Aura Breaker [LitRPG Cultivation]

[certher]

I reach pushup eighty and drop flat. Sweat splashes on rough cement. Cedric walks by my bars, the light above him buzzing.

"Hey, Charles. Still want a book? Something to pass the time?" He waves an old paperback.

I sit on my knees. "Pass the time? That is my whole life now. Slide it in, Cedric."

The hatch clanks. The book is Biological Psychology. The pages are yellow and smell like dust, but to me it is fresh air. I breathe in the smell and let the words slow my heart: stress, fear, habits. What once was homework is now survival.

After a few pages my pulse is calm. I hide the book under my bunk and listen. One drip near the showers. The elevator motor above. A soft prayer in B Block. Sound tells me more than sight here.

Feet apart, I start squats. My legs burn and my mind drifts back to Harvard and later to the CIA office in Sacramento. Back then books like this were required. If I could not explain stress by Friday, my badge froze on Monday. I never thought those lessons would keep me sane behind bars.

Five years locked up. I have seen loud men break, quiet men fade, and tough men scream. To stay whole, I keep my mind busy. I replay old cases, rebuild talks, ask new questions. If my brain keeps working, the darkness stays out.

At ten in the morning the doors click open. Yard time. Summer twenty thirty, central California. The sun feels like fire. We march outside, orange uniforms bright on the blacktop. I tilt my head back and drink the light.

Near the fence I sit cross legged. A faint smell of eucalyptus drifts over the walls. Footsteps stop beside me. Damian lowers a flat box, draws a chessboard with pencil, and sets bottle caps and soap chips as pieces.

"Ready to lose your lunch break?"

I laugh. "You have not taken a pawn since spring. Your move." I push a cap forward. Chess is travel for men without tickets.

Damian moves a soap bishop. "Radio says the Valley Siren mailed another card. Four girls gone."

I slide a pawn. "He is getting bolder. Cards mean he feels power. The time between grabs is shorter. He will keep going until someone stops him."

Damian squints at the sky, thinking hard. "You build his profile from a yard bench?"

A smile spreads across my face as I move another pawn. "Help me out. Which night does he strike?"

"Tuesday. Every Tuesday night."

"Good. And what sign does he leave?"

"Cops swear they can't find a single trace, not even a fingerprint."

I push a knight across the carton. "They're hunting the wrong thing. A real sign isn't a fingerprint or a shoe mark. It's a message the killer wants the world to read."

Damian's eyes narrow. "You mean the postcards?"

"Exactly. He needs people to notice. It's the crack in the armor. Serial hunters crave recognition, but there's more to it than that." I move a pawn to support the knight. "The sign is also control. It's ritual. Some of them have OCD traits, compulsive loops they wrap around each kill. The sign is how they claim ownership of the event and replay it in their mind. That repetition keeps the thrill alive. If police want to catch him, they have to treat the sign like a window into his pattern. Not just what he does, but why he has to do it."

Damian studies the board, lips pressed tight, then nudges his rook forward.

I don't rush. I slide my queen and lock the outcome. Checkmate in two.

He leans back with a quiet grunt and nods, as if he expects it.

We clean the board, bottle caps clinking as they drop into the carton. When the buzzer shrieks, we both rise without a word.



We join the line heading to dinner. The hallway smells like bleach and old sweat. Through a tiny window the sky is bright blue. I wish I could feel that air on my face.

I'm thirty‑four and serving life. The math says I'll die in here, but that doesn't scare me. My only regret is simple: I left some of them breathing. If these walls ever fall, I'll spend every day hunting the people who killed my family until the last name is crossed off.



The server slops gray stew onto my tray, adds a lump of rice and a bread square hard as drywall. Calories, nothing more. I turn, scanning for empty space near the back wall.



Reggie steps into my path. Sweat darkens his collar, tattoos curling up his throat like wire. His shoulder hits mine. The tray launches, clanging on tile. Gray stew explodes across the floor and soaks my boots.

"The fuck, man?" I snap, wiping broth off my pants.

Reggie grins, eyes bright with spite. "Thought your family taught you better manners, Harvard. Oh, wait. Forgot they're dead."

The word dead punches open an old door: copper fills my nostrils, that thick, hot-metal stench coating the hallway where I found them.



My vision narrows until there's only his face. The lights, the noise, the cafeteria stink, all of it falls away. Three seconds to dismantle him. Left elbow to the nose. That breaks sight and shatters orientation. Most men don't fight well when they can't see. Open palm to the throat. Not a showy hit, but a mean one. It stuns the vagus nerve, collapses the larynx, sends the brain into panic mode. The body thinks it's dying. Third move, right fist into the orbital bone. Hard enough to crack the socket and shut one eye for good. Knee to the inner thigh, just above the knee joint. Deep tissue damage, dead leg, his stance drops. Final strike, hammer fist to the temple. Disrupts balance, concussive if clean. That's the structure. Now I move.

Elbow first. I feel the bridge fold like wet cardboard. Blood jets. His hands go up too slow. My palm hits his throat and he gags. Not just from shock, but because his windpipe spasms shut. He chokes. Instinct makes him stumble, right where I want him. I twist and put my whole shoulder behind the punch. His cheek caves. The eye swells instantly. He starts to fall. I grab his collar and ride him down, pin his chest with my knee. Then I start hammering. Knuckles to bone, again and again, until his face changes shape.

Blood runs down my arm. My wrist throbs. I don't stop.

He makes a noise. Wet. Half a gurgle. It doesn't matter. I keep hitting until nothing moves beneath me.

The first baton hits my ribs. It feels like someone swung a steel bat into my side and lit a fire under the bone. The second lands across my spine. My knees buckle. Everything inside me folds up. They drag me across the tiles, arms half-dead, boots grinding into the floor. In a brief twist of my neck I catch the body: blood spreads in a glossy fan, jaw cracked wide, one eye already gone, no twitch left in him. I smile.

"My family is dead, you say? Well, so are you, you stupid fuck."



They throw me in hard. My shoulder hits first, then the door slams behind me. Keys rattle. Cedric's voice follows, somewhere behind the bars. "You know that's it for the books, right? You're off the warden's list." I hear him, but I don't care.

I lie on my back and stare at the wall, breathing slow. My ribs hurt, but nothing feels broken. Just bruises. I stand, pull the blanket off my bunk, and reach under for the book Cedric gave me. I try to read, but the words won't stay. My head keeps drifting back to what happened.

I used to think I had it handled, that I was past it. I'm not. They're still there, under everything. My trigger. Always will be.

A scream tears through the block. I sit up, but before I can move, the wall explodes. Concrete splits open like paper. The ceiling cracks. Dust fills my throat. The floor buckles under me. Everything around me is falling apart at once. I hear metal twist. Pipes burst. Another scream. I get to my feet, but it is already too late. The side of the building gives out. Cold wind hits my face, and through the broken wall, I see the world ripping open.



"What the fuck is this?" I say out loud, stepping toward the opening.

The ground outside is moving like water. Big chunks of land crack off and drop straight down. Whole buildings disappear as if they've never been there. On the far side, forest starts growing where nothing existed moments ago. Trees rise out of dirt that didn't exist five seconds ago. It looks like the world is being torn up and put back together at the same time. I want to focus on the ground, on the chaos, but a screen pops up right in front of my eyes. Bright white, clear letters:

Welcome, candidate. Planet 399D has been selected for System Trial. Sync initializing.

I read only the first line before something slams into the side of my head.

Everything goes black.

 

[certher]

I wake face down on a slab of broken concrete. My head pounds like someone is beating a drum inside my skull. Dust coats my tongue, blood drips from my ear, and every breath scrapes my throat raw. I groan and press my palms against the stone but my arms shake so hard I almost collapse. The world blurs until I count slowly to ten. On the eleventh breath the spinning slows. I push again, haul myself into a sitting position, and blink sweat from my eyes. That is when I notice the bright square floating in front of me.



The square glows as white as a welding flash. In the center simple letters hang, steady and bold: Initialization complete. I read the words out loud. The moment the last syllable leaves my mouth the square fades. Nothing else happens. No sound, no shock, just hot air heavy with moisture. I finally look past the place where the screen hovered. The prison corridor is split open to bright sky. Ferns burst through cracked floor plates, vines coil around twisted bars, and beyond the gap a green jungle stretches in every direction.



I haul myself upright and run a quick check. The floor tilts and bodies lie everywhere. Hunting for any sound of life, I step out of the cell and move along the broken walkway. Five bodies in ten steps. No knife cuts, only flesh ripped wide open. The smell is metal mixed with rot. This was no riot. At the end of the row Cedric sprawls on his back, eyes going dull, chest slashed by four deep grooves as wide as my hand. No person makes wounds like that.



I look at Cedric one last time. He was the only guard who treated us fair, always talking about his wife and two kids. Now he is never going home. I grab his baton and stick it through my belt. Ruined bars and cracked stone surround me, but I spot a hole where the wall broke. I need to get out and see what happened. Something shredded the prison, flashed a weird screen, and called it a Trial. If Earth is part of some game, I have to learn the rules fast.



I crawl through the cracked wall and drop onto warm grass. Each step sinks a little, damp under my feet. I shove vines aside and move clear of the rubble. A bush shivers ahead. A chunky reptile-boar creature waddles out, skin mottled green and black, claws dripping clear slime that eats the grass. A faint box floats above its snout: Swamp Leech Gator - Level 1. The words fade, but the beast keeps staring. I lift Cedric's baton, knees bent, heart thumping. First lesson of this Trial starts now.



The beast springs. I swing the baton across its snout. Metal cracks hide, but the impact numbs my hand. Claws rake my ribs and rip the prison shirt wide. Hot pain spikes through my side. I grunt, stumble, then plant my feet. The creature wheels around, jaws open for another bite. I jab forward to block, but the baton slides off slick teeth. A claw hooks my arm, tearing skin and spattering red across the grass. My grip nearly fails.

Anger steadies me. While it shakes off the first hit, I dart in, jam the baton deep into its eye. Cartilage pops under the thrust. The monster thrashes, head jerking. I keep pressure, shove harder until the tip bursts through soft brain. The body shudders and drops. A thin message blinks in front of me:

[System Notification]

Kill confirmed – Swamp Leech Gator.

Reward: +2 Shards.



I crouch beside the body, still breathing hard, baton loose in my fingers. I reach for one of its claws, but before I touch it, the corpse starts to break apart. Skin, muscle, bone. Everything crumbles into shards of pale light. They hover for half a second, then shoot straight into my chest. I flinch, but there's no pain. Just a tight pressure behind my ribs.

Then I see it.

A thin bar appears on the left side of my vision.

EXP

It starts to fill. Slowly, but steady.

So that's what the Level meant. The System tracks kills. Tracks me.

I stare at it for a few seconds, thinking. If this really works like some kind of MMO, maybe there's more. Maybe I can trigger something else.

"Profile," I say out loud.

Nothing.

I try again. "Status."

A screen pops up floating in front of me.

[System Notification]

Name: Charles Mercer

Level: 1

Class: N/A

Titles: Sealed Case

Shards: 2

Stats:

Vitality: 1.0

Strength: 1.0

Dexterity: 1.0

Luck: 1.0

I stare at the numbers, trying to make sense of them. One point in everything. No class, no skills, no hints. Just a name, a title, and something called Shards. My eyes linger on that last one. Two Shards. That's what I got for killing that thing. Not meat, not hide, not even bones. Just… points. Currency, maybe? Or fuel?

"Inventory," I say, but nothing comes up. "Map?" Still nothing. Whatever this system is, it's not going to hand me answers. Maybe it unlocks more later. Maybe I'm just a bug in its code.

I wipe sweat from my forehead, then wince. My side's still bleeding. The ragged edge of my shirt is soaked and sticky, but I'm out of clean cloth. I sit on a warm rock and breathe slow. The jungle around me clicks and chirps. Everything's alive. The kind of alive that hunts. If that lizard-thing was level one, I don't want to meet level five. Not like this.

I focus back on the screen. "Titles," I say.

The words shift.

[Titles]

Sealed Case – No one knows your full story. Not even the System.

Description: This title marks you as a narrative irregularity. Certain mechanics may behave unpredictably around you.

I stare at the words a second longer. "Narrative irregularity." That's one way to put it.

I'm done sitting.

I head downhill, moving between twisted trees and roots the size of my thighs. This place isn't Earth. Not the one I knew. It's hotter, denser, too green. Half the plants look like they want to grab something.

Ferns open as I pass. Somewhere behind me, something howls.

A flicker appears in the air ahead. White and transparent, like static in midair. A rectangle. Same size as the Status screen, but thinner. I take a slow step toward it.

It pulses.

[System Alert]

Zone Sync in progress.

Biome: Jungle Lowlands

Status: Unstable

Warning: Trial balance fluctuating. Expect abnormal encounters.

The screen snaps away.



I push forward, parting vines with the baton. Every leaf glistens, every root tries to trip me. A twig cracks to my right. I stop, heart ticking loud. Nothing.

I take one more step. Something explodes from the brush, a lizard the size of a terrier with mantis claws clicking. It moves too fast. Before I swing, it hooks my thigh. Fire shoots down to my knee. I curse, swing the baton, catch its ribs, feel bone give.

The thing flips, lands, surges in again. I jam the baton straight into its mouth. Crunch. It shivers, legs kick, then falls still.

[System Notification]

Kill confirmed - Razorback Skitter

Reward: +1 Shard

Blood spills through the rip in my pants. A fresh alert flares.

[System Alert]

Health below 50%.

I tear cloth from my sleeve, knot it above the wound, and pull until the flow slows. Head swims. The dead skitter crumbles into shards of light that dart into me.

A new screen slams into place before I even finish knotting the bandage. White letters cut through the green blur of the jungle.

[System Notification]

Level Up!

Current Level: 2

All core stats increased by 0.5

Unused Attribute Points: 1

Warmth rolls out from my chest the moment the screen fades. It spreads through my arms, into my ribs, and down the length of my hurt leg. The raw fire at the slash quiets to a steady throb. I peel back the bandage in disbelief. Fresh skin pulls tight where the gash was open seconds ago. The cut is still red, but the meat has closed and the bleeding has almost stopped.

I flex my knee. It answers without the stabbing jolt from before. The System didn't just hand me numbers; it poured them straight into muscle and bone. Level two feels like stepping out of a cast you never knew you wore.

"Not bad,"

[System Notification]

Trial code: 399D.

Dungeons to be cleared: 118 467.

World goal: clear all dungeons, unlock the Superdungeon at the Central Island, survive.

The text holds for a single heartbeat, then melts into the jungle glare.

New ink settles in the edge of my sight, small and steady.

Quest

Clear all dungeons

Progress: 0%



Zero. A fat round nothing. I let the number sit in my head for a breath, then shrug it off. One dungeon at a time. Same rule as chess in the yard. Win the pawn first.

"Status."

The panel snaps up. Each stat ticks at one point five and wears a tiny blue plus.

Vitality 1.5 +

Strength 1.5 +

Dexterity 1.5 +

Luck 1.5 +

One free point blinks at the bottom. I think the word Strength. The plus beside it flashes and fades.

[System Update]

Strength raised to 2.5

Heat slides through my shoulders. The baton feels lighter, swing faster. Good.

The jungle falls quiet, like someone pressed mute. Leaves ahead quiver. A trunk splits as something huge shoves through. First I see claws, each the length of my forearm. Then fur plastered with swamp muck. A skull broad as a desk pushes past vines. Text burns above it in angry red.

Bogroot Grizzly

Level 5

It snorts, sucking air, eyes fixed on the blood drying down my leg. Every muscle under that hide flexes like knotted rope.

I roll my grip on the baton, set my feet, and pull one long breath. The beast lowers its head and starts to charge.

 

[G1 Convoy]

So far, this is looking pretty good and I hope you will continue it. TFTC.

 

[certher]

The grizzly barrels forward like a runaway truck. I shuffle right, betting on a clean sidestep, but its paw shoots out faster than thought. A wall of fur and bone clips my chest. The hit lifts me clear off my feet.

I slam into the earth so hard the world blurs white. Mud fills my mouth. Ribs scream.

[System Alert]

Health below 50%.

Mud fills my mouth. I spit it out and drag in a shaky breath. Every inch of me hurts, but the screen swears I'm only halfway gone. That feels like a sick joke.

I scramble up and grab the baton. It's bent in the middle, one more hit from snapping. The grizzly dips its head, ready for another charge. My pulse hammers, yet old habits kick in. Big frame, thick hide, nothing soft except those dark eyes. Armor everywhere else.

Eyes. That's the weak spot.

The grizzly throws its head back and bellows at the sky. The sound shakes leaves loose. A heavy force rolls off the beast like a wave and slams into me. My knees almost buckle.



A red timer blinks over my sight, counting down from ten. My legs tingle, heavy as wet sand. Instead of freaking, I watch the feeling spread, curious the way I used to study a crime scene. Tight chest, shaky breath, tunneled sight.

"The hell is this?" I murmur. I pull one slow breath, hold for four beats, let it out. Box breathing, first thing they drilled into every dark-room session at Langley. Again. The ground steadies. Heart eases. The timer hesitates on six, flickers, then goes blank. Debuff gone.

The grizzly notices too late. It lunges, claws slicing the air where my head was a second earlier. I drop low, slide under the swing, mud spraying behind my boots. For a split instant we're face to face, my world filled with one glossy black eye.

I ram the busted baton forward. Wood splinters, but the tip punches through jelly and sinks deep. The bear rears, roars, shakes its skull side to side. I keep pressure, forcing the stick until the crack of bone echoes like a snapped branch.

The beast staggers, half blind and raging.



Pain blows the thought clean out of my head. The bear's wild swipe clips my right elbow like a sledgehammer. Something deep snaps. White heat rockets up my arm. I yell loud and hit the mud on my back.

The world tilts. All I see is green sky and the grizzly stumbling around with a broken baton sticking out of its eye. It snorts, shakes, trails dark blood, then locks on me with the eye it has left. I push with my good arm, but the bad one hangs useless, every throb shaking my teeth. The monster lowers its head, ready to finish me.

Move. My brain barks the order. Pain answers with static. I clamp it down. Another Langley drill: label the hurt and shelve it. Hurt is information, not a cage.

The bear charges. I roll once, mud sucking at my ribs, just clear enough. Its claws rake soil where my chest lay a heartbeat earlier. It overshoots, skids, blinds itself with a spray of dirt. I kick up, grab a fist-size rock with my left hand, swing it straight into the open eye socket. Wet crunch. The beast jerks back, confused, roaring at shadows.



I bolt forward, slip under its swipe, and slam my shoulder into its chest. The shock rattles my cracked ribs but knocks the beast off balance for one breath. Enough. I jump, clamp my legs around its neck, and catch the baton's splintered end with my good hand.

The grizzly thrashes, smashing trees, but I hang on. Pain screams through my elbow. I shove the wood harder, feel soft tissue give. The bear rears, tries to scrape me off against a trunk. Bark explodes. I stay locked, drive my knee into its jaw, and heave the baton like a lever. Something inside pops. The beast staggers, legs folding.

We crash together. I roll clear, mud smearing my face. The bear heaves once, twice, then slumps, breath guttering out.

White letters bloom in front of me.

[System Notification]

Kill confirmed – Bogroot Grizzly

Reward: +5 Shards

Shards swirl into my chest like sparks in a storm. My elbow hangs loose, useless, but the monster is dead. I kneel in the muck, heart thudding, and stare at the broken baton still jutting from the skull.



[System Notification]

Level Up!

Current Level: 3

All core stats increased by 0.5

Unused Attribute Points: 1

Heat floods my arm like molten iron. The cracked bone shrieks as it drags itself straight, each fragment grinding back into place. Muscles twist, knit, and pull tight. My ribs pop, one after another, sliding back under skin that itches and burns. The rush tunnels my hearing, sweat stings my eyes, and for a few long heartbeats it feels like the System is rebuilding me with a crowbar. Then the pain drains off in a slow wave, leaving my limbs steady, lungs clear, and the elbow solid as new steel.



A fresh screen pops up and spins like a slot machine before stopping dead.

[Random Loot Reward]

Pick one item. Timer: 60 s

1. Iron Short Sword – plain steel, better than a stick.
2. Cracked Lunch Tray – smells like swamp stew, zero combat value.
3. Mysterious Rubber Duck – squeaks when squeezed, does nothing else.

A sword, cafeteria junk, and a bath toy. That is the grand prize? The timer rolls down past fifty five. I rub the back of my neck, mud flaking off in chunks, and watch the rubber duck wiggle in its square. Maybe the System has a sense of humor, maybe I am still concussed. Either way a real blade will keep me breathing longer than cafeteria plastic or a squeak toy.

Forty seconds left. I jab a finger at the Iron Short Sword.

The screen flares white then drops. Cold weight lands in my hand, hilt wrapped in plain leather, blade straight and a little bright at the edge. Balance feels right. I give it a light swing. The steel slices a hanging vine as easy as air.



Leveling, loot drops, shiny pop-ups. The whole setup screams MMO. I used to grind dungeons after homework back in college, racing strangers for purple gear. Same rhythm here, just with mud and blood.

"Inventory," I say out loud. Nothing. "Settings." Still nothing. I try "Menu," "Bag," even "Logout." The jungle only answers with bug chirps. So much for control keys. I remember how games always had one screen that never failed.

"Status."

[System Notification]

Name: Charles Mercer

Level: 3

Class: N/A

Title: Sealed Case

Shards: 8

Stats

Vitality: 2.0

Strength: 3.0

Dexterity: 2.0

Luck: 2.0

Unused Attribute Points: 1



I keep the status window up while I walk. Numbers hover beside my head like annoying fireflies, but I need to stare at them until they make sense.

Vitality two point zero. That has to be health or endurance. The way my ribs pulled back together proves it matters. Strength three point zero. Obvious. More power in every swing. The sword felt light the moment that number climbed. Dexterity two point zero. Maybe balance or reaction time. I could use more of that after nearly eating bear claws. Luck two point zero. That one bugs me. Does it sway the loot wheel, or keep boulders from landing on my face? Hard to measure. One free point blinks at the bottom like candy. I leave it alone. Spend it later when I learn the rules.

I close the screen and test a few easy cuts through hanging vines. The blade slides clean each time. My shoulders roll smoother now, elbow feels solid, no flare of pain. Good.

The ground starts to slope and the air cools. Bird calls fade. A steady rustle replaces them, like water slipping under rock. I angle toward the sound. Thirty paces later the jungle parts around a half fallen staircase of stone blocks. Moss covers the steps, but a path clears where something heavy dragged mud downslope. At the bottom, a broad arch waits, carved into a low ridge. A dark mouth yawns inside it, cool air spilling out.

I stop at the top step and study the doorway. Carvings coil around the frame, shapes that look like snakes with too many legs. The stone pulses faint silver when I lean close.

A white box blinks into life right in front of the arch.

[System Notification]

Dungeon detected

Name: Croc Nest

Recommended Level: 1–3

Objective: Defeat the dungeon boss and collect the core

Enter?

[ Y ] [ N ]



I blow out a slow breath, watching the Y and N buttons glow like traffic lights. Croc Nest. Level one to three. I'm level three, so on paper I barely qualify. But paper rules never lasted long in real life, and this new world already feels like someone slapped reptile skin onto Earth and hit shuffle.

I glance over my shoulder. Jungle presses in on every side, a wall of green noise. Out here it's hunt or be hunted. In there? At least the threat has walls. Maybe loot. Maybe answers. Or maybe a thousand teeth.

"What's a dungeon core, anyway?"



I tap my temple twice, a habit from casework days. List the facts:

• Quest progress is stuck at zero.
• Next dungeon has to be cleared sooner or later.
• Bunny-warm jungle behind me, unknown tunnel ahead.
• I need shelter, gear, and a win.

My thumb hovers over Y. Heart thumps. One push and I'm committed. I think of Cedric's kids who'll never see their dad again, of Reggie bleeding out in the cafeteria, of my own family lying cold. Standing still won't change any of that.

"Fine. First pawn, first move."

I press Y.

 

[certher]

Darkness bites the light the moment the arch seals shut behind me. For three breaths I see nothing. I keep the sword point forward and count, same way I used to steady nerves in a blind hallway breach. One, two, three. A faint green glow seeps from thin veins of moss that stripe the tunnel walls. Enough to stop me from tripping.

The floor slopes down in long slabs patterned like reptile scales. Water drips steady somewhere ahead, a slow tin-roof rhythm. I angle the blade low and start walking. Every step leaves a damp print. Drag marks run beside me, grooves as wide as my wrist, and the edges shine wet. Something heavy crawled this way not long ago.



Water glints ahead. A shallow pool covers the tunnel floor, its surface cracked like broken glass. My stomach tightens. I crouch, dip two fingers. Warm. I start to stand when a dark shape in the middle twitches. It splits. Two squat lizard things scuttle straight for me, claws ticking on the stone. They are bulldog-big, bodies low, legs hooked like scissors.

My throat dries. The first leaps. I swing too early; the blade only clips its shell. Panic jerks through me. The skitterling lands, hisses, springs again. I duck, shove the sword up with all I have. Steel crunches through its gut. Warm slime splashes my sleeve. The creature drops and bursts into pale mist that zips into my chest.

[System Notification]

Kill confirmed: Mud Skitterling

Reward: +1 Shard

The second one rams my boot and bites. Pain spikes. I kick, slip on the wet stone, nearly fall. Heart pounding, I jam the sword down, miss, slash again. The edge finally catches its neck. It thrashes, then melts the same way, leaving only ragged breaths in my lungs and another shard count.

[System Notification]

Kill confirmed: Mud Skitterling

Reward: +1 Shard

The pool falls quiet. I shift the sword into my left hand and walk on, pulse still racing. With every step I roll the hilt, feeling the weight settle. This blade cuts cleaner than that warped baton ever could. One good edge turns guesswork into muscle memory, and that edge just saved my skin. I breathe slow, remind myself it is normal to shake. Five years in a cage, the hardest swing I threw was at a bully in the chow line. Now I am knee-deep in monster mud. Anyone would panic. The trick is to breathe, keep moving, let the sword do its job.



The tunnel narrows into a single stone bridge that spans a slow black canal. I test the first slab with my boot. Solid enough. Two steps later a heavy clunk rises behind me. Carved jaws clamp shut over the entrance, teeth of stone locking me in. No choice but forward.

Halfway across, a cracked chest slumps against the wall, half drowned in sludge. Habit pushes me closer. I pry the lid with the sword tip and spot a stitched hide armguard inside. Rough but useful. I slide it onto my forearm and flex.

Red text flashes across my sight.

[System Error]

Loot assignment denied. Personal inventory flag: disabled.

The armguard crumbles to pale shards that streak into my chest. Shard count bumps by one. A second line blinks.

[Anomaly detected: subject Sealed Case]

I grit my teeth and speak the one command that always answers. "Status."

I focus on the title line. It brightens, like a link you can open. One thought, almost a mental click, and a small box unfolds.

Sealed Case

No one knows your full story. Not even the System.

This title marks you as a narrative irregularity.

Some mechanics may behave unpredictably around you.

I stare at the shard count. Eleven pieces of mystery money. If every bit of gear melts into more of these, how am I supposed to suit up? No tray armor, no hide guards.. just dice rolls from the prize screen. That feels like walking into a gunfight with lottery tickets.

The word Shards glows faint. I focus on it. A new box slides open.

Shards

Personal System currency.

Earned through confirmed kills or anomaly conversions.

Spendable in Personal Shop.

Shop opens only when you are out of combat.

Daily rotation: yes.

I shut the info box and mutter, "Better be a shop worth spending on." The tunnel is calm now, nothing hunting me. Worth a test.

"Shop."

A fresh panel lights up, split into five tabs.

[Personal Shop] Daily reset in 22h 51m

Shards: 11

Tabs: Weapons | Armor | Consumables | Materials | Utility

Curious, I tap Consumables. Three cards slide into view.



I tap the Consumables tab and three cards settle into view, each glowing soft green.

First card: Quick-Mend Wrap, cost five shards, stops bleeding and lifts a bit of health.

Second card: Stimleaf Packet, two leaves bundled together for three shards, good for clearing weak poison.

Third card: Torch Beetle Jar, three shards, promises a steady white glow for a full hour.

All simple, all useful, and priced to empty most of my purse if I am not careful.



I back out of Consumables and thumb Armor. Three new cards drop in.

First card: Stitched Hide Armguard, five shards, covers one forearm, shrugs off light cuts.

Second card: Mud-Plated Vest, ten shards, thin chest plate, dulls minor poison.

Third card: Reinforced Boots, four shards, rubber soles, better grip on slime.

I tug at what is left of my prison shirt. One good swipe and it would tear the rest of the way. The vest costs almost everything, the boots leave change but no real armor, the armguard covers just a strip of skin. I shake my head. "Nope, save it." Shards feel safer than half-measures.

I close the shop window and head down the bridge. Ten steps in, the floor tilts into a spiral ramp. Moss light fades to a dull smear as the air cools. I keep the sword ready while the tunnel curls lower and lower.

At the bottom a stone arch waits. The second I cross, white text pops.

[System Notification]

Croc Nest – Floor 2

The chamber is a flooded square, knee-deep water and slick tiles. Three Croc Bruisers break the surface at once. Each is a walking tank: barrel chest, scale plates as thick as dinner pans, jaws wide enough to bite a door in half. Level-three tags glow above their heads.

Bulky, slow turn, hits will hurt, I tell myself.

The nearest Bruiser charges, water flying off its back. I sidestep, but its shoulder clips my ribs.

[System Alert]

Health below 75%!

Pain flares. I slash for its flank where the plates thin. The blade carves a groove, green blood spurts. The monster bellows and swings its tail. I duck; the tail whooshes over my head and smashes a tile column to rubble.

Second Bruiser rumbles in, jaws snapping. I launch forward, drive my sword under its chin, and shovel upward. Steel punches through the roof of its mouth and into the brain. The beast shudders, then bursts into mist.

[System Notification]

Kill confirmed: Croc Bruiser

Reward: +3 Shards

First Bruiser spins slower now, hurt but not done. It lunges; I pivot, hamstring its rear leg, then stab deep behind the front plate. It thrashes once and dissolves into light.

[System Notification]

Kill confirmed: Croc Bruiser

Reward: +3 Shards

The third Bruiser crashes straight into my chest before I can reset. Air leaves my lungs. Teeth rake my shoulder.

[System Alert]

Health below 50 %!

I stumble back, vision swimming. The monster advances, mouth dripping slime. I fake a retreat, then dive at its exposed belly. One upward thrust, all my weight behind it. The blade sinks to the hilt, cuts soft tissue. I rip sideways. The Bruiser roars, gurgles, and breaks apart.

[System Notification]

Kill confirmed: Croc Bruiser

Reward: +3 Shards

White bars fill across my view, EXP surging.

[System Notification]

Level Up

Current Level: 4

All core stats increased by 0.5

Unused Attribute Points: 2

Heat bursts from my chest and rolls through muscle like molten wax. Ripped skin knits, ribs slide back into place with sharp clicks, and the bite on my shoulder seals until only pink lines remain. I breathe deep: no stab of pain, just fresh strength humming under the bruises.

I steady the sword and wade through what is left of the flooded hall. Tiles give way to a short landing where another chest rests against the wall. The latch is cracked, so I push the lid open with the blade tip.

Inside waits a pair of swamp-green boots, trim and sturdy. Bogskin Waders, Rare, poison resist hovers above them for half a second. I reach in, but the moment my fingers close, red text flashes.

[System Error]

Loot assignment denied. Personal inventory flag: disabled.

The boots crumble into pale shards that zip into me.

[System Notification]

Anomaly conversion complete

Shards +3

Count rises to twenty-three. I click my tongue, shove the empty box aside, and keep moving.

Ahead, a wide stone doorway blocks the passage. Carvings of coiled reptiles frame two solid panels. White text flares across the surface.

[System Notification]

Croc Nest – Boss Chamber

Enter? [ Y ] [ N ]





[System Notification]

Name: Charles Mercer

Level: 4

Class: N/A

Title: Sealed Case

Shards: 23

Stats

Vitality: 2.5

Strength: 3.5

Dexterity: 2.5

Luck: 2.5

Unused Attribute Points: 2

 

[G1 Convoy]

Four chapters in and I am liking how this story has progressed so far.

TFTC.

 

[certher]

I press Y. Stone doors grind apart and a wall of swamp-warm air rolls over me. The room inside could swallow a basketball court. Black water fills it to thigh height, the surface covered in patches of green scum that glow faint like dying coals. Broken pillars lean at odd angles, some half sunk, some snapped clean. A rank smell of rot hangs in the mist.

[System Alert]

Difficulty modulation active – target flagged.



The ripples start before I even step off the threshold. Slow at first, then faster, as if a subway train is rumbling under the pool. A ridge of plated back pushes up through the slime, followed by a snout big enough to park a motorcycle on. Yellow eyes rise last, shining sickly light across the water.

Text flares above the creature:

Marshscale Matriarch Level 8

Level eight? The sign outside said one to three. The System must be cranking difficulty because I am a walking anomaly. No loot, harder boss. Great.

I draw the sword, the point quivering just a touch. The Matriarch slides closer, waves slapping the walls. Its armor looks thick as manhole covers, the mouth packed with knives.

The doors slam shut behind me with a hollow clang. No exits, no backup, just me, the sword, and a reptile big enough to eat a truck.



The Matriarch lifts its head and lets out a roar that shakes water from the ceiling. The blast hits my chest like a bass drum. Before I can reset my stance, the monster surges through the pool, tail cutting a wake. It pivots fast for something that size and whips that same tail straight at me.

I barely get the sword up. The hit still lands. Scales like stone smash my ribs and launch me backward. I slam into the slick wall, air shooting from my lungs. My back skids down the tiles and drops into the water with a splash.

[System Alert]

Health below 75%!

Pain blooms across my side, but the warning snaps me awake. I drag in a shaky breath, push off the wall, and lift the sword just as the Matriarch lunges again, jaws crashing where my head was a heartbeat ago.

I dart sideways, boots sloshing, and throw myself behind a broken pillar. The Matriarch's bulk crashes past, tail churning the pool into white chop. I peek around the stone just in time to see it twist and lunge again. Teeth snap shut on empty air, but the jaws clamp my sword instead, steel screeching between cracked fangs.

It yanks and spins. The world whirls into a blur of green slime and black water. My arm feels like it is peeling from the socket.



I ram the cross-guard sideways between the jaws. The blade catches on bone and locks. With my free hand I punch hard into the gill slit right behind its hinge. Soft tissue gives. The beast howls, flinging me loose. I tumble across the water, coughing, ribs blazing.

The Matriarch dives. I scramble to my feet, see bubbles streak toward me, and hurtle onto a floating slab of pillar just as a blast of sludge erupts where I stood. Thick grit coats my legs, dragging at each step.

Two Mud Skitterlings ride the surge, claws raised. I hack the first in half, pivot, slice the second through the neck. Both pop to mist, shards zipping in.



Sludge hardens on my calves like wet cement. The Matriarch's head pops up five yards away, jaws dripping the same muck. It surges and slams its tail across the water, sending a wave that launches the slab and me sideways. I skid off the stone and smash ribs-first into a jut of broken pillar.

[System Alert]

Health below 50%!

Air bails out of my lungs. I cling to the jagged rock, vision wobbling while the monster turns for another pass. I peel grit from my boots and force one shaky step onto a second lump of fallen masonry. Higher perch, better angle.

The Matriarch dives again; a wide circle of bubbles tracks straight for me. I time the rise, leap as its snout breaks the surface, and slash down across the thinner plates under the jaw. Green blood splatters, but the beast snaps sideways, catches my left forearm between rows of teeth. Pain detonates. It rolls, wrenching me half under. The joint tears; bone peeks through ragged skin.

I scream so hard my ears ring.

[System Alert]

Health below 25%!



Blood pours down my sleeve, hot and steady. I wrench my shredded arm free, bite back another scream, and tumble off the monster's jaw into the water. Every kick feels like fire in my ribs, but I claw to the surface and haul myself onto a half-submerged pillar.

The Matriarch wheels for a fresh strike, green blood still leaking from its jawline. I suck damp air and force focus through the red haze. Soft spot under the head, weak gills, heavy tail. Patterns, not panic. The beast rushes. I drop flat as the tail whooshes over the stone, missing my back by inches. Shards of pillar spray my face.

It turns again, water heaving. I spring up and run the length of the broken slab, boots slipping on slime. At the edge I leap, sword high, and rake the blade across a second gill slit as the head passes below. The cut is shallow but fresh blood boils up. The monster thrashes, smashing a pillar to gravel.

Tiles crack. A wave lifts me, slams me into another fragment of stone. I twist away, lungs screaming, just as the snout snaps shut where I landed. The impact sends tremors through the wrecked masonry, but I stay upright.

The Matriarch backs off, sides heaving, eyes glowing brighter. It sinks until only the spine ridges show, circling tight like a coiled spring. I know the pattern now. It will surge, tail first, then lunge with jaws wide. One mistake and the next alert will be the last.

I spit blood, plant my right foot on solid rock, and raise the sword for the charge I feel coming.

The tail whistles past, spraying water, and I explode forward, shoving my torn arm between the jaws to jam them half open while bellowing every ounce of pain and fury in one raw roar; I slam the sword through the blood-slick gill, feel skull give, and drive on until steel buries to the hilt. The Matriarch convulses, waves hammer the walls, yellow eyes flicker out, and the whole bus-sized corpse melts into a cyclone of pale shards that crash into my chest like hail. I collapse to one knee in the sudden hush, sword quivering in my good hand, left arm dangling by threads, water rippling calm around me.



White text slams into my fading sight.

[System Notification]

Kill confirmed: Marshscale Matriarch

Reward: +15 Shards

Shards whirl into my chest, count climbing to thirty-eight, but the blood keeps pumping from what is left of my arm. Vision narrows to a pinhole. I sag, certain I will black out right here.

A second screen flares.

[System Notification]

Level Up!

Current Level: 5

All core stats increased by 0.5

Unused Attribute Points: 3



Heat erupts inside my ribs and floods every limb. Bone knits with grinding pops, muscle laces back together, skin stretches tight over raw red. I grit my teeth and howl as the broken arm yanks itself straight, veins lighting under the skin like fire wires. The rush crests, then fades, leaving my hand whole, ribs solid, blood flow stopped.

I slump on the pillar, trembling but alive, green core pulsing in the calm water like a new sun waiting for its claim.



A fresh panel whirls into view, edges flashing gold as three icons spin like a slot machine. They click to a stop, each haloed in pale light.

[Random Loot Reward]

Boss kill + Level 5 unlocked one pull of the wheel.

Pick one item. Timer: 60 s

1. Iron-Nerve Pendant – Uncommon necklace. Slip it on for a permanent +1 Strength and +1 Dexterity.
2. Restoration Whetstone – Single-use tool. Run it along any blade to repair chips, restore full sharpness, and add a small durability buff. Crumbles afterward.
3. Manual of Firestorm – Sealed booklet. Tearing the seal teaches the spell Firestorm, a one-shot cone of flame that scorches everything in front of you.

The wheel keeps spinning, the corner clock draining fast, and I work through the choices in one long shaky breath. The whetstone is practical but burns out the moment I use it, the fire spell is flashy yet gambles my life on one shot, while the pendant loads two fresh points straight into muscle and reflexes and never asks for payback. Sword edges can be fixed with time, fire can wait until I know how magic even works, but raw stats pump every swing and every dodge forever.



I slap the pendant icon just before the timer vanishes. The whetstone and spell blink out like dead pixels, and a cool iron chain drops into my hand. I hook it over my head; heat ripples down my spine and into every limb, muscles firming, fingers lighter on the sword. A blue screen flares, quick and bright.

[System Update]

Name: Charles Mercer

Level: 5

Class: N / A

Title: Sealed Case

Shards: 38

Stats

Vitality: 3

Strength: 5

Dexterity: 4

Luck: 3

Unused Attribute Points: 3

 

[G1 Convoy]

TFTC.

I hope the MC realizes that if he properly equipped himself, he probably would have faired better in the fight. I think he had enough shards prior to the boss battle to get some upper body armor and boots, which I thought he would have needed because of issues with maintaining footing and obtaining better traction on slippery terrain.