Just when Grey was about to ask the system about the events after he fainted, multiple system widows appeared in front of him.
The notifications popped out one after another that have been pending because of him being unconscious.
[Styngian class mutant killed: +89300]
[You’ve defeated an opponent far higher in level than you]
[Additional exp awarded: +102456]
[Congratulations on unlocking your Bloodline origin skill!]
[Skill obtained: Blood burn (SSS)]
"What the hell! how did i obtain this skill? That too a SSS rank!" Grey immediately checked the specifications.
[Blood Burn (SSS) (Partially sealed):
highly volatile, self-sacrificial combat skill that violently accelerates the user’s internal kinetic energy. Upon activation, the user’s heartbeat races to an impossible rate, driving their own Blood through their veins at a torrent’s pace. This supercharged circulation forcefully infuses their natural Aura directly into every cell, tissue, and muscle fiber allowing the user to briefly touch upon the raw strength and speed of realms significantly higher than their own. All basic attacks gain phenomenal kinetic force and elemental heat, while existing skills are amplified in destructive potential and range. Highly taxing on the body. Prolonged use in the lower realms can be life threatening.]
"Why is it partially sealed system?"
[User had activated the skill unconsciously in a life threatening situation]
[User’s realm is still not optimal to receive the backlashes and can result in death]
[For your safety the skill is sealed and will only activate in life threatening situations]
"What realm will i have to reach to lift the seal then?"
[The sixth realm: Celestial Aegis]
"Damn! that will take quite a long time then." Grey finally realized how he was able to kill Flint. This new skill had came as his savior.
Grey’s anticipation regarding the skill rose even further. Achieving a power up upto two realms high was a broken feature.
But since it was sealed, he could only wait till he reaches the sixth realm.
"You alright Grey?" Blaze asked seeing him staring blanky, lost in thought.
"Huh? Ah! Yah! Its nothing. I’m alright. Just feeling a bit drowsy."
"Oh! We’re sorry. You’ve just woken up and we are troubling you when you’ve not healed fully." Blaze said, his face a mix of guilt and worry.
"You take rest. We’ll come back later." Blaze said with a warm smile.
"Take care Grey."
"Sleep well Grey. i hope you see me in your dreams." Lenore winked with a playful smile.
"Get well soon." Zenon said with his stoic face.
A wide smile spread on Grey’s face. The genuine care and love was overwhelming his emotions.
Trying hard not to shed tears, he nodded at them as they left the infirmary with smiles, glad at seeing their friend and mentor doing well.
*******
The black market alley was quiet, slick with the perpetual grime of the city’s underbelly.
Fenn’s shop, usually a beacon of flickering, questionable light, was shut tight, the entrance covered and heavily veiled from the outside, cloaked in an unnatural silence.
Inside, the air was thick, charged with power and resentment.
The man who had escaped the academy, Riven, stood rigid, his dark coat torn in places and fresh blood staining his pale skin, a testament to Hamdal’s devastating blow.
Floating silently before him was Fenn. But the shopkeeper was gone. His body was merely a vessel, now inhabited by the overwhelming, malevolent presence of Rahukin.
The entity radiated a cold fury that made the very shadows in the shop tremble. Rahukin, speaking through Fenn’s throat, sounded raspy and furious, his gaze fixed on Riven with cold disappointment.
" I had sent you there to make sure the mission is being taken care of, Riven, not to run away at the first sight of the enemy," the voice boomed, rattling the dusty shelves.
"I—I apologize, Lord Rahukin," Riven stammered, bowing lower. "But he was too strong. It was too much for me to take even a single punch of his."
Rahukin’s head tilted slightly. "Who was it?"
The question was simple, but the furious energy coiled within the voice made the whole shop shake.
"It was the Headmaster, Hamdal Lightweaver." Riven said.
A flicker of surprise, swift and profound, flashed across Rahukin’s face.
" He shouldn’t have been there," Rahukin said, his brows creasing in deep thought.
"He was an unexpected variable that we didn’t consider," Riven explained quickly, a trace of shame in his voice.
"The plan was initiated only when he was not in the academy, but his sudden arrival derailed everything, Lord Rahukin."
Silence descended upon the shop, heavy and suffocating. Riven waited patiently, head lowered, as Rahukin remained in deep contemplation.
" But Flint should have still succeeded," Rahukin finally spoke, his voice dangerously quiet. "How was he defeated? Was it an Elder or a Hero that arrived?"
"I—It was a student from the academy," Riven answered hesitantly.
" Student? It seems that Nash Blackwood had intervened then," Rahukin surmised, referring to one of the most powerful academy figures.
"N-No, Lord Rahukin. It was a first year, from the C-Class. He’s called Grey Silverthorne."
Rahukin’s eyes, burning through Fenn’s sockets, opened wide in disbelief.
The shock was genuine; the idea of a first-year student defeating a warrior of the Stygian class was unthinkable.
"How?" Rahukin asked, the single word delivered with an icy coldness that promised oblivion.
"I don’t know," Riven admitted. "He’s been rising in fame since a few months. He was the one who had intervened previously in the abandoned house within the city, killing one of the soldier beasts hiding inside."
Silence returned, this time charged with intense, murderous contemplation.
After a few agonizing seconds, Rahukin spoke, his voice tight and furious, the words forced through gritted teeth.
"I need every information about him. Keep a close eye, and dispose of him when the opportunity arrives. I don’t want another hero to rise within their ranks."
"I understand, Lord Rahukin." Riven bowed, accepting the command.
"I’m giving you another opportunity, Riven. Bring that girl to me. If you can’t, even death would be a luxury for you then."
The final warning hung in the air, a terrifying promise, before Rahukin’s oppressive presence abruptly vanished from the shop.
Fenn’s consciousness snapped back, and the shopkeeper slowly levitated back down to the ground. He blinked once, shaking off the residual cold of the entity.
"The audience is over. You may leave now," Fenn said, raising a hand to snap his fingers, ready to lift the veils around the shop.
"I’ll need your help, Fenn," Riven cut in, his voice urgent.
Fenn stopped his hand, looking at Riven with a flicker of amusement. "What do you need?"
"I need a new cloth. The special one you make," Riven said.
A wide smirk spread on Fenn’s face, the usual black market greed lighting up his eyes. "You know the price for that, don’t you?"
"I know. I’ll bring the materials, you just have to make it flawless, and fast, because there’s not much time," Riven said, his tone demanding urgency.
"Alright. I’ll make an exception since it’s you."