Ren sat on the edge of his bed, eyes locked onto the translucent screen of his Mandate System hovering before him. His fingers instinctively curled as he read through the new addition:

  Abysswalker – Allows temporary intangibility, making the user untouchable for a short duration. However, while intangible, the user cannot interact with the world. Consumes essence at a rapid rate. Overuse may force essence absorption to compensate.

  He exhaled sharply.

  "Another double-edged sword."

  It was useful—extremely so—but came with a dangerous tradeoff. He couldn’t afford to overuse it, or he’d risk his flaw acting up, forcing him to absorb essence uncontrollably. That was a problem. He needed more control, more understanding of how to balance his abilities.

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  Shaking his head, he dismissed the screen and grabbed his coat. The reward from the guild was waiting, and he wasn’t about to waste any more time.

  The guild hall was as lively as ever. Hunters of all ranks filled the space—some bragging about recent kills, others haggling over contracts. The atmosphere buzzed with an undercurrent of ambition and competition.

  Ren made his way to the front desk, where a familiar clerk raised an eyebrow at him.

  "Back already?" she asked, flipping through a ledger.

  "Yeah. Just here to claim my reward," Ren replied, resting his arms on the counter.

  She nodded, scanning something on her end before placing a small bag of ryo in front of him. "For the wolf pack extermination. Not bad for a first assignment."

  Ren scooped up the bag and tested its weight. Decent amount. It would cover expenses for a while.

  "By the way," the clerk continued, leaning in slightly, "word is, the higher-ups took notice. Not a lot of first-timers clear a job that fast."

  Ren smirked. "Guess I’m just built different."

  She scoffed. "Or reckless. Either way, don’t die too soon."

  With a casual wave, Ren turned and walked away, already thinking ahead to his next move. The real game was just beginning.