The slums whispered.
Children vanished. Weaklings disappeared overnight. "Slaver Syndicate," they said, "pays coin for silence." Few dared speak louder.
Jorik listened.
He stood atop the collapsed rooftop of a three-story ruin, overlooking a chain-link compound near the canal. Lanterns flickered below. Armed men patrolled in rusted breastplates. Cages lined the yard—filled with chained souls.
A soft growl escaped him.
> [New Quest: Blood Price of the Shackled]
Type: Main | Rank: B
Objectives:
Eliminate Slaver Commander Gronn (0/1)
Free at least 10 captives (0/10)
Acquire intel on the Noble Buyer
Reward: +2 Stat Points | +150 EXP | Slaver Key | ???
Failure Penalty: -10 Karma | Fate Instability
Jorik gripped his blade.
No grand speeches. No hesitation.
Just war.
He dropped silently into the shadows and moved.
A guard took a piss behind the warehouse.
Jorik's foot pressed gently against the back of his knee.
He collapsed with a muted grunt.
Jorik slit his throat with the edge of Paradox Severer.
> [+13 EXP | +1 Weapon Mastery XP]
Minutes passed. One by one, the guards vanished.
Until Jorik stood at the compound's gate, facing the last.
Gronn.
A brute of a man, twice his size, clad in crimson bone-plated armor, wielding a steel cudgel crackling with electric glyphs.
"Well now," Gronn chuckled, "another orphan thinks he's brave."
"I'm a king," Jorik said, voice flat.
Gronn laughed—
Jorik vanished.
A ripple in time—
—Severance Cut.
The cudgel shattered mid-swing. Gronn's arm was gone from the elbow down.
Screaming.
Jorik didn't stop.
He moved again, appearing behind the slaver and carving an X into his spine.
> [Skill Activated: Temporal Severance]
Enemy's past and present wounds overlap. Damage amplified x2.
Gronn collapsed, twitching.
> [Slaver Commander Eliminated | +120 EXP]
[Level Up: 3 → 4]
[Stat Points Gained: +3]
[Skill Unlock: Quick Rewind (Tier I)]
Jorik exhaled. Then unlocked the cages.
The children stared at him with hollow eyes.
"You're free," he said, turning away.
But he felt it—the pull of eyes from the rooftops.
Nobles would know.
Tonight was a warning.