Robin didn't leave his room for the rest of the day. Let the household gossip. Let them speculate. His absence would fuel rumors more effectively than any explanation.
He spent the time reviewing his performance. Analyzing every moment of the spar.
Leo's patterns were more predictable than expected. His training is formal and textbook combinations. But no real combat experience. He's never fought someone trying to kill him.
Robin had. Or rather, Justin had. The Void Rats might be weak enemies, but they fought to kill. That changed everything.
And the sweep worked exactly as planned. His stance was too wide, weight too forward. Exploitable.
[DAILY QUEST COMPLETE: BASIC CONDITIONING III]
[REWARD: +50 EXP]
[LEVEL UP! YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 6]
The familiar warmth flooded Robin's body. Stronger now, after five previous level-ups. His muscles firmed further. His breathing deepened. His senses sharpened.
But more importantly, his mana capacity increased.
```
┏━━━━━━━[ LevelUp Summary ]━━━━━━┓
│ LEVEL 5 → LEVEL 6
│
│ All Attributes Increased:
│ STR Strength 9 → 10
│ AGI Agility 7 → 8
│ END Endurance 7 → 8
│ DEX Dexterity 8 → 9
│
│ Vital Statistics:
│ Max HP: 62 → 68
│ Max Stamina: 45 → 50
│ Mana Capacity: 32 → 38 / 110
│
│ Seal Status:
│ └─ Degradation: 74% → 72%
│
│ Notes:
│ • Double-digit strength achieved
│ • Mana capacity approaching usable threshold
│ • Still 12 mana short of Time Echo cost
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
Robin checked his status. Thirty-eight mana. Time Echo cost fifty.
Still twelve points short. One more level should do it.
But that could wait. Right now, he had bigger concerns.
Three weeks until departure. The Academy entrance exams would test three things: written knowledge, mana aptitude, and combat ability.
The written exam was trivial. Justin's knowledge would carry him through easily. Military history, strategy, ethics, he'd lived it all.
Mana aptitude would be catastrophic. His F- rank core would be publicly displayed. Everyone would see his weakness.
Let them. Let them laugh. It'll make the combat trial more impressive.
The combat trial was key. That's where he'd prove himself. Where skill would override mana deficiency.
But I need to be ready. Need to push harder.
Robin waited until full dark. Then made his way to the dungeons.
The route was automatic now. His body knew the path without conscious thought.
Inside the dungeon, Robin moved with purpose. No hesitation. He was hunting.
The regular Void Rats died quickly. Easy prey now. His improved stats made them almost trivial.
[+15 EXP]
[+15 EXP]
[+15 EXP]
Robin pushed deeper. Into sections he'd only glimpsed before. Where the corruption was thicker. Where sounds suggested larger threats.
He found a new chamber. Larger than the others. The walls were slick with Void corruption, black oily substance that seemed to pulse.
And in the center, feeding on a pile of dead rats, was something new.
┏━━━━━━━[ Enemy Detected ]━━━━━━━┓
│ Name: Void Stalker
│ Level: 7
│ Rank: F+
│ Type: Corrupted Predator
│
│ Description: An evolved Void Rat that has
│ consumed enough corruption to transform.
│ Larger, faster, and significantly more
│ dangerous. Hunts in packs when possible.
│
│ Threat Assessment: MODERATE-HIGH
│ Recommended Action: Caution advised
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
The creature was massive. Easily the size of a large dog. Its fur had fallen away completely, revealing corrupted muscle and exposed bone. Eyes that glowed brighter red than normal rats. Claws like daggers.
Level 7. One level above Robin.
Doable. Difficult, but doable.
Robin drew his training dagger. The blade was showing wear notches in the edge, looseness in the hilt. It wouldn't last much longer.
Need to make this count.
The Stalker's head snapped up. It had sensed him. Those burning eyes locked onto Robin.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then the Stalker charged.
Fast!
Much faster than the Void Hound had been. Robin barely got his blade up in time to deflect the first claw strike.
The impact jarred his arm. The Stalker was strong.
Robin rolled sideways. The creature's second strike missed by inches. Its claws gouged deep furrows in the stone floor.
Can't trade blows. Need to be smarter.
Robin used the chamber's layout. Ducked behind a fallen pillar. The Stalker crashed into it, snarling.
Robin struck from the side. His dagger opened a gash along the creature's flank.
[-12 HP TO VOID STALKER]
The Stalker whirled. Impossibly fast. Its tail. when had it grown a tail? whipped around, catching Robin's legs.
Robin went down hard.
[-8 HP]
[CURRENT HP: 60/68]
The Stalker pounced. Robin rolled. Claws scored the stone where his head had been.
It's learning. Adapting. Like the Hound but faster.
Robin scrambled to his feet. His tactical mind raced through options.
Straight fight, I lose. It's faster, stronger, better adapted to this environment.
Need an advantage. Need terrain.
Robin ran, repositioning. He headed for the narrower corridors where the Stalker's size would be a disadvantage.
The creature followed. Its claws scrabbled on stone. Getting closer.
Robin reached a narrow passage. Spun around. Braced himself.
The Stalker came through the opening.
Now!
Robin struck high. The Stalker blocked with a claw exactly as expected. Robin's real attack came low. A sweeping slash at the creature's front legs.
The blade bit deep.
[-18 HP TO VOID STALKER]
The Stalker shrieked. Stumbled. Its damaged leg couldn't support its weight properly.
Cripple the mobility. Then finish it.
Robin pressed the advantage. Stayed in the narrow passage where the Stalker couldn't maneuver properly.
Another strike. This one to the creature's exposed flank.
[-15 HP TO VOID STALKER]
The Stalker was getting desperate. It lunged wildly. Robin sidestepped. Let it crash into the wall.
While it was stunned, Robin drove his dagger into the back of its skull. Angled upward. Seeking the brain.
The blade punched through corrupted bone.
The Stalker went limp. Dissolved into black motes.
[VOID STALKER DEFEATED]
[+100 EXP]
[LIFE FORCE ABSORBED: +15 HP]
[ACHIEVEMENT: DEFEATED ENEMY 1 LEVEL ABOVE HOST]
[BONUS: +25 EXP]
Robin leaned against the wall, breathing hard. His HP was back to full thanks to the life force absorption. But his stamina was depleted.
One hundred and twenty-five experience from a single kill.
[LEVEL 6: 125/600 EXP]
Worth it. Absolutely worth it.
But Robin's celebration was cut short. He heard sounds. More movement. Deeper in the dungeon.
Multiple Stalkers. This was part of a pack.
Robin checked his condition. Full HP. Low stamina. His dagger was damaged, the blade had cracked during the skull strike.
Time to retreat.
He made his way back toward the entrance. Killed two more regular Void Rats on the way easy targets that gave him safe experience.
[+30 EXP]
[LEVEL 6: 155/600 EXP]
Robin emerged from the dungeon as dawn threatened. Locked the door behind him.
Made his way back to his room. His mind was already analyzing the fight.
The Stalker was tougher than the Hound. Faster. Smarter. But still beatable with proper tactics.
And worth massive experience. If I can find more...
But that would have to wait. Robin's dagger was nearly broken. He needed a replacement. Something sturdier.
The refuse pile again. Maybe the armory if I can access it.
Robin cleaned himself up as best he could. Changed clothes. Hid the evidence.
Then forced himself to sleep. His body needed rest even if his mind wanted to keep planning.
When he woke, it was afternoon. A tray of food sat by his door, Mary had brought it while he slept.
More than usual. Bread, cheese, even a small piece of dried meat.
A note: You'll need your strength for the journey. Good luck at the Academy.
Robin ate everything. His body demanded fuel for recovery.
Then he pulled up his status screen:
┏━━━━━━━[ Host Profile ]━━━━━━━┓
│ Name: Robin Stark
│ Level: 6
│ EXP: 155/600- 25.8%
│
│ Core Attributes:
│ STR Strength 10
│ AGI Agility 8
│ END Endurance 8
│ DEX Dexterity 9
│
│ HP: 68/68
│ Stamina: 50/50
│ Mana: 38/110
│
│ Skills:
│ Weapon Mastery (Dagger) - Rank E
│ ├─ Progress: 127/150 to Rank D
│ └─ Technique: Vital Strike
│
│ Time Echo [UNLOCKED - INSUFFICIENT MANA]
│ └─ Cost: 50 Mana (Need 12 more)
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
Ten strength. Double digits. Robin was legitimately strong now not by warrior standards, but compared to his starting point, the progress was astronomical.
Twenty days until departure. Need to reach level 7 minimum. Preferably level 8.
And I need better equipment. The Academy will provide weapons for the combat trial, but having my own would be better.
Robin spent the rest of the day planning. Three weeks was enough time if he used it efficiently.
Nightly hunts would continue. Push deeper. Find more Stalkers. The experience was too good to pass up.
During the day, he'd complete daily quests. Maintain visible progress. Let the household see him training.
And he'd study. Review military history. Prepare for the written exam even though he didn't need to.
Perfect execution. No mistakes.
That evening, Robin heard shouting from the main courtyard. He looked out his window.
Leo was training. Harder than Robin had ever seen. His brother was furious, driving himself relentlessly. Trying to erase the shame of losing to his crippled brother.
Robin watched for a moment. Then smiled.
Train all you want, brother. You're fighting yesterday's battle.
While I'm preparing for tomorrow's war.
He turned away from the window. Started his evening conditioning routine.
Twenty days. Four hundred and eighty hours. Twenty-eight thousand and eight hundred minutes.
Plenty of time to transform from "lucky" to "undeniable."
The cursed child had won his first public victory.
Now he just needed to prove it wasn't luck.
And Robin Stark knew exactly how to do that.
One dead Void creature at a time.