The stairwell was dead silent.
Not the usual kind of silence, this one felt pressed in, like the building itself had stopped breathing.
Ishmael stood just outside his apartment, katana still sheathed.
He didn't move.
It was coming.
He could feel it now. Not sound. Not sight. Just pressure.
Then—
A drag.
Metal on concrete.
Slow. Heavy.
From the hallway.
"…Finally found me huh?"
The doors down the corridor were bent open.
Something stepped out.
It looked human at first.
Almost.
Tall. Thin. Wearing what used to be a security uniform—now torn, bloodstained, and restructured in places that didn't make sense. Its right arm twitched unnaturally as it moved, joints clicking in delayed rhythm, like something inside was correcting motion a second too late.
Its movement was all wrong.
Its right arm was fused with dark metallic plating, not separate from flesh but grown into it. The surface shifted slightly with each motion, as if it couldn't decide what shape to hold.
It tilted its head toward him with those lifeless eyes
Locked on.
Then charged.
Fast.
Ishmael barely drew his blade in time.
CLANG.
Katana met metal skin.
The impact snapped through his arms.
He staggered back.
"…tch strong." He mustered a cold look in his eyes.
The creature didn't pause.
It followed through with a brutal swing.
Ishmael ducked, but not fully.
Pain flashed across his shoulder as metal scraped through fabric and skin.
Warm blood.
He clicked his tongue.
"…annoying."
He struck back.
Clean slash.
It hit the creature's neck.
Sparks.
But no cut.
Just resistance.
Too hard.
The creature didn't bleed. It just adapted.
It drove forward again. This time faster.
Ishmael blocked, but the force sent him sliding into his apartment wall.
Wood cracked behind him.
He coughed once, steadying his grip.
The creature raised its arm slowly. The dark metal coating its arm shifting into long blades. Then it advanced.
Slow now.
Confident.
Like it had already decided how this ended.
Ishmael exhaled.
"…Okay."
It lunged.
He moved first this time.
Their clash filled the room, blade against metal, over and over.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Each strike harder than the last.
Each block heavier.
Ishmael's arms started to burn.
A slash caught his side.
Another grazed his forearm.
He hissed through his teeth.
"…this thing is stupidly tough."
The humanoid creature raised its arm again.
Ishmael saw the opening, but his body hesitated for a fraction too long.
Too slow.
Metal slammed into him.
He hit the floor hard.
Vision blurred for a second.
"…shit."
The creature stepped closer.
Slow again.
It was enjoying this.
Ishmael tightened his grip on the katana. His fingers shook slightly.
Not fear.
Fatigue.
Another step.
The thing raised its arm for a finishing blow.
Ishmael's breath steadied.
Something in him shifted.
Not power.
Not yet.
Just instinct.
Deep, buried reaction.
He felt the pulse again but this time, something left him and wrapped around the blade of his weapon.
A faint silver energy flickered along its edge. It sputtered like it could vanish any minute but it held on. Barely
Ishmael didn't notice it consciously.
He just moved.
Upward slash.
Not strong.
Not fast.
Just exact.
CLANG—
The impact was different this time.
The creature's metal arms didn't just resist.
It fractured.
A crack formed on its arm.
It froze for a fraction of a second.
Ishmael blinked.
"…what?" He echoed as he stared at his katana
The creature stumbled back.
For the first time since their battle, Ishmael truly registered a hit.
He pushed himself up slowly, breathing harder now.
Blood on his sleeve.
"…So I didn't just imagine that?" He muttured again, entranced by the silver glow. He instinctively kept coating the blade with his energy.
The creature's arm twitched.
The damaged metal didn't fully recover.
Ishmael narrowed his eyes. Then without wasting this opportunity he charged.
No hesitation now.
One step.
The creature, recovering from its initial shock roared angrily and swung at him.
Ishmael ducked underneath the swing. Emerging behind the creature and swung at its neck with all the power he could muster.
One swing.
Clean strike.
This time—
The blade went through.
The creature froze mid-motion.
Then collapsed forward, heavy and lifeless, decapitated. Its metal arm clattering against the floor.
Silence.
Ishmael stood there for a moment, breathing heavily.
Katana lowered.
"Yeah," he muttered. "I'm definitely not normal anymore. Nothing is." He concluded then sat on the floor leaning against a wall.
His shoulder throbbed.
His side stung.
The faint silver trace was gone again.
But something had changed.
The system flickered at the edge of his vision.
————————-
[Second Ascension Incursion Slain]
[Spirit Core Unlocked]
[Spirit Energy Absorbed]
[Check Status Panel For More Information]
—————————
Ishmael stared at the creature as its body started to dissolve into particles. He felt a surge of energy mending his injuries and making him stronger.
"Well, let's see what this shitty survival game really is about…. Status" he called out coldly.