This confirmed that James’s reanimated undead could grow through combat. The wolves didn’t just remain static tools. They were becoming stronger the more they fought.

James used Corpse Explosion only when enemies were clustered. He didn’t waste it. Every corpse became a weapon. Every death refilled mana through Call of Souls. The more bodies fell, the more dangerous James became.

The awakeners began to understand the problem too late.

One of them shouted, "Stop dying near him!"

Another screamed, "Move away from the bodies!"

But the warehouse was already full of bodies and there was nowhere to run that wasn’t within range of a corpse.

By the end of the exchange, most of the twenty men were dead, unconscious, or too injured to continue. James was breathing hard. His armor was cracked in places and blood ran down his shoulder and back from the speed user’s cut. The burn on his arm throbbed with each heartbeat and his shield arm was still half-numb from the stone awakener’s earlier punch. But he was still standing.

Derek’s face had gone pale.

Ronan finally spoke, his voice calm and measured.

"I think I need a taste of this battle too."

Then he jumped from the platform.

Ronan dropped from the platform, but he didn’t fall like a normal man.

Wind curled around his body and slowed him before he touched the concrete. He landed softly with his coat shifting around him even though the air inside the warehouse was still.

He looked around at the bodies scattered across the warehouse floor. His expression was calm, almost disappointed, like a teacher who’d expected better from his students.

James watched the movement.

The man wasn’t a normal mage. Mages usually stayed back. They cast from distance. They avoided close combat.

Ronan walked forward with empty hands.

That told James enough.

Close-range fighter.FDT

Wind gathered around Ronan’s fists, thin and almost invisible. James only noticed it because dust bent away from his knuckles.

Ronan stopped a few feet away and looked at James without raising his voice.

"You’re strong for a boy."

James said nothing.

Ronan moved.

He crossed the distance faster than James expected and his fist came forward wrapped in compressed wind. James raised his shield, but the impact launched him backward into a container hard enough to dent the metal and knock the air from his lungs.

Before James could fully recover, Ronan turned and killed one wolf with a wind-coated elbow that caved its skull in. The movement was efficient, almost casual.

[CONTRACTED UNDEAD DESTROYED]

A second wolf lunged at Ronan’s back. Ronan spun and released a crescent kick of compressed air that cut through its body and tore it apart.

[CONTRACTED UNDEAD DESTROYED]

The third wolf bit Ronan’s arm, but Ronan slammed it into the ground and crushed its head under his boot without changing expression.

[CONTRACTED UNDEAD DESTROYED]

James realized the difference immediately.

The others were prey.

Ronan was a predator.

James fired Necro Blast. Ronan twisted aside and the blast only grazed his shoulder, rotting part of his coat and skin, but he kept moving.

James triggered Corpse Explosion from a nearby body. Ronan saw the corpse swell before detonation and used wind to launch himself backward, escaping the worst of the blast.

Then he appeared in front of James and punched him in the stomach.

James’s breath left him. Pain exploded through his ribs and he tasted blood. He nearly dropped.

Ronan beat him badly for several exchanges. Fist, knee, elbow, wind burst, low kick. James blocked some with his shield, took others on his armor, and barely stayed alive because of Shield Instinct and his B-rank gear. The last remaining wolf bought him small openings, but Ronan was faster and more experienced.

James summoned another wolf from a stored corpse, but Ronan destroyed it after a short struggle. He didn’t seem frustrated or angry. Just focused.

James was battered. Blood ran from his mouth. One eye was swelling shut. His shield was cracked. His sword hand trembled and his legs felt weak from the accumulated damage.

But he was still thinking.

He let Ronan push him backward toward a pile of corpses and pretended his footing was worse than it was. Ronan’s expression shifted slightly, no longer quite so disappointed. The man stopped calling him "boy" and simply pressed the attack.

James waited for the exact moment Ronan stepped into range.

Then James activated Corpse Explosion on the corpse behind Ronan, not the one in front of him.

The blast caught Ronan off guard. It didn’t kill him, but it destroyed his balance and tore open his back.

Ronan’s eyes widened slightly—the first real emotion James had seen from him.

James fired Necro Blast at close range.

This time Ronan couldn’t dodge fully.

The bolt hit his side and rot spread across his ribs.

James drove his sword through Ronan’s stomach.

Ronan grabbed James by the throat and tried one final wind punch. His grip was iron-strong despite the wound.

James raised his damaged shield and blocked.

The shield cracked almost completely, but it held for half a second.

That half second was enough.

James twisted the sword.

Ronan’s grip loosened. He looked at James one last time, and there was something in his expression that might have been approval.

Then he dropped.

[LEVEL 20 HUMAN AWAKENER SLAIN]

[EXP GAINED: 650]

[CALL OF SOULS ACTIVATED]

[MANA RESTORED: 180]

After the accumulated kills from the warehouse, the System calculated his total experience.

[ACCUMULATED EXP FROM HUMAN AWAKENERS: 1,475]

[PREVIOUS EXP: 4,962/6,000]

[CURRENT EXP: 6,437/6,000]

[LEVEL UP!]

[LEVEL 11 → LEVEL 12]

[STRENGTH: 29 → 30 (+1)]

[AGILITY: 32 → 33 (+1)]

[INTELLIGENCE: 47 → 48 (+1)]

[ENDURANCE: 26 → 27 (+1)]

[LUCK: 21 → 22 (+1)]

[HP: 520 → 540]

[MANA: 940 → 960]

[5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE]

James didn’t celebrate. He was too injured and too angry to care.

The warehouse was silent except for groans, dripping water, and James’s breathing.

Derek stared down at Ronan’s corpse.

His face lost all color.

The man he trusted, the fighter who was supposed to destroy James, was dead on the concrete.

Derek took one step back.

Then another.

Then he turned and ran.

James was barely standing. His body hurt everywhere. Most of his wolves were destroyed. Only one damaged wolf remained with its ribs exposed and one leg dragging slightly.

James looked at it.

"Bring him."

The wolf moved.

Derek reached the back exit and grabbed the handle. Before he could pull it open, the wolf slammed into him from behind and bit into his leg.

Derek screamed.

The wolf dragged him across the metal platform, down the stairs, and across the warehouse floor, leaving a smear of blood behind him.

Derek kicked, begged, and cursed the whole way.

"James! James, wait! We’re family!"

The wolf dropped him at James’s feet.

James sat on Derek’s stomach and started punching him.

No style. No skill. Just rage.

Each punch came with the same question.

"Where is she?"

Punch.

"Where is my mother?"

Punch.

"Where did you take her?"

Derek’s face swelled. Blood spilled from his nose and mouth. He tried to speak, but James kept hitting him until his voice came out broken.

"We didn’t take her," Derek cried. "I swear. I swear on God. We only trashed your house. That’s all. I told them to scare you. Why would I kidnap Auntie?"

James grabbed his collar.

"Don’t lie to me."

"I’m not!"

James’s phone rang.

The sound cut through the warehouse.

Everything stopped.

James froze with his fist raised.

The phone kept ringing.

He pulled it out slowly.

The screen showed his mother’s name.

For the first time in the Chapter, James looked afraid.

He answered.

His mother’s voice came through warm, tired, and completely normal.

"James? Sorry I missed your calls. I was helping your aunt with something. Are you okay?"

James closed his eyes.

The anger drained for one second, replaced by relief so strong it almost broke him.

"Mam," he said quietly. "Where are you?"

"At Anne’s. I told you I was going there, remember? My phone was in the other room. Why? What happened?"

James looked around.

Bodies. Blood. Broken containers. Smoke. Derek beneath him, whimpering.

He swallowed.

"Nothing. I just called and you didn’t answer. I got worried."

His mother softened. "I’m fine, love. I’m safe. Are you okay? You sound strange."

"I’m okay."

She asked if he’d eaten. She said she’d be home tomorrow. She told him not to do anything reckless.

James almost laughed, but nothing came out.

"I won’t," he said.

The call ended.

James lowered the phone.

For a few seconds, he didn’t move.

Then he exhaled—a long, heavy breath that shook on the way out.

His mother was safe.

Derek didn’t kidnap her.

But Derek still destroyed their home.

And now Derek had seen everything.

Derek saw the change in James’s face and immediately tried to use it.

"You see?" Derek said through swollen lips. "I told you. We didn’t take her. It was just the house. Just to scare you. That’s all."

James slowly looked down at him.

Derek started begging harder.

"I won’t say anything. I swear. We can fix this. I have money. I’ll pay for the damages. I’ll say nothing happened. We’re family, James. We’re blood."

James looked around the warehouse.

Dead awakeners.

Ronan’s body.

The destroyed door.

The wolves.

The blood.

Then he looked back at Derek.

"You have money," James said quietly. "So there’s no way you won’t do something."

Derek’s eyes widened.

"No. No, James, listen—"

Inside Derek’s mind, the truth was ugly.

The second he got out, he’d report James to the police, to the TRB, to every guild, to every news station. He’d call him a murderer. He’d say James attacked first. He’d say the Floor 5 record breaker was unstable. He’d bury him with lawyers and public fear.

He’d destroy him.

James watched him.

Maybe he saw it in Derek’s eyes. Maybe he already knew because men like Derek never changed.

James placed his hand on Derek’s head.

Derek went still.

James said one word.

"Corpse Explosion."