The Ultimate Regressor System

Lucas woke up feeling sore in ways that had nothing to do with his injuries. His muscles aching as though he had run a marathon rather than simply slept, and for a long moment he lay still, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling before finally sitting up.

"Rough night," he muttered, rubbing his head.

[Ding!]

His gaze settled on the system window as he read the notification.

[You have received an Artifact.]

His expression dimmed, memories of the void and hia discussion with Nyra coming back to him. "Right. That happened."

He pulled up his status screen with anexhale and read the contents.

[Name: Lucas Kane]

[Position: Faction Leader]

[Acquired Skill: Regression, Ignition]

Beneath it, was a window showing his artifacts. One that he had on him since the beginning and a new one.

[Artifacts in Possession: The Water Bearer, The Reaper’s Mask.]

He focused on the Reaper’s Mask.

[The Reaper’s Mask]

[Description: A fragment of the Sovereign’s own domain, shaped into a wearable relic. When active, it stabilizes player’s erratic skill behavior, reducing the frequency of malfunctions by a moderate margin]

Lucas studied the description for a long moment, he was hopeful, but also skeptical about why the very entity that had been hunting him time and time again had decided to help him.

There’s no way it was just because she wanted him to keep entertaining her.

He sighed. ’Well, it’s better than nothing I guess.’

He was about to check the mask out when a knock sounded at the door and Yor entered without waiting for a response, a tray of food in her hands.

"You’re awake," she said, setting the tray down beside his bed. "I came to check on you. Figured you’d be hungry."

"Thanks," Lucas said, though his eyes lingered on the plate a moment too long, memories surfacing— Ryker’s smile, the plate set down with what he thought was hospitality, and the memory of him dying to poisoning.

Yor noticed the hesitation and asked in a concerned tone. "Aren’t you going to eat?"

Lucas replied, still eyeing the food suspiciously. "Oh I was just... wondering if it was safe to eat..."

His reply was more like something he blurted out, and when he realised that, he instantly looked up.

Yor’s expression dropped. "Oh— I prepared this myself because I was worried you didn’t have anything to eat," she said in a tone that did hide the fact that she was hurt, "maybe this wasn’t a good idea—"

"No, no, it’s—" He caught himself, exhaling. "Sorry. I was almost poisoned once. Kind of made me paranoid about food I didn’t prepare myself. Didn’t mean to be rude about it."

Something flickered across her face, something closer to understanding. "Oh, that makes sense. I’m sorry that happened to you."

"Not your fault." He offered an apologetic smile. "I’m sorry if my response made you feel that way..."

"It didn’t" she said, her expression brightening again as he finally reached for the plate.

He ate carefully at first, then took another bite, then another. The food genuinely good, seasoned and fried to perfection. It tasted like it was prepared with more care than he’d expected from a fortress kitchen.

"This is actually really good," he said, mouth half full.

Yor’s face lit up, genuine joy on her face. "I’m glad."

"Healing skill and a talent for cooking. Heavenly combination."

She laughed at this, entirely pleased that Lucas was enjoying himself.

They talked as he ate, Yor asking curious questions about his own ability, about how exactly he’d ended up injured and alone in a ravine, and Lucas gave her the same careful and edited version he’d given everyone else, nothing too close to anything he would be forced to over explain.

"What about you," he asked

"Me?"

"Yeah, you."

She looked away a bit, he voice shrinking as shyness overcame her. "Why do you want to know about me? There’s nothing particularly interesting to about me."

"I don’t know" Lucas shrugged, taking another bite. "Just curious, I guess. Anything would do."

She stayed silent for a moment before answering.

"College," she said. "Studying medicine. I had dreams of owning a hospital." She gave a dry smile. "That was before all this anyway. Turns out that background helps more than you’d think. My Healing closes wounds, sure, but I can do a lot more than that. I can set bones, create medicine, do actual surgical work when it’s needed as well."

Lucas took another bite. "That’s more useful than most two-ability combos I’ve seen so far."

Something in her expression dimmed slightly. "I used to feel bad about it, actually. I had just one skill, and watching other people awaken two or three made me feel like I’d gotten the shorter end of the straw, if you know what I mean..."

"I’ve got one ability too. A glitched one at that." Lucas said, reminding her about how screwed he was

"And i got two people who tease me endlessly for it."

Yor laughed at this. "It must be hard."

"Doesn’t matter though. I’m still here." He took another bite of the food. "One skill is enough if it means I get to survive this nightmare."

"That’s a generous way to look at it, considering you have it worse than me"

"I’m a man of optimism" he said grinning. "Besides, you save lives. That’s not a small thing. I for one, I’m glad to be saved by you... and I’m sure your other patients feel the same as well."

Yor’s chest fluttered as something warm spread within her.

Her heart rate increasing far more than what she’d expected from an offhand compliment.

She found herself studying him—studying the young man who was currently stuffing his face with food in front of her with a expression that softened the longer she looked at him.

"That’s—" she started, something gentle forming on her lips.

A scream cut through the fortress outside, and both of them turned toward the door as heavy footsteps approached in a sprint.

A guard burst through without knocking, breathless, with his face pale.

"Yor!" he gasped. "One of our men, he’s hurt bad, an Avallion got past the perimeter—"

Yor was already on her feet. "Where?"

"East wall. The bleeding won’t stop, might not have much time."

She grabbed her supplies without hesitation, already moving toward the door, and cast one glance back at Lucas.

"Stay put," she said. "You’re still healing yourself, the last thing you need isn unnecessary strain."

She was gone before he could get a word out, sprinting after the guard, and Lucas kept the plate on the bed as he completely lost appetite.

Whenever he had made himself believe that he could take it easy, even for a little bit, something terrible would happen.

He rubbed his forehead exhaling. "Well, fuck."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!