Kade woke to the sound of water dripping.
His eyes opened slowly, vision adjusting to the dim bioluminescent glow of the cavern. He was still lying on cold stone, still in Hollowbreak Passage, still alone.
But the pain was gone.
He sat up carefully, testing his body. His ribs—which had been fractured, screaming agony with every breath—felt solid. Whole. His shoulder wound had sealed completely, leaving only a faint pink scar that was already fading.
[EMERGENCY HEALING: COMPLETE]
[TISSUE REGENERATION: 100%
[SKELETAL RECONSTRUCTION: 100%]
[ESTIMATED RECOVERY TIME: 2 HOURS, 43 MINUTES]
[ACTUAL RECOVERY TIME: 2 HOURS, 41 MINUTES]
Kade touched his shoulder where the hound's mandibles had torn through skin and muscle. Nothing. Not even tenderness.
"You healed me." His voice echoed slightly in the empty cavern.
[CORRECT]
[PRIME SYSTEM INCLUDES ACCELERATED REGENERATION PROTOCOLS]
[FUNCTION ACTIVATES AUTOMATICALLY WHEN INJURIES EXCEED CRITICAL THRESHOLD]
"Why didn't you mention this before?"
[YOU DID NOT ASK]
[ADDITIONALLY: REVEALING ALL CAPABILITIES SIMULTANEOUSLY WOULD HAVE BEEN COUNTERPRODUCTIVE]
[HUMANS PROCESS INFORMATION MORE EFFECTIVELY WHEN INTRODUCED GRADUALLY]
Kade stood, rolling his shoulders, testing his range of motion. Everything worked perfectly. Better than before, actually—like the healing process had optimized his body slightly.
"What else haven't you told me?"
[CURRENT REVEALED FUNCTIONS: 7 OF 23]
[REMAINING FUNCTIONS LOCKED BEHIND INTEGRATION STAGES OR AUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS]
Twenty-three functions. He'd seen maybe a third of what this system could do.
Kade looked around the cavern. The pit where he'd buried the Alpha was still there—a crater filled with rubble. No other hounds had appeared during his unconscious recovery. The dungeon seemed... empty now. Cleared.
[DUNGEON STATUS: BOSS DEFEATED]
[REMAINING HOSTILE ENTITIES: 0]
[ESSENCE YIELD COMPLETE]
[RECOMMENDATION: EXIT AND RESET FOR ADDITIONAL RUNS]
Additional runs. Right. He'd cleared maybe half the dungeon in one chaotic fight, gained 139 essence out of 1,000 needed. To reach Stage 2, he'd need to do this at least seven more times.
Or find higher-tier dungeons with better essence yields.
"Show me progression details."
[CURRENT STATUS: KADE VEYRON]
[INTEGRATION: STAGE 1]
[ESSENCE: 139/1,000]
[FORCE CASCADE MASTERY: 28%]
[PHYSICAL CONDITION: OPTIMAL]
[TIME REMAINING ON MEDICAL DEFERRAL: 57 HOURS, 12 MINUTES]
Fifty-seven hours. Just over two days before someone would come looking.
Kade started walking toward the cavern exit, retracing his path through the tunnels. His mind was already working through logistics.
He couldn't just repeatedly clear Hollowbreak. Too visible. Even if the dungeon was low-priority, someone would notice if an F-Rank hunter kept soloing it. The guards at the entrance didn't care now because they assumed he was part of a group. But if he showed up alone multiple times in one day...
He needed a different approach.
[QUERY DETECTED: OPTIMAL ESSENCE ACQUISITION STRATEGY]
[ANALYZING AVAILABLE OPTIONS...]
[RECOMMENDATION 1: MULTIPLE DUNGEON LOCATIONS]
[OUTER BANK DISTRICT CONTAINS 4 F-RANK DUNGEONS WITHIN 3-HOUR TRAVEL RADIUS]
[ROTATING BETWEEN LOCATIONS REDUCES DETECTION PROBABILITY]
[RECOMMENDATION 2: NIGHTTIME OPERATIONS]
[F-RANK DUNGEONS RECEIVE MINIMAL OVERSIGHT DURING OFF-PEAK HOURS]
[SECURITY PRESENCE REDUCED BY 60% BETWEEN 22:00-06:00]
[RECOMMENDATION 3: ACQUIRE BASIC DISGUISE ELEMENTS]
[SIMPLE MODIFICATIONS TO APPEARANCE SUFFICIENT TO AVOID PATTERN RECOGNITION]
Kade processed this as he climbed back through the tunnels. Multiple dungeons. Night runs. Basic disguise. It made sense.
He emerged into the main tunnel where he'd first entered. Ahead, the blue-white glow of the Rift exit pulsed gently.
"What about essence yield? Hollowbreak gave me 139 for a full clear. How does that compare to other F-Rank zones?"
[HOLLOWBREAK PASSAGE ESSENCE YIELD: ABOVE AVERAGE]
[PRESENCE OF E-RANK BOSS INCREASES TOTAL OUTPUT BY 40%]
[COMPARABLE F-RANK DUNGEONS IN AREA:]
[SHADOWFEN RUINS: 95-120 ESSENCE PER CLEAR]
[BROKEN SPIRE: 80-110 ESSENCE PER CLEAR]
[UNDERMARCH WARREN: 105-135 ESSENCE PER CLEAR]
[RECOMMENDED PRIORITY: HOLLOWBREAK PASSAGE, UNDERMARCH WARREN]
So Hollowbreak was the most efficient, with Undermarch close behind. Both had E-Rank bosses that boosted essence drops.
Kade stepped through the Rift exit.
***
Reality twisted, and he stumbled back into the forest outside the fence. Late afternoon sunlight filtered through the trees—he'd been in the dungeon for nearly four hours.
His body felt good. Energized, even. The healing process had done more than just repair damage—it had left him feeling better than before he'd been injured.
[NOTE: REGENERATION PROTOCOLS INCLUDE MINOR OPTIMIZATION]
[EACH HEALING CYCLE IMPROVES BASELINE PHYSIOLOGY BY 0.1-0.3%]
[CUMULATIVE EFFECT OVER TIME: SIGNIFICANT]
"So getting injured and healing makes me stronger?"
[SIMPLIFIED BUT ACCURATE]
[CAUTION: DO NOT DELIBERATELY SEEK INJURY]
[OPTIMIZATION GAINS DO NOT JUSTIFY COMBAT RISK]
Kade filed that information away. He wasn't stupid enough to hurt himself on purpose, but knowing that healing had benefits beyond just survival was useful.
He approached the fence from the inside. This time he didn't need a running start—just enhanced Agility applied efficiently. He jumped, cleared the razor wire easily, and landed in a controlled roll on the other side.
Getting better at this.
The walk back to the transit station gave him time to think. He needed supplies. Basic disguise elements—the system had suggested it, and it made sense. A different jacket, maybe a hat, something to break up his silhouette without being obvious.
He also needed food. The healing had burned through energy, and his stomach was starting to remind him he hadn't eaten since yesterday.
And he needed information. Specifically, he needed to know the security patterns at the other dungeons, their peak hours, the guard rotations.
[RECOMMENDATION: UTILIZE PUBLIC NETWORK RESOURCES]
[DUNGEON SECURITY SCHEDULES ARE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE]
[MILITARY TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE REQUIRES POSTING OF PATROL PATTERNS]
[ACCESS VIA STANDARD TERMINAL]
Right. Of course it was public information. The military wanted civilians to know when dungeons were being monitored so they'd stay away. Transparency to prevent accidents.
Which meant Kade could just... look up when security was lightest.
The transit tube ride back into the city was uneventful. Kade kept his head down, avoided eye contact, blended into the afternoon crowd of workers heading home.
He got off three stops early and walked the rest of the way to the lower district, taking a deliberately circuitous route. Probably unnecessary—no one was following him—but paranoia felt appropriate given the circumstances.
***
His apartment looked exactly as he'd left it. Small. Cramped. Depressing.
But it was his.
Kade pulled out his terminal—a cheap handheld screen that could access the public network—and started searching.
Dungeon security schedules. Check.
Undermarch Warren had minimal patrols between midnight and 04:00. Only two guards at the entrance, automated sensors on the fence perimeter.
Shadowfen Ruins was similar but with slightly heavier coverage—three guards, more frequent sensor sweeps.
Broken Spire had the lightest security but also the lowest essence yield. Not worth the tradeoff.
Kade cross-referenced this with transit schedules. Undermarch was accessible via night transit—service ran until 02:00, resumed at 05:00. Tight window, but doable.
He could hit Undermarch tonight, be back before dawn, sleep during the day, repeat tomorrow night with a different dungeon.
Rotate locations. Vary timing. Stay unpredictable.
[STRATEGY ASSESSMENT: SOUND]
[PROBABILITY OF DETECTION OVER 48-HOUR PERIOD: 8%]
[PROBABILITY OF SUCCESSFUL ESSENCE ACQUISITION: 76%]
Eight percent detection risk. Kade could live with that.
He checked his funds. The government stipend for orphaned minors wasn't much, but he'd been saving obsessively for two years. Enough for basic supplies and transit fare.
Kade grabbed his jacket and headed back out.
***
The market district was crowded even in late afternoon. Street vendors selling everything from synthetic food to black-market ability enhancers operated out of cramped stalls.
Kade found what he needed in a secondhand clothing shop: a dark grey jacket, slightly oversized. Different silhouette from his usual worn synthetic. A simple black cap that covered his hair. Cheap sunglasses that he'd only wear at night to hide his eyes from cameras.
Total cost: 40 credits. Less than he'd expected.
He also grabbed compressed nutrient bars—tasteless but efficient—and a water canister. Another 15 credits.
On his way back, he passed a public terminal and paused.
[QUERY?]
"Can you access the military database? Find out if anyone's been flagged for unusual dungeon activity?"
[NEGATIVE]
[CURRENT NETWORK INTEGRATION: BASIC ONLY]
[MILITARY DATABASE ACCESS REQUIRES AUTHORIZATION I DO NOT POSSESS]
[ATTEMPTING UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS WOULD TRIGGER SECURITY ALERTS]
"So no hacking."
[CORRECT]
[RECOMMENDATION: AVOID ACTIONS THAT DRAW MILITARY ATTENTION]
Fair enough.
Kade returned to his apartment as the sun set. The city's Rift-light began to dominate the sky—distant tears in reality pulsing with that familiar blue-white glow.
He ate two nutrient bars, drank half the water, and lay down on his bed.
Sleep didn't come easy. His body felt restless, energized from the healing. His mind kept replaying the fight with the Alpha—the moment its jaws had been inches from his throat, the feeling of force pulses building through amplification, the satisfaction of watching it collapse under tons of rubble.
He'd almost died.
He'd killed an E-Rank boss solo.
Both things were true.
Eventually, exhaustion won. Kade's eyes closed, and sleep took him.
***
He woke to his terminal's alarm at 23:30.
Kade dressed quickly—new jacket, cap pulled low, sunglasses in his pocket. He looked different enough to pass casual inspection.
The night transit was nearly empty. A few shift workers, some late-night travelers, no one who paid attention to a lone teenager in dark clothes.
Undermarch Warren was on the city's eastern edge, built into the ruins of an old industrial complex. The dungeon had formed in the basement levels of a collapsed factory—appropriate, given the name.
Kade arrived at 00:47.
Security was exactly as advertised: two guards at the main gate, both looking bored. Automated sensors along the fence perimeter, but those were designed to detect large groups or obvious ability usage.
One person with enhanced Agility moving quietly? Not a problem.
Kade circled around to the north side where the fence bordered an abandoned lot. Jumped. Cleared the barrier. Landed in darkness.
The dungeon entrance glowed faintly ahead—another vertical slash of blue-white light, smaller than Hollowbreak's but with the same reality-bending quality.
Kade approached, placed his hand on the light, and stepped through.
***
The transition was smoother this time. Maybe he was getting used to it.
Undermarch Warren materialized around him: narrow corridors carved from industrial concrete, rusted pipes running along the ceiling, pools of stagnant water reflecting faint phosphorescent light from wall-mounted fungi.
It smelled like rot and metal.
[DUNGEON DETECTED: UNDERMARCH WARREN]
[CLASSIFICATION: F-RANK]
[PRIMARY INHABITANTS: RUST BEETLES (F-RANK), SLUDGE SPAWN (F-RANK)]
[BOSS ENTITY: CORRODED AMALGAM (E-RANK)]
[ESTIMATED ESSENCE YIELD: 105-135 UNITS]
Kade smiled in the darkness.
"Let's make this quick."
He raised his hands, felt the familiar coil of power in his chest, and pushed.
The hunt began again.