The Kinetic Construct was small, only about two meters tall, but its surface constantly rippled, showing it was designed to absorb and redirect all incoming force. It was the perfect guardian for a powerful, volatile scrap.
"Just kinetic energy," Kenji muttered, grinning tightly despite the danger. "That's something I can use."
The construct lunged, an impossibly fast blur of pure force. Kenji dodged, his Scrapsmith instinct screaming at him to absorb the massive kinetic residue the construct left behind. But he needed finesse, not explosion.
He scrambled away, focusing his Scrapsmith power. Instead of absorbing the construct's kinetic trail, he began to push it against itself. He pulled the static electricity residue from the room's ventilation system and blasted it toward the construct's joints.
The Construct hesitated, its movements briefly seizing up from the interference.
"Got you!"
Kenji knew he couldn't beat it with force. He focused on the thermal scraps left by the friction of its fast movement, pulling them into a tight ball, then slamming them against a cooling vent near the Construct's core.
The rapid, localized temperature change was too much for the simple kinetic crystallization. The Construct shrieked, a high-pitched, grinding noise, and its arm dissolved, releasing a huge plume of dark, heavy kinetic scrap.
Kenji moved like a blur, sucking in the dissolved kinetic residue, boosting his own kinetic defenses just in time to block the Construct's final, desperate charge. The Construct shattered into a million low-energy fragments.
Standing among the debris, panting, Kenji approached the goal.
The Echo of Resonance was a crystalline shard floating in the center of the room, vibrating with pure sonic magic. It was beautiful and utterly lethal.
He reached out and grabbed it.
The pain returned, far worse than the Abomination's residual discharge. The sonic energy was a drill in his skull, restructuring his core. He screamed, dropping to his knees. The dark, unstable High-Rank Scrap in his chest slammed against the newly integrated Primary Scrap. They merged, purifying the volatile energy. The agony subsided, replaced by a profound sense of clarity. Kenji now had a stable Core, ready to utilize High-Rank power.
The dark blue System interface flashed one final time, confirming his success and rewarding his effort.
[PRIMARY SCRAP: ECHO OF RESONANCE INTEGRATED][CORE STABILITY: 100%]
[RANK UP: SUCCESSFUL]USER: KENJI TANAKANEW RANK: 2 (FLEDGLING)
[OBJECTIVE 2: PERMANENT SKILL FORGING]The Echo of Resonance has provided a blueprint. Seek 10,000 units of residual sonic energy to permanently forge your first skill: [Sonic Disruptor].
[QUEST ACCEPTED: Sonic Grind]REWARD: Permanent Skill: [Sonic Disruptor] & Rank Up Path Advancement. FAILURE: Core Degradation.
Kenji looked at his hands, which now hummed with a subtle, stable power. He had just climbed his first step, from the scorned D-Rank to the barely-acknowledged Rank 2. The climb was brutal, but for the first time, Kenji Tanaka had a path forward. He had hope.