"Close the door! Hurry up, you bastard!" Vespera shrieked, her breathing coming in ragged gasps. Her trembling hands dug sharp nails into the mahogany wood of the cash desk. "Division 9 is right behind me!"The heavy thud of tactical boots echoed outside the Blackfriars Lane alley, mixing with the barking orders of Division 9 magic hunters and the baying of magical tracking hounds.Gavin didn't flinch. He stayed seated in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. "Inside here, outside laws don't apply. But if you want me to lock this door against their scanning magic, the market price is different.""Dammit!" Vespera glared. Her blood-red eyes flashed in the dimness of the shop. "I'm suffering from mana leakage! My chest feels like it's going to explode! And you're trying to gouge me?""This isn't a charity," Gavin replied coldly. "You brought the problem. I bring the solution. Deal, or get out?""This old shop never changes!" Abraxas's voice buzzed happily from the chandelier. "Come on

Gavin tossed a greasy rag onto the counter. The silver chains of the Soul-Ledger thrummed lazily behind his ribcage, pumping rented mana to keep his heart beating."Six street scum approaching," Abraxas called out lazily from the crystal chandelier, his voice raspy. "No scent of coin on them. Just cheap blood and foul necromancy."Gavin tapped his fingers against the mahogany desk. The room was deathly quiet, save for the ticking of the old grandfather clock and his own steadying breath as his core stabilized at ten percent.BAM!The heavy wooden door was slammed open so hard it hit the brick wall. Ancient dust billowed into the air.Six armed thugs sauntered inside, their leather jackets caked in dried blood. Iron chains were wrapped around their arms, and the stench of foul magic suddenly choked the room. Leading the pack was a two-meter-tall brute hauling a heavy iron butcher's axe over his shoulder.Red text blazed in Gavin's vision:[Name: Kargas "The Meat-Cleaver" ] [Status: Enf

Three silver chains burst from the cover of the Soul-Ledger inside Gavin's chest as he sat brooding on the edge of his bed, clamping onto his ribs so hard his skin bruised a deep purple.The siphoning came without mercy.The first stream tasted of sweet rose mixed with scalding vapor—the daily interest from Vespera's Succubus contract. The second stream was freezing cold, empty and tasteless—Pip's extracted fear held in the glass bottle. The third stream burned his tongue like molten copper—the lingering heat of Tamsin Rhys's Erotic Soul Curse.Gavin gripped the coarse cloth of his bedsheet. His teeth gritted so tight his gums bled.The fractures in his Magic Core were forcibly knit together. Mana pathways that had once been calcified into useless ruin began to reconnect, bound by threads of silver. Gray smoke smelling of iron steam billowed from his nose and mouth.The veins in Gavin's arms bulged dark and thick. The rotted red hue left by his old wounds was replaced by a hard, metal

The Greatsword of Radiance swung vertically, cleaving the green fire straight down the middle when The green light from the tip of Pendelton’s staff exploded through the dark warehouse. The air reeked of burning sulfur as a torrent of magical flame surged straight for Gavin’s chest.Sparks of wild mana slammed into the concrete, reducing nearby wooden crates to black ash in an instant."Kill the old knight first!" Pendelton shrieked, his raspy voice drowned out by the roaring incantations of the five armored soldiers behind him.Three shield-bearers advanced in unison. Runed tower shields in hand projected a translucent, bluish barrier, crushing the wooden floorboards to splinters beneath their weight. Two riflemen behind them pulled the triggers of their twin-drum mana rifles.A volley of black-lead shot shredded the air.Gavin closed his eyes for a fraction of a second. The Templar combat instincts pulled from Gideon's memories fused with the silver aura of his newly quarter-restore