Deaths Reward

Julia stood a few paces away, her rapier still dripping with the dark, viscous blood of the Wretches. Her chest rose and fell as she caught her breath, but her wide eyes were fixed on Kade. "I can't believe what you just did," she said, her voice trembling slightly, though her tone carried an undercurrent of awe.

Kade brushed a hand over his bloodied face, wincing as he felt the sting of a shallow cut across his cheek. "Had to be done," he muttered, his gaze scanning the battlefield, lingering on the monstrous corpse at the center. He tried to brush off her words, but the intensity of her expression made him pause.

Julia stepped closer, her grip still firm on her rapier. "Whatever's going on with you, it's not normal. And, honestly... I don't think I'd still be standing if you hadn't been here."

Kade shrugged, glancing at the shattered remains of the crystalline beast. "You handled yourself just fine."

"Against those Wretches, maybe," Julia replied, nodding toward the smaller bodies scattered across the ground. "But that thing?" She gestured to the hulking corpse of the larger monster. "I'd be dead if it weren't for you."

For a moment, the two of them stood in silence, the weight of what had just happened settling between them. Then Julia spoke again, her tone firmer this time. "We should stick together. At least for now."

Kade tilted his head, studying her. She didn't flinch under his scrutiny, her sharp features set with determination. He could see it clearly—this wasn't someone who would drag him down. She wasn't dead weight. He gave her a small nod. "Fair enough."

As the tension eased, Kade's gaze returned to the massive creature's corpse. His mind began to churn, piecing together fragments of the fight. When he'd been on its back, the crystalline growths hadn't just been sharp—they'd felt metallic, solid, almost like tempered steel. His fingers twitched at the memory. Those shards might be useful. Durable, at the very least. Maybe I could use them to make a proper weapon. Something better than a rusty pipe.

And then there was the core. His eyes shifted to the beast's head, the faint glow from the broken Wretches' cores still vivid in his memory. If those lesser creatures had cores, this one almost certainly did. Kade's thoughts raced. Those cores had power—enough to save his life back on the rooftop. Who knows what a larger core like this could do? He flexed his fingers absently, feeling the faint hum of resonance energy still lingering in his blood. If I'm going to keep surviving, I need every advantage I can get.

"Hold on," he said, motioning for Julia to stay where she was as he moved toward the beast's corpse.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice cautious but curious.

Kade didn't answer right away. He crouched next to the beast, his hand brushing over one of the jagged crystals protruding from its back. The surface gleamed faintly in the dim light, sharp and heavy, but something had changed since the monster's death. The once-tense flesh anchoring the crystals had withered, leaving the growths loose and easier to remove, as though the energy that had maintained its form had dissipated.

He gripped one of the larger shards, giving it a firm tug. With a crack, the crystal came free, heavier than it looked. Kade tested its weight in his hand, running his fingers along the edge. Durable, sharp, and solid—this was no ordinary growth. He wrapped it in a strip of cloth torn from his shirt and set it aside before pulling free several more, each one a potential weapon or tool in the making. His mind worked through the possibilities. I could shape these into blades, spears... maybe even armor.

Julia raised an eyebrow. "You're scavenging now?"

Kade ignored her comment, shifting his focus to the creature's head. With another strip of fabric wrapped around his hand, he dug into the shattered remains of its skull. The process was messy, the smell of charred flesh and blood making his stomach churn, but he worked quickly. After several moments of prying and cutting, he found it—the core.

It was different from the others he'd seen. Larger, darker, and pulsing faintly with a deep, ominous purple light. Kade wrapped it tightly in the fabric, his fingers tingling from the faint warmth that radiated through the cloth. He slipped it into his pack alongside the crystal shards, his mind already turning over the possibilities.

Julia watched him with a mix of curiosity and disbelief. "What's so important about that thing?"

Kade finally looked up, meeting her gaze. "No idea," he admitted. "But I'm not leaving it behind."

She frowned but didn't press further. "We need to keep moving," she said, scanning their surroundings. "This place isn't safe."

Kade nodded, rising to his feet. His body still ached from the fight, but the resonance energy humming faintly in his veins gave him just enough strength to keep going. He adjusted his pack, his eyes narrowing as he looked toward the distant skyline.

"Let's go," he said, his tone low but resolute.

Julia followed without another word, and together they disappeared into the shadows of the ruined city.