The fight was over, but inside Nox's head, the System was having a full-blown meltdown. A frantic series of notifications, seen by absolutely no one, flickered in an endless, desperate loop.

[ERROR! ANOMALY DETECTED! ATTEMPTING NEUTRALIZATION: 98. FAILED.]

[ERROR! ANOMALY DETECTED! ATTEMPTING NEUTRALIZATION: 99. FAILED.]

[ERROR! ANOMALY DETECTED! ATTEMPTING NEUTRALIZATION: 100. FAILED.]

[MAXIMUM ATTEMPTS REACHED. HALTING NEUTRALIZATION PROTOCOLS.]

[CRITICAL FAILURE. UNABLE TO CONTAIN ANOMALOUS POWER SIGNATURE.]

[ANALYZING SIGNATURE… SIGNATURE IDENTIFIED: CORRUPTED MANA.]

[PROTOCOL OVERRIDE: INTEGRATING ANOMALOUS SIGNATURE INTO USER'S SYSTEM.]

[…INTEGRATION COMPLETE. GOOD LUCK, I GUESS.]

[New Skill Tree Established: Corrupted]

[New Skills Acquired: Unseen Blade (Active), Shadow Mend (Passive)]

While the System was busy rewriting its own source code just to deal with him, Nox was completely out of it, lying motionless on the cracked pavement. Serian knelt beside him, her hand hovering nervously over the gnarly scar on his chest. The gaping wound had slammed itself shut, the flesh knitted together in a way that looked just… wrong. Deeply wrong. The angry red of a fresh injury was gone, replaced by a web of thin, black lines that looked like lightning frozen under his skin.

She lightly touched it with her fingertips. It was cold. Not just cool, but a deep, unsettling chill that had no business being on a living person.

'Okay, what the hell is this?' she thought, her mind racing. She'd seen her share of battlefield wounds, magical healing, the works. This wasn't any of those. 'This is a violation. It's like his pure, uncut rage just stapled his body back together.'

She checked his breathing. It was shallow but steady, thank the gods. He was alive, just deep in whatever passed for sleep after you nearly get torn in half. But they couldn't stay here. The psycho mercenary was gone, but who knew for how long? This part of the city was a ghost town, and she didn't want to meet whatever else was crawling around.

Just then, the gods, who had gone dead silent during the System's panic attack, started lighting up the feed again.

[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] It stopped… the system called his mana… corrupted. What does that even mean? Is he gonna be okay? Please, somebody tell me he's okay. 🥺

[Mars, God of Tactical Warfare] It didn't just stop, it gave up. It capitulated. The user's willpower literally broke the game's physics, forcing the system to accept a new variable. This is a weapon forged from pure rage. The tactical advantage is insane. This is a game-changer.

[Lady Veritas] Advantage? Mars, it's a perversion. He ripped a piece out of his own soul and twisted it into something monstrous. He didn't earn this power, he clawed it out of the world through sheer, ugly hatred. He's walking a very dark path.

[Baron Von Cynic] Oh, how delicious. The boy threw a tantrum so hard he broke his new toy. And now the toy is all warped and ugly. So, what's the prize for the world's biggest hissy fit? A cookie?

As they bickered, one last, big notification settled into place for Nox, a quiet summary of the violent upgrade he'd just brute-forced.

[Player Status]

[Name: Nox]

[Level: 18]

[Title: Anomaly Slayer, Dungeon Conqueror, Mercenary Hunter]

[HP: 110/260]

[MP: 5/55]

[Strength: 47]

[Agility: 47]

[Stamina: 25]

[Endurance: 42]

[Perception: 35]

[Luck: 22]

[Unallocated Stat Points: 30]

[Divine Coins: 100]

[Gods Watching You: 51]

[Skills:]

[Regeneration (Passive) - Lvl 1]

[Indomitable Will (Passive)]

[Weapon Mastery (Passive) - Lvl 1]

[Appraise (Active) - Lvl 1]

[Lesser Mana Weaving (Active) - Lvl 1]

[Parkour (Passive) - Lvl 1]

[Core Integration (Passive/Active) - Lvl 1]

[Skill Tree: Corrupted]

[Unseen Blade (Active) - Lvl 1: Fire a blade of pure force from corrupted mana. It's invisible, it hurts like hell, and it'll mess someone up. Cost: 15 MP.]

[Shadow Mend (Passive) - Lvl 1: Uses corrupted energy to crudely stitch wounds shut. It's messy and inefficient, but it's damn fast.]

Serian knew she had to get them moving. She was exhausted, her own energy totally spent from the chase and the fight. But leaving him here? Not an option. He'd fought for her—maybe for the mission, maybe for some other reason, who knew? It didn't matter. He'd stood his ground when any sane person would have bolted.

'He said he was meeting his friends at the city center,' she remembered. 'That's probably our best bet.' More people meant more eyes, which usually meant safer streets. And maybe his friends would actually know how to help him.

She pushed herself up, her resolve hardening. She was slender, sure, but her elven blood gave her a surprising amount of strength. She carefully slid one arm under Nox's shoulders and the other under his knees. With a grunt of pure effort, she heaved him off the ground. He was way heavier than he looked, a solid, dead weight of muscle and bone.

She adjusted her grip, getting him as secure as she could in a bridal carry, and started the long, slow walk toward the center of the ruined city.

---

Nox's eyes fluttered open.

Ugh. For a second, he had no idea where he was. Looked like some busted-up building, with chunks of plaster missing from the walls like someone had taken a sledgehammer to them. He remembered fighting that mercenary, Lola… and then a whole lot of nothing. He figured Serian must have dragged him here.

He tried to sit up, but his head was resting on something. Something warm. He tilted his head just a little. Oh. It was Serian's lap. She was slumped against the wall, fast asleep. Her breathing was slow and even, but she still looked completely wiped out.

'Huh,' he thought. 'She carried me all the way here? That must've sucked.' He shifted his head slightly, and a new thought hit him. 'Her lap is… soft.' It was a weird, out-of-place thing to think, but it was true. He didn't move for a solid minute, just letting that sink in. He wasn't used to anyone getting this close, or being this… gentle.

Finally, he carefully, very carefully, lifted his head and sat up, trying his best not to wake her. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest. He was stiff and sore, but the searing pain from Lola's attacks was gone. He ran a hand over his chest. Yep, the skin was smooth, but that freaky, cold feeling was still there, lurking just underneath.

That's when he felt something else. Deep inside him, right where his mana core was, there was a new sensation. He'd gotten used to the light, crackling energy of his normal mana. This was different. It felt like mana, sure, but it was thicker, heavier, like liquid shadow. It wasn't a bad feeling, just… potent. Really, really potent.

As he was trying to wrap his head around it, a blue screen winked into existence right in front of his face.

[System Update: Mana Signature Analysis Complete.]

[User Mana Type: Corrupted Mana.]

[Description: Your mana got a serious, personality-fueled makeover. Pushed by extreme emotion and sheer stubbornness, it's been twisted into something new. This stuff is highly volatile and powerful, and it loves to play with the darker parts of your skill set. It unlocks the 'Corrupted' skill tree, but be warned: going too hard with it might have some… interesting side effects on your head or your health.]

[Current Status: Stabilized. Your mana core has accepted the changes. Fully compatible with 'Unseen Blade' and 'Shadow Mend'.]

[Friendly Advice: Leveling this up might not be like your standard mana training. Experiment, but try not to blow yourself up.]

He read it all, then read it again. 'Corrupted Mana, huh?' So that's what that dark, surging power was during the fight. That Unseen Blade. 'Forcefully altered by extreme emotional state and will.' He remembered the absolute, blinding hatred he'd felt for Lola, the raw desire to just erase her. 'Yeah, I guess that would do it.'

The part about "unforeseen consequences" on his "psyche" sounded a little sketchy, but honestly? He didn't really care. He survived. He made a high-level, psycho mercenary run away. In his book, that was a win, no contest.

'Different from standard mana practices, it says.' He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers. He could feel that thick, dark energy swirling inside him, ready to go. 'Wonder how different?'

He glanced over at Serian. She was still out cold, looking peaceful for the first time since he'd met her. He decided to let her rest. He had a lot to think about. And a lot of new, dangerous power to figure out.