208 THE HEART OF HEKA
Before Damen could think, her lips met his…a spark of warmth amidst cold glass and psychic storm.
For a heartbeat, all the magic, all the control, all the fear—ceased to exist.
Damen blinked, caught off guard, his heart pounding. "This isn't how I planned this", he thought.
But for the first time in a long time, he didn't pull away.
"What in the world are they doing in there?!" Fearose snapped, slamming her staff into the ground. "How can they think about kissing under my fear?"
"They don't even seem bothered by us…or our powers," Nullrose muttered in disbelief.
Mirrose tilted her head, watching the glowing reflections ripple through her mirrors. "Ah, the young… how wonderful it must be to feel that young and alive again."
The three witches stood frozen for a moment…half awed, half horrified.
"Wait, what are we doing?" Fearose barked. "We came to kill them, not cheer them on!"
Before they could act, the mirrors shuddered violently.
Damen and Eryn vanished from one mirror and appeared in another—then again, and again—until Mirrose groaned, clutching her chest. "Not again! I'm almost out of energy!"
A sharp crack echoed.
One of the mirrors split down the center.
From that fracture, a blinding flash burst…and Damen and Eryn emerged.
Mirrose gasped.
Her so-called mirrors weren't mirrors at all, but spatial gateways stitched close together. Each jump Damen and Eryn made had drained her reserves bit by bit.
And now, the network has collapsed.
In one fluid motion, Damen lunged forward, seizing Mirrose by the throat and lifting her high into the air. Eryn followed, pinning Nullrose to the ground.
Fearose fell to her knees, trembling.
"It's over," Damen said coldly. "Now tell me…who sent you to kill me?"
Mirrose coughed, defiant. "You know the rules. Even if we knew, we wouldn't tell. The Syndic never betrays its clients."
"You're powerful metas," Damen said, tightening his grip. "Why work for a guild of assassins? You could have worked for the SIA… become heroes."
Mirrose's eyes dimmed. "Every person carries a story behind what they've become. I have mine… I'm not proud of it. Kill me if you must."
"I'm not going to kill you," Damen said as he lowered her to the ground. "But I'll take something you'll never get back."
His hand glowed as he reached into the energy around her chest—extracting and assimilating the Core of Space, Level 4 in her body.
This was the alien artifact she had in her body that enabled her mirror conjuring ability.
Mirrose screamed as the light tore out of her body, her powers vanishing like smoke.
"No, you can't take away my powers", she cried.
Then Damen turned to Nullrose. "Yours too."
He drew out her Core of Anti-Meta, Level 4, before draining her until she collapsed.
Finally, he faced Fearose.
She crawled backward, trembling. "No…no, you're a monster! The Syndic will come for you…!"
"I'm counting on it," Damen said, his tone like steel. "Send more of you. The stronger they are, the stronger I become."
He plunged his hand forward, extracting the Core of Fear, Level 4, leaving Fearose pale and shaking.
When it was done, the three witches slumped together…. Their bodies and powers were all drained. Instantly they becamepowerless and aged by the loss of their powers.
"Now you really look like witches," Eryn said, dusting herself off. "Try not to curse anyone else."
Damen smirked faintly and turned away. "Let's go."
As the pair disappeared into the night, the three witches sat in silence among the shattered mirrors.
"Who is that boy?" Mirrose whispered. "He drained everything I had….he's even taken the power source I painfully developed."
"This kind of monster…" Nullrose muttered. "I never want to meet again."
Fearose exhaled, her voice hoarse. "Then it's decided. Our days with the Syndic are over. It's time to return to the farm."
-----
Damen sent Eryn back to her room. She was completely spent after the battle.
Now alone, he finally had a moment to breathe.
He had won, defeating three Rank AA enemies, the Witches of Roses, but yet, it wasn't a clean victory.
"I was lucky," he muttered under his breath. "All three of them were control types. If even one of them had been a pure attacker, I'd be dead by now."
Luck had always been on his side. But as he stared at his trembling hands, he knew he couldn't rely on it forever.
He opened his interface and checked his stats.
Name: Damen Dark
Strength Rank: BB Meta Rank: A Blood Rank: B
Strength: 3668 | Charm: 4369 | Meta: 5110 | Command: 5111 | Blood: 904 | Armor: 6366
Then came the real reward — the Cores.
Core of Anti-Meta – not activated (0/10)
Core of Space – not activated (0/8)
Core of Fear – not activated (0/8)
"Damnit," he hissed. "All that effort… for nothing."
These were special Cores — gifts of rare powers, each requiring a precise condition to awaken. They couldn't just be absorbed; they demanded more for awakening.
He leaned back, recalling the fight.
"Even with resistance to psychic attacks, the mix of Anti-Meta and a spatial trap like the mirror or vine prison could completely seal me off," he realized. "I wouldn't even have room to breathe. If a pyrokinetic was there by just lighting a fire inside the dome, I'll be dead."
He needed something different.
A way to break through without relying on brute power.
Later that night, he opened his Shop again. Rows of shimmering relics and cosmic cores scrolled across his vision until one caught his eye.
Item: Heart of Heka
Description: The god of magic grants to chosen individuals a link to spiritual power.
He frowned. "What does that even mean?"
Then a thought sparked.
"Could it give me psychic ability?"
He grinned slightly.
It made sense … if he were trapped by Anti-Meta and spatial prisons, physical or meta strength wouldn't matter. Only the mind could break what the body couldn't.
"My Charm's already at Rank A," he mused. "But my Psychic rank… hasn't even awakened."
The Heart of Heka might be the key … the missing link between his will and the higher planes of psychic power.
But the price tag glared back at him. Hedoesn't have enough coins.
He sighed. "Guess I'll have to wait."
Still, for the first time that night, he felt something close to hope.
He had a plan.
-----
Damen was startled awake in the middle of the night.
The faint hum of machinery filled the air, followed by a sharp beeping sound from across the hall.
He threw on a shirt and hurried to Kail's room. The door slid open with a hiss.
Inside, the glow of a dozen holo-screens washed over Kail's face in cold blue light. Lines of code flickered and scrolled faster than the eye could follow.
"Kail," Damen said, voice low but edged with concern. "What's going on? Why are you up so late?"
Kail didn't look up.
His fingers danced over invisible keyboards, summoning new windows faster than he could close them. "Oh…Big Brother, you're awake." He hesitated only for a second before blurting, "Our servers have been attacked again."
Damen's expression hardened. "Again? By who?"