I TRADE DESIRES FOR POWER

4

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: Enforcer of the Bone Hand Gang ] [Magic: Physical Necromancy (Rank 1 Peak) ] [Intent: Forced Demolition & Murder ]

"Where's the corpse squatting in this rat hole?!" Kargas roared, his voice sounding like grinding stones. He shifted the rusted axe on his shoulder.

Gavin leaned back into his high-backed wooden chair. "I don't recall opening applications for a butcher."

Kargas spat onto the aged carpet. "You've got a big mouth, you bastard."

His five henchmen fanned out quickly, gripping enchanted daggers and spiked chains as they flanked the desk from left and right.

"Got orders from the Vane Clan," Kargas growled, stepping forward. His heavy boots made the floorboards groan beneath his weight. "This place gets leveled to the ground tonight. Anyone inside gets their guts ripped out."

Gavin tilted his head. "The Vanes?"

"What? Scared?" Kargas burst into a booming laugh, flashing a row of yellow teeth. "The Vane Clan doesn't like rogue dens in Soho radiating ancient magic aura. Especially not after a succubus crawled in here last night. Hand over the land deed right now, or I'll slice your throat!"

"This kid doesn't even have pure mana," one of Kargas's thugs sneered from the right. "Just a broke piece of scrap metal!"

Abraxas cackled delightedly from the ceiling. "Oho! Pure murderous intent right over the cash desk! Gavin, enforce shop law!"

Gavin curled his lips into a faint, icy smile. "Kargas... do you know the rules of this shop?"

"Screw your rules!" Kargas snarled. Raising his heavy axe high, he crossed the gold-tiled boundary line in front of the counter. "I make the rules here!"

He swung the heavy axe straight for Gavin's face.

Before the rusted blade could cut through the air in front of the desk, four silver magic chains burst through the wooden floorboards.

WHOOSH! CRACK!

The arcane chains whipped around Kargas's wrists, ankles, and neck mid-air. The heavy axe ground to a sudden halt mere inches from Gavin's nose, quivering violently, unable to descend a single millimeter further.

"What?! What the hell is this?!" Kargas's eyes bulged in panic, the veins in his neck popping as he strained against the restraint. The arcane chains bound him even tighter, making his skin crackle.

His henchmen recoiled in shock. "Boss! Why'd you stop?!"

Gavin stood up slowly from his chair and brushed the dust off his sleeve.

"Law No. 13 of Blackfriars," Gavin said flatly. "Anyone who crosses this desk carrying intent to kill is automatically deemed delinquent on a soul debt."

"Let me go, you bastard!" Kargas roared. A foul black aura of necromancy erupted from his skin, trying to scorch the silver chains.

"Initiate Debt Collection," Gavin whispered.

BOOM!

The massive Soul-Ledger exploded with brilliant light atop the counter.

"AAAARRGGGHHH!" Kargas shrieked hysterically, his voice squealing like a slaughtered pig.

The massive muscles on Kargas's chest and arms withered at a terrifying rate. The necromantic magic on his skin was forcefully siphoned by the silver chains, rushing into the pages of the Soul-Ledger before shooting straight into Gavin's chest.

CRACK! CRACK!

The fractured bones in Gavin's chest fused back together instantly. The magic veins in his arms swelled, and the raw physical strength of Kargas's body transferred entirely into Gavin's bloodstream.

[Debt Seized.] [Physical Necromancy Purified.] [Physical Attribute: Rank 1 Peak (Physical Mastery) ] [Magic Core Restored: 10% Operational Capacity ]

Kargas slumped weakly inside the chains, his hulking frame shriveled into a emaciated, pale husk. His heavy axe slipped from his grasp and slammed onto the floor. BAM!

Gavin stepped around the cash desk, his footfalls heavy and planted.

"What... what kind of monster are you..." Kargas whimpered, his breath coming in shallow hitches.

Gavin grabbed Kargas's collar with his left hand, hoisting the man's weight into the air single-handedly with zero effort.

The five Bone Hand thugs behind him shook violently, their weapons clattering together in their trembling hands.

"Boss Kargas... his magic got drained..." one thug whispered.

"Run! RUN, DAMMIT!"

All five thugs spun around, scrambling over each other to burst out the front door like rats doused in boiling water. Screaming in terror, they vanished into the thick fog of Blackfriars Lane.

Gavin didn't give chase. He tossed Kargas's limp body onto the stone floor near the entrance.

BAM!

Kargas winced, clutching his dead arm. "Don't... don't kill me..."

Gavin knelt beside him, pulling the man up by his collar until their faces were inches apart.

"I'm not going to kill you," Gavin said slowly. "I need you to go back to the boss of the Bone Hand."

Kargas swallowed hard. "T-tell him what?"

"Tell him No. 13 Blackfriars has a new owner." Gavin grabbed Kargas's right arm and bent it backward.

"AGHHH!" Kargas howled as his arm bone snapped clean in two.

"And if any more of the Vane Clan's dogs come around," Gavin whispered directly into his ear, "I won't just take their muscle. I'll bleed their souls completely dry."

Gavin stood up and kicked Kargas out the door with a strike to the ribs.

"Get out."

Kargas dragged himself along the cobblestones of Soho with his one good hand, wailing in agony amidst the black fog.

The shop door shut on its own.

Gavin stood in the center of the room and balled his left hand into a fist. Crack. His knuckles popped loudly. The power of a Rank 1 Peak physical build surged beneath his skin. His ribs were completely healed, and his Magic Core felt firmer than ever.

"Brutal, but I like it!" Abraxas cackled from the ceiling. "Your physical body is now on par with a first-tier knight!"

Gavin picked up Kargas's massive iron axe from the floor and tossed the heavy weapon onto the restricted pawn shelf with a single fluid wrist flick.

The Soul-Ledger recorded the axe as a seized penalty asset.

Gavin seated himself back in the mahogany chair and stared out the smudged window—toward Mayfair, where Arabella Vane and Cassian Montgomery slept soundly on stolen wealth.

"One by one," Gavin hissed.