Lucen stared at the empty grid.
The system hovered it like a question.
A very polite question.
The kind that ended in spontaneous combustion if answered wrong.
The lines shimmered faintly when he moved his hand.
No guidance. No "suggested layout" tip. Not even a warning box like last time. Just open space.
The notebook on his desk sat half-filled with notes from earlier. Spell theory quotes. Crappy diagrams. One of them was just the word "NO" circled three times with a question mark next to it.
Lucen tapped the pen against his palm.
'Okay. Think. What's useful in a close-quarters zone with bad lighting, unpredictable walls, and things that want to chew on your ankles?'
He pulled up the public archive on his tablet.
Scrolled.
The official registry had basic beginner spells listed under the name of Safe Combat Paths.
[Mana Push]
[Quicklight]
[Anchor Hex]
[Tether Bind – Modified: Practice Safe Loop Only]
[Pulse Sound – Beginner Scout Tool]
He tapped Quicklight.
A diagram opened.
Three glyphs. One loop. Self-target. Cast range was six feet. Light output was weak, but continuous. Duration was thirty seconds.
He squinted.
'That's not a spell. That's a flashlight with a superiority complex.'
He closed it.
Tried Tether Bind next.
The structure was better. A proper anchor glyph. A direction path. The mana flow looped twice before hitting the trigger. It was simple. Stable.
It also said.
[System Locked: Modification Restricted Below Rank B]
Lucen blinked.
'Oh. Right. The rest of the world can't edit their spells. Because that's normal. I forgot I'm running the black market version of reality.'
He pulled up his own system again.
[New Spell – Design Interface Active]
[Manual Glyph Input Enabled]
[Adaptive Notes: Ready]
[Warning: Structure Unstable Until Finalized]
The grid pulsed again.
Lucen picked up the pen.
Pressed it to the notebook.
Drew a line.
Then a circle.
Then paused.
'Why am I pretending I know what I'm doing?'
He scratched it out and started again.
New line. Tighter angle. He remembered how Unstable Kinetic Point looked when it fired. The way it bent space before it snapped forward.
That pressure build. That little flick of force that felt like it wanted to punch through something.
What if he reversed the pull?
Instead of launching forward, pull something in.
Just for a second. Not enough to crush. Just enough to yank. Disrupt balance. Drag something stupid into the range of something worse.
He marked the anchor point first.
Then the trigger.
Then the backlash catch. He learned that one the hard way.
Looped a glyph around it.
Then stared at the whole thing.
'This is either a utility spell or a very stylish way to get my fingers vaporized.'
He hit the next screen.
[Test Stability]
The grid shimmered.
[Stability Estimate: 47%]
[Mana Cost: 12]
[Effect Prediction: Gravitic Snap – Pull Target 1.4m, Duration 0.3s]
[Backlash: Medium Risk – User Drag Potential High]
[Tag Spell?]
He blinked.
'Gravitic Snap. That sounds way cooler than what it actually does.'
He grinned a little.
Typed the name in anyway.
[Name: Gravitic Snap]
[Archive Entry: #0002]
[Confirm Save?]
He hit yes.
The spell locked in.
His system pulsed softly.
[+50 EXP]
[New Spell Added]
[Level: 1 – EXP: 50 / 150]
Lucen leaned back in the chair.
Both spells hovered now in the archive.
Unstable Kinetic Point
Gravitic Snap
One launched things.
One pulled things.
Both could probably kill him if they misfired.
'We call that synergy.'
He dropped the pen.
Closed the system.
Then whispered, just to himself, "I'm gonna survive this dungeon like a goddamn genius!"
—
Lucen stared at the ceiling.
He hadn't moved in five minutes.
The room buzzed with the soft hum of streetlight bleed. His window let in just enough orange glow to light the cracks in the plaster above his bed.
One of the cracks looked like a tree branch. Or maybe a fork. Hard to tell.
The system window hovered beside his face.
[Spell Archive]
[#0001 – Unstable Kinetic Point]
[#0002 – Gravitic Snap]
[Mana: 51 / 51]
[EXP: 50 / 150]
[Level: 1]
Two spells.
One did damage if he aimed right. The other might pull something into stabbing range. Assuming it didn't pull him into whatever was stabbing.
'Perfect balance. Power and disaster in equal measure.'
He closed the system and rolled onto his side.
The bed creaked. The mattress was older than he was. Probably stolen from a previous tenant or birthed from a collapsed furniture gate.
He reached out, grabbed the scavenger kit bag, and dragged it closer.
Unzipped it.
Field knife. Still dull. Still garbage.
Shield disc. Buzzed when shaken. Might deflect a firm slap if angled correctly.
Cloth armor. Folded unevenly. The mana glyph on the chest was stitched backwards. He was pretty sure it would activate in reverse if someone tried to hit him.
'Cool. Love that. Seems real safe.'
He stuffed everything back in and zipped it shut again.
Then rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling a second time.
His alarm was already set. Seven fifteen. Drift job check-in by eight. Arrival in Zone 12 by nine.
Assuming he didn't oversleep. Or die of stress before morning.
'Maybe I should fake a flu. Or a power outage. Or a coma…'
His stomach growled.
He considered getting up.
Then remembered he actually had one cup noodle left in the cabinet..
The spicy kind with the chili packet that lied about how much water to use. If you poured to the line it turned into a war crime.
He got up anyway.
Crossed the cold floor barefoot. Cabinet. Cup. Faucet.
Back to the bed. Sat with the cup on his knees while it cooked.
Steam hit his face like a passive-aggressive warning.
He looked at the side of the label.
"Spice Claw. Banned in Four Districts. Not for Legal Combat Use."
'This might be the most lethal thing in my inventory.'
The timer on his wrist blinked once.
Noodles ready.
He peeled the lid and stirred.
Took a bite.
Paused.
Took another bite.
'Yep. This is awful.'
He chewed anyway.
Ten minutes passed like that.
Half the cup gone.
He tossed the rest into the trash and lay back down.
The ceiling was darker now.
His system blinked once in standby. Dim. Waiting.
Lucen pulled the blanket over his chest and closed his eyes.
Didn't sleep yet.
Just lay there.
Thinking.
'Tomorrow, I walk into a dungeon gate alone, with gear from a street kiosk, spells I invented using fingerpaint logic, and a fake class no one believes in.'
He paused.
Then smiled, just a little.
'Hell yeah.'