Liam stared at the holographic panel floating before him and then another screen overlapped the first
[System Notification -> You have successfully Eliminated the enemy]
[+3 Stat Points Acquired]
It hovered in that deep, dark red glow. The interface felt too sharp to be imagined, and this thing, whatever it is, was real.
Just then, Yaela walked back into the room carrying a tray with coffee and something wrapped in foil. Liam blinked and the screen blinked out. She didn't notice a thing, well, not like she could see it in the first place anyway.
"Still alive, huh?" she said, setting the tray down beside him.
"Barely," Liam joked back with a wry smile
They talked while he ate, about school, about how mad she still was, about the future. She tried to keep things light, but it was clear she was still shaken from the previous night. Eventually, the steady beep of monitors became the only sound heard, as the hospital transitioned from the bustle of day to the stillness of night.
….
The next morning, when Liam and Yaela were finally discharged, they stepped out into the corridor. A nurse nodded as they passed, and the air smelled faintly of antiseptic and warm plastics. Upon reaching the hallway's exit, another door clicked open across from them and a boy stepped out. He was slender and pale, and looked barely older than sixteen. His eyes were reddened from tears and he froze as soon as he saw Liam.
"You—" his voice cracked. "Murderer!"
Liam instinctively stepped forward, but Yaela quickly grabbed his arm. Her head shook once, basically telling him to not get involved.
The boy's voice broke again, louder now. "You think you can take my brother, Yugo's life and walk away?!"
The Hospital staff rushed in to restrain the boy as he thrashed and yelled.
Liam stood silent and then it hit him. "[You have successfully eliminated the enemy]"
That wasn't some metaphor or any figure of speech at all, the system had counted Yugo's death and the stat point gain had come from taking a life.
Yaela looked up at him. "Liam?"
He blinked out of the thought. "It's nothing," he said quietly.
...
Elsewhere, in a high-tech operations center buzzing with activity. It was the United States Organisation for Visors (USOV). Its 3rd and last branch in all of United States.
Men in suits and tactical vests moved with urgency, speaking into comms and sifting through surveillance feeds. At the center of it all stood a tall man with broad shoulders, caramel skin, arms crossed like stone. Mr Garene Grey.
"Situation report," he said.
One of the analysts turned in his chair. "Sir, readings indicate a mythical beast threat. B-class at minimum, possibly A."
"Here? In Detroit?" Garene Grey's voice tensed. "This zone barely emits enough magical energy to stir C-class anomalies. Get me visuals."
The analyst tapped a few keys and a large monitor lit up, showing the chaos downtown. A monstrous crocodile-like beast about twenty feet high, thundered through the streets, slamming into buildings, tearing through traffic and sending panicked civilians scattering.
"Who do we have on the field?" Grey asked.
"No one enough to handle that mythical beast, sir." The analyst replied
"Damn it." Grey banged the desk in frustration.
Then a sudden shift on the screen occurred as an airborne figure appeared mid-frame.
"Sir!" another operative called out. "Selene from the White Hunters just arrived!"
She had this long black hair tied with a ribbon, with her skirt fluttering over tennis shorts. She barely looked armed, until the void above her right palm spiraled into a pitch-black spear and without a word, she launch it at the beast. The beast dropped as its skull had been pierced, dying on the spot as a result.
The room fell into stunned silence for a brief second then cheers erupted.
Grey allowed himself a smirk. "As expected of a top-ranked visor." He turned to his aide. "Dispatch evac teams for cleanup, The white Hunters claimed the kill, so they have rights to the body."
When divinity merged with humanity, it wasn't just the gods who integrated into everyday life. Mythical beasts and divine creatures took haven here too. Some were harmless, kept as exotic pets, shaped like chimeric dogs. Others were monstrous, untamable, and impossible for regular humans to handle. These creatures, labeled as "monsters," were drawn to areas with high concentrations of magical energy and activity. The stronger the energy signature, the higher the risk of a high-threat monster emerging.
Mythical beasts were ranked by Threat-levels; from F-class all the way to Dragon-class and only Visors could deal with them. Specialized factions formed for this exact purpose, groups made up of Visors across various ranks. Monster hunting itself also had its rewards as magical cores and body parts harvested from slain beasts could be crafted into weapons or sold to powerful organizations driving tech advancement.
Over time, many factions expanded their reach, directly or indirectly influencing the world's key sectors—sports, finance, digital markets, politics, and more.
...
Back at Liam's apartment, where he sat alone in his room.
He raised his hand slightly, willing the screen to return, and it did. He could telepathically do it now.
[EVOLUTION SYSTEM – PLAYER: LIAM VELMONT]
Main Class: None
Sub-Class: Combatant
Level: 0.1
Authority: None
HP: 100 | MP: 150 | STA: 200
STATS
• STR: 35 • AGI: 30
• CS: 20 • PRC: 35
• Stat Points Available: 3
Skills: None
Inventory: None
"So I really killed him," Liam muttered.
He examined the panel again and then clicked through the abbreviations. Strength. Agility. Cast Speed. Perception. Health Points. Mana Pool. Stamina. He hovered over the available point but decided not to use it yet.
He thought back to the power that surged through him during the match, the speed that came with it and the electric arcs. It had all started when this system kicked in.
"Rest in peace, I guess," he murmured.
He didn't feel bad. Not really. Yugo knew the risks. Everyone who fought in the Midnight Circuit did. You practically signed your life away the moment you stepped in.
...
Evening came fast and Yaela had packed her bag to return for Cale University. She only returned after getting called by the hospital over the incident with Liam and the distance was only a 30 minute drive. She left in a taxi when she was ready to go but not before giving him another lecture. "Stay inside, okay? and Liam please quit this boxing thing already, you're risking too much". She was his younger sister but also played the role of mother too.
She was gone two minutes when Liam had his tracksuit worn and zipped with a hood on. Basically, all those words she said had fallen on deaf ears.
Then he blurred through alleyways, vanished into shadow, and within minutes, he stood before the Midnight Circuit again. The arena beneath the city.
He made the screen appear again. He wanted to check something out
[Stamina: 191]
"Alright, makes total sense I guess", he said to himself, realising that he lost a certain amount of stamina for all that running.
Liam made his way towards the Manager's office, and after his knock on the door was answered, he came in and went forward, towards Mr. Silas who sat behind the desk, casual and sharp as always.
"You're alive," Silas said. "Didn't expect that."
"Guess I'm lucky." Liam replied
"Well don't get too comfortable. You're the main event tonight and the Challenger's waiting." Silas gave him a heads up, and then slid the middleweight championship belt through his desk to Liam.
"I'll be there," Liam said, picking his title up before turning to leave.
...
Battle after battle lit the arena. One fighter hurled stones like bullets; another turned his arms to metal, and crowd roars shook the underground coliseum.
And then came the main event. Liam had walked his way up to the ring before stepping into it, and the crowd roared in excitement; no longer mocking him as the Electric Eel.
"The Lightning General, Liam Velmonttttt!" the announcer screamed. "The new middleweight champion!"
Across from him stood his challenger, Narak. He was slender-looking and had a mask over his mouth, with had twin knives drawn, ready to go at the bell's notice.
Liam took his stance and then a screen abruptly popped up
[New Quest: Eliminate the Enemy]
He froze at first. "Eliminate?" he whispered to himself.
The bell rang and Narak was on him in seconds. He made various attempts to slash his blades at Liam however, Liam blurred away, dodging, avoiding, ducking, weaving. The crowd began to jeer as they needed some action and not their champion running away from fights.
"What's wrong, champ?" Narak sneered. "Is this how you beat Yugo? By dancing?"
Liam didn't answer. His eyes were on the floating screen trying to still understand the notification, and the quest hadn't changed either, it still said: [Eliminate the threat].
Was it a kill order?. He thought to himself and then blurred again, but this time behind Narak, delivering a flash punch that sent him crashing into the cage.
"Stay down," Liam warned.
Narak struggled abit to get back up but he had this laugh on his face, even though little spurts of blood were around his forehead. The force behind Liam's punch was that strong, but Narak was grinning as he still had another card to play. Then he ripped his mask down unleashing a cloud of toxic gas towards his target.
In seconds it got to him as he couldn't dodge his way out of this one. Liam dropped to a knee with his was skin blistering as the gas ate at him, and suddenly he was short of breath.
"My gas kills only my enemies!" Narak declared. "You're finished!"
And then...
[Skill Unlocked -> Regeneration]
[Regeneration Complete – Full Body Restored]
Liam stood up once more with his wounds sealed and his skin patching itself together in seconds. The toxic gas meant nothing and this realization made Narak freeze in place, especially as the gas attack was supposedly his trump card.
"What… How?!"
Liam stepped forward, with both eyes glowing and bolts trailing from his fingers.
"I wasn't sure if I was going to kill you," Liam said. "because I needed to know what happens if I don't complete this quest of a thing, but yeah fuck that!"
His grin widened as the lightning around him flared and in a blink, he was standing before Narak with his right hand through his chest.
Narak dropped, and that was it, he was dead.
[Quest Complete: Threat Eliminated]
[Level Up Achieved]
[+2 Stat points available]
These notification screens popped up and then vanished.
The crowd went wild with excitement for several minutes as Liam had won what looked liked a one-sided beat-down. The referee ran towards the now dead body of the challenger and after confirming he was dead, he turned and waved his hand to the announcer signifying that Narak could not continue. The Announcer immediately roared through his mic whilst gesturing his arm towards Liam, "Ladies and Gentlemen, your winner, The Lightning General, Liam Velmonttt!"
Liam didn't wave nor speak to the crowd, instead he just took his belt and walked out as cheers followed behind him. All he had to keep doing was keep winning and that was enough for him.
However, from the shadows, a girl watched. She was dressed in Black and had this dark lipstick on. Her arms were folded and her eyes fixed on Liam as he left the ring.