Chapter 15: The Stalker's Errand
The morning air outside was a cold slap, tasting of dust and decay. It was a familiar poison, and in a strange way, a comfort. The oppressive, watchful silence of the tunnels was replaced by the open, honest danger of the ruins. This was his element.
The map in his mind was a living thing. The path to the veterinary office glowed, a route that wove through back alleys and broken-down fences, avoiding the pulsing red icons of the "Corrupted Aerie" and the stationary, high-level threats. He moved with the silence his class was built for, his new Agility points making each step a whisper, each vault over a collapsed wall an effortless act.
This was different from his previous excursions. The objective wasn't just survival or XP. It was acquisition. It was a *mission*. The weight of it was a new kind of pressure. Jonas's face, Mara's despair, Eli's calculating gaze—they were variables in the back of his mind, a constant hum beneath his tactical focus.
He reached the veterinary office in under twenty minutes. It was tucked between a laundromat and a small grocery store, all three storefronts battered but largely intact. The front door was splintered, hanging from one hinge. His hopes dipped. Looters.
He slipped inside, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. The waiting room was a mess of overturned chairs and scattered paperwork. But the looters had been rushed, panicked. They'd taken the obvious: food from the break room, maybe painkillers. They had ignored the specialized, locked cabinets behind the counter.
A few precise blows from his rebar shattered the flimsy locks on the supply cupboards. Inside, he struck a grim jackpot. Vials of antibiotics, sealed bags of saline, sutures, and rolls of gauze. He stuffed them all into a discarded duffel bag he found under a desk. It was more than he could have hoped for.
But the System had hinted at something more. The **[Slasher's Claw]** was for an *antidote*, not antibiotics. He moved into the back, to the examination rooms. In one, he found what he was looking for. A locked cabinet marked **'Antivenoms & Toxin Counteragents'**. This lock was stronger. He had to wedge his rebar and use his full Strength to wrench it open, the sound unnervingly loud in the silence.
Inside were several vials. Most were for snake and spider venoms, useless. But one set of vials was labeled with a chemical formula he didn't recognize. The System, however, did. As his fingers brushed them, a prompt appeared.
**Item Identified: [Broad-Spectrum Toxin Neutralizer].**
**Can be used as a Catalyst for [Antidote Base] items.**
He took them all.
The duffel bag was heavy now, a treasure trove of survival. He had over-delivered. The ledger would show a massive credit. But as he turned to leave, a new prompt flashed, golden and urgent, overlaying his map.
**Local Quest Available: [Clear the Warren]**
**A brood of Corrupted Slashers has nested in the connected basement, threatening the stability of this Safe Zone resource node. Eliminate the brood.**
**Reward: 300 XP. [Recipe: Basic Antidote].**
**Failure: Resource node will be lost.**
Kael froze. A Local Quest. The System was directly tasking him. The reward was exactly what he needed to make the claw useful. But a *brood* of Slashers? The one he'd fought had nearly killed him, and that was with the element of surprise and a skill use.
He looked at the door to the basement. It was reinforced, but something heavy was throwing itself against it from the other side with a wet, rhythmic thud. The wood was splintering.
The calculus was brutal.
*Option 1: Leave.* He had the supplies. The mission was a success. He could return a hero. The brood might stay contained, or it might not. It was a future problem.
*Option 2: Engage.* A high probability of death for a recipe and XP. A gamble to turn a resource into a sustainable solution.
He thought of Jonas. The antibiotics might work. They might not. The Antidote, blessed by the System, was a certainty. It was a permanent upgrade to their capabilities.
The basement door splintered, a long, serrated bone-blade punching through the wood. A chittering snarl echoed from the darkness.
Kael dropped the heavy duffel bag by the front entrance, ensuring a quick escape. He hefted his rebar. The cooldown on **[Shadow Stride]** was complete.
He wasn't just retrieving supplies anymore. He was executing a protocol. The Aegis Protocol demanded not just reaction, but pre-emption. It demanded securing assets permanently.
As the first Slasher began to force its way through the shattered door, Kael took a deep breath and accepted the quest.
The Stalker's errand was over. The purge was about to begin.