behind his obsidian mask, raising his hand to flick open his transparent blue system window. Len glanced over his shoulder, watching the floating data screens with a look of quiet, emotionless curiosity.
"Well," Ayush began, tapping a few system tabs. "Right now, I can summon around 50 shadow soldiers max. My base mana pool is trash—literally just 10 points total. It costs 1 mana per single summon, which is highway robbery. I can temporarily buff it using system potions and coins, but it only lasts for a few minutes... honestly, more like barely a single minute if I'm pushing it. And right now? I have literally zero coins left. I'm completely broke."
Ayush paused, frowning as he rummaged through his holographic interface. "Wait... let me check my storage."
With a flick of his wrist, Ayush pulled a weapon straight out of his system inventory, holding it out in his palm. "Hold on, how did I even get this...?"
Len stopped walking, turning around to inspect the weapon. Resting in Ayush's hand was a sleek, exquisitely crafted dagger. Embedded right in the center of the crossguard was a rare, multifaceted gem that emitted a faint, hypnotic dark-blue pulse. The weapon looked sleek, terrifyingly sharp, and undeniably expensive.
"Check the stats," Len muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly at the artifact.
Ayush pulled up the item description in his system view:
[Item: Abyssal Fragment Dagger]
[Attack Power: 400]
[Special Effect: Bound to Soul]
[Potential: ERROR / UNKNOWN]
Ayush's jaw dropped behind his mask. "Wait... error? Like, literal system error?"
Len's expression twitched with genuine surprise. "Error? Show me that."
Ayush reached forward to hand the heavy dagger over to Len. But the moment Len's fingertips brushed the hilt—
POOF.
The dagger completely vanished into thin air.
Both Ayush and Len froze, staring at the empty space between them in absolute shock.
Ayush panicked, instantly opening his inventory menu. "Wait, wait, wait—let me check!"
To his utter relief, the item icon was glowing right there inside his inventory grid. He tapped it, and the dagger instantly materialized back into his palm with a soft hum.
Ayush let out a breath of air, a wide, excited grin spreading across his face. "Bro, what?! That is actually insane!"
Curious, he tried handing it to Len a second time. The exact same thing happened—the moment it left Ayush's grip, it dissolved and instantly snapped back into his inventory.
Len stared at the empty space, rubbing his chin thoughtfully before a realization hit him. "Ah... I see. It's not a normal drop. That weapon is permanently soul-bound to your specific shadow skill tree. That means only you can hold it, summon it, or use it. Anyone else trying to touch it will cause it to phase out."
Ayush looked down at the dark-blue gem pulsing softly in his palm, his eyes sparkling. "Isn't that lowkey the coolest thing ever?"
"Yeah," Len admitted, a faint smile touching his lips. "It is."
Len straightened his posture, his demeanor instantly shifting from casual mentor back to ruthless instructor. "Which brings us to the next point. From this exact moment on, when we train, you are going to fight me using your full power. Don't hold anything back."
Ayush blinked, tilting his head. "Wait... full power? Against you? Didn't you just say you're a monster general?"
"Don't worry," Len said calmly, turning around and walking toward a massive, stone-walled cavern opening up ahead. "I cannot die in this place. I am literally invincible within this underground domain."
Ayush stood frozen for a second, processing the information. A drop of sweat rolled down his cheek as he muttered to himself:
"Ohhhh... that's crazy. And honestly, that's really, really bad for me. If he's completely invincible here, how the hell am I supposed to ever beat him or escape? ...Whatever. Let's just survive getting beaten up for now."