Aiden's feet hit the pavement outside the containment facility before he even realized he was moving.
The city smelled of ozone and scorched stone, the aftermath of last week's Abyss Gate collapse still visible in the fractured streets. Hunter Federation drones hovered in the distance, scanning the perimeter. None dared approach him directly.
The black interface pulsed faintly in his vision.
[Power Output: 0.01% Containment Stable]
Aiden had barely survived yesterday's punishment. The neural feedback still burned faintly along his spine. Yet the system allowed him one thing: movement. With conditions. A test.
"Your first assignment," the director's voice echoed in his mind. It wasn't a voice in the room. It wasn't someone speaking to him directly. It was the system, filtered through the Protocol.
[Objective: Dungeon Containment Low-Rank Extraction]
[Restrictions: Power Output <1%; no direct interference with other Rankers]
Aiden frowned. A dungeon? Alone?
He had barely regained control of himself. Every heartbeat felt like the world was a fragile object, and he, a hammer poised above it.
By the time he reached the designated extraction site, chaos had already started. A low-rank dungeon had spontaneously appeared in an abandoned district. Fires burned along the edges; collapsed buildings created choke points. Civilians were being evacuated under the supervision of S-rank Hunters, their faces pale and fearful.
Aiden stayed back, just inside the perimeter. The system's warning pulsed constantly:
[Power Containment: Critical Maintain Output <0.01%]
Aiden's fingers tingled. Even with the system's restraints, he could feel the dungeon pulling at him, whispering. He didn't understand the language, yet instinct told him it wanted release, wanted chaos.
"Move in, Kurovale," a voice shouted.
It was Hana Moreau, standing just beyond the barrier of the outer perimeter. She didn't hesitate. Not at him. Not at anything. She was calm, collected, the way all S-rank Hunters were trained to appear.
Aiden swallowed, stepping forward. One step at a time.
Inside the dungeon, twisted shadows slithered along the walls. They didn't walk. They flowed, elongated and snapping with sudden bursts of speed. The air hummed with static energy.
The first wave of creatures lunged at the extraction teams. The hunters reacted immediately, cutting them down with perfect precision.
Aiden did nothing. He was a liability. He knew it.
And yet…
One of the shadows shifted unnaturally, drawn by him. It hesitated near a wall, then recoiled. The black interface flared once.
[Anomaly Detection Stimulus Response Initiated]
Aiden's pulse accelerated. He didn't act. He didn't need to.
The shadow shrieked, twisting in on itself, then exploded into a wave of energy that the hunters barely contained with barriers.
Hana looked at him sharply. "Kurovale! Step back!"
He obeyed. Yet every instinct in him screamed. It's calling me.
The system's voice was cold, unyielding:
[DO NOT INTERFERE POWER LIMIT 0.01%]
Aiden's fists clenched. He could feel the tension in the air bending toward him. A single gesture even accidental could obliterate everything. He realized, clearly and painfully, that he was already a weapon beyond comprehension.
And the world treated him like a child.
Minutes later, the dungeon stabilized. The extraction succeeded. Hunters congratulated each other. Civilians were safe. Nothing had been destroyed beyond what was unavoidable.
Hana approached him cautiously. "You… didn't touch anything," she said. Her eyes were neutral. "Good. That was a test."
Aiden looked at her blankly. "A test?"
"Yes. The system monitored your restraint. You almost… lost control."
He shivered. Almost lost control. The thought should have terrified him. It didn't. Instead, it sparked something colder inside a sharp clarity.
"I understand," he said. I can't touch anything… yet.
Hana studied him for a moment, then nodded. "For now, that's enough."
The system pulsed again, slower this time:
[Restraint Acknowledged Containment Stable]
[Power Threshold Remaining: 99.99%]
That night, in his assigned containment room, Aiden lay awake. The city outside was quiet, but his body was restless.
He tried to sleep. He couldn't.
The system's interface hovered silently above him, waiting.
[Observation Active Growth Potential: 0.01%]
He clenched his teeth. That number mocked him. 0.01%. Barely enough to crush a building. Barely enough to exist safely. And yet, the world feared him as if he could tear continents apart.
He remembered the Abyss Gate. The crushed corpses. The collapsed city streets. The smell of blood and ozone and fire. And he knew in every fiber of his being that he wasn't just alive. He had survived because something inside him refused to die.
But survival was only the beginning.
And the price… the price would be more than he could ever imagine.