Keizeix and Sia broke away from one another at the edge of the battlefield without another word.
Their soldiers hurried after them.
Neither prince nor princess looked back.
Keizeix could practically feel Sia's determination burning behind him.
"Seven," he muttered.
One of his guards glanced toward him.
"My prince?"
"Nothing."
He lowered himself and accelerated.
Yesterday he had won by one kill.
Today he wanted enough distance between them that Sia couldn't dismiss it as luck.
The human defensive lines were already waiting.
Keizeix saw shields lock together.
Mages raised staffs behind them.
Archers drew bows.
"Better."
His shadow stretched beneath him.
"At least they're learning."
The first volley came.
Arrows darkened the sky.
Keizeix vanished.
His body collapsed into black mist and disappeared into the shadow beneath a fallen tree.
The arrows slammed harmlessly into the ground.
A heartbeat later Keizeix erupted from beneath the shadow of the human front line.
The soldiers screamed.
His front legs punched through two knights before either could turn.
Silk exploded from his abdomen and spread outward in thick cords, wrapping shields and arms together.
Keizeix pulled.
The formation collapsed.
"NOW!"
His soldiers charged.
Keizeix laughed and dove deeper into the line.
He no longer used Shadow Mist recklessly.
Every movement had purpose.
A short transition to avoid a strike.
A longer jump to reach mages.
A momentary transformation into shadow to allow blades to pass harmlessly through him.
Then back into flesh.
Kill.
Move.
Kill again.
The system chimed constantly.
**Kill registered.**
**Growth accumulated.**
**Kill registered.**
**Growth accumulated.**
His Strength rose.
His Intelligence climbed.
Magic increased as he repeatedly manipulated Shadow Mist.
His Health capacity improved from the punishment his body endured even when attacks failed to seriously injure him.
Hours passed.
Then, in the middle of tearing through a group of armored cavalrymen, Keizeix felt something shift inside him.
It was not like the previous breakthrough.
This time his entire body suddenly became heavy.
He stumbled.
His core throbbed.
A deep pressure formed inside his chest.
Keizeix immediately jumped backward.
"Guard me!"
His soldiers surrounded him.
Keizeix opened the system.
**Strength: 10,003 / 10,000**
The number flashed.
Then everything froze.
**Master threshold achieved.**
**Rank advancement in progress.**
Keizeix's breath caught.
Inside him, Divinity surged toward his core.
He couldn't see the crystal directly, but he felt it respond.
The power he'd gathered through battle compressed inward.
His muscles trembled.
His legs dug trenches into the earth.
Then—
**Advancement successful.**
**Rank: Master**
**Statistical capacity expanded.**
The numbers changed.
**Strength: 10,003 / 100,000**
**Health: 11,284 / 100,000**
**Magic: 10,741 / 100,000**
**Intelligence: 12,109 / 100,000**
**Mana: 10,741 / 10,741**
Keizeix stared.
"One hundred thousand."
The next threshold was enormous.
Then another notification appeared.
**Master Rank Reward unlocked.**
**Personal Storage Space acquired.**
Keizeix blinked.
"Storage?"
He focused on the words.
The world seemed to fold.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Suddenly Keizeix became aware of an empty space connected to him.
It felt enormous compared to his body.
Dark.
Still.
Waiting.
He instinctively understood that he could place objects inside and retrieve them by thought.
Keizeix almost laughed.
"A spatial inventory."
One guard looked back.
"My prince?"
"Nothing."
Again.
Keizeix dismissed the system.
He looked toward the battlefield.
"Where were we?"
Then he charged.
---
By evening, the humans had learned to fear shadows.
Torches were placed everywhere.
Mages summoned floating lights.
Soldiers began avoiding large patches of darkness entirely.
Keizeix found it amusing.
They had adapted to Shadow Mist.
So he stopped relying on it.
Instead, he returned to silk traps, physical attacks, and coordinated strikes with his soldiers.
The enemy had prepared for one weapon.
Keizeix simply used another.
By sunset, entire sections of the battlefield had collapsed.
When the retreat order finally arrived, Keizeix didn't argue.
Much.
"Five minutes."
"No, my prince."
"Three."
"No."
"One?"
"Camp."
Keizeix clicked his fangs irritably.
"Fine."
---
When he reached his tent, Shirespoke was waiting.
But he was not alone.
Behind him stood twenty soldiers.
Then another twenty.
And another.
Keizeix looked beyond them.
His eyes widened.
Piles of crystals and stones had been stacked beneath guarded canvas coverings.
Thousands.
No.
Tens of thousands.
Some were dull.
Some glowed faintly.
Some were stained with blood.
Keizeix slowly approached.
"What... is all this?"
Shirespoke smiled.
"Your spoils."
Keizeix looked at him.
"My what?"
"Your kills."
Shirespoke gestured toward the mountains of stones.
"The cores retrieved from the humans you personally slaughtered during the previous battles."
Keizeix stared.
He had known all beings possessed cores.
He simply hadn't considered what happened after thousands of people died around him.
Shirespoke walked beside one pile.
"By law, the core of a slain enemy belongs primarily to the one responsible for the kill unless military command claims a required portion for strategic necessity."
He picked one up.
"The army has already separated what was owed to the Queen's war effort."
Then he tossed the small crystal toward Keizeix.
Keizeix caught it awkwardly between his front limbs.
"The rest belong to you."
Keizeix looked back at the piles.
A thought entered his mind.
Storage.
He concentrated.
The crystal vanished.
Shirespoke froze.
Keizeix froze.
Neither spoke.
Finally Shirespoke narrowed his eyes.
"What did you just do?"
Keizeix immediately lied.
"I don't know."
Shirespoke stared at him.
Keizeix stared back.
"...Interesting."
Keizeix could practically hear the suspicion.
Shirespoke eventually sighed.
"Whatever ability you have awakened, keep it hidden unless needed. Strange abilities attract attention."
That surprised Keizeix.
His mentor wasn't demanding an explanation.
"Yes, Mentor."
Shirespoke turned away.
"I will have the cores delivered into your tent."
"Thank you."
Keizeix waited until everyone left.
Then he spent nearly an hour touching piles of cores and silently transferring them into his storage.
Thousands vanished.
Then thousands more.
Eventually the tent was empty.
Keizeix opened his storage mentally.
Mountains of cores rested inside.
He grinned.
"I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with all of these."
But something told him they would become useful.
---
Dinner that evening felt less like a meal and more like a military confrontation.
Sia sat opposite Keizeix.
Keizeix sat opposite Sia.
Marike and Shirespoke sat between them.
Nobody smiled.
The report guard entered.
Keizeix straightened.
Sia's legs tapped once.
The guard bowed.
"Today's final battlefield count has been confirmed."
He opened the first scroll.
"Princess Sia Silversilk: twenty-two thousand four hundred and eighteen confirmed kills."
Sia's posture rose.
Keizeix's eyes narrowed.
The guard opened the second.
"Prince Keizeix Silversilk: twenty-two thousand four hundred and twenty-five."
Silence.
Keizeix counted mentally.
Then looked at Sia.
"Seven."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Do not."
"Seven."
"I heard him."
"Seven whole kills."
Sia's feet struck the floor.
"You won by seven!"
"Which is six more than yesterday."
"You are unbearable."
"I believe that makes my victory seven times more impressive."
"THAT IS NOT HOW THAT WORKS!"
Shirespoke laughed.
Marike rubbed her temples.
Then Marike looked toward both of them.
"You two do understand how absurd this is, correct?"
Keizeix tilted his head.
Sia stopped glaring.
Marike gestured between them.
"You are six months old."
Neither answered.
"You have been fighting for only a few days."
Shirespoke's expression became more serious.
"And both of you are already advancing at a rate that would shame trained soldiers."
Marike nodded.
"For perspective, I am an **Intermediate Heroic Being**."
Keizeix looked at her with renewed interest.
Marike continued.
"I have lived, trained, killed, absorbed power, and refined my core for years to reach that point."
Shirespoke folded his arms.
"And I am a **Master Heroic Being**."
Keizeix's eyes widened slightly.
He had always known Shirespoke was strong.
He hadn't known exactly where he stood.
Shirespoke looked between Keizeix and Sia.
"Yet watching the two of you..."
He shook his head.
"At this rate, Heroic level may not be as distant as it should be."
Marike sighed.
"That is what makes you both monstrous."
Sia lifted her head proudly.
Keizeix did the same.
Marike pointed at them.
"That was not entirely a compliment."
Neither lowered their heads.
Shirespoke laughed.
"No. Let them be proud. Pride becomes dangerous only when unsupported."
He looked directly at Keizeix.
"Just remember that the gap between Master and Heroic Tier Breaker is not something enthusiasm alone can erase."
Keizeix nodded.
Inside, however, he was already thinking about his new 100,000 limit.
He had work to do.
---
That night Keizeix lay beneath his blankets staring at the System.
He ignored his statistics.
Instead he opened the communication network.
Messages flooded past again.
Trading.
Arguments.
Requests for help.
Warnings.
Boasting.
Keizeix finally focused on the designation prompt.
**Select public System designation.**
He hesitated.
Then thought:
**Keizeix Silversilk.**
**Designation accepted.**
For the first time, he entered the network properly.
New options appeared.
**Communication**
**Private Messages**
**Trade**
**Marketplace**
**Groups**
**Contracts**
Keizeix's eyes widened.
"Oh."
He selected Marketplace.
Hundreds of listings appeared.
Weapons.
Potions.
Monster materials.
Books.
Cores.
Food.
Slaves.
Magical contracts.
Things Keizeix didn't even understand.
Some prices were listed in cores which seemed to be the systems currency.
Others demanded barter.
Keizeix scrolled.
Then stopped.
A weapon filled the center of his vision.
A sword.
Its blade appeared to have been carved from a single enormous piece of blackened bone.
The edges were pale gray.
Thin grooves ran through its surface like veins, glowing with a faint green-white light.
The guard was shaped from interlocking vertebrae, while the grip had been wrapped in dark leather.
It looked savage.
Ancient.
Beautiful.
Keizeix stared.
"I can't even use a sword yet."
He continued staring.
"...I still want it."
He opened the listing.
**Gravefang Bone Sword**
**Forged from the condensed spine-bone of a Lesser Death Wyrm.**
**Seller accepts barter.**
**Preferred: living-element materials, unusual cores, rare metals, useful magical resources.**
Keizeix's attention immediately went to one word.
*Cores.*
He mentally glanced toward his storage.
Thousands.
"Well."
His excitement faded slightly when he noticed the seller.
**Seller: Estros**
No rank was displayed.
No species.
Only the name.
Keizeix hovered over the message option.
He remembered his own thought earlier.
Humanity had good people.
And monsters.
This platform probably had worse.
He shouldn't trust strangers.
He shouldn't announce what he owned.
He shouldn't reveal weakness.
He especially shouldn't sound like an inexperienced child.
Keizeix considered all of this carefully.
Then wrote:
**Keizeix Silversilk:**
*Greetings. I am interested in the Gravefang Bone Sword. You mentioned accepting cores as barter. What quality and quantity would you consider appropriate?*
His finger hovered mentally over Send.
He reread it.
Formal.
Neutral.
Nothing revealing.
Good.
He sent it.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then—
**Private response received.**
Keizeix opened it.
**Estros:**
*Interesting.*
Another message appeared.
**Estros:**
*Your System designation is new.*
Keizeix went still.
Then another.
**Estros:**
*Very new.*
Keizeix stared at the words.
A fourth message appeared.
**Estros:**
*Before we discuss my sword, little Silversilk, tell me something.*
Keizeix narrowed his eyes.
**Estros:**
*Who taught you how to use this platform?*
Keizeix slowly looked around his empty tent.
Nobody had.
He returned his attention to the screen.
And for the first time since entering the platform, Keizeix understood that someone on the other side was already studying him.