1% Lifesteal

Freddy sat in Thor's office, maintaining a neutral expression. He had just finished retelling the events inside the dungeon. Of course, this was a very… redacted version of the real story.

Freddy and Lucas went into the dungeon. There, they were attacked by a group of assassins. Freddy kicked their ass and left the dungeon. He used his trenchcoat's tracking feature as "proof" of when he left the dungeon.

Naturally, Thor had already heard of the bizarre change that happened within the dungeon. The man was leaning against his desk and staring into the floor as Freddy recounted what happened.

Once Freddy was finished, Thor snickered. "You know, I respect you quite a bit. You were attacked by a Three-Headed Snake squad of the Umbra Clan while doing a dungeon run and protecting a beginner one star, and yet you managed to kill them all and escape unharmed. That's insane. I don't think I was even a third as capable as you at your level."

"A Three-Headed Snake squad?"

"That's the ranking nomenclature of the Umbra Clan. Just for your information, that's the second-highest rank they have. The only squad above that is the so-called Hydra Squad. And that squad is headed by their current patriarch."

"Why would such a squad come after me?"

"They were paid to do so. If I had to guess, it's probably the Gems that contracted them."

Freddy's eyes widened slightly. "The Gems…? Do you think they—"

"No," Thor said. "They probably don't know you're the one who killed Shawn. If they did, they wouldn't have used such indirect means to target you. The head of the family would have personally come for you."

Freddy winced at that and felt his heart tremble. "But why would they pay the Umbra Clan to go after me if they don't know?"

Thor chuckled. "The head of the Gem family has to be in a pretty shit mood these days. Put yourself in that old bastard's shoes for a moment; he had lost two of his kids, both in bizarre ways. He is feeling powerless and frustrated. He has to lash out somehow. It's no wonder he's going overboard to deal with problems.

"To the local factions, your existence might not be a total disaster, but you're bad news. They'd prefer to keep us as weak as possible. But they hadn't acted because the price to take care of you was greater than the likely benefits of getting rid of you. That squad you killed—they're pretty fucking expensive. It's extremely rare for them to fail at killing their target.

"The only reason the Gem head would pay for their services is to make himself feel like he's wresting back some control over the problems he's having, even if he has to pay a huge price. Of course, now that you've mercilessly crushed his balls by being such a badass, he's going to be really pissed."

Freddy felt his heart sink. "Do you think he'll—"

"No. He won't escalate things without further motivation. He might be angry, but he isn't a moron. If taking you out is more expensive or risky than he can tolerate, he'll leave it at that. For now, at least."

Indeed. This might not be an immediate problem, but there would definitely be further trouble with the Gems in the future. Only idiots would let their enemies walk away. Especially enemies like Freddy.

"Anyway," Thor continued, "I recommend you refrain from going out to delve by yourself."

Freddy nodded. It was simply too risky. Thankfully, Valhalla did regular delves into the interspace, and it wouldn't be an issue for Freddy to join a high-ranking party. It was still regretful, however.

Thor looked contemplative for a moment. "Are you also going to move to Valhalla?"

Freddy thought about it for a moment, but then shook his head.

Was there a risk that someone might try to kill him in his apartment?

Not really.

Freddy only slept two hours a day. And while he slept, as long as Bloodshed was keeping guard, there was no assassin that could sneak up on him. And the possibility of being openly attacked by a group of people while in his apartment was basically nonexistent.

The empire was far from a utopia. But the previous 200 years had taught the rulers a number of valuable lessons. Stuff like making certain talents illegal or making the banks a safe way for everyone to store their personal belongings were crucial cornerstones of a stable and prosperous society.

Another of these cornerstones were the laws surrounding conflict between archhumans.

There were many situations where fighting or killing wouldn't even be investigated, let alone punished legally.

Conversely, there were just as many strict regulations where fighting wasn't tolerated in the slightest.

One of these regulations involved fighting in residential areas.

Archhuman combat was destructive. Mortals, non-combatants, and infrastructure were pretty fragile. There were periods of history where fights weren't regulated. Those were near-universally remembered as dark times. Despite the looser law enforcement in the Northern Belt, regulating fights was the empire's bottom line, one that they had to enforce in all their territories.

Thor saw Freddy shake his head and smiled. "I see. That shouldn't be a problem. Do still keep an eye open for anyone trying to break in. Trust me, it happens."

"Okay. I will."

"Well, I'm not worried about you. You'll be fine. Even if something happens, you can probably use that strange healing method of yours, or even whatever you used to clear the dungeon."

Freddy stiffened at that.

Thor sighed deeply and shook his head. "I just wish you trusted me enough to share the full story of what happened today."

Freddy was going to deny that he was hiding anything, but just as he was about to speak, he shut his mouth and remained quiet. Thor wasn't some naive dumbass. He might have appeared relatively young externally, but he had the age of an old man, and a lifetime of experience dealing with the world of archhumans. Trying to play dumb at this point would have been insulting to the man's wisdom and intelligence.

"You have your secrets—I get that," Thor said. "I'm not going to put down any ultimatums on you. As long as you're willing to stay with my poor little faction, I'll keep my mouth shut and tolerate it." The man went silent for a long moment. He stopped leaning against the desk and walked over to the window looking over the vast forest.

For a moment, he looked so old and tired. His back slumped as if the weight of all his years was pressing down on him. A sorrow crept into his aura, and as he opened his mouth to speak, his voice came out as a whisper, "You're special, Freddy. Really. I am quite lucky to have found you. But it's becoming increasingly clear that your potential is something that Valhalla can't nurture or… contain."

Freddy laughed at that, feeling a little bewildered. "I feel that's going a bit far."

"Is it now…? I would disagree." Thor turned around. His eyes had a pleading light in them, one that struck Freddy to the core, moving something cold and hard deep within him. "I wish I had a way to make you trust me. I really do. But you're like the cats prowling the streets of Repentawa—you stay close enough for people to throw you food, but far away enough to escape in a heartbeat."

He couldn't deny that.

"But that's okay," Thor said. "It's better than being too trusting." The man slowly walked back and sat down on his office chair, slumping as he looked deep into Freddy's eyes. "I'd like to make you an offer if you're willing to hear me out."

Freddy thought for a moment, but saw no harm in listening. "I'm all ears."

Thor nodded. "You already know that three-stars in the Northern Belt are taken away as soon as they reach 299% essence capacity. That was supposed to happen to me." He chuckled sadly. "But I'm a stubborn prick, you see. I gave myself a soul wound to keep me from ever getting that far."

Freddy's eyebrows jumped and the muscles around his mouth grew slack. If Thor was telling the truth, his actions were those of a total lunatic. Anyone who was willing to surrender an opportunity to become a four-star was, to put it lightly, a complete moron. "Why would you do that?"

Thor smiled. "To stay here. To protect my people." Then, his smile extinguished. "But this place is rotten to the core. It would take one hell of a force to change anything. And Valhalla has been stagnating. While I was getting stronger, our influence kept increasing. Now that I'm not… Well, if I was more aggressive, it would be a different story. But I can't afford to take such risks. Unless I had a successor."

"Oh hell no," Freddy said reflexively.

Thor laughed. "Don't worry, that's not my offer. I know people like you. You're a free spirit. Tying you down is a futile effort."

"So what exactly are you offering, then?"

Thor's expression turned serious. "There's a whole private section in the headquarters building that is made for my personal use. But I'm hardly making any progress these days with my soul wound. It would be better for you to get some use out of it."

Freddy's eyes widened. "That's… a lot. Are you really willing to make that offer?"

"No," Thor said decisively. "Well, to someone who I don't trust, I could maybe take a risk. But for someone who doesn't trust me… I'm not willing to go that far."

Freddy snickered. "You want me to tell you my secrets?"

Thor raised a finger. "Just one. I'm willing to offer you a ton of resources to help you grow. All I'm asking in return is that you stay long enough for me to find a successor… and just a single one of your secrets."

Freddy froze. This was a tempting offer. If he was being honest, he didn't have any negative impressions of Thor. But was that really enough?

Freddy had a number of smaller secrets he could share, sure, but that wasn't what Thor was asking for. He needed to share something consequential. He either needed to open up about his spirit abilities, his unique affinity… or his talent.

It wasn't like Thor could take any of these things away from him. But that didn't mean that sharing them was a simple matter. Be it his current capabilities, ties to his past, or the trajectory of his future growth, all of those were sensitive bits of information that he couldn't afford to release to the world at large.

If the Gems knew he could summon Bloodshed, they'd do anything to kill him and ensure he couldn't use that power against them.

If Strata knew of 1% Lifesteal, they'd expend a huge amount of their resources to capture him and use him as a living organ farm.

And if any of the local powers knew he had a unique affinity, they'd probably come together to kill him before he had a chance to grow.

While Freddy still didn't have a proper use for perished water, it was still a unique affinity—there was no way it wouldn't eventually become a key part of his power.

While Thor didn't phrase it like that, having access to even one of these secrets would make it so that Freddy couldn't betray him. With the man's character, he knew that Thor would only share this information if Freddy outright betrayed them, and he most definitely wouldn't act on it out of personal interest.

But it was still a vulnerability Freddy wasn't comfortable having.

He mulled over it for a while as Thor patiently waited for Freddy to make his decision. Eventually, the man sighed and got up. "Follow me."

Freddy was confused, but he didn't ask any questions. He followed after Thor.

They made turn after turn, eventually reaching a door. After using a key to unlock it, Thor stepped inside, inviting Freddy in. This was the entrance to the private area of their headquarters.

Freddy got a brief glimpse of Thor's private training area, but this clearly wasn't the thing Thor was aiming to show him.

Instead, they reached the other end of this part of the facility. There, Thor unlocked another door. This door was concealed much better than the previous one.

As soon as Thor opened the door, Freddy knew he was about to be showed something special.

The entrance took them directly to a cavern. The path was rough—the caverns were barely tamed.

Once there, it didn't take them long to reach their goal.

As soon as Freddy saw it, his jaw dropped.

There was a passage.

A portal, the size of a standard double door sat in the lonely corner of a cave, revealing a heavily-forested area behind it.

"Well… what do you think?" Thor asked with a wide grin. "Nobody knows about this baby other than me and Travis."

"You…" Freddy couldn't even form a sentence.

If they were somewhere where ether was abundant, this would hardly be a big deal. Passages weren't that rare.

But in Repentawa, this was massive. As in 'the empire would hang Thor by the balls if they knew he was hiding this' kind of deal. Not only that, but the other factions would lose their minds if they knew about this. What kind of advantage was it to have a damn passage in your basement?

Thor snickered. "This thing appeared after I built the headquarters. If I had reported it to the empire, they would have paid me handsomely for the property, but… where's the fun in that?"

"You're insane," Freddy finally managed.

"I know. But hey, you can't get anywhere in this damn world without being a bit crazy."

"You sure you want me to know about this?"

"Too late for regrets now!"

For a long moment, Freddy simply stood there, speechless. Something cold and hard was wrapped around his heart. He'd been working on thawing that. He'd been working on opening up even a little bit.

He could see that Thor was nervous. It was understandable. The man had taken a huge gamble. He must be desperate. If Freddy was a piece of shit, he'd be in the perfect position to ruin the man's life and destroy everything he'd been working towards. Seeing someone offer him such a chance made even his ice block of a heart show the tiniest of cracks.

Before he even realized he made the decision, he opened his mouth. "My talent is very special," he said.

Thor immediately jolted to attention and turned to face him.

"When I do damage to living things, I can absorb their life force to heal myself."

"A lifesteal type talent, huh?" Thor said hesitantly. It was clear as day that he was a bit disappointed. This was hardly some grand, unspeakable secret. It wasn't like talents like that were unheard of. But then the man seemed to realize something. "Wait, it's not strength…?" he muttered under his breath.

Snorting, Freddy continued. "It works against anything living. Plants, animals, humans, monsters, hell, it works on fruit and vegetables as long as they're fresh. The quality of the healing also adapts to my current needs. If I have a gaping wound, it'll first stop bleeding, then it will be sealed, then it will regenerate to natural-quality healing standard; the quality of the healing will continue going up until I'm perfectly healed."

Thor scowled. "You don't mean…"

"Yup." Freddy grinned. "All the way up to supreme quality."

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