Chapter 6: Chapter 6
The heavy steel blast doors of the sealed dungeon groaned as the industrial winches pulled them apart. Stale cold air rushed out of the dark cavern carrying the metallic scent of dried blood and burnt ozone.
Elara stepped through the threshold. She was a B Rank Tracker an elite investigator for the Valor Guild. Her sleek black leather armor made no sound as she walked. Behind her a team of six forensic specialists followed carrying glowing mana lanterns and heavy diagnostic equipment.
"Spread out" Elara commanded her voice echoing off the damp stone walls. "Scan for residual mana signatures. I want a full environmental reconstruction. Do not touch anything until I have read the echoes."
The team scattered deploying their glowing scanners across the cavern floor. Elara closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath. She activated her primary tracking skill.
Mana Echo.
When she opened her eyes the dark cavern transformed. To a normal human the dungeon was just a dark cave. To Elara it was a vibrant canvas painted with the glowing residue of recent combat. Every spell cast every violent movement every drop of spilled blood left a unique thermal footprint in the air.
She walked deeper into the cavern following a trail of chaotic footprints. She saw the faint yellow outlines of the Vanguard party running away in absolute terror. She ignored them. She was looking for the A Rank Hunter and the F Rank Mimic.
"Maโam" one of the forensic specialists called out shining his lantern toward a jagged rock wall. "We found the patrol Hunter."
Elara walked over. The A Rank Hunter lay crumpled against the stone. His sleek silver armor was completely caved in the chest plate shattered into jagged pieces of useless metal. His weapons were missing stripped from the scene.
Elara knelt beside the body. She placed her bare hand inches above the crushed armor and focused her tracking skill. The residual mana flared to life in her vision.
She saw a massive wave of crimson energy. It was thick brutal and completely unrefined. It was monster mana.
"Duncan Carmichael is an idiot" Elara muttered standing up. She looked at her lead forensic tech. "The manager thought the Mimic might have backstabbed him. That is impossible. The kinetic force required to crush this armor came from a massive blunt impact. The mana signature is pure monster. The Blood Iron Hobgoblin killed him with a C Rank Savage Strike. The boy is innocent of murder."
The tech nodded recording the data on a glowing tablet. "So the boy just hid and got lucky?"
Elara frowned. She looked at the ground. She saw the faint gray footprints of the F Rank Mimic. The footprints showed the boy running toward the exit tunnel. Then they showed a massive tremor throwing him backward against the wall right next to the dying Hunter.
"He tried to run" Elara said tracing the invisible path with her finger. "The monster caused a cave in. It blocked his escape."
She followed the gray footprints. They stopped right next to a massive pool of the A Rank Hunterโs dried blood. And then something impossible happened.
The gray footprints vanished.
Elara blinked rubbing her eyes. She deactivated and reactivated her tracking skill. The result was the same. The weak gray mana signature of the F Rank Mimic completely disappeared at the edge of the blood pool.
"Where did he go?" the tech asked looking at the empty space.
"He did not go anywhere" Elara whispered her heart beating a little faster. "His mana signature changed."
She walked forward following a new set of footprints. These footprints were not gray. They were a brilliant crackling blue. They moved with terrifying speed darting across the cavern floor in jagged zigzag patterns.
"Blue lightning" Elara said her voice barely above a whisper. "The exact same mana signature as the dead A Rank Hunter. But the Hunter was already dead. The boy actually copied Lightning Movement. And he used it at full capacity."
She followed the blue trail. It led to a massive crater in the center of the room. The edges of the crater were stained with thick black monster blood. The blue footprints stopped right at the edge of the black blood.
And then the mana signature changed again.
The blue lightning mixed with a violent dark crimson aura. It was the exact same crimson aura the Hobgoblin had used to kill the A Rank Hunter.
Elara felt a cold sweat break out on the back of her neck. This violated every known law of the Awakening system. A Mimic could only copy a weak version of a skill they observed. They could not copy a monster skill. And they certainly could not hold two high tier skills at the exact same time.
"Maโam" another tech called out from the far side of the cavern his voice trembling. "You need to see this."
Elara walked over to the center of the room. Lying on the stone floor was the massive headless body of the Blood Iron Hobgoblin. The iron plated head rested a few feet away its burning red eyes finally dark.
Elara knelt beside the severed neck. The cut was perfectly smooth. It had cauterized the flesh instantly preventing a massive blood spill. It was the work of a blade moving at supersonic speeds wrapped in highly compressed mana.
She placed her hand over the wound to read the final echo.
The moment her tracking skill touched the residual mana a violent shock traveled up her arm. She gasped stumbling backward and falling onto the stone floor. Her tracking skill forcibly deactivated.
"Maโam are you alright?" the tech asked rushing forward to help her up.
Elara waved him off her breathing heavy. She stared at the severed neck of the monster in absolute horror.
"I read the echo" Elara said her voice shaking. "The mana used to decapitate this boss was not blue lightning. It was not crimson force. It was purple."
The forensic techs exchanged confused looks. "Purple? What kind of skill produces purple lightning?"
"None of them" Elara said standing up and brushing the dirt from her leather armor. "Blue lightning is an agility type mana. Crimson force is a strength type mana. They are fundamentally opposed. If a Hunter tried to cast both at the same time their spiritual core would tear itself apart. It is physical suicide."
She looked back at the massive dead monster and then at the blasted hole in the collapsed tunnel where the boy had made his exit.
"He did not just copy their skills" Elara whispered realizing the terrifying truth. "He stole them. And then he somehow merged them together. He created a completely new skill in the middle of a fight and used it to one shot a mutated boss."
Elara pulled a secure communication crystal from her belt. She pressed her thumb against the rune activating a direct encrypted line to the penthouse office of the Valor Guild.
"Guild Master Vance" Elara said when the deep baritone voice answered.
"Report Elara. Did the slum rat murder our Hunter?"
"No sir" Elara replied staring at the purple scorch marks on the cavern wall. "The Hobgoblin killed the Hunter. Duncan Carmichaelโs theory was wrong."
"So the boy just hid and looted the core?" Elias asked sounding annoyed.
"No sir" Elara said taking a deep breath. "The boy killed the boss. He killed a mutated C Rank boss in single combat. And Guild Master he did it using a skill that does not exist in our database. The F Rank Mimic classification is a lie. We are dealing with an unprecedented anomaly."
Silence hung on the other end of the line for a long time. When Elias finally spoke his voice was deadly serious.
"Find him Elara, before the other guilds realize what he is. Find Glen Mcdonald."
...
The morning sun struggled to pierce the thick layer of industrial smog hanging over the Johannesburg Mega City. Despite the gloom the Academy campus was bustling with activity. Elite students in pristine uniforms walked across the manicured lawns discussing their upcoming guild sponsorships and dungeon raids.
Glen Mcdonald walked through the towering wrought iron gates of the Academy.
He did not wear the faded gray uniform of the lower class students. He wore a sleek black combat jacket he had purchased from the underground exchange. The twin silver swords of the fallen A Rank Hunter were strapped securely to his back. He walked with a relaxed confident stride his hands resting casually in his pockets.
As he walked down the main pathway the whispers started.
Students stopped and stared. They pointed at the swords. They pointed at the new scar on his cheek. Just yesterday he had been the laughingstock of the entire school. The F Rank failure. The Mimic. Now he looked like a veteran mercenary returning from a war zone.
Glen ignored them. He enjoyed the warmth of the morning sun. His mother was safe in a premium hospital bed breathing clean filtered air. His pockets were full of credits. His spiritual core was humming with the raw power of three different skills.
He walked toward the central testing grounds a massive open air arena where students sparred to show off their skills for guild recruiters.
Standing in the center of the arena surrounded by a crowd of admiring followers was Fraser Lennox. The B Rank Pyromancer was currently demonstrating his fire manipulation casually tossing spheres of bright orange flame from hand to hand.
Fraser caught sight of Glen walking toward the arena. The Pyromancer stopped his demonstration letting the flames die out. A cruel arrogant smile spread across his face.
"Well well well" Fraser called out his voice carrying across the testing grounds. "Look who decided to show his face. I heard you took a porter job Mcdonald. Did you get lost on your way to the garbage dump?"
The crowd of elite students laughed right on cue.
Glen did not stop walking. He stepped past the boundary line and entered the sandy arena. He stopped twenty feet away from Fraser. He looked at the arrogant Pyromancer and then looked up at the VIP viewing boxes where the guild recruiters were sitting.
Glen smiled his dark cocky smirk.
"I am not here for your little insults Fraser" Glen said his voice calm and perfectly clear. "I am here to take out the trash. Draw your weapon."
