Demons Within: I level up endlessly

Chapter 82: The Marauder!

The people out there saw his burnt sleeve. They saw the steam rising from his skin.

"What happened?" a brave student asked, his voice trembling. "Did the machine explode?"

Daniel looked at them. He saw the fear in their eyes. He realized he couldn’t tell them the truth. If they knew he could do this, they would be even more terrified.

They might try to stop him before he got any stronger. "Power surge," Daniel lied. His voice was raspy. "The simulator malfunctioned. Bad wiring."

He didn’t wait for them to ask more questions. He pushed past them.

"Please, excuse me." The crowd parted instantly. Nobody dared to touch him. I mean, you wouldn’t want to be near the guy who just walked out of an explosion.

Daniel walked fast because he needed to get away from the whole thing. He needed to calm down.

The energy from the strike was still buzzing in his veins, making his hands shake. It was too much for him as of then, so he needed to meditate and master it.

He left the training sector and headed for the lower levels of the platform. He found a secluded maintenance area near the ventilation shafts. It was quiet here.

As of then, they had not given him special accommodation meant for people with outstanding abilities and results.

The air was cool and hummed with the sound of the giant fans that kept the station breathable.

Daniel sat down on a crate. He leaned his back against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Focus," he told himself. "Breathe." He inhaled slowly, counting to four. He exhaled, counting to four.

He visualized the burning energy in his body cooling down. His heartbeat began to slow down little by little and the shaking in his hands stopped.

He felt the peace returning to his mind. He sat there for a long time, just existing in the silence. It was nice to be away from the staring eyes and the whispers.

But the silence didn’t last for long.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Heavy footsteps approached. They were loud and deliberate. Someone wasn’t trying to sneak up on him, they were walking with confidence, or just trying to make their presence known.

Daniel didn’t open his eyes immediately. He activated his [Omnivision]. The radar in his mind pinged.

A large, bright heat signature was standing about five meters away. It was a person, but their energy felt different.

"You’re loud for someone who likes to hide," a female voice said. Daniel opened his eyes. Standing in front of him was a woman.

She was huge. She wasn’t fat, but she was built. She was over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and arms that were thicker than Daniel’s legs.

She had fiery red hair that was shaved on the sides and tied back in a messy warrior’s knot. She wore heavy plate armor that looked like it had been through a war zone. Scratches and dents covered the metal, but it looked well-maintained.

On her back, she carried a massive two-handed axe. The blades were very large and sharp.

I’m Blanca Rourke , also known as "The Rock". "You might be wondering who I am, but I’m an S-Grade Apex Marauder."

"S-Grade," Daniel thought. His muscles tensed. He had just fought an S-Grade monster, but an S-Grade human was different.

They were smarter. "What do you want?" Daniel asked. He didn’t stand up.

He stayed seated, trying to look relaxed, but he was ready to move at an instant.

Blanca grinned.

She had a wide, wild smile that showed all her teeth. "I saw the fireworks," she said, jerking her thumb toward the training sector above them.

"Pod 7. That was a big boom."

"It was a malfunction," Daniel said, repeating his lie. "Bullshit," Blanca laughed. It was a loud, barking sound.

"I know a malfunction when I hear one. That wasn’t a wire snapping. That was something getting hit so hard it forgot how to exist."

She walked closer. She stopped right in front of him and crossed her massive arms.

"I like hitting things," Blanca said. "I’m really good at it. But I’ve never hit anything that hard. Not yet."

Daniel looked at her. She wasn’t acting hostile. She didn’t have her weapon drawn. She looked... impressed.

"So?" Daniel asked. "Are you here to challenge me?"

"Challenge you?" Blanca snorted. "No. fighting you would be messy. We’d probably break the whole station, and then Baldwin would kick us both out. I don’t want to get kicked out. The food here is too good."

She leaned down, bringing her face closer to his. Her green eyes sparkled with excitement.

"I want to team up," she said. Daniel blinked. He hadn’t expected that. "Team up?"

"Yeah," Blanca nodded. "Phase Three is coming. Baldwin said this phase is going to get harder. She said lone wolves die young."

"I work alone," Daniel said reflexively.

"Everyone works alone until they get eaten," Blanca countered. "Look, Rivers. I saw your rank. Number One. SSS-Grade. That’s cool and all. But I’m S-Grade. I’m an Apex Marauder. I break lines. I smash shields."

She tapped her chest with a thumb.

"You have power. I have power. If we walk into Phase Three together, nothing stands in our way. We don’t have to be best friends. We don’t have to braid each other’s hair. We just have to break things together."

Daniel looked at her. She was direct and she was very honest. She wasn’t trying to hide anything. It was refreshing after dealing with Bran’s lies and Sophie’s suspicion.

But the wall around his heart was still there. It was thick and high.

"I don’t need a shield," Daniel said coldly. "And I don’t need someone to break things for me. I can do it myself."

Blanca straightened up. She didn’t look offended. She looked thoughtful.

"Maybe you can," she admitted. "But it’s boring being the only strong person in the room, isn’t it? It gets lonely at the top."

She extended a large, calloused hand toward him. "Just think about it," she said.

Daniel looked at her hand. He didn’t take it. He hesitated, and for a split second, he remembered what it felt like to have Ragnar watching his back. He remembered the feeling of safety. But then, he remembered the knife in the dark. He remembered the betrayal.