“I would have had you detained and interrogated to know just how you got your hands on this if it weren’t for the eyewitnesses from Farran’s crew confirming your story.” The guildmaster said nonchalant.

The young adventurer, Reed, had achieved something that hadn’t been heard off since the ancient era. A mundane human killing an evolved monster by his lonesome, this feat alone would have brought him infamy worth its weight in gold but here?

Reed said nothing, his hands clenched into fists in his lap. Even after a year of service filled with blood, sweat and tears he was still met with a threat in his first major accomplishment.

To be treated as such, pushing down his disdain Reed smiled back. He’d waited long enough for this moment. He wasn’t here looking for empty compliments.

“So," the Guildmaster leaned forward, placing the cores from the sewer king gently on the table. "What is it you want in return for this? An iron order contract? Help in joining a crew, maybe?"

Reed’s eyes locked onto the Guildmaster’s, his voice steady. “I want a revelation.”

The smile on the Guildmaster’s face vanished, even if the old man was surprised he didn’t show it. Reed felt the guildmaster’s gaze turn piercing. Straightening in his chair, studying Reed more carefully, he questioned, “You’ve already saturated your core?”

Reed nodded, the tension in his body coiling tighter. "Yes."

The Guildmaster sat back, contemplating. He didn’t expect this from an adventurer hailed as the Rat King, a man the rest of the guild often ridiculed. Reed’s reputation was built on sewer subjugations and the endless, thankless hunts he took on for his very first year of service. But these cores, the one from a mutated monster that even the more seasoned adventurers would hesitate to face, was proof enough of his mettle but these cores were in his hands and not used by Reed to fuel his own core.

So the guildmaster could not help but ask, “How?”

Sighing, Reed replied, “You have seen the reports, I have hunted down hundreds of wyrmlings, slimes and well, many dangerous critters by now. Their cores, now a part of my unrealized one.”

Now the guildmaster was well and truly shaken, after a long pause the Guildmaster nodded slowly, “Very well, I’ll arrange it.”

After getting the very next day fixed for the ritual, Reed stood up offering the guildmaster a curt bow, “Thanks for having my arm fixed up.”

The guildmaster waved him away, the old man’s focus being moved to something else entirely.

Outside he found Lydia waiting for him, along with her crewmates, Felix and Clara.

Before he could greet her, Lydia launched into a frenzy of questioning, “He didn’t deny your claim, right? Half the city saw you cutting open the monster from the fissure in the road. Should we go to the capital to lodge a complaint?”

It was only after Clara stepped between both of them and put a finger on Lydia’s lips, did she stop talking. Reed saw the scene with amusement while Felix stepped up to him and offered a hand.

When Reed took it, Felix sighed, “I - I heard the whole story from Lydia. To think I was judging someone with such grit based on rumours alone.”

Reed was even offered an apology out of nowhere. Shaking his head, he let out a hollow chuckle seeing Lydia bickering with Clara right behind Felix. Their eyes met and Reed offered, “You have got some good crewmates.”

Lydia was left speechless for a while as she stared at Reed. Felix, seeing the mood take a different turn, made a swift exit, dragging an annoyed Clara along with him.

Left alone now Lydia finally was able to get it out, “I’m sorry.”

Raising a brow Reed asked her, “About what?”

Lydia felt her emotions choking her, but she had to say it now or it would forever haunt her, “For leaving you by yourself. For joining the crew of the man who made your life hell for no rhyme or reason.”

Understanding what she meant, Reed finally put two and two together. Going by what she said, Reed figured the whole reason no crew took him up to him being denied for even the clerical posts was Farran.

Reed himself was truly dumbfounded at that. He had no quarrel with the rich noble turned adventurer. So what reason was there for that bastard to go so far as to make his life hard?

Some people were truly…

Regardless, everything would change after Reed received the first revelation. Something that will remain a secret until it would be too late for Farran or anyone else to interfere.

Reed gazed at Lydia, her beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair stopping just above her shoulders. She was as beautiful as the day he first met her. Which made him realise he had been staring at her for a while without answering.

“How about you treat me to dinner? Then we can let bygones be bygones.” Reed replied abruptly.

Lydia’s eyes widened, “J - Just like that?”

Reed laughed, “Just like that.”

Later that evening, Lydia took Reed to a quiet tavern nestled in one of the backstreets. The place wasn't the most luxurious the city had to offer but it was warm, low-lit with an inviting atmosphere. Comforting smell of roasted meat and freshly baked bread wafted through the air. Glasses clinked here and there, along with the soft hum of conversations between strangers.

Before Reed even took the menu Lydia had ordered for both of them, telling him it was her treat so he would have to try whatever she ordered. Her mannerisms made Reed smile and he put his hands in the air, defeated.

By the time the food arrived, they had already fallen into easy conversation. It surprised both of them the shared moments they had back in the orphanage, even though they hadn’t crossed paths fully before joining the guild.

“I used to sneak out to the yard at night,” Lydia confessed, a small smile on her lips. “When everyone was asleep, I’d practise climbing the trees near the old fence to escape sometimes. Of course I never succeeded.”

Reed raised his fork, putting it in the well made roasted meat, “You know, I think I actually saw you doing that once or twice. Since I used the same exit.”

Lydia looked at him with her mouth open, offended, “And you never thought of teaching me how to climb that damn tree?”

“Nah, it seemed you were having fun. I mean I did, seeing the dumb girl falling on her face in the middle of the night.” Reed replied, laughing.

“Asshole.” Lydia called him while bringing the glass of wine to her lips, before her smile fell.

“That’s right. Weren’t you always slipping away? Everyone thought you’d gotten kidnapped a few times.”

“Ah right, I mean they weren’t wrong I was running with some shady people back then,” Reed admitted, downing his own glass filled with wine, “Back then, I thought the gangsters were the cooler company than the few volunteer teachers back in the orphanage.”

They exchanged a few more of their own tales, reflecting on the cold reality they faced as children. It seemed like the nostalgia of having shared a childhood albeit not directly kept forging a bond in the present between them.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The tavern grew quieter as the evening turned to night. They talked about the city, the changes they went through last year and suddenly, they weren’t just two people with a shared past - they were something more.

At one point, their hands brushed as they both reached for the bottle of wine. Reed’s fingers lingered over Lydia’s sending a jolt through her. She felt the air between them shift, growing heavy with something unspoken. Reed had always kept everyone at arm's length, but tonight, he couldn’t. Not with her.

They sat like that for a moment, then Reed took her hand interlocking their fingers. Lydia’s breath quickened and she found herself leaning in, drawn by the mood, something she had no experience in.

And so did Reed, leaning in his eyes naturally flickered to her lips, then back to her blue eyes. Slowly he began to close the gap, his face inches from hers, warm and steady, for a moment Reed was able to forget about everything - the painful past year, worries about the future. All that existed was this moment. Lydia, right in front of him. Closer than ever before.

But just as their lips were about to meet, a thought surged through Lydia’s mind like poison: Farran.

Without thinking Lydia flinched away from Reed using her free hand to push against his chest, stopping him. Her own sudden action shocked her making her heart clench, a sick feeling of regret flooded her looking at Reed’s face.

Pulling her hand that had been interlocked with Reed’s. She whispered, “I… I can’t.”

Reed froze, confusion etched on his face. He blinked, trying to process what happened. His gaze searched hers, looking for an answer. Did he misread the mood? Was his advance unwelcomed from the start?

All questions Lydia couldn’t answer. Her chest hurt, lowering her gaze she avoided Reed. She hated herself for pulling away so abruptly. But she couldn’t do it - couldn’t let this happen. Not when Farran still held her future in his hands.

He won’t let me go, she thought, her mind spun.

Farran has everything planned, my place, my role. He literally said it too - if I tried to escape his control he would destroy everything around me. I - I can’t get Reed involved in this. The shadow of her captain laughed at her from the dark corners of her mind, the grating voice, cold and possessive.

Lydia raised her head only to find Reed had already donned the face he wore while slaying those rats. No emotions, mechanical, detached from everything.

Lydia clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. She wanted to break out of the walls that had been built around her, to break free. But she couldn’t give Farran another reason to go after Reed. Not when he had just achieved something so grand.

Reed let out a soft laugh, breaking the bitter silence between them, “I guess I misread the situation, my bad.”

Reed kept his tone flat as he stood up, “Thanks for the dinner, Lydia,” turning around he said, “I’ll see you around.”

Lydia’s heart sank as she caught the slight break in his voice as he said his farewell. She stood up but by that point he walked out of the tavern, the door swinging shut behind him.

Falling back in her seat, Lydia let out a muffled sob. She wanted it to happen - wanted him and now, all she felt was the suffocating regret at the hurt Reed hid behind his mask of indifference as he left.

Outside the tavern, Reed walked inhaling the cold air, trying to not let the slight pain in his chest bother him. He knew there was a reason behind Lydia pulling back from him.

From what Reed saw in her face - the hesitation, the guilt. A name came up in his mind, which made him grit his teeth even knowing the reality of it all. He had wished Lydia would throw caution to the wind and choose him. It was selfish of him knowing what was at stake for her, not even knowing he himself would stand at Farran’s level the very next day. But still he wished she had chosen him.

From the rage that boiled within Reed’s chest, he knew tonight would be another sleepless night.

____________________

The next day, Reed dragged his sleep deprived body to the temple, standing in front of the priestess, his mind couldn’t help but buzz with anticipation. The priestess herself was an unsettlingly tall woman, draped in dark robes that shimmered in the low light of the ritual chamber. Her eyes were hidden behind a veil, but her voice was clear as she spoke, filling the chamber with an eerie calm.

"Before we begin," she said, her tone formal, "I must offer a warning. The ritual will make your core real, bringing it from aether into reality. But..." Her voice softened. "It will come with a price. It may be a physical change, a mental burden or being tied to a fate and in some rare cases all of them."

Reed paused, arms crossed but soon his lips curled upwards. He had heard these warnings before. Every time he asked about the revelation ritual, someone warned him about the so-called ‘price.’ But he was done playing it safe a long time ago. He’d clawed his way to this point, struggled for every scrap and had bled more than enough.

“Yeah, yeah,” Reed laughed, waving her words away. “I’ve been warned. Let’s get this over with.”

The priestess didn’t react at his casual dismissal, her hand moving over placing a sacred scroll on her podium.

Looking down at Reed who was kneeling down at the centre of the runes she nodded, “Very well,” her voice steady, “During the ritual you will see a vision. Something that will come out from the deepest darkness of your heart. Prepare yourself.”

Reed barely had time to blink before his world went dark, his senses dissolving into nothingness.

_______

He was crawling, breathless and haggard, Reed’s arms scraped against a pile of golden skulls, each one glimmering with a blinding glow as he clawed his way forward, desperate. His breath came in ragged gasps, his fingers bleeding as they dug into the bone beneath him. Above him, far above, was the throne — a golden seat atop a mountain of gold skulls, surrounded by the soft, ethereal forms of women, their laughter fell on his ears like maddening music.

Something rose within him, an animalistic urge to take those women. To sit upon the throne, looking down at the world.

It was so close. So damn close.

Reed felt his muscles burning, as he climbed with a renewed madness, losing fingers on the cutting edges of the gold skulls, making each movement an agonising struggle, but he couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop. His eyes grew bloodshot as it fixated on that throne, on the riches, on the women. But no matter how long he climbed, the mountain grew taller, the throne moving further out of reach.

Just a little more...

Reed stretched out his fingerless hand, but the throne vanished. He fell, spiralling downward into an abyss, the golden skulls crumbling beneath him, until —

___

Reed gasped, his body jerking upright, cold sweat running down his spine. He was back in the ritual chamber, the priestess standing over him, her expression unreadable beneath her veil.

The vision was gone, but something inside him had changed. He could feel it.

His heart raced, but it wasn’t just his heart anymore. There was something else filling him with vigour with every passing moment. Faint, but steady. Pulsing with energy, deep within his chest. His core. The vision had brought it to life, fully realised now.

"It feels..." Reed exhaled slowly, the euphoria almost making him lose his train of thought, he pressed his hand against his chest, as if trying to feel the new presence within him. "Like a second heart. Beating inside me."

Despite what Reed said there was another change in him. The golden colour his eyes had taken slowly disappeared. The priestess, not mentioning the visible change, nodded solemnly. “That is your core. Now, it is real.”

She stepped forward, placing a scroll into his hands. “This contains your ability. The revelation that has been granted to you. And…” Her voice softened, a strange weight to it. “The price you have paid.”

By then his high had almost run out so the last words from the priestess brought Reed back to reality. Unfurling the scroll, he scanned the elegant script. His eyes narrowed as he read, first the description of his newly gained ability.

[Man Of Violence]: Your body is an instrument of violence. Within the throes of a life and death, your body shall surpass its limits.

Reed couldn’t help but smirk. The ability itself felt like an acknowledgement to his past struggles. But as his eyes moved to the “price” part, his smirk faded.

[Sinful Urge]: You must indulge in your truest desires. Not laying with a woman or not hoarding money will slowly erode your mind until nothing but a monster remains in human flesh.

A compulsion, a drive tugged at his mind even as Reed read the words. If he went too long without indulging in wealth, without feeling a woman’s warmth, he would start to crave it. An addiction, gnawing at his thoughts, growing stronger the longer he resisted.

It wasn’t weakness, not in the sense that it would sap his strength. But it was insidious. If left alone for long enough he shuddered to think what he would become.

The priestess spoke, drawing his attention back to her. “Our god is not known for mercy. Its gifts come with burdens but never ones that affect your growth into your true self. Yours... is a reflection of your own nature. Your affinity for greed and lust is a reflection of your true self, which will now shape your fate.”

Reed clenched his fist around the scroll, the weight of her words sinking in.

"You mean I’m bound to be like this? Forever?"

"Forever," the priestess confirmed, her voice as cold as stone. "Your struggle will never end. But you may rise as high as you dare."

Reed’s heart pounded in his chest - his core accompanying it by filling his body with mana — and as the realisation settled in, he felt a strange mix of emotions. Fear, yes. But also… anticipation.

He could feel the mana coursing through him now, the new power that surged with each beat of his realised core.

With a grin Reed stood up, still having to crane his neck to meet the priestess’s gaze, her veiled face turned in his direction. Still not used to the mana running wild in his body and his mind reeling in from the revelation, he couldn’t resist his newly acquired urges from taking control.

“So,” Flashing a cheeky grin, “You want to grab some coffee back at my place?”

There was a beat of silence, the tension suddenly rising in the room. The priestess’s face remained unreadable concealed by the veil, but the air around her grew oppressive.

Out of nowhere, two robed attendants with a certain sense of wrongness to them appeared at either side of Reed. They moved with purpose each of them grabbing onto Reed’s shoulders and before he could fully understand the situation they started ushering him out of the room.

“W - wait, it was just a joke.” Reed muttered, nervous, but the grip of the attendants on his shoulders were firm, soon enough he was guided through the stone hallways to the exit.

As Reed was promptly thrown outside onto the busy road, his grin didn’t leave his face. Sure he had a lot to figure out from now on, his ability, the troublesome urges yet in spite of it all, for the first time in his life he had felt free.