"The Silent Reaper"

The drizzle still lingered over Dee Valley, mist clinging to the rooftops and drifting like thin smoke across the narrow streets. Kael-X walked at a measured pace, his hood drawn low, the hem of his orange trousers brushing against damp cobblestones. The world around him seemed calm—until he heard it.

Distant shouts. Metal clashing. Gunfire cracking through the mist.

He stopped, head tilting slightly, the faintest curl of a smirk forming on his lips. Trouble.

Turning to a passerby—a man in a flat cap, arms heavy with groceries—Kael spoke in a voice calm and curious.

"Hello. What's going on up there?"

The man froze, eyes widening as though Kael had just asked the most obvious question in the world. "Are you new here?" he asked, his tone sharp with disbelief. "Don't you know? The Red Horses and the Gunstein gang are at war again! Best stay away, stranger. If you value your skin, don't wander up that road."

Kael's smirk widened just enough to be seen from beneath the hood. "Oh, thank you," he said politely.

The man hurried off, shaking his head at what he thought was just a reckless outsider. Kael, however, remained rooted in place for a moment, listening to the echoes of conflict drifting down the valley.

Red Horses. Gunstein. Primitive groups fighting over scraps. Yet… where there is war, there is always abundance left unattended.

He lifted his head slightly, eyes flashing. "I think it's time we reap where we did not sow."

And then—he vanished.

But not in haste this time. He didn't need speed to sate his curiosity. He walked in bursts, reappearing in shadowed corners and alleyways, blending in with the fog.

"Augustus," he whispered, voice low as though speaking to a confidant. "Scan for Compound-X deposits here. Perhaps we'll take a detour."

[ Scanning for Compound-X… Mapping terrain… Deposits marked ]

The digital map burned into his vision. To Kael-X, the streets of Dee Valley became overlaid with glowing symbols. Pulses of blue light marked the shallow veins of Compound-X in the soil, while deep crimson spheres represented larger deposits locked in forgotten mines.

He blinked once, and the map expanded, showing not just the town but the hills beyond—the very bones of Wales revealing their treasures to him.

A soft chuckle escaped his lips. "Ah… so much treasure, left unguarded."

He moved. Not in lightning streaks, but with deliberate stillness, drifting through the edges of the valley. He passed boarded-up cottages, their gardens overrun with nettles. He stepped lightly over rusted fences, the echo of distant gunfire drawing his gaze occasionally, though he never strayed toward it. Instead, he followed the glowing marks only he could see.

The first mine entrance lay hidden behind an old quarry wall, its arch partially collapsed, moss and ivy clinging to stone. Kael stepped into the shadows, his hand brushing against the damp rock.

The moment his palm touched, the air vibrated. Crystalline veins of Compound-X pulsed faintly, and like thirsty roots, Kael's body drank it in. His system hummed, faint blue light flickering under his skin.

[ Absorbing… Energy levels stable… ]

He left no trace. Only faded dust where the veins had been.

From one deposit to another, he moved silently, patiently—like a farmer harvesting fields at night. He did not rush. There was no need. Every flicker of Compound-X absorbed was another piece of power folded into his being.

And with each site emptied, the valley grew a little poorer.

By the time he reached the fifth deposit, the war noises had grown louder. He could see distant sparks on the ridge—muzzle flashes through the fog. Shouts carried on the wind, blending with the thundering hooves of the Red Horses' infamous cavalry charge.

Kael crouched low on a slope overlooking the chaos. From here, he could see them—two gangs locked in a brutal struggle. The Red Horses, dressed in crimson coats and riding armored steeds, clashed against the Gunstein gang, who bore black armbands and crude firearms.

He watched them with mild interest, as though observing ants fighting over crumbs. His hood shadowed his expression, but the faint gleam of amusement flickered in his eyes.

"They waste so much energy fighting each other," he murmured. "And here I am, harvesting freely. The slow always feed the fast."

A brief silence passed as he stood there, mist clinging to his shoulders. Then he straightened, brushing the moisture from his sleeve.

"Augustus," he said quietly, "mark every last deposit. We'll take all of it before dawn."

[ Affirmative. Mapping complete. ]

Kael turned from the battlefield without a second glance. The screams, the blood, the rage—they were meaningless. What mattered was the silent wealth hidden beneath their feet.

And one by one, Dee Valley's lifeblood disappeared into the hands of a stranger cloaked in orange.

The mist hung heavy over Dee Valley, curling around stone walls and trickling through the narrow alleys like a living thing. Rain drizzled in a fine sheet, soft enough to blur the outlines of cottages, hard enough to soak the cobblestones. Beneath the orange hood, Kael-X moved like a shadow, his steps quiet and unhurried.

The echoes of conflict had drawn him closer. From somewhere ahead, the sounds of battle split the calm—the crack of gunfire, the angry neighs of horses, and the guttural shouts of men. It was chaos at a distance, muffled by fog and hills.

He could have rushed straight into it, but Kael never wasted opportunities.

"Augustus," he murmured softly, his voice drowned by the drizzle. "Scan for Compound-X deposits. Mark every vein."

[ Scanning… Mapping terrain… Deposits marked. ]

And just like that, his vision changed. Dee Valley unfolded in his mind's eye, its hills and ridges becoming a luminous map. Blue pinpricks glowed where shallow veins of Compound-X clung to the earth. Deeper still, crimson orbs pulsed like the hearts of buried beasts, marking large underground caches.

Kael's lips curled faintly. Treasure left to rot while primitives waste bullets on each other.

He moved in silence, weaving through the valley's edges. His path carried him away from the sound of war, toward the forgotten bones of the earth.

The first mine was a scar in the hillside, half-swallowed by ivy and moss. A wooden frame still clung to its entrance, though rotted and collapsed. Kael stepped inside, his hood brushing against low-hanging vines. The air smelled of damp soil and iron.

He pressed his hand to the rock. Immediately, a vibration rippled through the stone, and the veins of Compound-X lit faintly beneath the surface, pulsing like veins beneath skin.

[ Absorbing… Converting crystalline structure… Stable integration. ]

A pale shimmer ran up Kael's arm. Moments later, the glow in the stone was gone, leaving only grey dust. He exhaled once, slow and measured, before turning back to the drizzle.

So it went.

One by one, he drained the valley. Old quarries, sealed shafts, narrow cave mouths—each marked on his vision, each stripped bare as he passed. The deposits surrendered themselves wordlessly, their brilliance folding into him.

Time blurred. By the fifth mine, his body pulsed faintly beneath the hoodie, a hum of energy crawling along his veins. He stopped atop a slope to let the power settle, gazing out across Dee Valley's mist. The battlefield lay in sight now.

At first, he thought it was the same brutish contest he expected—two gangs fighting with crude weapons, men spilling blood for territory. But as the fog parted with each gunshot flare, Kael noticed something else.

Power.

Not his kind of power—nothing that could threaten him—but power nonetheless.

A man from the Red Horses swung his arm, and the very air cracked like a whip, sending a Gunstein opponent sprawling. Another's eyes glowed faintly, his aim steadying unnaturally as bullets curved mid-flight to strike true.

On the Gunstein side, one fighter's skin glistened with a metallic sheen, deflecting blades and bullets alike, while another's voice boomed like thunder, sending shockwaves that rattled the ridge.

Kael's head tilted slightly beneath his hood. His smirk returned. So, even these humans have touched fragments of strength. Petty sparks of a greater fire. Fascinating.

He crouched low, resting one hand on his knee, and simply watched. The battle raged like a storm. Horses screamed as fire burst from the barrels of primitive guns. Blades met with sparks. Men fell and rose again, shouting oaths of vengeance into the mist.

But to Kael, it was like watching children throwing rocks at each other.

"Augustus," he said quietly, his tone almost amused, "analyze their abilities."

[ Scanning… ]

[ Result: Low-level genetic mutations. Compound-X exposure detected in trace amounts. Energy signatures minimal. Threat assessment: Negligible. ]

He chuckled under his breath, the sound nearly lost in the rain. "So, this world's humans toy with Compound-X too. Yet they barely scratch the surface. Look at them—burning their gifts on petty wars."

A streak of fire cut through the fog as one fighter hurled a flaming spear across the battlefield. Kael's eyes followed its arc, unimpressed.

"Pathetic."

Still, he did not turn away. For all their weakness, there was a curiosity in watching. This was a glimpse into the shape of the world he had entered—small pockets of evolution, scraps of power born from accidental contamination or crude experiments. Nothing dangerous. Nothing beyond his reach.

As the Red Horses charged, their crimson coats streaming like banners, Kael rose to his feet. He stood against the mist, arms folded loosely, eyes glowing faintly beneath his hood.

They cannot see me. Not yet. To them, I am no more than a shadow in the rain.

But shadows could reap.

His gaze shifted back to the map overlay in his vision. The last deposits glowed faintly behind the battlefield. Beyond the hill where men killed each other, the earth still pulsed with hidden treasure.

Kael's smirk deepened. "War keeps them distracted. Perfect."

He did not rush headlong. Instead, he circled wide, skirting the very edges of the conflict. As men screamed and horses fell, Kael slipped past unseen, draining the final veins of Compound-X. Each one dimmed as his system consumed them, leaving Dee Valley hollowed out, its wealth quietly stolen in the span of hours.

By the time he returned to the ridge overlooking the battle, his work was done. Dee Valley's mayanium mines were empty.

And the war below raged on, blind to the silent thief in their midst.

Kael stood still, hooded, his figure barely visible in the rain. He watched the mutants and fighters clash with their crude powers, and for the first time since waking, he felt a flicker of curiosity—not fear, not urgency, but curiosity.

"How amusing," he whispered. "A world that thinks itself advanced… but still crawling."

[ Energy Levels: Stable. Compound-X Reserves: 97% ]

His system's voice hummed in his skull, but Kael barely listened. His eyes remained on the battle.

Perhaps… perhaps it will not be so dull after all.

He turned, finally, and stepped back into the mist. The Red Horses roared their charge, the Gunstein gang shouted defiance, and Dee Valley bled into the earth. None of them noticed the silent reaper

who had already taken far more than blood.

Kael-X vanished into the fog, his orange hood the last bright mark before the mist swallowed him whole.

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