The God-Level Scavenger

Point of No Return

"I will never go back to being your family's bargaining chip, Tariq," Amina said, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp tone that cut through the sound of crackling flames.

In the outer sectors, noble families maintained their power by buying up the core debts of lower-class citizens, turning bloodlines into permanent property. Amina had spent three years acting like a submissive servant in Tariq's estate, secretly mapping out every security code and vault system the guild owned. She did not survive on hope or luck. She survived because she treated every human interaction as a contract, calculating exactly when to strike to win her freedom.

Tariq laughed, his right hand glowing brighter as the red fire spell expanded over his palm. "You do not have a choice anymore. Once I take your head back to the inner city, my father will clear my failure in the vault."

Two guild guards rushed forward, their long steel swords aiming straight for my neck.

I moved before they could close the distance.

Shadow Step.

My body melted into a dark blur, sliding five feet across the dirt ground to appear directly beside the left guard. I swung my new broadsword with all seventy-six points of my strength. The heavy steel blade smashed through his leather armor, snapping his sword in half and knocking him hard into the stone wall of the elevator pit.

The second guard swung his blade at my shoulder, but I did not try to dodge. I activated Rank-D Iron Skin, letting his sword hit my bare collarbone.

A sharp metallic ring echoed through the narrow alley. His blade bounced off my gray skin without leaving a single scratch, the force of the hit vibrating back into his own wrists. Before he could recover, I kicked him full in the chest, sending him crashing into the burning fire circle.

[Enemy defeated.]

[Extracted Skill: Fire Resistance (Rank D).]

[Current Stats: Strength 76, Agility 72, Defense D-Rank (Iron Skin), Fire Resistance D-Rank.]

"He has defensive armor magic!" the guard on the right called out, stepping back toward the watchtower. "Use long-range spells!"

Tariq did not wait for his men to regroup. He pushed his glowing hand forward, sending a concentrated beam of red fire straight toward Amina's face.

Amina did not run. She stood her ground, pulling a broken iron plate off the nearby elevator structure and holding it up like a shield. The red beam hit the iron plate, heating the metal to a bright orange glow within seconds. The intense heat scorched her wrists, but she held the shield steady, using her own light core to bend the beam's direction, reflecting the fire upward into the wooden support beams of the elevator cage.

The dry timber caught fire instantly. The heavy steel cables groaned under the sudden weight of the burning beams, dropping six inches with a loud metallic screech.

"Kofi, the elevator cable is snapping!" Amina shouted, her voice calm despite the raw red burns covering her hands. "We have five seconds before the cage drops to the bottom of the shaft!"

"You are not getting into that cage!" Tariq shouted, drawing his golden short sword and charging straight at me with incredible speed. His B-rank agility made his body look like a red shadow as he cut through the smoke.

He thrust his blade toward my throat, aiming for the spot where my iron skin was thinnest.

I raised my broadsword to block, but his strike was too fast. The tip of his golden blade sliced through my leather sleeve, cutting deep into my right arm. Blood sprayed across the dirt floor, and a sharp pain shot up into my shoulder.

"You are just a trash collector from the lower slums," Tariq sneered, pressing his sword deeper into my wound. "You think a stolen skill makes you equal to a noble bloodline?"

I looked him dead in his remaining eye, ignoring the blood dripping down my arm. "I don't need to be equal to you, Tariq. I just need to hold you right here."

I reached out with my left hand and grabbed the bare blade of his golden short sword, using my Iron Skin to lock his weapon in place.

Tariq's eye widened in shock as he tried to pull his sword back. "Release it!"

"Amina! Now!" I yelled.

Amina did not hesitate. She dropped her iron shield, stepped around Tariq's side, and slammed her bare hand against the emergency release lever of the elevator cage.

The heavy steel gears inside the mechanism snapped. The burning elevator cage plunged downward into the dark shaft, creating a massive backdraft of air that blew out the surrounding flames.

At the exact same time, the ground beneath our feet gave way. The outer edge of the mining pit, weakened by the fire and the falling timber, began to crumble into the deep abyss.

Tariq lost his balance as the stone floor cracked open beneath his boots. He let go of his golden sword, grabbing onto the edge of the collapsing cliff with one hand while reaching for his guard's belt with the other.

"Help me!" Tariq screamed, his body hanging over the pitch-black hole.

I pulled Amina toward the remaining solid ledge near the tunnel entrance, holding her tightly with my good arm. We watched as the ground beneath Tariq's remaining guards gave way completely, sending three of them sliding down into the dark mining shaft.

Tariq managed to pull himself back up onto a narrow stone ledge five feet below us. His face was covered in soot, and his golden armor was scratched and broken. He looked up at us with pure venom in his eyes.

"I will hunt you to the ends of the continent," Tariq choked out, his chest heaving as he stood on the trembling ledge. "My family controls the mountain passes! You have nowhere to run!"

Amina looked down at him from the top of the ledge, her blue eyes cold and unreadable. "You are wrong, Tariq. You controlled us because we stayed in your city. But you forgot one thing."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver key—the main security pass to the Elder Council's secret outer gate.

"The real world begins outside your walls," Amina said, throwing the silver key up in the air and catching it.

Before Tariq could speak, a deep, earth-shaking roar echoed from the bottom of the dark shaft beneath his feet. The black air inside the pit turned freezing cold, and a pair of massive, glowing yellow eyes opened in the darkness below his ledge.

A colossal shadow rose from the deep pit, its giant black claws gripping the stone walls on both sides of Tariq.