The message was a crude scrap of parchment, smelling of cheap ale and desperation, left tucked into the handle of his office door. It was a challenge, drawn in the illiterate scrawl of a dockside thug. A rival merchant, a man named Grisel, was making a move on the West Coast salt routes—the very routes Kaelen had just bled for. Sending guards would be a sign of weakness. This required a personal response.
He didn't wear his lord's finery. Instead, he dressed in black leather, the clothes of a predator. He buckled his father's sword to his hip, its weight a familiar comfort. As he stepped into the night, he pulled up his internal screen, a blue glow only he could see.
[ KAELEN VALERIUS - LEVEL 3 ]
[ ATTRIBUTES: STR: 12 | AGI: 11 | VIT: 13 | MND: 15 | SPI: 18 ]
[ MANA POOL: 180/180 ]
[ SKILLS: MANA ABSORPTION, PRECISION STRIKE, THIEVES' CANT ]
The dock district was a cesspool. The air was a thick stew of salt, fish guts, and rotting wood. Moonlight struggled to pierce the grime-coated canvas awnings that formed a maze over the narrow alleys. He could feel the eyes of beggars and whores on him, but one look at his purposeful stride and the sword on his hip made them melt back into the shadows.
The warehouse was a hulking skeleton of timber and rusted iron, its doors chained shut. A single lantern burned dimly within. Kaelen didn't bother with the front. He found a side door, its lock rusted to nothing, and slipped inside.
The space was cavernous and empty, save for three figures waiting in the center of the lantern light. The leader was a mountain of a man, his face a roadmap of old scars and broken noses. He held a mace that looked like it could shatter stone.
[ TARGET: GOROK ]
[ ATTRIBUTES: STR: 18 | AGI: 8 | VIT: 16 | MND: 6 | SPI: 4 ]
[ SKILL: INTIMIDATE (NOVICE), HEAVY BLUNT (APPRENTICE) ]
"You shouldn't have come, little lord," Gorok rumbled, his voice like stones grinding together. "Lord Grisel sends his regards." The two other thugs, wiry men with knives, fanned out to flank him.
"I'm here to negotiate a termination of your employment," Kaelen replied, his voice calm as he drew his sword. The steel sang as it left the scabbard.
The fight began instantly.
Gorok charged, a bull of a man, his mace held high. He was pure, brute strength. Instead of dodging, Kaelen sidestepped, letting the mace's momentum carry Gorok past him. As the brute lumbered by, Kaelen struck.
[ KAELEN USING SKILL: PRECISION STRIKE ]
[ AGILITY CHECK: 11 vs. GOROK's AGILITY 8... CRITICAL HIT! ]
His blade wasn't a heavy cleaver; it was a scalpel. It bit deep into the back of Gorok's knee, severing tendon. The big man roared, his leg buckling. He crashed to one knee, but he wasn't out. He swung his mace in a wide, desperate arc that forced Kaelen to jump back.
That was the opening the other two thugs needed. They rushed in from both sides, knives gleaming. Kaelen was caught between the crippled bull and the snapping dogs. He couldn't dodge both.
He made a choice. He ignored the man on his left, taking a glancing blow from the knife along his ribs. It stung, a line of fire that his Vitality immediately began to work on. He used the pain, channeling it into his own attack.
[ KAELEN HAS SUFFERED 7 DAMAGE. ]
He slammed his free hand into the face of the thug on his right, a brutal, open-palm strike that shattered the man's nose. The thug screamed, stumbling back. Kaelen didn't give him a second chance. He drove his sword through the man's chest.
Gorok, fueled by rage, used his good leg to push himself up and lunged. Kaelen ripped his blade free and spun, parrying the mace with a shower of sparks. The impact vibrated up his arm, a testament to Gorok's raw power. This wasn't working. He was taking damage, and his Mana was useless if he couldn't touch them.
He needed to change the rules.
He feinted a high thrust at Gorok's face. The brute took the bait, raising his mace to block. Instead of following through, Kaelen dropped and swept Gorok's remaining leg out from under him. The mountain fell.
With Gorok down, the last thug was all that remained. The man, seeing his two companions defeated, hesitated. Fear was in his eyes.
That was when Kaelen decided to experiment. He held up his empty hand, palm out. He focused on the Mana humming within him, the pure energy he had stolen from Seraphina. He didn't know a spell, but he knew pressure. He imagined all that power exploding outwards in a single, invisible wave.
[ SKILL ATTEMPT: UNLEASHED ESSENCE ]
[ MANA COST: 20 ]
[ SPIRIT CHECK: 18 vs. THUG's MND 5... OVERWHELMING SUCCESS. TARGET IS STUNNED FOR 3 SECONDS. ]
The air shimmered. The thug's eyes went wide, and he cried out, dropping his knife to clutch his head. He staggered back, completely disoriented, as if he'd been kicked by a horse.
Kaelen didn't waste the opening. He closed the distance in two strides and ran him through.
He stood in the center of the warehouse, panting. Blood dripped from his sword. His side throbbed where the knife had cut him. He was alive, but he'd been pushed. He looked at the groaning Gorok, pinned to the floor by his ruined leg.
He walked over and knelt, placing his hand on the man's thick, sweaty neck.
[ MANA ABSORPTION IN PROGRESS... ]
[ +1 MANA ABSORBED. ]
It was pathetic. Like trying to drink from a puddle. The man had almost no Spirit to offer. This entire fight had netted him a few scrapes and a single point of mana. It was a waste of time.
He stood up, wiping his blade on Gorok's clothes. He needed a better way to harvest. He needed a target with power. A deep, rich well of Spirit he could drink from.
As he walked out of the warehouse and back into the alley, he thought of the cold, intelligent eyes of the Arch-Mage. He thought of the raw, untapped power she must possess.
A slow, predatory smile spread across his face. He didn't just need to hunt the strong. He needed to hunt the strongest.