SSS Rank: Spellcraft Sovereign-Chapter 60: Break (1)

It started with a low hum.

Lucen didn’t move.

The envelope still sat on the desk. Unopened. Quiet. Heavy.

Then came the second sound.

Louder. Lower. A vibration deep enough to rattle the cup on the edge of the desk.

He looked toward the window.

Didn’t get up.

The third sound wasn’t subtle.

It was a crack. A snap of concrete, followed by the kind of echo that didn’t bounce, it spread.

Lucen stood.

Moved to the window. Pulled the curtain aside.

He didn’t blink.

Down the block, just past the transit junction, a streetlight cracked in half. The pole folded sideways. Pavement swelled and cracked.

Then the air above it shimmered.

A tear.

He knew the shape.

Knew the way the edges moved like they were resisting being real.

Drift break.

This one didn’t form like the stable ones. No core pulse. No glyph anchor. Just a rip. Raw. Ugly. Wrong.

And it was open.

Figures were pouring out.

Three already hit the street. One leapt onto a parked car and crushed the roof with a sickening metal scream. Another hunched low, limbs too long, eyes glowing faint green.

Lucen didn’t open the window.

Didn’t need to.

He stepped back.

His system pinged once in the corner.

[Drift Break Detected – 182 meters]

[City Alert: Minor Tier Breach]

[Respond: Optional | Clearance Level: Unregistered]

He tapped the notification aside.

’Optional,’ he thought. ’Sure. Until someone starts dying.’

He looked down at the envelope again.

Didn’t reach for it.

Instead, he turned to the desk.

Grabbed his coat.

Mana sparked faint around his fingertips as his system recalibrated.

[Spell Archive: Loaded]

-Ignition Burst

-Shockweave Bolt

-Frost Spire

-Soundlash

-Piercing Flare

-Crater Bloom

-Cataclysm Vector

No need to pick favorites.

He stepped to the door.

Opened it.

And listened again.

Sirens now. Faint. Late.

Another crash echoed from two streets over.

He didn’t hesitate.

Lucen turned the lock with a sharp click.

The hallway was already vibrating. Barely. Just enough that the ceiling light swung on its fixture like it wasn’t sure it wanted to stay bolted.

He didn’t waste time.

Crossed to the elevator and hit the call button once.

It dinged immediately.

Doors opened like they were annoyed about it.

He stepped in.

The lights inside flickered. Dim yellow. One of them buzzed loud enough to make him wince.

The door slid shut behind him.

He hit the ground floor.

The elevator jerked once before it moved.

Then began the descent.

Lucen gripped the railing.

The hum wasn’t just mechanical now. It was layered. Mana thread vibrations under steel. Something wrong bleeding through the foundation.

Halfway down, the walls shook.

A crack popped somewhere inside the shaft. Echoed like a warning shot.

He didn’t flinch.

Just leaned slightly to one side and watched the floor numbers tick past.

[Level 4]

[Level 3]

[Level 2]

The lights overhead dimmed again.

This time, they stayed dim.

Lucen opened his hand.

Let his system slide forward like a second pulse behind his ribs.

Nothing activated.

He didn’t cast.

Didn’t need to yet.

But his mana was already tracking.

Focused. Ready.

Another rumble hit.

This one harder.

Elevator jolted, then slowed.

[Level 1]

It hissed to a stop.

The door didn’t open immediately.

For a half-second, Lucen considered breaking it himself.

Then it slid open. Slow. Reluctant.

He stepped out.

Street-level noise poured in like a wave. Sirens. Screaming. Concrete breaking.

Lucen turned toward the front exit.

And walked straight into it.

—

The smell hit first.

Burnt ozone, sulfur, and something chemical, like a cracked mana battery left to rot in the heat. It coated the air. Sharp. Acrid.

Lucen stepped out into the alley beside the building. His boots crunched something soft. He didn’t look down. It was red. Probably paint. Hopefully.

Screams rolled in from the cross-street like ocean waves.

He didn’t run.

Didn’t rush.

Just walked, hands loose, head tilted slightly like he was listening to a podcast no one else could hear.

Another screech echoed. Not human.

He reached the curb and saw it.

The drift break had split fully now. A jagged vertical tear just past the tramline. Light bent around it. Shadows moved wrong.

Four monsters already on the ground. Long-limbed. Carapace-laced. Slender frames with hooked arms and twitching jaws that clicked instead of roared.

One of them was dragging something that used to be a bike courier.

Lucen exhaled slowly. No smile. No frown.

Just a quiet moment where he let the system flex behind his eyes.

[Combat Status: Passive Engagement Mode]

[Target Recognition: Open]

Someone shouted from a shop window.

"Get inside! It’s not safe—"

They didn’t finish. A blur hit the door just as it slammed. Glass and mana shielding exploded outward.

Lucen didn’t flinch. The shockwave brushed his coat.

He muttered, "That’s gonna be expensive."

One of the creatures turned toward him.

Sniffed. Or whatever counted for sniffing when your face looked like a mantis caught in a blender.

It crouched.

Lucen didn’t raise his hand.

Just blinked once.

’Five paces. Range good. Wind’s nothing. Surface traction solid. Let’s be annoying.’

He flicked two fingers forward.

[Frost Spire]

The ice spike erupted under the creature before it could leap. Nailed it through the lower torso. Pinned.

It screeched. Claws flailed, trying to reach back.

Lucen was already moving.

Walked right past the pinned monster. Didn’t look at it again.

He focused on the one sprinting his way now, faster, smarter. Less mouth, more spine.

Lucen raised one hand and shaped a quick sigil midair.

[Soundlash]

The shockwave popped. Short range, concussive.

The creature staggered sideways like it’d been slapped by an angry god. Tumbled into the wall. Dazed.

Lucen spun. The third one was airborne now, mid-lunge.

He didn’t move.

Just stared.

’If it dies to flare, it deserved it.’

He jabbed forward.

[Piercing Flare]

The beam tore the air. Hit mid-chest. Sent the creature backward like someone had pulled its strings the wrong way.

The monster hit the pavement. Didn’t get up.

Lucen stood still.

Steam rose from the sigil circle around his feet.

Behind him, someone opened a window again.

A voice said, "Who—?"

Then went silent.

Lucen flicked his wrist and turned toward the main road.

More were coming.

He could feel them.

Like static crawling under his skin. More drift spawn. Maybe worse this time.

He rolled his neck once. It cracked.

Then smiled.

Not big.

Just enough.

’Alright. Let’s make this look like a B-rank’s really trying.’

He stepped off the curb and into the street. Quietly, calmly.

Ready.

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