The God-Level Scavenger

The Price of Fire

Running down the steep hill, I did not care about the sharp thorns tearing at my clothes. The only thing I could see was the bright orange fire consuming my neighborhood.

Tariq was not waiting for me to come to the inner city. He brought the war straight to my doorstep.

I hit the flat dirt road of Sector 4 at a full sprint. The air was thick with gray smoke and ash that made my eyes water. All around me, neighbors I had known for years were running in terror, carrying whatever small belongings they could lift. Behind them, guild soldiers in black leather armor walked casually, kicking down doors and throwing small fire glass spheres into the wooden houses.

These fire glass spheres were cheap magic items used by high-ranking families to clear out old structures, but here, they were using them on living people.

"Find the scavenger's family!" a large soldier shouted, pointing a iron spear toward the end of the alley. "The Young Master wants them brought to the central square alive. The rest of this trash sector can burn."

I recognized that direction. It was the path leading straight to old man Jalo’s workshop, the place where I slept and kept my small pile of sorted metal scraps. Jalo was old, his legs were weak from working in the toxic crystal mines for twenty years, and he could not run fast enough to escape.

"Hey! You there! Stop right now!"

Two guild soldiers noticed me running toward them. They raised their steel swords and blocked the narrow path. They wore the silver rank badges of C-class initiates, meaning they were much stronger than the guards I left back in the cave.

I did not slow down. I grabbed the hilt of my dragon scale blade with both hands.

"Get out of my way," I said.

The soldier on the left laughed, swinging his sword down toward my shoulder. His movement was incredibly fast, but my forty-seven points of agility made it easy to track. I leaned my body back just enough to let the metal blade slide past my chest. Before he could recover his balance, I drove the pommel of my sword directly into his jaw.

His teeth cracked together with a loud snap, and he dropped to the ground like a stone.

The second soldier gasped, stepping back to drive his spear into my stomach. I did not dodge this time. I clamped my teeth together and activated the skill I took from the cave guard.

Iron Skin.

A dull grayish color covered my skin just as the sharp metal point struck my ribs. A loud clinking sound echoed through the alley. The spear point bent completely sideways against my skin, failing to leave even a single scratch.

The soldier stared at his broken weapon in pure shock. "What are you? You are supposed to be an F-rank rat!"

I did not give him time to figure it out. I swung my fist straight into his chest, using all my strength. The impact sent him flying five feet backward, crashing into a stack of wooden crates that collapsed all over his body.

[Activating SSS-Class Extraction System.]

[Target is alive. Extracting attributes...]

[Extracting Strength. Strength increased by 6 points.]

[Extracting Agility. Agility increased by 3 points.]

The warm energy flowed into my muscles, making me feel lighter and even faster. I ran past the fallen men, turning the corner into Jalo's courtyard.

My heart sank. The small wooden workshop was already completely covered in flames. The roof was sagging, and heavy black smoke poured out of the broken windows.

"Jalo!" I shouted, my voice cracking from the thick smoke.

"Kofi..." a weak voice called out from the side of the burning building.

I spun around and saw old man Jalo lying on the dirt behind a pile of iron pipes. His right leg was pinned under a heavy stone block that had fallen from the wall, and his face was covered in black soot. He was gasping for air, his old chest heaving under the weight.

I rushed over, dropping to my knees. I placed both hands under the heavy stone block. My muscles strained as I lifted the massive rock, throwing it to the side as if it were a light piece of wood.

"I have you," I said, pulling him up by his arms. "We need to go right now."

Jalo looked at me with wide, tired eyes. He grabbed my shirt with his shaking hands. "Kofi... it was a trap. They did not come here to find you. They already knew you survived the cave."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my brow furrowing.

"Amina..." Jalo wheezed, coughing up dark spit. "She sent a message through the lower sector radio before they cut the wires. She told me to tell you... do not come to the inner city. Tariq is using your family as bait to force you into the open. The binding ceremony is a lie. He wants to drain your sorting bloodline to activate his family's ancient relic."

My mind raced. The world-building of the inner city was built on these stolen bloodlines. The high guilds stayed powerful by taking the unique magic traits of the poor workers and merging them into their own families. Tariq did not just want Amina for her light magic. He wanted to wipe me out so he could steal whatever was left of my family's old lineage.

Suddenly, a cold voice spoke from the entrance of the courtyard.

"So, the little rat finally crawled out of his hole."

I turned my head slowly. Standing in the middle of the smoke was a tall man wearing a long white coat over heavy gold plate armor. He did not look like the regular guild thugs. He carried a massive two-handed broadsword that glowed with a faint, dangerous yellow light.

The symbol on his shoulder was a golden tiger. He was an A-rank commander from the central city guild, an elite warrior named Captain Vance.

"Young Master Tariq told me you might have unlocked a hidden power," Vance said, lifting his massive sword with one hand as if it weighed nothing. He pointed the glowing blade right at my face. "But an F-rank piece of garbage is still garbage. Step away from the old man and put your hands behind your back, or I will cut his head off right in front of you."