The Architect's Shelter was silent again.
Not the dead silence of empty dungeon but the heavy kind, the kind that felt intentional like the place was holding its breath. Kael stood in the middle of the chamber hands on his hips staring at the platforms that had beaten common sense into him over the past few days.
He was tired mentally, physically, emotionally tired.
But unlike before this feels kind of good where you grind and learn new things and get tired, its kind of good.
The kind that meant progress.
"Okay" rolling his shoulders "Line control: check, Recoil management: check, Tap usage: Check and eraser...."
His gaze drifted to the faint translucent icon hovering in the corner of his vision.
[Talent: Eraser Rank F-]
Even now it felt unreal.
He still remembered the moment the Hero sword vanished. One second it had been there the ancient, radiant, screaming destiny and the next it had been gone. No explosion, no dramatic cut scene, it was just.... removed.
And in exchange? A trash talent
And another I find anomalies of passive eraser effecting everywhere I go.
"Honestly" Kael rubbing his face "If someone told me I deleted the chosen hero's legendary sword and got an F- talent as a compensation, I'd think they were drunk".
The shelter didn't answer.
But the air shifted.
Kael stiffened.
Something is different.
Not hostile, not dangerous just.... responsive.
Like the shelter was paying attention again.
A low hum echoed through the chamber and a faint blue panel shined into existence in front of him.
[Architect's Shelter: Secondary Function Unlocked]
[Training Mode: Erasure Compatibility]
"Now the shelter is responding whenever the training is involved, feels like an personal gym instructor".
The floor beneath his feet changed. The smooth stone fractured into segmented platforms, each one hovering slightly above the others. Symbols lit up along the walls not some glyph but something older, rougher like they'd been carved by hand and later refined by something smarter.
A humanoid figure formed at the far end of the chamber. This is the same humanoid figure when it was line controlling training.
Kael felt no killing intent, just pressure.
[Erasure Training Entity - Non Lethal]
"Oh good, another thing that wants to punch me for my own benefit".
The entity stepped forward, Kael reacted instantly. He drew a line in the air.
The glowing boundary snapped into existence which was clean and stable. The entity collided with it and stopped.
There was no backlash, Kael barely shifted.
He exhaled slowly, eyes sharp "Alright round two"
He tapped the entity and there was nothing, no data window, no stats just a faint static flicker that vanished immediately.
"Huh...."
A system prompt appeared.
[Notice: Target too complex for Tap]
[Partial Information Only]
Kael frowned "So tap has a ceiling".
Good to know that.
The entity moved again this time faster. Kael drew another line, diagonal now angled redirecting its momentum. The platform beneath him trembled slightly but he kept his balance.
Training paid off, then the entity raised its hand.
The space in front of it distorted.
Kael's instincts screamed, he jumped backward as a line-no, something like a line slashed through the air where he'd been standing.
It wasn't line drawer, it was imitation, a flawed one.
Kael's eyes widened "You're copying me?".
The entity didn't respond.
It attacked again.
Kael dodged, drew, stepped, redirected. Lines formed beneath his feet, solidifying just long enough to support his weight before fading. His movements were smoother now more deliberate. There was no wasted strokes and no panic.
Then the entity paused and something changed, its outline blurred.
Not visually but conceptually.
Kael felt it more than he saw it.
The pressure in the room intensified.
A prompt appeared.
[Eraser: Passive influence detected]
"....Passive hmmm"
The entity copied lines began to falter, its movements lost precision, the imitation boundaries it created fractured mid formation collapsing into static fragments.
Kael breath caught "I'm not even activating it"
Another prompt followed.
[Eraser Passive: Weakens Non original concepts]
[Status: Unconscious Influence]
Kael stared.
So eraser wasn't just something you used. It existed, it exerted pressure simply by being present.
The entity charged again, but its flickering now like an unstable projection. Kael stepped forward heart pounding and on instinct, not thought but he reached.
He didn't draw a line, he didn't tap.
He focused on the space where the entity's copied boundary was forming.
And erased it, there was no flash.
The copied construct simply...wasn't there anymore.
The entity stumbled.
Kael staggered back clutching his head "Okay...Okay...my head hurts a lottt".
A sharp pain bloomed behind his eyes, like he'd overused a muscle he didn't know existed. It wasn't recoil, it wasn't damage.
It was strain.
A warning appeared.
[Eraser Active Use Detected]
[Proficiency: 0.3%]
[Notice: Overuse May Cause Cognitive Fatigue]
"Cognitive fatigue that sounds expensive, but finally eraser proficiency rose a bit".
The entity froze.
Then its form destabilized completely, dissolving into light that scattered across the chamber like dust.
Silence returned.
Kael dropped to one knee breathing hard, his head hurt, but he was smiling.
"Damm isn't this overpowered but it strains my head very much".
A new panel appeared.
[Eraser: Functional Summary (Partial)]
[1. Deletes constructed concepts not raw reality.
2. Passive Effect disrupts imitation, false authority, degraded laws.
3. Active erasure requires intent, focus and compatibility.
4. Stronger targets increase mental strain]
Kael leaned back staring at the ceiling.
"This panel its showing only partial uses of eraser, that means there is still more, so its not kind of delete button".
Time passed differently inside the shelter. Kael trained again and again.
He practiced erasing small things first residual lines, unstable platforms, leftover training constructs. Each use sharpened his control, but also taught hin restraint. Eraser wasn't something to spam.
It was something to decide.
Eventually another message appeared.
[Eraser Proficiency: 5%]
[Control Status: Basic]
[Gained Control stat +5]
Kael exhaled happily "I'll take it".
The shelter shifted again.
A faint opening appeared in the far wall, but not a door but like a gap like a space had been folded and forgotten to unfold properly.
Kael shouted.
"Guess that's my cue".
He approached the gap and stepped through.
The world shifted, Kael came back to Floor 3 not 4.
The familiar stench of monsters and damp stones greeted him. The shelter vanished behind him like it had never existed.
Kael straightened eyes sharp.
This time when a pair of wolf like monsters jumped from the shadows, he didn't hesitate.
He drew, he moved, he tapped mid motion, catching just the enough data to adjust the strike.
And when the monsters got tired of the backlashes from the boundary lines drew by Kael, monsters tried to do different methods to attack Kael which was not supposed to be from their usual routine of killing players.
The eraser got instantly influenced by this and erased the methods instantly from the monsters mind and the monsters stumbled.
Kael didn't.
The dagger flashed.
Corpse hit the floor.
[Shadow hound Defeated]
[EXP Gained]
Kael breathed out slowly.
He wasn't strong.
Not compared to the legends.
Not compared to Floor 101.
But for the first time since entering the tower, he felt something settle in his chest.
Confidence.
"Alright, Lets grind in Floor 4".
And somewhere deep into the space, far away from the Planet Solaris, something ancient stirred.
Because something that should not exist....was coming.