CHAPTER 35: LEVEL UP

He looked down at his hand. The slight tremor had faded. The mana still tingled in his fingertips, but it wasn’t surging anymore.

It just sat there. Ready.

He flexed his fingers.

’Level 4. Five spell slots. One free. One point-spark away from doing something probably very stupid and mildly impressive.’

He exhaled through his nose.

Senna walked over and dropped into a half-crouch beside him.

Her hair, sweat-matted hung in uneven waves just above her jaw. Her eyes flicked over him once, then away.

"You’re faster than I expected," she said.

Lucen raised a brow. "Is that a compliment or a threat?"

She almost smiled. "Call it a cautious observation."

Lucen didn’t answer.

He turned to the blindfolded knight.

It hadn’t vanished.

Most enemies, drift-born or not, tended to collapse into mana shards or corrupted dust after dying. This one stayed.

Lucen approached slowly.

The blindfold was still in place.

Old cloth. Frayed at the edges. Charred near the center like it had been through a hundred fires and refused to burn properly.

He crouched.

Mira called out, "Lucen, wait—"

He touched the knight’s shoulder.

Nothing happened.

No glyph detonation. No corpse bite. Not even a mana pulse.

Lucen leaned closer. Reached up and tugged the edge of the blindfold loose.

The cloth slipped away with barely a sound.

The knight’s eyes were still closed.

Lucen stared at his face.

It was, young.

Too young.

The kind of face you expected on a student. Not a mini-boss wrapped in cursed steel and haunting guilt.

His brows furrowed.

’This wasn’t a berserker. It was a defender. A guardian node.’

He stood slowly.

Callen’s voice rasped behind him. "Any loot?"

Lucen didn’t turn. "Only if you count existential questions."

Callen groaned. "So no coins. Great."

Mira was on her feet now. She approached the body cautiously, bow still drawn.

Senna stayed where she was.

Lucen nudged the longsword with his foot.

It glowed faintly.

Then dimmed.

’Not a drop item. Probably a tether weapon. Bound to the drift’s logic set. Useless out of bounds.’

Still, he crouched and pressed a finger to the hilt.

His system flickered.

[Glyph Residue Detected – Archive Fragment Unlocked]

[Fragment: "The Gate Does Not Close" – 1 of 3 Found]

Lucen’s head tilted slightly.

’So we’re collecting drift lore now. Cute.’

Senna finally stood and walked over.

She stared at the body, then said softly, "He wasn’t hostile at first."

Lucen nodded. "He was guarding. Only attacked when Mira stepped forward."

Mira blinked. "I didn’t— I just moved."

"That was enough," Lucen said.

He stood fully now, backing away from the knight.

A faint wind moved through the corridor.

Not air.

Just... pressure.

The kind that makes your lungs feel two seconds late and your heartbeat sync weird with your ears.

Senna glanced down the far end of the hallway. It was darker now. Narrower.

Another stairwell.

Of course.

Lucen sighed. "We keep going?"

Senna said, "Unless you want to rest next to that guy."

Mira made a face. "Hard pass."

Lucen cracked his knuckles. His mana was still hovering around 43.

’Good enough to get into trouble. Bad enough that I better not mess up twice.’

He followed Senna down the next hall, fingers twitching.

Behind them, the knight’s blindfold fluttered once on the stone.

Then went still.

—

The corridor narrowed again.

Stone pressed close on both sides, damp with the weight of time and something worse.

Lucen’s hand brushed the wall as they moved. It felt dry at first. Then grainy. Then cold.

Not temperature cold. Grave cold. The kind that didn’t come from missing heat, but missing people.

Mira exhaled behind him, quiet. Her breath fogged in the air.

Senna took point, blade drawn.

Her grip was tighter now. No quips. No look-backs. She moved like she already knew something was waiting.

Callen brought up the rear, slower than before. His shield was scuffed. His shoulder still twitched when he thought no one was looking.

Lucen didn’t comment.

’He’s alive. That’s the bar.’

The hallway sloped slightly downward. Not enough to notice unless you were counting each step. Lucen was. He didn’t like that it felt like they were walking into something’s mouth.

The door appeared without ceremony.

Just a pair of tall slabs of stone, sealed tight with an iron bar across them. No markings. No name. Just a faint vibration in the air, like mana trying not to scream.

Lucen stopped.

Callen muttered, "This is it."

Mira nodded once. "Final drift lock. Boss chamber."

Senna looked over her shoulder. "Everyone ready?"

Lucen glanced at his system.

Mana: 61/61

Spells: [Tension Mark], [Gravitic Snap], [Hold Point], [Unstable Kinetic Point]

Slot 5: Empty

EXP: 37/300

He rolled his neck. His joints cracked softly.

’Good enough.’

"Ready," he said.

Senna pressed one hand to the seal.

It lit under her touch. Lines of crimson ink bled across the doors like veins surfacing under old skin.

The stone shuddered.

Then opened.

The chamber inside was vast.

Cathedral-sized, but wrong.

The ceiling arched too high, held up by twisted pillars that looked like they used to be statues. Some still had faces. Some were just slabs, half-melted by magic or time.

Chains hung like chandeliers.

And at the center—

It waited.

Same black cloak. Same iron scythe, now resting on the ground beside it like it didn’t need it anymore.

But the body was different.

Humanoid. Tall. Perfectly still.

Its head turned before the body moved.

The mask it wore now wasn’t the same bone-white blank from before. This one had depth. Etchings. A crack running straight down the center, still glowing faint white from their last fight.

Two eyes looked out through it.

Not hollow. Not glowing.

Just... watching.

Lucen stopped cold.

’That’s not a construct. That’s someone.’

Callen whispered, "It changed."

Senna didn’t move.

Mira raised her bow. "I don’t think it’s bound anymore."

The Reaper stepped forward.

Lucen’s system pinged.

[Boss Signature Recognized – Phase Shift Registered]

[Designation: Echo of the Harvester]

[Class: Relic-Worn | Hybrid Intelligence]

[Warning: Drift anchor unstable. Core density rising.]

Lucen blinked.

’Hybrid Intelligence? That’s not in any guidebook. That’s not supposed to exist at Tier One.’

The Reaper, Echo, whatever it was lifted its hand. Not the one near the scythe. The empty one.

And it pointed.

Directly at Lucen.

The mask tilted.

Almost like it was smiling.

Lucen’s pulse kicked sideways.

’Why me?’

Then the scythe lifted from the floor without being touched and flew to the Reaper’s side.

Lucen didn’t wait.

"Move!" he shouted.

The scythe launched.

A clean arc of raw pressure split the room as it passed. Stone pillars behind them cracked like glass.

Callen threw himself left, shield up. Mira rolled low and fired on instinct.

Senna dashed straight forward.

Lucen dropped to one knee.

[Gravitic Snap – Active]

The spell hit midair between the scythe’s path and Mira’s retreat.

The pulse snapped the air inward.

The scythe’s swing veered by a hair. Enough. Just enough.

It struck the floor and carved a trench three meters long, glowing faint red.

Lucen stood fast.

’That thing wasn’t just stronger. It predicted our spacing.’

Senna hit the boss mid-charge.

Her blade collided with the Reaper’s side—

And stopped.

No sound. No sparks.

Just the echo of a block.

The Reaper had caught it with its bare hand.

Lucen saw her eyes widen.

The Reaper kicked her.

She flew.

Hard.

Callen caught her mid-fall with a shoulder roll that looked more accidental than heroic. They both hit the ground.

Lucen gritted his teeth.

Then stepped forward.

The Reaper looked at him again.

Not at his hands. Not at his system.

Just him.

Like it remembered.

Lucen whispered, "You’re not just a ghost."

The Reaper raised its hand again.

No mana charge. No sigil.

But Lucen felt the pull.

’Area effect. Incoming.’

He slammed two glyphs at once.

[Hold Point] center.

[Tension Mark] right.

The room lit blue for a half-second.

Then everything exploded outward.

Lucen flew back.

The system flared red.

[Stability Breach – Drift Core Fluctuation]

[Time Anchor Warning: Imminent Instability]

Lucen hit the ground and rolled.

Dirt in his mouth.

Stone in his ribs.

Mira screamed.

Callen was dragging Senna behind a broken column.

Lucen pushed up to his feet.

Mana: 38/61

He looked at the Reaper.

It hadn’t moved.

It was still watching.

And then it spoke.

First time.

Voice like wind through an empty crypt.

"Spellcrafter."

Lucen’s blood went cold.

Senna was coughing blood now. Mira was down to two arrows. Callen was half-dead.

Lucen stood.

Slow.

He smiled.

Small. Crooked.

And said, "You talk too much for a corpse."

The Reaper stepped forward.

The real fight had started.