Kaelen hid in the sewers beneath the Rust-Warren. It was wet, dark, and smelled of sludge.
He sat on a dry pipe, staring at the black water. "Guide," Kaelen said. "How do I get stronger? I can't fight them. I'm Level 5."
[Guide: You cannot level up normally. The System will not grant you XP for killing monsters, because you are not in the database.]
"Then how?"
[Guide: You are a Glitch Walker. You follow the Path of Ren. You must 'Bind'.]
"Bind what?"
[Guide: Concepts. Aspects. You must hunt entities, strip their power, and fuse it to your soul.]
[Quest Generated: The First Binding.][Objective: Find a 'Slime' and bind the Aspect of 'Fluidity'.][Reward: Skill 'Physical Resistance'.]
"Bind a slime," Kaelen muttered. "Sounds easy."
He walked deeper into the sewer. He found a Toxic Slime (Level 3). It was a blob of green acid digesting a rat.
Kaelen drew his knife. [Guide: No. Do not kill it. If it dies, the Aspect dissipates. You must subdue it and absorb it while it lives.]
"That sounds... gross."
Kaelen approached the Slime. It lunged at him. Kaelen dodged (thanks to his 15 Agility). He grabbed the slime with his bare hand. The acid burned his skin.
"Bind!" Kaelen shouted.
He focused his will. He imagined pulling the green-ness, the liquid-ness out of the creature.
SQUELCH.
The Slime shrieked (a bubbling sound). Kaelen felt a burning sensation travel up his arm. It felt like injecting hot oil into his veins.
[System Alert: Foreign Code Detected.][Assimilating...]
The Slime dried up into white powder. Kaelen fell to his knees, clutching his arm. His skin rippled. For a second, his arm turned into liquid, then solidified again.
[Binding Successful.][Aspect Acquired: Minor Fluidity.][Passive Effect: +10% Resistance to Physical Damage.]
Kaelen panted. It hurt. It hurt a lot. But he felt stronger. He felt... denser.
"Is this how Ren did it?" Kaelen whispered.
[Guide: Ren did it with Dragons. You are doing it with sewage. But yes. This is the start.]
Kaelen stood up. His eyes glowed with a faint violet light in the dark. He wasn't just a Scavenger anymore. He was a predator.