Lucas woke to the smell of damp earth and burning herbs. His chest throbbed—a deep, unnatural heat radiating from where the artifact had fused with his sternum. He groaned, trying to sit up, but a firm hand pressed him back down.
"Easy," a voice said. "You're luck not to be dead."
He blinked up at the girl hovering over him. Rabbit ears twitched atop her head, her sharp eyes watching him with a mix of curiosity and caution. Behind her, the hideout stretched—a cramped burrow of stolen goods, flickering lanterns, and three very unwelcoming faces.
One, a wolfish man with scars running down his arms, sneered. "Great. He's alive."
The second, a lanky guy with stone-like knuckles, cracked his fingers. "Should've left him for the knights."
The third, a wiry woman with hollow-boned limbs, just sighed. "Nyra, why do you keep bringing strays home?"
Nyra—apparently the rabbit-girl's name—ignored them, dabbing a wet cloth against Lucas's burning skin. "You screamed," she said simply. "Loud enough the whole castle probably heard. So I dragged you here before the System's dogs sniffed you out."
Lucas swallowed. His throat felt raw. "Where's here?"
"The Warren," Nyra said. "Where cheaters hide."
The wolfish man, Vex snorted. "Temporary power-ups, stolen rank boosts, the works. Not that it matters. Fades too fast to be worth much." His eyes flicked to Lucas's chest. "Unlike that thing."
Lucas didn't like the way he said it.
Nyra must've noticed, because she shot Vex a glare before turning back to Lucas. "When I pulled you out of that tunnel, your artifact… talked."
Silence.
"Talked?" Lucas repeated.
She nodded. "It was calling a name. Voidmark."
The others stiffened as they heard the name forbidden by the System to say.
Dain, the stone-fisted one, took a step forward. "You're lying."
Nyra didn't flinch. "Heard it clear as day."
Pella, the hollow-boned archer, let out a low whistle. "If that's true…"
Vex's hand went to his knife. "Then we cut it out of him."
Nyra moved faster than Lucas could track, her own blade pressing against Vex's throat. "Try it," she said softly. "There's a possibility he can get us out of here and I'm not gambling with it."
The tension snapped when Dain coughed. "Look, if we're gonna argue, can we at least do it over a drink?"
The tavern was a den of shadows and sour ale.
Lucas sat between Nyra and Vex, the latter making a point to "accidentally" elbow him every few minutes. The place was packed with low-level enhancers—people who'd used potions or cheap artifacts to scrape a little power, only for it to fade just as fast.
Vex smirked as he "tripped," spilling his drink down Lucas's shirt. "Oops. Thought the big bad artifact-bearer would've dodged that."
Nyra rolled her eyes. "Real mature, Vex. Real mature."
The artifact in Lucas's chest burned like a branding iron. He laid back screaming in pain.
"Stop squirming," Nyra muttered, quickly pressing a damp cloth to his sternum. Her rabbit ears twitched at his every hiss of pain. "Unless you want this thing to cook you from the inside out."
Lucas gritted his teeth. "Maybe I like being medium-rare."
Across the room, Vex scoffed leaning against the wall, his fading shadow-step tattoos making him look like a smudged drawing. "Should've left him for the knights. Even if there's a little chance he can control the artifact, it's not worth it. Now we've got System bait stinking up the place."
Nyra ignored him, tying off Lucas's bandage with a sharp yank. "We need some supplies and painkillers."
Vex's grin showed too many teeth. "And you're taking him? Champions patrol the market like hounds."
"It'll be okay." Nyra said, rolling her eyes while assisting Lucas to stand.
"Fine, I'll follow you then."
"Nope, I'm not taking any chances of you putting a hole in his chest. Dain, do you mind?"
"O-Okay." Dain said, avoiding eye contacts with Vex.
Vex spat on the floor. "Fine. But when he almost gets you killed, don't come crying to me."
Lucas was completely dumbfounded. His head was all over the place, but he knew better than to stay with Vex.
___
The black market reeked of spoiled fruit and desperation.
Lucas limped between Nyra and Dain, the artifact's heat pulsing in time with his heartbeat. Stalls hawked everything from bootleg healing potions to stolen System sigils—all weak, temporary boosts. Nothing like the living fire in his ribs.
"Sorry about earlier. So, what's your name?" Nyra asked as they stopped by a stall.
"Lucas, you?"
"Nyra, this is Dain. The grumpy wolf is Vex and other lady is Pella." She tossed a coin to a vendor missing three fingers. "Dreamroot. The good stuff."
The man leered. "Rabbit's got a new pet, eh?" His yellowed eyes slid to Lucas. "What's he on?"
Dain shoved Lucas forward as the man wanted to move closer. "Mind your business."
The tavern's noise hit them like a wave—raucous laughter, clinking cups, and the sour stench of cheap ale as they entered. Nyra shouldered through the crowd, Lucas and Dain trailing like reluctant ducklings.
"Yo, Speef," Nyra called as she got to the front.
Speef, the tavern owner and attendant turned around to see the group. He was a 7ft tall centaur— half man, half horse.
Lucas gasped at the sight.
No sooner, the room went dead silent.
Two Champions filled the doorway, They were massive, clad in armor that gleamed with System-approved enhancements. No fading power here—these were the real deal. Enforcers.
The larger one, a mountain of muscle with a shock-blade at his hip scanned the room. His gaze landed on Nyra like a predator spotting wounded prey. A slow grin spread across his face.
"Well, well, well" he rumbled. "Rabbit's out of her cage."
He reached out, fingers closing around Nyra's chin. She didn't move, but Lucas saw the way her muscles tensed.
Dain's hand twitched toward his belt—where Lucas saw a potion was hidden. But the second Champion was faster. A backhand sent Dain crashing into a table.
Lucas stood firmly.
"Let her go," he said.
The Champion laughed. "Or what, kid?"
Lucas didn't answer. He didn't even know why he spoke on the first place. His vision swam. The artifact thrummed, its heat spiking.
The Champion took a step forward—
—and Lucas moved without thinking.
His fingers brushed the Champion's vambrace.
Crack!
The armor split like an eggshell, black veins spiderwebbing up the man's arm. The Champions stared, dumbstruck, as his fingers began to dissolve into static.
Nyra freed her self and pulled up Dain. "Run, idiot!"
___
Chaos erupted as they bolted.
Dain barreled through the crowd, his stone fists clearing a path. "I told you this was a bad idea!"
"We both know you didn't," Nyra shot back, yanking Lucas along by his collar.
Lucas stumbled, his hand knocking against the dissolving Champion's belt—and something cold pressed into his palm. He palmed it without thinking, shoving the strange, smooth stone into his pocket as Nyra dragged him toward the back alley.
Behind them, the second Champion roared, his shock-blade humming to life as more men arrived. "After them!"
Dain kicked open a cellar door, and threw a Rubik's cube, turning the pathway into a tunnel that glitched at the edges, its walls flickering between stone and raw code. "In! Now!"
They tumbled into the darkness just as the Champion's blade struck the doorframe, sending sparks flying.
Nyra didn't stop running until the Warren's hidden entrance loomed ahead. She shoved Lucas inside before whirling on Dain. "You're welcome, by the way."
Dain scowled, flexing his cracked knuckles. "Welcome? For what? Nearly getting us killed?"
"No, for this." Nyra held up a purse of stolen coins—snatched mid-chase.
Lucas, still catching his breath, reached into his pocket. The stone he'd taken was ice-cold, its surface etched with faint, pulsing runes. He clenched his fist around it as the artifact in his chest purred in approval.
Dain narrowed his eyes. "What's he smiling about?"
"Nothing," Lucas said, too quickly, hiding the stone behind him.
Nyra's ears twitched. "Liar."
Lucas clenched his fist tighter around the stolen stone, its icy surface burning against his palm. The artifact in his chest hummed like a pleased cat, its heat pulsing in time with the runes' faint glow.
Dain took a step forward, his stone-knuckled hands flexing. "Hand it over."
"Or what?" Lucas shot back, edging toward the Warren's rusted supply shelves. "You'll punch me extra hard?"
Nyra's tail flicked in irritation as she stepped between them. "Enough. Let me see it."
The moment Lucas opened his palm, the runes flared crimson. Shadows pooled unnaturally around the stone, swallowing the lantern light.
Vex's voice cut through the silence from the doorway: "What do we have here? It's your first day and you're stealing from champions."
All heads turned. Nyra quickly hid the purse. The wolf-eyed enhancer leaned against the frame, his nostrils flaring as he stared at the stone. "Stolen right off a Champion's belt, huh?" His yellowed teeth gleamed. "Nyra, your pet's either suicidal or—"
A deafoning boom shook the Warren. Dust rained from the ceiling as the entire hideout trembled.
Nyra's ears snapped upright. "They're here."
Another impact, closer this time splintered the front door. Through the cracks, armored fingers curled, prying the wood apart.
Lucas barely had time to shove the stone back in his pocket before the wall exploded inward.
A Champion walked in, his armor crackling with System energy. But it wasn't one of the tavern enforcers.
This one wore a magistrate's sigil.
And his gaze locked onto Lucas like a targeting spell.
"Subject located," he intoned, voice buzzing with mechanical distortion. "Containment protocol initiated."
Nyra moved first. Her dagger flashed, embedding itself in the Champion's visor, only to melt before touching skin.
Dain lunged, his stone fist connecting with the Champion's chestplate. It shattered on impact, but the man didn't even stagger. Instead, he grabbed Dain's wrist and squeezed it.
The sound of grinding stone mixed with Dain's scream.
Lucas's artifact roared to life. Black fire wreathed his arms as he charged—
—only to be yanked backward by Nyra. "Not that way, idiot!" She dragged him toward a sewer grate, Vex already prying it open.
The last thing Lucas saw before the darkness swallowed them:
The Champion lifting his palm, Dain dangling limp in his grip, as a dozen more armored figures materialized behind him.
The sewer grate clanged shut behind them, plunging them into darkness. The stench of stagnant water and rot filled Lucas's nose as he stumbled after Nyra and Vex, the stolen stone burning a hole in his pocket.
"Move!" Vex snarled, shoving Lucas forward as another explosion rocked the tunnels behind them. Dust rained from the ceiling, and somewhere in the dark, the distant *clank* of armored boots echoed.
"Dain." Lucas's chest tightened. "We can't just leave without him"
Nyra whirled, her eyes flashing in the dim light. "We can and we will," she hissed. "Unless you'd rather join him?"
A metallic screech echoed from behind, closer now. Too close.
Vex cursed and yanked two vials from his belt. One he tossed to Nyra; the other, he downed in a single gulp. The effect was immediate. His body warped, bones cracking as fur sprouted along his arms. His teeth elongated into fangs, his fingers curling into claws. Within seconds, a massive, dark silver-furred wolf stood where Vex had been, lips peeled back in a snarl.
Nyra didn't hesitate. She drank her potion in one swift motion—and then shifted. Her form melted, ears elongating, fur bursting across her skin in a ripple of midnight blue. The same monstrous rabbit from the field now stood before Lucas, taller than a warhorse, muscles coiled beneath thick fur.
She jerked her head toward her back, signalling to Lucas to hop on.
Lucas didn't argue. He scrambled onto her, fingers tangling in her fur as she launched forward, Vex sprinting ahead. The tunnels blurred around them, the distant shouts of the guards fading slightly but not enough.
They burst out of a drainage pipe into the lower city, the sudden glare of the sun making Lucas flinch. Around them, the slums sprawled—rickety wooden buildings stacked like kindling, market stalls overturned in their mad dash. People screamed and scattered as Nyra and Vex plowed through, knocking aside carts and barrels.
Behind them, the first of the Champion's men emerged from the sewers, their armor gleaming under the sun.
"There!" one roared, leveling a crossbow.
Nyra dodged on instinct, the bolt whistling past Lucas's ear. It didn't slow her down.
They wove through the streets, leaping over carts, skidding around corners. Lucas clung to her, the stone in his pocket growing colder with every second.
"Left!" he shouted as another group of armored enforcers rounded the corner ahead.
Nyra pivoted, her powerful hind legs propelling them onto a low rooftop. Tiles shattered under her weight as she bounded across the uneven surface, Vex keeping pace beside them. Below, the guards regrouped, shouting orders.
Then—a dead end.
The next building was too far. Nyra skidded to a halt at the roof's edge, ears swiveling as the guards closed in from behind.
Vex growled, turning to face them. His fur bristled, lips curled back.
Nyra's muscles tensed beneath Lucas.
But before she could do anything. A figure stepped onto the opposite rooftop.
The Champion from the Warren.
Dain hung limp in his grip, blood dripping from his shattered hands.
One moment he was across the gap, the next, he was there, his free hand swinging in a brutal arc. Nyra barely dodged, but the force of the blow still sent her staggering. Lucas lost his grip, tumbling onto the roof as she crashed into a chimney.
Vex lunged, his fangs sinking into the Champion's arm. The man didn't even flinch. Instead, he grabbed Vex by the scruff and hurled him into the opposite wall. Bones cracked. Vex collapsed, his form shimmering—then shrinking back into a bloodied, injured man.
Nyra struggled to rise, her sides heaving. The Champion turned toward her, Dain still dangling from his grip like a broken doll.
Lucas's vision went red and he felt like his chest erupted.
Black fire wreathed his arms, not just as flames, but as whips, lashing out with a will of their own. They struck the nearest guard first, slicing through armor like parchment. Men screamed as the fire coiled around limbs, burning but not consuming—just hurting.
The lead Champion dropped Dain.
He raised his blade and swung.
A crescent of force ripped through the air, straight for Lucas.
Vex, barely conscious, threw himself in its path. His body took the brunt of the blow, the impact sending him skidding across the roof. Blood pooled beneath him.
Nyra screamed, a sound more human than beast, and charged. Her claws raked across the Champion's chest—but he backhanded her mid-leap. She hit the ground hard, her form flickering between rabbit and girl.
Then the Champion dropped Dain, turned to Lucas and charged.
The last thing Lucas saw before impact—
The stone in his pocket bursting out and the world burning white.