NOVGO.NET Chapter 20: Twelve Borrowed Seconds
Chapter 20: Twelve Borrowed Seconds
The Submerged Foundry gate sat five stories beneath an abandoned industrial complex in District Nine.
Steam hissed through cracked pressure valves along the catwalks, carrying the sulfurous stench of molten slag.
The air temperature hovered near fifty degrees Celsius, coating everyone’s armor in a layer of hot condensation.
Fin walked in the rear guard of a five-man veteran mercenary unit, carrying his hatchet and twin daggers in his belt.
The mercenary leader was a scarred D-rank veteran named Vorn, wielding a spiked warhammer and reinforced tower shield.
"Watch the overhead pipes," Vorn commanded in a gruff voice, signaling his two spearmen and bowman forward. "The core chamber sits beyond the cooling vats... magma-type beasts roam the catwalks."
"Understood, Captain," the archer replied, nocking a frost arrow to his composite bowstring.
They crossed a suspension bridge suspended thirty meters above a boiling basin of orange slag.
A sudden mechanical grinding noise echoed from the shadows as two support cables snapped with violent whiplash.
From the steam above the vats, an Magma Troll dropped onto the center of the bridge with bone-rattling force.
The monster stood four meters tall, its obsidian skin weeping veins of liquid fire that dripped onto the grating.
"Ambush!" Vorn roared, planting his tower shield as the Troll swung a club made of solidified basalt.
The basalt club struck Vorn’s shield with the force of an artillery shell, tearing the shield from his grip.
Vorn flew backward into the catwalk railing, spitting blood as two spearmen were swatted into the boiling slag below.
"Aaaagh!" The archer screamed as the Troll’s fiery backhand crushed his bow, hurling him against the pipes.
The bridge groaned under the monster’s weight, the grating beginning to melt beneath its burning feet.
Vorn lay bleeding against the handrail, staring in helpless terror as the giant beast raised its club for the execution strike.
"Run, kid!" Vorn wheezed toward the rear, clutching his broken ribs. "Get back to the portal!"
He didn’t turn back, stepping onto the melting catwalk with his daggers drawn in a reverse grip.
A sudden golden prompt flared directly across his retinas, pulsing with violent kinetic light.
[ Host under extreme spatial pressure ]
[ Combat milestone reached: survival against higher tier ]
[ Active skill unlocked: Overclock (rank D) ]
[ Effect: burn 40 stamina to set agility to 300% of base for 12 seconds ]
’Overclock,’ he thought, a feral grin spreading across his face as he locked eyes with the burning behemoth. ’Let’s see what happens when I stop holding back.’
He engaged the skill, and forty points of stamina burned in his chest like liquid nitrogen.
[ Active skill: Overclock initiated ]
[ Stamina: 100 → 60/100 ]
[ Agility: 58 → 174 (temporary surge) ]
The world ground to a dead halt around him, the falling droplets of molten fire freezing in midair.
He accelerated into motion, his feet tearing chunks of metal from the catwalk as he broke the sound barrier.
To Vorn’s bleeding eyes, the young free agent simply vanished from existence, replaced by four simultaneous afterimages.
He materialized on the Troll’s left shoulder, his hatchet biting clean through the thick obsidian neck muscle.
Before the monster’s brain could register the wound, he blurred behind its knees, slashing both combat daggers across the Achilles tendons.
"Graaa-kkh!" The Magma Troll shrieked in bewilderment as its obsidian legs collapsed beneath its molten frame.
He leaped from the beast’s crown, spinning before driving the hatchet’s reverse spike into its magma core.
The basalt skull shattered with a thunderous crack, the veins of liquid fire extinguishing into gray stone instantly.
The four-meter behemoth crashed dead onto the grating, its fiery body freezing into brittle volcanic rock.
[ Overclock duration expired ]
[ Monster slain: Magma Troll (rank D) ]
[ EXP reward: +6,500 EXP ]
[ EXP: 20,500 / 50,500 ]
He landed in a crouch, his chest heaving as sweat poured down his forehead from the intense stamina burn.
His muscles ached with a sharp lactic sting, but his enhanced Endurance quickly buffered the physical backlash.
He stood up, walking over to the cooling volcanic corpse, pressing his right palm flat against the cracked chest.
[ Absorb? ]
[ Target: Magma Troll (rank D) - deceased ]
[ Available: ]
[ > strength ]
[ > speed ]
[ > endurance ]
[ > skills / abilities ]
’Endurance,’ he selected without hesitation, feeling the core’s volcanic resilience wash through his tired muscles.
[ Absorbed: endurance +8 ]
[ Endurance trait includes Heat Resistance: +15% ]
The four-meter stone corpse crumbled into fine gray ash before their eyes, scattering through the grating into the boiling basin below.
Vorn stared at the empty space where the monster stood three seconds ago, his eyes wide with trembling terror.
The wounded archer groaned against the pipes, staring at his sharp eyes in disbelief.
The veteran leader dragged himself backward against the railing, clutching his warhammer with white knuckles.
"What... what kind of monster are you?" Vorn whispered in a shaking voice, staring at the black daggers. "I could barely follow you... and you ate its body."
He wiped a smear of soot from his cheek, sheathing his twin daggers before storing his hatchet into his inventory.
He walked over to the wounded archer, handing him a high-grade healing potion from his pack.
"Drink this," he instructed gently, helping the archer lean against the cooler bulkhead. "It’ll set your broken collarbone."
He turned back toward the trembling veteran leader, offering his hand with a calm expression.
"I’m just a registered Grade-E+ free agent doing rear-guard work, Mr. Vorn," he said smoothly. "Let’s collect the dungeon core and head home."
Vorn looked at his outstretched hand, hesitating for five long seconds before taking it with a shudder.
He pulled the veteran to his feet with effortless strength, leading the survivors down the gantry toward the exit portal.
They emerged into the cool night air of District Nine, where the Association retrieval vans were waiting.
The registration clerks logged the successful D-rank clearance, stamping his card with five thousand credits in bounty fees.
The medical staff rushed Vorn and the archer into emergency triage, leaving him alone on the staging gravel.
He bought pork buns near the tram station, eating one while he waited on the platform.
He checked the five-digit EXP total in his system interface, watching the numbers shine with golden promise.
He rode the midnight train back toward District Four, watching the city skyline glitter against the dark sky.
His rent was paid, his savings intact, and Overclock gave him a chance against D-rank monsters.
He walked up the stairs of his apartment building, unlocking door 4B with a calm sense of satisfaction.
He washed the soot from his face in the bathroom, checking on his sister sleeping peacefully under her blanket.
He hung his coat on the rack by the door, locking the deadbolt securely for the night.
He slipped under his own warm covers, listening to the midnight wind whisper across the rooftops of District Four.
He flexed his fingers beneath the blanket, waiting for their steadiness to return.
’Twelve seconds is a tool, not a workday. If I start treating every problem like a sprint, something will give.’
He set his boots where he could reach them without waking Jolly.
’Tomorrow I check the straps before I check the money. Dead men are terrible at collecting overtime.’
He set his morning alarm for seven o’clock, closing his eyes with a confident smile on his face.
The gate was cleared, twenty thousand experience points sat in his bank, and his climb up the ladder was finally underway.