They next morning, Lyria didn't wake him up for early training, thank god. Instead she let him sleep in.
She was worried. And he had system issues, you know? The regular....
The Error System flared in his vision just as he was drifting off.
[System Surge Detected. Rebooting Interface...] [Warning: Memory Lock Cracking — Do Not Resist]
His body froze.
For a second, everything turned white.
He was standing in a ruined hall. Massive stone pillars. A golden gate broken open. Voices echoing like thunder. One name, whispered by a thousand mouths:
"Askariel."
Then nothing.
He collapsed.
When he woke, he had a mild head pain and Lyria was next to him. Fully armored, sitting on the edge of the bed with arms crossed and a very sharp dagger on her thigh.
"You passed out," she said bluntly. "Again."
"I saw something. I think."
"Your system glitched hard. Seren said it was pushing too much mana."
Kaito sat up slowly. "Where is she?"
"Brooding downstairs. Probably waiting for a chance to poke you again."
He chuckled. "You stayed."
Lyria didn't answer.
He looked down and saw that her hand had been resting lightly over his.
"Thanks."
She finally looked at him. "Next time, say something before you go all lightshow and collapse. I don't like surprises."
There was something unspoken in her eyes, worry maybe. But she covered it fast.
Then she leaned back and stood.
"I'll get food. Don't move until I get back."
"Yes, boss."
She rolled her eyes but didn't hide the smile.
Ten minutes later, Seren came in.
No knocking, no warning. Just appeared in the doorway holding a glowing orb in one hand.
"You're alive. Great. Let's poke things."
"Hi to you too," Kaito muttered.
She walked up, sat right on the edge of the bed, and pointed the orb at him.
"I'm going to scan you. Shirt off."
"What?....why?"
"Because your system flared like a divine beacon, and I'd rather not have a new city guest soon."
Kaito murmured and pulled off his shirt.
Seren straddled his lap to keep the orb close. Her breath was warm against his cheek.
"You're twitchy," she said, amused.
"You're sitting on me."
"Don't flatter yourself."
Her fingers traced a line down his chest. Not sexual, at least not on purpose, but it still made him stiffen.
Seren's face shifted slightly. She glanced at his lips.
Then she leaned in close.
Too close.
Kaito felt heat crawl up his neck.
Just before their mouths met, she flicked his forehead. Hard.
"System's still trash," she muttered, standing up. "Let me know if you grow wings or horns."
She walked out without another word.
He lay back, exhaling.
"Yep," he said aloud. "Still twitchy."
---
A few moments had passed, Kaito joined Lyria and Seren at the guild's job board. The mood inside the Drunken Hydra was different when he came back.
Last time, most adventurers hadn't noticed them. Now, every step they took into the guildhall drew glances. Some people nodded with recognition. Others whispered behind mugs.
Kaito scratched his head. "Is it just me, or are they staring like we kicked over their prize cow?"
"They're staring because you killed something weird," Seren said, not even looking up as she passed the bar. "And you're glowing with unstable magic. That tends to turn heads."
"Also," Lyria added, "you smell like monster guts."
Kaito blinked. "You're the one who killed the damn monster."
Lyria shrugged. "Better me than you. You'd probably die."
He opened his mouth to argue, but the tension in the guild made him pause. There was a man near the wall, his hood was up, only one silver eye visible. He hadn't blinked once.
Kaito looked away quickly.
"Look at this one," Seren said, pointing to a parchment with a red seal. "Missing adventurers. Big payout. Smells like bait."
"Or opportunity," Lyria said, arms folded.
Kaito leaned in. "A ruined watchtower? That's near the old quarry road."
"You've never been there," Lyria said.
"My system showed it last night."
Both women turned to look at him.
"You sure?" Seren asked.
"I saw a golden gate, a broken hall. Voices." He shrugged. "I think the tower's tied to it."
Lyria cursed softly. "Then we're going. Tonight."
"We don't even know what's there."
"Which is why we're going," she said. "If this city's sniffing around you too much, we need answers fast."
Seren tilted her head. "Maybe it's not the city. Maybe it's your system leaking something."
That thought didn't make Kaito feel better.
Still, he took the job sheet and signed their team name.
"The Glitch Squad now?" the clerk said, raising a brow.
"Shut up," Kaito muttered.
"And I don't want to hear anything." He said, pointing at the girls.
They geared up quietly, tension growing as the day moved. Outside, the wind picked up.
And in the shadows of the alley, the figure with a silver eye vanished behind the brick wall.
By nightfall, they were out past the last stone markers of the city, the forest beginning to thicken again. The old quarry road was quiet, too quiet.
Lyria led at the front, hand on her blade. Kaito stayed in the middle as always with his stuffs.., eyes moving toward every tree. Seren was up the rear, muttering arcane detection spells under her breath.
"I hate the smell of moss," she said suddenly.
Kaito blinked. "That's a weird complaint."
"It means wet things are near. Wet things hide better."
Lyria halted. "Hold."
Ahead, in the clearing, stood the ruined watchtower. Half of it had collapsed, leaving cracked stone steps spiraling up into open air. The base was choked in vines and darkened by fire damages.
"This the place?" Lyria asked.
Kaito's system flared faintly. A small ping hovered in his vision.
[Location Confirmed: Memory Echo Detected]
He nodded. "Yeah."
Seren stepped forward and crouched by a broken helmet in the grass. "This was fresh."
"Ambush?" Lyria asked.
"Or bait," Seren replied.
Then the vines moved.
From beneath the ruined floor, stone plates shifted and clicked. A massive construct crawled out, eight limbs, six glowing eyes, and a carved chest.
Golem.
"Positions!" Lyria shouted.
The golem let out a screech and lunged towards them....
To be continued...