Chapter 7 007

Korvian was up before dawn.

He sat at the small desk in the corner of the bedroom, the system interface glowing faintly in his vision while Mirelle slept. He had been staring at the God of Eternal Moments' warning since he woke up.

48 hours. A critical move incoming.

He turned it over methodically. Sylthar now knew the bridge ambush had failed. That meant he would recalculate. The next move would be quieter, more precise, and it would likely come from a direction Korvian wasn't watching.

He opened the system interface fully.

[Ding!]

[Morning Check-In Bonus: 75 Essence Points]

[Total Essence Points: 1,775 / 2,500]

[Level 2 approaching. Shop unlocks at Level 2. Prepare accordingly.]

[Current Abilities:]

Foresight Glimpse (Grade F) — See up to 10 minutes into the future. Cost: 120 Destiny Shards. Limit: Once per day.

Wrathforged Hands (Grade D) — Massively increases striking power for 60 minutes. Cost: 450 Destiny Shards. Limit: 4 times daily.

Unshaken Presence (Passive) — Always active. No cost.

[Current Resources:]

Destiny Shards: 1,350

Prosperity Shards: 1 / 5

He pulled up the Foresight Glimpse. One use per day was too limited to waste carelessly. He needed to save it for a moment that counted.

By the time Mirelle stirred awake an hour later, Korvian had already made a list.

She appeared in the kitchen doorway, hair loose, looking at him with the particular expression of someone piecing together that their life had quietly reorganized itself overnight.

"You didn't sleep," she said.

"I slept enough."

She sat down across from him and looked at the list. It was written in tight, deliberate handwriting. Names. Locations. Estimated schedules.

"Who are these people?" she asked.

"The men from the bridge were hired through a middleman. His name is Drevon Hask. He runs a private security contractor firm in the Shadewood district as a front." Korvian tapped the first name on the list. "He's the thread I pull first."

Mirelle studied the list carefully. "How do you know all this?"

"The camera I attached to the lead thug last night. It recorded audio after I left. One of the injured men made a call before he passed out." He paused. "He mentioned Hask by name."

She was quiet for a moment. "You planned that. The camera. You bought it on the way to the bridge."

"I suspected it might not be a simple kidnapping."

Mirelle looked at him with an expression he couldn't fully read. Not fear. Not admiration exactly. Something more careful than either.

"You've been thinking like this for a long time," she said slowly. "Underneath everything. All the bowing and the silence and the failed reports. That was all deliberate."

He met her eyes. "Yes."

She exhaled. "How long?"

"Ten years."

The apartment was very quiet for a moment.

"That's a long time to carry something alone," she said finally.

Korvian said nothing. There wasn't much to add to that.

They ate breakfast quickly. Mirelle changed into plain clothes at his suggestion — nothing that would draw attention. Before they left, Korvian checked the system once more.

[Ding!]

[The Twin Sovereigns of Retribution have issued a Trial.]

Trial: Locate and confront Drevon Hask. Extract information without killing him.

Reward: 500 Essence Points, 1 Retribution Seal.

Note: Retribution Seals accumulate toward the Twin Sovereigns' exclusive armament blessing. Collect 3 to unlock it.

Penalty: If Hask dies before talking, forfeit 200 Essence Points.

Korvian read it twice. The gods were not just rewarding power — they were shaping how he used it. Restraint mattered as much as strength. He filed that away.

[The God of Eternal Moments adds a quiet observation:]

"Hask has a meeting at the Shadewood harbor warehouse at 9 AM. You have a narrow window."

Korvian checked the time. It was 7:40 AM.

"We need to move," he told Mirelle.

They took a different route through the city, avoiding the main roads. Korvian left the scooter three blocks from the harbor and they walked the rest of the way through the narrow service lanes that ran behind the waterfront warehouses.

The harbor smelled of salt and machine oil. Cargo containers lined the far end of the dock. Korvian identified the warehouse from the camera footage — a grey structure with a rusted blue door and two guards stationed outside who were trying very hard to look like they weren't guards.

He turned to Mirelle. "Stay at the corner. If anyone approaches you, walk toward the main road and call me."

She nodded without argument, which he appreciated.

Korvian moved along the side wall, staying low. The two guards were talking, distracted. He came up behind the first one and struck precisely at the nerve cluster below the ear. The man folded without a sound. The second turned just in time to receive an elbow across the jaw that put him down cleanly.

Wrathforged Hands remained unused. These men didn't warrant it.

Inside the warehouse, Drevon Hask sat at a folding table counting stacks of currency with the focused contentment of a man who believed himself completely untouchable. He was heavyset, fifties, with the permanent squint of someone who spent a career looking for angles.

He looked up when the door opened.

"Who are you?" he demanded, reaching toward his jacket.

Korvian crossed the distance in three steps and pinned Hask's hand to the table before it reached the weapon.

"Drevon Hask," Korvian said calmly. "You arranged the bridge ambush last night. I want the name of who hired you."

Hask's eyes darted toward the door, calculating.

"Your guards are asleep," Korvian told him.

Something shifted in Hask's expression. The calculation faded, replaced by the particular look of a man rapidly reassessing his situation.

"You're the Draethor boy," Hask said slowly. "The worthless one."

Korvian smiled. "People keep saying that."

He applied gentle but precise pressure to the wrist he was holding. Hask's face went white.

"The name," Korvian said pleasantly. "And I walk out, you keep your hand, and we never see each other again."

Hask lasted about four seconds before he talked.

[Ding!]

[Trial Complete: Information extracted. Hask alive.]

[Reward Granted: 500 Essence Points, 1 Retribution Seal received.]

[Total Essence Points: 2,275 / 2,500]

[The Twin Sovereigns of Retribution are pleased. You are 225 points from Level 2.]

[The Shop awakens in anticipation.]

Outside, Korvian rejoined Mirelle at the corner. She read his expression immediately.

"You got what you needed," she said.

"Yes."

"Who hired them?"

Korvian looked out across the harbor, the name Hask had given him settling cold and heavy in his chest. It wasn't Sylthar.

It was someone far closer to the center of the Draethor family.

"Someone I didn't expect," he said quietly.