Kael sat in the dark, his breath hitching. The mark on his chest wasn't a physical brand—it was a fading afterimage of the Sovereign's Essence hitting his soul.
He closed his eyes, searching for that familiar, heavy sensation of the Copper Realm.
Usually, "feeling" his Prauna was like trying to stir thick mud with a wooden spoon. It was sluggish, stubborn, and limited. But as he looked inward now, his eyes widened behind his lids.
The "mud" was gone.
In its place was a vast, shimmering reservoir. It was still Copper-rank energy—orange and dense—but the volume was terrifying. It was as if his internal container had expanded from a bucket to a lake.
This is it, Kael realized, his heart hammering. 7-Star Talent.
A 1-Star Copper could only use their 5x strength for a few minutes before their energy ran dry. But Kael? He felt like he could sprint for days. His recovery speed was already accelerating; the bruises from the Stitch-Wolf encounter were fading into his skin in real-time.He stood up and walked toward the "Training Pits" at the edge of the Upper Levels.
The Pits were a series of reinforced concrete rooms where scavengers tested their strength against rusted steel slabs. As Kael entered, the smell of sweat and ozone filled his nose.
"Look who it is," a voice sneered.
Kael didn't need to look. It was Barrett, a Mid-Bronze warrior who acted as a debt collector for the local gangs. Barrett was a 2-Star talent—strong enough to project Prauna onto his brass knuckles, but stagnant. He'd been stuck at Mid-Bronze for five years.
"Empty your pockets, Dreg," Barrett said, stepping into Kael's path. His Bronze Prauna flickered around his fists like weak sparks. "I heard you brought back a medical crate. Where's my cut?"
Kael looked at Barrett's energy. For the first time, he could sense the blockages in the other man's flow. Barrett's Prauna was "thin."
"I don't owe you anything, Barrett," Kael said. His voice was calm, but his internal lake of Prauna began to ripple.
Barrett laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "You've got a big mouth for a Copper-ranker. Maybe I'll knock a few teeth out to lighten your load."
Barrett lunged. To a normal Copper, a Bronze-ranker's speed was a blur. But to Kael's 7-Star senses, the movement was clumsy.
Kael didn't use a martial art. He didn't have one yet. He simply pivoted and shoved his palm into Barrett's chest.
THUD.
Kael didn't project energy—he didn't have to. The High-Copper 5x strength, backed by the sheer pressure of his 7-Star reserves, hit Barrett like a runaway freight train.
The Bronze-ranker was lifted off his feet. He flew five meters backward, smashing into a concrete pillar with a sickening crunch. The Bronze shield around his body shattered instantly, unable to handle the raw kinetic force.
The Training Pit went silent. The other scavengers stared, their mouths hanging open.
A Copper... just one-shotted a Bronze?
Kael looked at his palm. He hadn't even broken a sweat. His Prauna hadn't dipped at all.
I didn't even use half of it, Kael thought, a cold shiver running down his spine.
He realized then that his Talent was a curse as much as a gift. In the Underground City, a 7-Star was a threat to the status quo. If the Silver-rank overseers found out a "Dreg" had this kind of potential, they wouldn't celebrate him. They would dissect him.
"Kael..." one of the scavengers whispered. "What did you do?"
Kael didn't answer. He turned and walked out of the pits, his mind racing. He needed to get to the Mid-Levels. He needed to find a way to hide his "Scent" before a Gold-ranker felt the ripples of his 7-Star soul.