Horus staggered.
The white-armoured cowl split at the seams, dark skin fracturing beneath as Nathaniel drove the blade in deeper.With a final snarl of effort, he twisted the weapon—cutting through hard tissue, severing something vital.
A sudden silence filled the space.
The once-roaring flames flickered, collapsing inward in a sphere of dying royal blue.Heat faded. Light dimmed.
Nathaniel dropped alongside Horus—both bodies crashing into the cracked floor as fatigue overtook him, bones screaming, breath ragged. His arms trembled, resin peeling off in brittle flakes, scorched and spent.
The fire around them shrank into a glow—then embers—then nothing.
The cave was left in a thick, pulsing darkness.
Horus' body had long since dissolved into vapour and light, but what remained behind now rested in Nathaniel's bloodied palm—a dark, flat hexagonal prism, its surface etched with intricate runes pulsing faintly like a heartbeat. It resembled a hunter's ingot, but denser, heavier… saturated with an unfamiliar gravity.
He rolled it between his fingers, watching it spin once before flipping it high. It landed with a soft clack in his palm. Without hesitation—driven by instinct more than thought—he crushed it.
The interface flared to life, glyphs skimming across the air before him in lines of pale blue script. Assimilation began.
Nothing happened.
Then everything did.
His body spasmed.
Uratsu surged through his veins like a tide of molten light, searing from the inside. His breath caught—then escaped in a strangled gasp as bright royal blue flames erupted from his palms, streaking the cave walls with kinetic force, scorching air and stone alike.
The fire didn't just burn—it thrust. It moved.
He clenched his jaw, suppressing the torrent with effort as sweat steamed off his skin. The flames shifted hue, dimming from searing royal to a bright, refined cyan. Heat clung to his ribs and limbs like a second skin. His muscles ached from overuse—veins beneath the skin still glowing like reactor conduits under stress.
Singed marks bloomed across his skin, smoking.
With a groan, he activated Max Regen.
Energy flooded his system.
His skin tightened, torn muscle knitting beneath it. The cracks across his forearms closed. The bite of exhaustion eased—but only slightly. The damage may have been patched, but the weight of that release… still clung to him.
He looked down at his hands, still faintly smoking.
This was no ordinary power.
Something new had carved itself into him.
And it wasn't done settling.
He looked at the interface, eyes scanning the accumulated progression data.
Thought Cube 1 Complete
You have leveled up.Resonance Level: 10
Acquisition: Hunter's Ingot – EmberContains Augment: HELLCHARGE→ Skill: Hellcharge – a flame-based skill that causes combustion of energy released by the user. Burns internal energy as fuel, producing intense flame with high kinetic force.→ Hidden Subsidiary Support Adaptation: ENERGY PATH TYPE A – v1Base energy projection skill allowing for improved focus and controlled release of power.
from Hive Hunter Nubian
Augment: SPRING LOADAllows for muscle fibers to interlock and generate immense strength. Activates as glowing lines along muscle groups, enhancing kinetic output via explosive force.
Augment: RESINUser can secrete a resin-like substance that hardens when infused with uratsu. Texture resembles amber; once hardened, density matches that of quartz. In Nathaniel's case, it takes on the crystalline appearance of dark cyan andara.
The world around him began to distort—reality fracturing like glass as the simulation layer shattered. A blinding white overtook the scene.
Then, he was standing once more in the basement of Arkam's Works—hoodie torn and scorched, black jeans dirtied and frayed, his breath still catching in his chest. Smoke curled from his body in thin wisps of blue as remnants of uratsu flame crackled briefly before fading.
He glanced at his inventory—among the newly listed items, one caught his eye: Horus' Cowl.
It shimmered faintly in the interface, tagged with a single glowing perk:
Perk: Fire Resistance – ModerateReduces incoming flame damage by 40%.
Without hesitation, he equipped it.
There was no dramatic shift—no pulse of energy or blaze of light. Just a subtle shift in balance, like stepping into a second skin. He looked down at his hands, then back at the interface. Nothing… until he flexed his back muscles.
A faint mechanical whirr.
The air lifted around him as he hovered slightly off the ground. His cape unfolded into a set of armoured wings—segmented, sleek, white with a faint shimmer, etched with geometric decals. Not massive or theatrical—functional. Clean. The cowl wrapped around his shoulders like a plated mantle, the wings dividing neatly into three sections.
He hovered there a moment—testing, breathing.
Then with a thought, he shut it down.
The wings folded in. The cowl compressed into an elegant white cape, still braced and plated, settling neatly behind him like a knight's sigil of conquest. as he de equipped the cape.