[APARTMENT 4B - 3:17 AM]
Grim tensed, his Awakened form filling the small apartment. The massive scythe blazed with crimson light, ready to strike.
"Move. Back. Master," he growled, stepping between Alex and the intruder.
The Paladin raised her hands slowly, palms open. No visible weapons.
"Easy," she said calmly. "If I wanted to fight, I would have brought reinforcements inside already. I'm here to talk."
"You talked last time," Alex said, his voice tense. "You said twenty-four hours. That deadline's over. Now what? Arrest? Execution?"
"Neither. Yet." The Paladin stood up slowly, moving toward the window where moonlight illuminated her face.
Alex saw her clearly for the first time. Mid-thirties, a scar running down her left cheek, short brown hair, eyes that had seen too much. Her silver-white armor was dull with dust—she'd been waiting here for hours.
"My name is Valeria Kane," she said. "Captain of the Celestial Temple's Third Hunting Squad. And officially, I should arrest you right now for possession of a Sealed Fragment."
"But you won't," Alex said slowly. "Because if you wanted to, you already would have."
Valeria smiled slightly. "Smart. Yes. I won't. Because it turns out I have a better proposal than just taking you to a Temple cell."
She moved to the window, pointing outside. Alex could see shadows in the alley—at least five figures, all in Temple armor.
"My squad is out there," Valeria continued. "Waiting for my signal. If I raise my hand, they come in, arrest you, confiscate your companion for 'examination,' and you spend the next ten years in interrogation."
"That sounds terrible," Alex said dryly.
"It is. I've seen what they do to people in those cells. It's not pleasant." Her eyes hardened. "But if I don't raise my hand, if I tell them this location was a dead end... then you have a very small window to disappear before someone else comes investigating."
"Why help me?" Alex couldn't help asking. "Why risk your career for someone who practices forbidden magic?"
Valeria was silent for a long moment. Then she removed the gauntlet from her left hand.
Her hand was covered in scars—not from battle, but something more intentional. Runes. Cut into her skin, healed but still visible.
"Fifteen years ago," she said quietly, "I summoned something I shouldn't have. A vengeance spirit, bound through blood magic. Forbidden. Dark. Exactly the kind of thing the Temple hunts."
Her eyes met Alex's.
"Someone gave me a chance. An older Paladin who should have arrested me, but instead showed me how to control the power without letting it control me. Taught me that forbidden magic doesn't mean evil—just means dangerous. And dangerous can be necessary."
"What happened to him?" Alex asked. "The Paladin who helped you?"
"He died defending a city from an S-rank dungeon breach. Hero. Martyr. Everyone remembers him as a saint." Valeria smiled bitterly. "No one knows he practiced forbidden rune magic to become strong enough to save all those civilians."
She put her gauntlet back on.
"So here's my proposal: I give you seventy-two hours head start. Enough time to prepare, find allies, get stronger. In exchange, you give me information."
"What kind of information?" Alex was suspicious.
"The Reaper Fragments. Your companion is one of the seven. I need to know: Where are the others? What happens if someone reunites them all? What exactly is this Reaper?"
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Valeria leaned forward.
"Because here's the thing: the Temple knows about Fragment 1. They know it's awakened. But they don't know where the other six are. And if the Temple can't find them..." Her eyes darkened. "Others will. People much worse than me."
Alex felt the weight of her words. Other people—criminals, cults, enemy nations—would all hunt the remaining Fragments.
"I don't know where they are," he said honestly. "My system hasn't told me. I just know they exist and that eventually I'll need to find them."
"Your system?" Valeria raised an eyebrow. "Interesting phrasing. So you have access to information no one else does."
"Some."
"Then here's the real deal:" Valeria pulled something from her armor—a communication crystal, the kind used for secure, encrypted contact. "Take this. If you learn anything about the other Fragments, you contact me first. Before anyone else. In exchange, I keep the Temple off your back for as long as I can."
"And how long is that?"
"Honestly? Not long." Valeria sighed. "There are factions in the Temple. Some—like me—believe forbidden magic can be controlled, used for good. Others believe it must be eradicated no matter the cost. That second faction is gaining power."
She placed the crystal on the windowsill.
"So use your time wisely. Get stronger. Find allies. And when the Temple finally comes in force..." She looked at Grim. "Make sure you're ready."
She moved toward the door.
"Seventy-two hours," she repeated. "Starting now. Use them well."
She left, closing the door softly behind her.
Alex ran to the window, watching. Valeria exited the building, exchanged brief words with her squad. She shook her head—dead end—and the squad dispersed into the night.
Grim shrank back to Latent form, now at a meter and a half.
"She..." Alex paused. "She actually let us go."
Grim tilted his head. For. Now.
"For now," Alex agreed. He picked up the communication crystal. Small, marble-sized, glowing faintly with blue light. "But this is... this is a line. A direct connection to the Temple. Should I trust this?"
Grim didn't respond—he couldn't in Latent form. But the way his red lights flickered suggested: Your decision. Your risk.
Alex pocketed the crystal.
He checked his phone: 3:47 AM.
Meeting with Maya at 10 AM. That left six hours to sleep.
But first...
He checked the messages again. The one from the Forsaken Circle: "Warehouse 13, midnight."
That was in approximately twenty hours.
"Alright," he said to Grim. "New plan. We sleep now. At 10 AM we meet Maya. Then we have the day to prepare. At midnight, we go to the Forsaken Circle and see what they really want."
He collapsed onto his mattress, so exhausted he barely got his shoes off.
"Wake me if anyone else decides to break in," he murmured.
Grim settled into his watch post, shrinking to 80 centimeters.
As Alex drifted toward sleep, his last thought was:
Seventy-two hours. Three days to prepare for whatever comes next.
Better be enough.
---
[GUILD OFFICE - 10:17 AM]
Alex was late. Of course.
Maya was waiting in the guild's contract office, Jake and Lin flanking her as always. She looked at him as he entered—hair still black from the dye (he hadn't had time to remove it), clothes wrinkled, dark circles under his eyes.
"You look terrible," she said cheerfully.
"Thanks. I had an interesting night." Alex collapsed into a chair. Grim stood behind him, currently a meter tall.
"I'll bet." Maya pushed a stack of papers across the table. "Work contract. One month. My team gets priority on your time for dungeon clearing. You get your standard guild pay plus bonuses. And more importantly..." She pointed at a specific clause. "I handle any 'administrative investigations' that might arise regarding your companion's classification."
Alex read the clause. It was vague but effective—basically, Maya would use her Silver Classification status to shield Alex from bureaucratic scrutiny.
"Why?" he asked again. "Why do all this?"
Maya leaned back in her chair. "Because two years ago, I was where you are now. Iron Classification, struggling to survive, trying to prove I was worth something. Someone gave me a chance. A mentor who believed in me when no one else did."
Her eyes softened slightly.
"He died in a dungeon six months ago. S-rank boss, sacrificed himself so the rest of us could escape. And before he died, he made me promise something: 'If you see talent being wasted, don't ignore it. Give them the chance I gave you.'"
"So this is..." Alex searched for the words.
"Paying it forward, yeah." Maya smiled. "Plus, frankly, having a necromancer on the team opens up interesting tactical options. Jake is tank, Lin is ranged DPS, I'm AOE explosions. You can be support/crowd control with your reanimations. We make a good set."
Alex looked at the contract. It was fair—surprisingly fair, considering Maya had all the leverage.
"And after the month?" he asked.
"After the month, you're free. No strings. Though..." Maya grinned. "I bet we'll still be working together. You have that 'never boring' vibe around you."
She wasn't wrong.
Alex signed the contract.
"Excellent." Maya filed it away. "First mission is tomorrow. C-Rank Dungeon in Sector 5. Nothing crazy, just standard clearing. I'll send you details."
"I'll be there."
As Alex stood to leave, Maya added: "Oh, and Alex? The hair dye is terrible. Either fully commit to the goth look or go back to your natural brown. This in-between makes you look like you're having a crisis."
Alex touched his hair self-consciously. "Noted."
He left the office, Grim following.
Jake called after them: "Hey, I hope your skeleton still eats weird stuff! That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
Alex didn't respond, but Grim seemed... pleased? Hard to tell with a skeleton, but his red lights flickered in what might have been satisfaction.
---
[APARTMENT 4B - 2:34 PM]
Alex spent the afternoon preparing for the midnight meeting.
First, he removed the dye. Thirty minutes of scrubbing left his hair back to its natural brown, though slightly dry and damaged.
Second, he checked his equipment:
[INVENTORY]
· Soul Dominion Necklace (equipped - cursed)
· Rank Concealment Ring (equipped)
· Combat knife
· Four potions (two health, two mana)
· 4,250 crowns (all his liquid money)
· Temple communication crystal (hidden in secret pocket)
· Shadow Step (skill always available)
[STATUS]
· Level: 18
· HP: 760/760
· MP: 390/390
· Vitality: 50/50 (new stat from necklace)
· Souls: 107.7/1000
Third, he practiced with the necklace.
He went down to a back alley where no one would see him, found three dead rats, and reanimated them.
[Reanimate x3]
[MP: 375/390]
The three rat skeletons rose. But this time, something was different.
"Form a line," Alex ordered.
The skeletons obeyed instantly, moving into perfect formation.
"Now patrol in a circle. Stop if you see movement."
The skeletons began patrolling, their movements coordinated and precise.
Enhanced control, Alex realized. They don't just follow simple orders—they understand complex commands.
"Attack that can." He pointed at a trash can five meters away.
The three skeletons charged, biting and clawing at the can until it fell over.
[Undead servants: +10% damage]
"Perfect," Alex murmured. With this, he could create real tactics. Flanking. Coordinated distraction. Pincer movements.
The necklace was definitely cursed, but the benefits were worth the risks.
For now.
---
[HARBOR DISTRICT - WAREHOUSE 13 - 11:52 PM]
Alex arrived early this time.
Warehouse 13 was similar to number 34—abandoned in appearance, but with palpable energy inside. Unlike the auction, however, there were no visible guards at the entrances.
Just a door, slightly ajar.
Invitation. Or trap.
Possibly both.
"Intermediate Form," Alex whispered to Grim. "I need you to be able to speak if things get weird."
[Transformation: Latent → Intermediate]
[MP: 330/390]
Grim grew to a meter and a half, armor solidifying, scythe becoming real steel. The red lights in his sockets blazed brighter.
"Ready... master. I... protect."
They entered.
