“I thought I had told you that cybernetics would be restored as well,” Lan said.

  You told me that about the dungeon, not the injector. Are the others able to do that?

  “No. Those will heal most wounds, but they don’t fix missing limbs. Also, why the hell did you cut your own arm off, then? You could have easily stabbed him in the wrist or sliced through his arm.”

  He had just taken a bullet through the head and barely complained. I didn’t think it would do anything, and I could always get another bionic arm, so I took the exit I saw.

  “Okay, from now on, cut your opponent before yourself. I don’t care how tough a face they can keep on. Slicing through their tendons still tends to disable their arm.”

  Jay pushed himself to his feet with a sigh. Noted.

  He walked over to the pair of legs and the still-rumbling chainsaw to see if there was anything he could find before getting the hell out of there. It didn’t take him long to realize why the enforcer had had his whole body destroyed while Jay had just lost an arm. Some sort of stabilizing system had been deployed from both feet, digging into the ground and keeping him from moving. While most of the explosion's energy had gone to flinging him backward without the ability to move, the enforcer had eaten the entire blast.

  Blood and oil mixed in a disgusting puddle underneath the limb. He thought about taking it, for a moment, but decided against it. Even if he could probably find a use for it, he didn’t want to make a habit of stealing other people's limbs and using them as weapons.

  Sighing as he didn’t find anything else around the area. Jay walked over and collected the weapon that the man had broken his armor with at the beginning of the fight. It had finally stopped smoking and burned a small portion of grass away where it landed. With plans to examine it later, he threw the weapon into his space and began making his way towards the ruined city. There was one last thing he had wanted to grab from his apartment after Jett's comment about a phone. Sadly, it was probably destroyed, if the state of the city was anything to go by.

  It was a pretty quick run back to the apartment, and Jay was happy to see it was still standing. The foundation had cracked, and the top eight floors looked like a meteor had flown through them. The middle of the building, where his apartment was located, luckily still looked intact. He made his way into the building and to the back staircase, not even wasting time to check if the elevator worked. Even if it did, he sure as hell wasn’t brave enough to try it. The bodies had been moved out of the lobby, but blood still clung to the floors and walls. Some of it was likely his own. He ignored it, running up the staircase and into his apartment. He opened the dresser drawer once inside and dug through clothing for a few moments, depositing most of it into his 4x4 space. At last, he actually had some spare and clean clothes. He went through drawer after drawer before he finally found it.

  An old phone and its charger. Jay wiped a layer of dust off and reminisced about the item for a few moments. His parents had given it to him a long time ago. He had stopped paying for the phone plan a while back, and he’d left it to collect dust. He couldn’t handle talking to them again, anyway--not after that fight. Not after he had walked out. He sighed, depositing the item into his space. It probably would be useless unless he could find a way to connect it again. If he could, though, it would’ve been nice to have a way to communicate with Jett and anyone else he came across.

  He looked around his apartment one last time. There was a large bloodstain where he had passed out a few days ago, and dirty dishes cluttered the sink. He wasn’t going to miss this place. He didn’t know where he was going to sleep from now on, but it sure as hell wasn’t going to be a building that could collapse at any moment. Maybe Jett would let him crash at his place for a while. If it wasn’t in ruins like most of the other buildings seemed to be. He really needed to figure out what the fuck had happened while he was in that dungeon. Jay did a quick sweep of the building, making sure none of the residents were still inside. The stairway had collapsed when he got five floors up from his own, but part of him was okay with that. He didn’t know what had created that hole, but he doubted anyone in its path was still alive.

  “Why are you wasting time on this?” Lan asked when he cleared his third floor.

  Jay sighed. Because I would like to collapse the building, and I don’t want anyone else caught up in that.

  “Does collapsing the building get you some special prize I don’t know about?”

  No.

  “Then why the hell are you doing it?”

  How many times have I tried to leave that apartment just to end up back there? This place is a reminder of the worst years of my life, and it would bring me great comfort to know it doesn’t exist anymore.

  “That...” She paused for a moment before sighing. “I’m sorry, Jay. I don’t think this will help or change anything, but if it’s something you feel like you need to do, then I'll step back and let it happen. Afterward, though, I want you to strongly consider some suggestions I have.”

  Fine. Thanks, Lan.

  “Don’t mention it.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  It took around two hours in total to make sure the building was completely empty before Jay finally made his way outside once more. He traced his hand along the crack in the foundation, finding a point where it penetrated deep into the building. He placed a single bullet into the crack before moving on, repeating this several different times at different points in the structure. When it was done, he had a bullet every five feet all the way around the building. He connected a line of Spirit to each. When he was a good distance away, he activated Defiance and sent enough energy to cause every bullet to explode the same way his dagger had. Notifications passed through his mind, but he pushed them all into the pile from his fight as the building crumbled. He could read those later. For now, Jay enjoyed the feeling of watching that building turn into a pile of rubble.

  It didn’t change anything. It didn’t solve the problems that had made those years so awful, but it did give him peace of mind. He had started a new chapter--one where he wasn’t going to fail. One where he was going to make a name for himself, no matter what it took. One where he would be strong enough that no one would dare try and hurt him or anyone he cared about. One where he didn’t have to kill.

  Jay turned his back on the pile of rubble as those thoughts crossed his mind. For now, none of that mattered. He needed a new dagger, and after that, he would see if he could join up with Jett for the time being.

  Day slowly faded to night as he explored what remained of the city, looking for anywhere that would sell bladed weapons. The deviation just got worse everywhere he went, and he started to wonder if there were even people still alive in the city. Other than that enforcer, he hadn’t seen a soul since leaving the dungeon. Spotlights suddenly shooting into the night sky pulled his attention. They waved back and forth, dotting the darkness and reminding him of the spotlights circuses would sometimes use.

  “What the...” Jay muttered.

  He climbed a nearby pile of rubble and looked towards the lights, but he couldn’t catch sight of where they were coming from. He shrugged. It was still early, and he didn’t have a reason not to check out whatever was going on. It might even answer a few of the questions he had. Jay climbed down the rubble pile and made to move in that direction, but thought better of it. He had since reformed his armor, but his Spirit was still quite low, and he didn’t want to risk a fight. With that in mind, he found a nice place, sat down, and began focusing on his breathing to regain his Spirit faster while checking his notifications.

  **Enemy Candidate Killed Experience Multiplied**

  **Skill level increased: Spirit Overload 0 - 3**

  **Skill level increased: Basic Berserk Armor 15 - 16**

  **Skill level increased: Firearm Mastery 8 - 10**

  **Skill level increased: Nausea Resistance 1 - 3**

  **Skill level increased: Charge 0 - 5**

  **Skill level increased: Spirit Shield 0 - 3**

  **Skill Upgraded: Basic Weapon Knowledge - Firearms: (Level - 14) - Upgraded to - Weapon Knowledge - Firearms: (Level - 15)**

  **Upgrade Available: Basic Spirit Empowerment**

  **Upgrade Available: Basic Spirit Control**

  “Huh,” he said, squinting at the list.

  Jay knew he had gotten the Charge skill from his class, but he had no idea what it did or how anything he’d done during that fight had caused it to gain five levels. He scratched his head for a few moments before doing what he had grown accustomed to over the past few days.

  Hey, Lan. What the hell does this do, and how did I get levels for it?

  “What the hell does what do?”

  The Charge skill.

  “Oh. That skill is based on performing a charging attack. As for how you gained levels in it, well... getting flung around like a rag doll is a way to get moving quickly.

  Ah, yeah.

  “Any other questions?”

  Yes, actually. You had mentioned some suggestions you wanted me to consider earlier.

  “Oh, yes, that. I think you should leave the city again, Jay.”

  Wait, what? Why?

  “It seems a faction war started in this area while you were in the dungeon. That’s the only way I could explain this level of devastation when you all are still quite low-level. Also, think about that fight you just had. If you hadn’t had the injector, you would currently be missing a right arm and left hand. That’s not even the worst part. That guy was two levels below you, and not to mention one of those levels was 15. He likely had around 70 fewer stat points than you, and he still managed to keep up.”

  Jay burst out laughing.

  “What the hell is funny about that?”

  Remember that first day when I ran, and you thought I was stupid?

  “Okay, well, I clearly didn’t know your planet had a habit of using roided-out superhumans stuffed to the gills with advanced tech as law enforcement.”

  Well, I’m glad you understand now, and I’ll think about leaving. I was already considering that anyway, but I want to set up a way to stay in contact with Jett first. Then, I plan to do exactly what you told me and throw myself into every dungeon I come across.

  “Good. Another question, then. Why are you going towards those lights in the sky?”

  Well, someone doesn’t just put several beacons into the sky without reason.

  “You know how high the chance it's a trap is, yes?”

  Yeah, but that just makes me want to go more. I’m still Number 3 on the level leaderboard. Hell, only five people are even past Level 15, so I think I should be just fine.

  “Unless another enforcer shows up?”

  Unless another enforcer shows up. Stage threes are rare, though, luckily. There is a good chance he was the only one in the city. I hope.

  Lan let out an exasperated sigh. “Just don’t get yourself killed, alright?”

  Is that because you're going to lose out on prizes, or because you actually care about me?

  “Oh, I would throw you headfirst into a meat grinder if it meant I got a better reward. Still, I will admit, at this point it would only be a meat grinder that I would expect you to make it out of.”

  Aw, that’s sweet… I think.

  “You can think about my foot up your ass.”

  And now look who ruined the moment.