SSS Rank: Spellcraft Sovereign-Chapter 65: Report

He looked at Senna. "You good?"

She nodded. Stepped toward the worst chunk of collapsed brick like it owed her rent.

Lucen pointed to the right. "Callen, clear that lane. Mira—"

"I know," she said, already pulling spellwrap and a salvage torch from her pouch.

Lucen moved left. Hands in his coat. Kicked a half-bent railing once to see how loose it was. It clanged, shifted. He reached down and grabbed it with both hands. Pulled.

The metal shrieked, bent out, snapped off near the base.

He dragged it off the sidewalk and tossed it toward a ditch.

Behind him, the child from the food cart flinched at the sound, but didn’t cry.

Lucen kept clearing.

One piece at a time.

Callen pushed a bumper out of the lane with a grunt. "This feels like grunt work."

Lucen said, "It is."

"Not our job."

’For now it is I guess.’

Lucen didn’t argue.

Just muttered, "Still ours."

Mira lit a small flamelock and sliced through the snapped power cables coiled around a crushed bike rack. Sparks flew. She hissed once when a flake burned her glove, but kept going.

Senna dragged a full beam off the top of a fallen bus stop shelter and dropped it in the road with a metallic thunk.

Within five minutes, the street began to resemble something livable.

Lucen stepped back.

Wiped his hands on his coat.

The civilians began to move. Not fast. Not loud. Just steady.

One of the students gave a silent nod as he passed.

The woman with the kid mouthed "thank you" and clutched her daughter tighter.

Lucen watched them go.

Didn’t wave.

Didn’t smile.

Callen crossed his arms. "So... we actually helping people now?"

Lucen didn’t turn. "Just clearing paths."

Senna exhaled. "Same thing."

Lucen stepped away from the wreckage.

The mana in the air was fading now. Less static. Less pull. Just dust and cold city wind.

He let his system fade to the back of his thoughts.

’Still got it. Still not trying to be a hero. Just... efficient.’

—

The smell was worse now that the fighting had stopped.

Ash. Broken insulation. Burnt hydraulic fluid from at least two collapsed mana bikes. It stung when you breathed in too hard.

Lucen didn’t stop.

He stepped over the remains of what used to be a bus shelter and pulled the busted frame off the curb with both hands. Bent metal scraped the pavement and caught on the corner of a gutter. He kicked it once. It came loose.

Callen grunted behind him, shouldering what looked like the top half of a vending machine. "This better count for something."

"It won’t," Lucen said. "But maybe a few of them won’t bleed out in a stairwell."

Mira swore quietly. A flick of her wrist sent a flare of blue mana across the bent light post she was slicing. The top finally gave and fell with a clang that echoed down the block.

A voice called out from the street behind them.

"City response team! You three—step clear!"

Lucen didn’t turn.

But he saw them out of the corner of his eye.

Six figures in black-stitched uniforms—city crest on the shoulder, reinforced boots, gloves that looked like they’d seen real fires. One had a mana scanner strapped to his back. Another held a caster-grade pry rod with active glyphs humming along the edge.

They moved fast. Trained. Professional.

One of them approached. Older. Broad-shouldered. Graying hair tied back. Scar just under one eye.

"You the first responders?" he asked.

Callen looked at Lucen.

Lucen just said, "Sort of."

The man’s gaze swept the cracked pavement, the bent barriers, the wreckage already moved aside. He nodded once.

"You did half the job already."

Lucen shrugged. "Felt weird not to."

"Lucky for us." The man tapped his comm. "Squad Two—start with the south lane. Watch for residue spikes. There’s a flare trace near that storefront."

Two of the crew peeled off, dragging a mana tarp between them. The others followed, splitting fast, efficient.

Lucen watched them for a second.

One knelt beside a collapsed stairwell and scanned the edge with a palm-sized beacon. Another pulled a rescue barrier across the main intersection to stop foot traffic from wandering back into danger.

Senna stepped back beside him, brushing dust off her shoulder. "Real cleanup’s here."

"Good," Lucen muttered.

She studied the crew for a beat. "You don’t trust them?"

"I trust their job," he said. "Not the part where they ask what I’m doing in a C-rank coat with crater-level scorch marks behind me."

Senna smiled faintly. "Then you should take it off before they ask."

Lucen didn’t move.

One of the city crew passed by. A younger woman with buzzed haircut, full face mask pulled halfway down. She glanced at the scorched earth near Lucen’s boots.

"Did you make that?" she asked.

Lucen paused.

"Technically," he said. "It made itself. I was just nearby."

The woman blinked. Then laughed once. Not sarcastic. Just tired. She walked off without pressing.

Mira walked up, hands black with soot. "Cleanup crew’s solid. We’re not getting flagged."

"Yet," Callen added.

Lucen scanned the area one last time.

The monsters were gone. The street was broken, but passable. The civilians had moved on. The damage looked... fixable.

He breathed in again. Still chemical. Still sharp. But fading.

His system flicked a soft ping at the edge of his vision.

[Combat Exit Confirmed]

[EXP Earned: +34]

[New Total: 206 / 400]

Lucen didn’t smile.

Just muttered, "Still slow."

Callen tilted his head. "What?"

Lucen waved him off. "Nothing."

They stepped back together, watching the city crew finish what they’d started.

—

One of the city crew flagged him down.

Short guy. Maybe mid-twenties. Vest covered in mud, comm pinned to his collar. He jogged over, tablet already lit.

"You first responder?" he asked, slightly winded.

Lucen nodded once.

The guy tapped a few things on the screen. "You’re the one who called in?"

"No," Lucen said. "I just didn’t leave."

That got a blink.

Then a pause.

Then a flick of the stylus. "Name and badge?"

Lucen slid out his ID and let it hang for exactly two seconds.

"Lucen Ivara. C-rank. Spell Tracer."

The guy squinted at it, then at Lucen’s face. "C-rank did this much?"

Lucen tilted his head toward the scorched street. "You’re welcome."

The man didn’t argue. Just nodded. "Alright. Give me a rundown."

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