Boss Zhou rose to his feet with a wince, tossing the blood-soaked gauze onto the floor. "You got what we needed," he muttered, eyeing Lin Feng, who was still crouched beside the trembling prisoner, scalpel slick with red. "No need to ruin the goods more than necessary."
Luo Ye gave a short laugh, lighting another cigarette with blood-slick fingers. "Damn, Feng. You're more fucked in the head than I thought. That guy's face looked like it aged ten years in ten minutes."
The soldier was slumped in the chair, weeping silently, his will shattered. His lips trembled as he repeated the coordinates in a dull voice, like a broken recording. "Beneath the old mountain temple… western ridge slope… through the collapsed shaft… magic seal… key glyph etched in the eastern wall—just let me go, please… please…"
Zhou gave Lin Feng a nod, though there was a flicker of something cautious in his eyes. "You've done good. You'll get your cut, like I promised."
Luo glanced at the twitching, half-conscious soldier and smirked. "Don't kill him, alright? We might need him again."
As the door creaked open and the two stepped out, Zhou muttered under his breath to Luo, "Feng's a damn monster. Kid looked like he was enjoying it."
Luo scoffed. "He was. That ain't a man—that's something else. Something worse."
The door shut behind them with a dull click.
Silence fell.
Lin Feng stayed crouched, watching the man like a cat eying a wounded mouse. The air was thick with the coppery tang of blood and the low, pitiful sobs of his victim.
Then Lin Feng smiled.
It wasn't a kind smile. It wasn't even human.
"You know," he whispered, rising to his feet and walking behind the chair, fingers lightly dragging the scalpel across the man's shoulder, "I'm not satisfied yet."
The man's head shot up, terror returning in waves. "P-please, I told you! I told you everything!"
"You told me a location," Lin Feng purred. "But not everything. See, places like that always have contingencies. Hidden escape routes. Backup paths. Emergency tunnels the big dogs don't share with their grunts. But you…"
He leaned in close, breath brushing the man's ear.
"You're no grunt, are you?"
The man froze.
"You knew how to fight. You knew how to command. You were guarding the spring, weren't you? So don't lie to me. There's more." His voice dropped to a whisper, playful, poisonous. "There's always more."
The scalpel sank just a little—just a taste—into the man's thigh.
The soldier howled, thrashing weakly, eyes rolling with renewed panic.
"I'll tell you! I'll tell you! There's a second entrance! A tunnel used for emergency evacuation—it's hidden beneath the chapel ruins near the southern face of the mountain! The glyphs there can bypass the main seal! Please! That's all I know!"
Lin Feng's grin widened. That sounded a lot more like the truth.
He crouched again, meeting the man's eyes.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"
The scalpel moved without hesitation—slice. A clean, efficient cut across the man's throat. Blood sprayed, hot and messy, soaking the tiles as the soldier gurgled one last breath before slumping forward, lifeless.
A soft ding echoed in Lin Feng's ears as a system notification blinked into existence in the air before him:
[ Ding! ]You have killed a target vastly superior to your level.Bonus EXP Awarded: 9,500Level Up! x10
[ New Title Unlocked: The Predator]You thrive on slaying enemies above your station. When fighting opponents of higher level, you receive:
+25% Damage Output
+15% Damage Resistance
+10% Mana Recovery Boost
Title Effect Active.
_______________________
[System Note: At a time only 1 title effect can be active.]
Lin Feng blinked once, then let out a small chuckle. It started low in his throat and grew into something darker, almost joyful.
"Now that's a reward," he muttered, staring down at the corpse, still twitching slightly. "Guess the strong taste sweeter when they scream."
He stood, flexing his fingers. The mana in his body surged—the Curse element pulsing like a dark heart, responding to the bloodshed.
Lin Feng cracked his neck, the silence in the motel room now thick with the scent of death. The body at his feet had already begun to cool, eyes glazed over in terror.
He dragged a bloodied hand across the wall, smearing it absentmindedly as he muttered:
"System. Show me my status."
A familiar cold shimmer flashed in front of his eyes, and the transparent screen unfolded.
[ Status Screen ]
Name: Lin FengRace: HumanLevel: 11EXP: 500 / 2500Element:Curse (Epic)Magic Awakening Status: Novice
➣Magic: None.
➣Title: The Predator.
➣Talent:
•Pain Resistance
•Hunger Resistance
•Drug Resistance
•Mana Manipulation
➣Stats:
Mana: 1500 / 1500
Mana Recovery: 2.5 / min
Magic Resistance: 15
➣Inventory:
• 1x Healing Potion
•Bloodied Scalpel
•Bloodied Knife
•Soldier's Dog Tag
_________________
Lin Feng whistled low. "Level eleven, huh? From one squealing pig. Who needs training arcs?"
"My mana increased by a lot, and with this recovery rat,e my mana will recover fully in about 10 to 12 hours."
"With this I might be able to take full control over the star and might suceed in connecting the 7 stars inside their Stardust into a Star Path, they will be able to cast a Novice Magic."
Lin Feng stood in silence for a moment longer, breathing in the scent of blood like it was incense, like it fed something primal in his soul. The room was quiet, save for the dripping sound of blood pooling below the chair.
He flicked the blood off the scalpel with a casual flick of his wrist and slipped it back into his belt, then sat cross-legged on the bloodstained floor. The dim light from the motel's dying bulbs flickered above, throwing his shadow across the walls like something monstrous.
"Let's try again," he muttered.
His fingers moved in slow precision as he closed his eyes, focusing inward.
The Curse Element wasn't like the elemental schools the others used. It was wild, unstable… feral. The other elements had grace, balance. Fire was furious but direct. Ice was cold but clean. Lightning? Flashy and loud.
Curse?
It whispered.
Like venom slithering through veins, like rot blooming beneath the skin.
He visualized the stars in his spiritual world—seven in total, the foundation of any Novice Mage's path to spellcasting. Weeks ago, they were distant, like stars behind storm clouds, erratic and refusing to obey. But now…
They shimmered with unsettling clarity.
The lines that once flickered and shattered before forming were now beginning to stabilize. He could trace them—not fully, not yet—but longer than before. The stars pulsed with a sickly green-black hue, and the resonance between them felt hungry.
Like they wanted to be used.
"Better," Lin Feng whispered, a grin creeping across his face. "Much better."
The first Star Path was nearly complete.
He could feel it. A few more days… maybe a week. And he'd be able to cast his first Curse spell. The thought made his blood sing.
Not long now.
Not long before, he could see what his element really looked like when it was unleashed on the souls of the weak.
He opened his eyes slowly, a glint of amusement dancing in them.
"Looks like I'll need some more practice," he said aloud to the corpse. "After all, I can't walk around this world completely defenceless."
He stood, pacing slowly, dragging his fingers along the bloodstained wall.
"And who better to practice on…"
He stopped by the door, grinning wickedly as the thought finished in his mind.
"…than those naïve little shits at the Magic School."
They'd laughed at him before. Looked down on him. The kids from noble families, pampered by elemental tutors, handed their magic like it was some kind of birthright.
They thought awakening magic made them powerful.
Lin Feng would teach them that power wasn't something you were given.
It was something you took.
Especially from the screaming mouths of those too weak to keep it.