Chapter 5 – The Blade and the Mask
[Location: Forest Outskirts – South of Velden]
Smoke curled into the dusk sky, rising from the charred remains of a traveler's camp.
A broken sword lay in the dirt. Nearby, a helmet split in two. And at the center of the carnage, knee-deep in blood, stood a girl no older than seventeen.
Clad in a crimson cloak, her hands bare and slick with gore, she wiped a streak of blood from her cheek with calm indifference.
> [Name: Nyssa Carrow – Level 14 – Affiliation: Unknown]
[Status: Cold, Precise – Emotional State: Focused]
[System Type: Blood Alchemy – Perk: Converts slain life into temporary stat boosts.]
The Mind's Eye flickered the moment Aayu glimpsed her from a tree's shadow.
He didn't move.
He didn't blink.
She was a system holder.
One of the Seven.
And she had just killed three adventurers like they were pigs.
Don't engage, his instincts screamed.
But Aayu's curiosity whispered louder.
Why is a system holder this close to Velden? Why kill without reason?
He crept back, steps measured. He'd seen enough.
Or so he thought—until her voice pierced the quiet.
"You've been watching me for seven minutes."
He froze.
Her eyes never turned. She just waited.
Slowly, deliberately, Aayu stepped into the clearing.
She turned at last, and her gaze was nothing like his. Where his eyes were calculating and cautious, hers were still, merciless—like a pond hiding something monstrous beneath.
"You're not afraid," she said.
"I am," he replied. "I just hide it well."
She tilted her head. "Clever. That's rare."
Then she walked away, leaving corpses behind as if they didn't matter.
But before disappearing into the trees, she added, "Don't follow me again. Next time, I won't ask."
---
[Velden – Lower Ring District – Two Days Later]
Aayu moved quickly now. Not because of Nyssa, but because of the implications.
Another system holder in Velden? That makes three spotted within two months. Someone's gathering... or hunting.
The system didn't answer his questions. It only gave opportunities.
> [SP Earned: +1 – Observation of Threat-Class Individual]
[Total SP: 3]
He couldn't afford to waste time.
---
[Flashback – Age 15]
The boy had tried to steal his boots.
Aayu didn't blame him.
He just made sure the boy never tried again.
No one helped him when he was starving. So why should he help others?
That night, he earned his first scar—and learned that weakness invited cruelty.
---
[Velden – Secret Chamber Beneath Ruined Chapel]
He used the old smuggler tunnels now. A priest owed him a favor—or rather, owed silence in exchange for secrets.
He summoned the interface.
> [Status Window – Aayu]
Level: 4
Stats: STR 6 / AGI 9 / INT 12 / PER 15 / LCK 8
Traits: Keen Insight, Quiet Step
Skills: Shadow Veil (Lv.1)
SP: 3
> [Shop Available – View Purchasable Options?]
"Yes."
A list unrolled. Most were still locked. Some whispered of power—Night's Grasp, Mindpierce, Charmbreaker.
All too expensive.
But a cheap utility caught his eye:
> [Skill: Echo Sense – Hear through walls and pinpoint hidden sounds. Cost: 3 SP]
He purchased it.
> [Skill Acquired – Echo Sense (Lv.1)]
He grinned.
People trusted walls far too much.
---
[Upper District – House Dalthyr Estate]
Oren Dalthyr, the greedy merchant, wasn't as quiet as he thought.
Aayu perched behind a stone wall, breath slow.
"…the artifact is in the vault. No, of course I didn't register it. Idiots at the guild think it's a family heirloom."
"…No, not cursed. It's bait. We use it to lure one of them. Yes, one of the Seven."
Aayu's heartbeat slowed.
He was baiting a system holder.
Who? Me? Nyssa? Another?
He slipped away before the guards circled back.
The game had changed.
Someone knew the systems existed—and wanted them dead.
---
[That Night – Rooftop of the Guild Hall]
The wind was cold. The stars offered no comfort.
Aayu sat, knees pulled to his chest.
Not out of sadness.
But reflection.
He remembered what the priest once whispered, after too much wine:
"The Church calls them God's Chosen. Seven fragments of divine will... but what if they're just tools?"
Tools.
That's what everyone wanted them to be.
Weapons for the Church. Trophies for nobles. Experiments for the Tower.
But Aayu?
He wasn't a tool.
He was a player.
And he was learning the rules.
---
[Unknown Location – Deep Underground]
A man in crimson robes stirred a cauldron of silver blood.
"Three confirmed sightings," he whispered. "Velden swarms with chosen."
His eyes—black and empty—looked toward a map marked with ancient sigils.
"The Demon God stirs. The cycle begins anew."
Behind him, twelve shadowed figures knelt in silence.
One rose.
"The Shopbearer grows stronger."
"Then find him," the cultist hissed.
"Before he learns what the shop is truly for."