---
Chapter 6: Jason's death
The guild briefing room smelled like burnt coffee and dried ink.
Digital mission boards flickered on the wall, listing names, teams, and available quests. Guild clerks tapped across touchscreen desks, processing licenses and payments. People moved fast — hunters, tech runners, beast part merchants — the usual chaos of city life with swords and abilities woven in.
Tory stood by the glass wall, watching the skyline of Emberlight. Neon signs shimmered between black towers. In the distance, military drones hovered over the wall surrounding the outer slums.
Everything felt louder today. Closer. Tighter.
The System hadn't spoken since the last mission. Not since he killed for real.
> [System Status: Active]
[New Notification: Awaiting System Judgment…]
Tory frowned. The interface hadn't updated in hours — ever since the hidden quest Shadow of Man appeared. Something was being held back. Hidden.
Behind him, Jim approached with Keira and Rohn.
"New job came through," Jim said. "Underground site. Old subway tunnel in Sector 12. Weird readings."
Rohn raised a brow. "Beast activity?"
"More like energy spikes. Might be a leftover lab or something," Keira added. "Some of the guild leaders think it's tied to the old corruption experiments from ten years ago."
Tory's eyes sharpened. Human experiments… just like the quest hint.
Then the door slid open, and Jason walked in.
Alive.
Unchained.
Wearing a clean Silver Dawn uniform and a smirk.
Tory's blood went cold.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Keira muttered.
"I thought he was arrested," Rohn said, stepping forward.
Jason shrugged, tossing a badge onto the table.
"Guild cleared me. No evidence. Said I was a 'victim of misunderstanding.'"
Jim tensed, fists clenching. Tory didn't move.
Jason looked straight at him. "Guess I'll be joining this next run. Hope you don't mind, little brother."
He smirked again.
---
The Descent
The team took a maglift tram to Sector 12 — the worst part of Emberlight. Rusted scaffolding. Collapsed buildings. No cameras. No guards. Just graffiti-covered concrete and mutant nests crawling underneath.
The target was an old subway station. Caved in decades ago during the Second Beast Surge.
Tory said little on the way down. He let Jim lead the briefing. Let Keira banter. Let Jason act like a shadow.
He was watching. Waiting.
The deeper they went, the stronger the feeling in his chest — like something buried was breathing beneath the floor.
> [System Thread Detected: Aberrant Core Nearby]
[Quest Updated: "Shadow of Man" → Target Confirmed.]
They stepped into an old metal chamber deep in the tunnels. Computers and broken cryo-pods lined the walls. Dried blood crusted the floors.
Tory's boots echoed softly.
At the center, a corpse slumped over a glass tube — part beast, part man, eyes burned out from the inside.
Jim stepped closer. "This is... old Genesis tech. I thought they destroyed this lab."
"No," Tory whispered. "They buried it."
A sudden pulse struck the chamber.
The corpse twitched.
And behind them, Jason drew a concealed weapon — a small core, humming with unstable dark energy.
"I didn't think you'd come here willingly," Jason said calmly. "But this saves me the trouble."
Keira turned. "What the hell are you—"
Jason activated the core.
A wave of gravity exploded outward, slamming them all to the ground. Rohn groaned as his armor cracked. Jim shielded Keira with a barrier of flame.
Tory stood alone — unaffected.
Jason blinked. "What…?"
> [Reality Thread Anchor – Gravity Immunity: Active.]
Tory stepped forward.
Jason backed away, raising the core between them. "I'm the only one who knows what you are! You're hiding something — and I'm going to drag it out of you!"
Tory didn't respond.
The system finally spoke.
> [Target Confirmed: Jason Delmere – Former Human Experiment Subject]
[Mutation Core Detected – Gravity Variant]
[Warning: Entity is unstable.]
> [System Override Engaged]
[World Quest Canceled]
[Directive: Walk Your Own Path.]
Tory froze mid-step.
> [Reason: Host's trajectory incompatible with world system directives]
[System Alignment Shift: Independent Directive.]
His screen faded. And returned — sharper, darker.
> [New Path: Reality of One.]
Jason didn't notice.
He charged forward, using the core like a weapon. "I'll rip the truth out of you, Tory!"
Tory raised one hand.
Space twisted.
Jason was caught in midair, suspended.
"I don't need to explain myself to you," Tory said quietly.
He stepped forward — close enough to look Jason in the eye.
"You were warned. You crossed the line. And now…"
> [Reality Thread – Destruction Pulse: 7% Output.]
A ripple of black energy tore through Jason's chest. Silent. Clean. No blood. Just erasure — like the universe decided he no longer belonged.
Jason gasped — but no scream came.
He turned to ash.
Gone.
> [Quest Complete: Shadow of Man]
[EXP Gained: 500]
[Element Unlocked: Gravity – Tier 1]
[Skill Gained: Compression Field – Temporarily increase gravity within 10m radius]
Tory exhaled. The glow faded.
The others slowly stood — shaken, confused.
"Where's Jason?" Keira asked, coughing.
"He ran into the lab's defense field," Tory said calmly. "Didn't survive."
Rohn muttered, "That idiot…"
Jim looked at Tory — just for a second — then nodded.
"Let's go home."
---
Later that night
Back at the orphanage, the rain had started again — soft and cold, tapping gently on the windows.
Tory sat in the second-floor study, lights off, illuminated only by the soft blue glow of the city skyline. Jim was downstairs tending to Keira's leg. Rohn was probably asleep already. The place was quiet.
Too quiet.
He opened the System Panel, watching the data stream calmly across his vision.
> [Current Level: 4]
[EXP: 35 / 1200]
[Elements Acquired:]
– Ash (Reality)
– Space (Tier 1)
– Gravity (Tier 1)
> [New Skill Acquired:]
– Compression Field: Increase gravitational force in a target zone.
– Void Pocket: Spatial storage.
– Ash Step: Short-distance blink using corrupted threads.
– Reality Thread (Suppressed Mode)]
> [System Alignment: Independent Directive]
[World Quest: Terminated]
[Reason: Host incompatible with world system directives]
Tory sat there for a long time, breathing steady, eyes focused.
The world wasn't guiding him anymore.
There were no chosen ones. No prophecy. No system holding his hand.
He was walking his own path now — through shadow, through blood, and into a reality no one else could touch.
And if anyone got in his way…
They'd learn what it meant to be erased.