"Adam, watch your left!" Elena's voice cut through the hum of the vortex.
I spun, my bronze sword clattering against the wispy, ethereal claw of a second Voidling. The impact didn't feel like metal hitting flesh; it felt like striking a block of cold, pressurized smoke. My arms vibrated from the shock, and for a second, my grip faltered.
[HEALTH: 18/20]
The creature hissed, its glowing white eyes narrowing. It lunged again, but this time, something strange happened. As I reached out to steady myself against a nearby stone pillar, the air around my fingertips began to ripple.
A blue icon in the corner of my vision started flashing violently.
[SYSTEM ALERT: LATENT MANA DETECTED]
[SKILL UNLOCKED: MAGIC - LEVEL 1]
"I don't have a staff!" I yelled, dodging a swipe that took a literal chunk out of the stone pillar. "How am I supposed to use magic without a stick?"
Elena kicked her opponent back into the rift and glanced over, her brow furrowing. "You don't need a staff for basic strikes, you idiot! Focus on the air! Draw the runes in your mind!"
Draw the runes? I barely knew how to draw a stick figure. But then, a memory surfaced—not from this world, but from the games I used to play back when I was sitting in my dark apartment, wasting my life away. I remembered the shape of the 'Strike' spells. A simple, circular motion with a jagged line through the center.
I dropped my sword. It hit the floor with a heavy thud.
"What are you doing?!" Elena screamed, parrying two Voidlings at once.
I didn't answer. I closed my eyes, blocked out the sound of the howling rift, and pictured the blue energy flowing through the tower. I felt it—a cold, buzzing static behind my ribs. I thrust my palm forward, tracing the jagged line in the empty air.
Fwoosh.
A bolt of pale blue energy, no bigger than a baseball, erupted from my hand. It streaked across the room and slammed into the Voidling's chest. The creature didn't just bruise; it shattered into a cloud of purple glitter.
[MAGIC LEVEL UP: LEVEL 2]
[MAGIC LEVEL UP: LEVEL 3]
"Holy... I just did that," I breathed, staring at my smoking palm. "I'm a wizard, Harry."
"Who's Harry?" Elena panted, stepping beside me, her armor scorched by void energy. She looked at me with a mix of exhaustion and genuine impressed wonder. "That was a Wind Strike. And you did it without mind-runes or a catalyst. Adam, that shouldn't be possible for a Level 1 mage."
"I'm a fast learner, remember?" I joked, though my legs felt like jelly.
The rift began to shrink, the edges curling inward like burning paper. With a final, ear-splitting pop, the vacuum vanished, leaving the basement in sudden, ringing silence. The only thing left were small, glowing purple crystals scattered across the floor.
[WORLD EVENT COMPLETE: THE VOID LEAK]
[REWARD: 1,000 MAGIC XP, 500 SLAYER XP, 2,000 GOLD COINS]
[COMBAT LEVEL UP: LEVEL 5]
I slumped against the wall, sliding down until my butt hit the cold stone. My "system" was scrolling through notifications faster than I could read them. I had gained levels in Magic, Defence, and even a bit of Slayer from Elena's proximity.
Elena walked over and sat down next to me, unlatching her helmet. Her face was flushed, a few stray red hairs sticking to her forehead with sweat. She smelled like ozone and victory.
"You're a weird one, Adam," she said, bumping her shoulder against mine. "Most people spend months studying at the academy just to light a candle. You just... blasted a hole in a void-beast because you were annoyed."
"I was more than annoyed," I admitted, looking at the gold coins appearing in my inventory. "I was tired of being the guy who gets hit by trucks. I'd rather be the guy who hits back."
She laughed, a soft, tired sound that made my chest feel tighter than the magic had. She reached out and took my hand, turning my palm over to inspect the faint magical burns. Her skin was warm, calloused from the sword, but her touch was surprisingly gentle.
"Well, 'The Guy Who Hits Back,' the Head Wizard is going to want to talk to you. And after that..." she paused, looking me in the eye. "There's a small tavern in Draynor Village. They make a Wise Old Man ale that'll grow hair on your chest. You interested?"
I looked at the beautiful, dangerous woman beside me, then at the glowing stats in my vision. Twenty-four skills to master. A whole world to explore. And for the first time in my life, a date that didn't involve a microwave dinner.
"Only if you're buying," I said. "I'm still technically 'between jobs.'"
"Adventuring is a job, Adam," she smirked, standing up and pulling me to my feet. "And business is booming."
[NEW RELATIONSHIP STATUS: ELENA - CLOSE ALLY]
[NEW QUEST UNLOCKED: THE VAMPIRE EMERALD]
As we climbed the stairs out of the dark basement and into the light of the setting sun, I realized the truck hadn't ended my life. It had just been the world's most violent promotion.