Chapter 8: Hero of the Slums
The sun rose slowly over Velaria, but its golden light barely touched the lower districts. Narrow alleys, crooked roofs, and rusted chimneys made a chaotic patchwork that the nobles ignored. But today, something had changed. Whispers spread like wildfire.
"The cult's gone…"
"Someone killed the beast in the old chapel tunnels…"
"They're saying… it was a swordsman. One man."
Mano walked through the slums with his cloak pulled tight, a tired glint in his eyes. His body still ached from the battle underground. His left shoulder throbbed where the curse had scorched through skin and muscle, though the wound had stopped bleeding after he used a recovery potion.
Even so, he didn't limp.
He refused to.
---
[Quest Chain Completed: Shadows in the City (Part III)]
Reputation Gained: +50 (Lower Velaria)
Title Gained: Blade Ghost
New Passive Unlocked: Community Echo – Minor HP and MP regen near civilians who revere you
---
Children followed him now—barefoot, wide-eyed, and curious. They didn't know who he really was, but they could feel it. The air around him was different. Calmer. Safer.
At the corner of Mire Lane, an elderly baker pressed a fresh bun into his hand with trembling fingers.
"No charge," she whispered. "For saving my grandson."
Mano froze, then offered a small nod. He didn't know what to say. In his old life, the only thing people gave him freely was fear… or blame.
This? This was new.
---
He reached the outer wall of the slum, where the bodies of cultists and their mutated spawn had been dragged and burned by city guards. The scene still reeked of rot and ash. Two adventurers in bronze armor stood nearby, watching him approach.
"You the one they call Blade Ghost?" one asked, tone cautious.
Mano just stared.
The other adventurer stepped forward and pulled a sealed scroll from his pack.
"This is from the Adventurer's Guild. You've been summoned."
---
[Main Quest Triggered: Trial of Recognition]
Attend the Adventurer's Guild Recognition Council within 24 hours.
Note: Skipping this event may affect guild affiliation and progression.
---
That night, Mano sat atop a broken tower at the edge of the city, watching torchlights flicker across the rooftops. His hand rested on the sealed black orb in his satchel—the Heaven Fragment.
He still didn't understand it.
> "A shard of the original blade…? Then how many more are out there?"
The cultist's final words echoed in his mind.
> "The Chains of Heaven are breaking…"
Whatever that meant, it had something to do with the blade's origin—and with him.
Mano clenched his fist.
He wasn't ready to face some god or forgotten prophecy. But he was ready to keep walking forward, one enemy at a time.
---
At dawn, he headed toward the towering white stone structure that housed the Adventurer's Guild. Unlike the lower districts, this place was clean, polished, and buzzing with magic. Golden-armored guards flanked the entrance, and adventurers of every kind came and went—beastkin, elves, mages, and warriors.
As he stepped inside, a familiar voice called out.
"Well well… if it isn't the sewer swordsman."
It was Garret Malden, the noble's son Mano had humiliated in his first days here. His armor was shiny, and a jeweled sword hung from his belt, but his smirk was even shinier.
"I hear you're a big deal now," Garret said with a sneer. "Folk hero of the gutter. Cute."
Mano didn't stop walking. "Still pretending to be important, huh?"
Garret flushed but stepped aside. For now.
Inside the guild's great hall, a dozen people waited: guild examiners, instructors, and three high-ranking adventurers. One of them was a woman in black mage robes with a silver collar—Syndra Wyrmane, an S-Rank firecaster known for incinerating an ogre legion by herself.
The lead examiner looked up from a crystal tablet.
"Mano. Former unranked, now verified combatant. You cleared three quests in under a week, exterminated a dark cult cell, and brought back a Heaven-class relic."
He tapped the table.
"We're offering you formal entry into the Adventurer's Guild at Iron Rank. Higher than most ever see in their first month."
---
[System Update: Title Progression – Recognized Blade]
Perk Gained: Access to Guild Contracts, Weapon Art Library (Tier 1), and Personal Training Chamber
New System Feature Unlocked: Sword Style Slot – Locked (Requires Meditation Ritual)
---
Mano accepted the guild crest, a simple iron pin with an engraved blade. But his mind was already elsewhere.
The cult. The Fragment. The prophecy.
He had earned a name in this city. But he was only just beginning to understand what that name meant.
---
That night, as he walked back into the shadows of Lower Velaria, a soft voice echoed from behind a wall.
"You shine brighter than you think, blade ghost."
He turned, but the alley was empty.