The God-Level Scavenger

The Council's Enforcer

The silver-armored guard moved so fast that his boots barely touched the wet metal floor.

Before the dust from the ceiling explosion had even settled, his long glowing spear was already inches from my chest. He was an executioner sent by the Elder Council itself, a faction far above Tariq's spoiled family guild. In this world, the Elder Council maintained control over the walled sectors by quietly eliminating anyone who learned how the city’s magic barriers really worked.

I reacted on pure survival instinct, raising my dragon scale blade to block the thrust.

A sharp metallic clatter rang out across the underground vault. The force behind his spear felt like a falling tree hitting my blade, driving my heels back across the slick iron grating. My arms throbbed, but my high strength stat kept me from dropping my weapon.

"Kofi, move left!" Amina called out from behind me.

She did not waste time screaming or panicking. She instantly recognized the executioner's silver armor design. She lifted her hand, firing a thin beam of intense light magic straight into the small gap of the guard's silver visor.

The light hit his visor point-blank, forcing the guard to tilt his head back to protect his eyes. It was a cheap, dirty trick that gave me just enough space to breathe.

"You are wasting your breath, girl," the guard said, his voice flat and robotic. He did not even bother to look at Amina as he reset his stance. "The council saw your little stunt with the master key. Tariq was a fool to think he could tame a wild animal from the lower sectors, but the council does not make mistakes. Both of your lives ended the moment you stepped into this vault."

"Tariq didn't tame anything," Amina said, stepping up beside me. Her dress was ripped and dirty, but her jaw was set tight with total confidence. "He paid my family’s debts to buy my contract, and I used his own money to buy the security codes to his father’s vault. The council knows I have the secondary key hidden in my memory, don't they? That is why you brought a capture spear instead of a blade."

The guard hesitated for a fraction of a second, his grip tightening on the spear shaft.

Her logical guess was dead on. She had read the council’s true intent before the guard even opened his mouth. They did not just want us dead; they wanted her brain intact to extract the stolen security grid codes.

"It does not matter," the guard said. "The trash boy dies first."

He lunged forward again, his spear turning into a blur of yellow light. He was an A-rank fighter, far more skilled than the thugs in Sector 4. Every jab targeted my vital points, my throat, my chest, and my thighs.

I leaned back, dodging three quick strikes by millimeters. The sharp point cut small slits in my shirt, but my sixty-four points of agility allowed me to keep up with his rhythm. I brought my dragon scale blade down in a heavy, sweeping arc, aiming to break the wooden shaft of his weapon.

The guard pulled his spear back sharply, avoiding my heavy blade, and kicked me hard in the stomach with his steel boot.

The hit knocked the air right out of my lungs, sending me skidding back across the grating until my back hit the cold iron railing overlooking the rushing underground river.

"Kofi!" Amina called out.

She raised both palms, creating a thick shield of solid light magic between me and the approaching guard. The guard swung his spear with full force, slamming it into her barrier. A loud cracking sound echoed through the vault as cracks spread across her white shield. She gasped, her knees trembling under the heavy pressure, but she refused to let the shield drop.

"I cannot hold this for long," she said, blood trickling from the corner of her lips from the strain on her magic core. "Extract his power before he breaks through!"

I forced myself up from the railing, wiping the mouth full of iron-tasting spit from my lips.

Iron Skin.

My skin turned that hard gray color as I charged forward. I did not try to block his spear this time. As he shattered Amina's light barrier with a final heavy blow, I let his spear blade drive straight into my left shoulder.

The sharp metal pierced through my gray skin, stopping against my collarbone with a dull thud. Pain flared through my arm, but I didn't back away. I used my bare left hand to clamp down on the spear shaft, trapping his weapon inside my own flesh.

"What are you doing?" the guard asked, his robotic voice showing a sudden flicker of shock.

"Taking what I need," I said through my teeth.

I reached out with my right hand and grabbed the silver armor covering his neck.

[Activating SSS-Class Extraction System.]

[Target: A-Rank Council Enforcer.]

[Extracting Skill: Shadow Step (Rank A).]

[Extracting Strength. Strength increased by 12 points.]

[Extracting Agility. Agility increased by 8 points.]

A surge of hot, heavy energy flooded into my body from his chest. The guard’s eyes widened behind his visor as his golden spear light flickered and died out. He grew visibly weaker, his hands shaking as his energy drained into my core.

I pulled his own spear out of my shoulder and kicked him backward. The guard stumbled, falling hard onto the metal grating, completely paralyzed by the sudden loss of his rank-A power.

Amina rushed to my side, tearing a strip of cloth from her dress to wrap around my bleeding shoulder. "Did you get it?"

"I got his movement skill," I said, breathing heavily as the system window cleared from my vision.

Before we could take another step toward the exit door, a heavy metallic thud vibrated through the floorboards.

The dark river below us suddenly stopped flowing. The water began to swirl backward, sucked into a massive steel pipe built into the vault wall. A giant iron cage rose slowly from the center of the pool, dripping with green slime.

Inside the cage stood a tall man with long gray hair, tied up in heavy suppression chains. He lifted his head, revealing two bright red eyes that glowed in the dark chamber.

"Well, well," the chained man said, his voice deep and echoing. "An extraction user and a light magic traitor. The council really brought me some interesting cellmates tonight."