Emotion Hunter: System Awakening.

"We need somewhere we won't be interrupted," Riven said, picking the Resonance Blade in its neutral rod form. "And somewhere I won't accidentally put a hole through someone's wall."

Marcus looked around the cramped apartment with sarcasm. "Yeah, this place isn't exactly built for supernatural weapon testing. What about the old construction site behind the engineering building? It's been abandoned for months."

"Sure let's head there" Riven agreed.

Twenty minutes later....

The abandoned warehouse looked like shit.

Broken windows, rusted walls, weeds were everywhere....basically the perfect dump for doing things you didn't want people seeing.

Riven fiddled with the lock while Marcus watched for cops or nosy idiots. His friend's blonde hair kept catching the sun, making him look way too conspicuous for someone trying to be sneaky.

"We're good," Marcus said, and they ducked inside.

The warehouse interior was a cavern of shadows and dust dancing in shafts of light that filtered through the broken skylights on the ceilings.

A old machinery that looks like a tractor but has a crane hand...it sat covered in rust and graffiti, creating natural obstacles and cover throughout the space.

"This'll work," Riven said, setting down the backpack containing the Resonance Blade and a few health potions. "Plenty of room to move, and no one to ask awkward questions about why I'm swinging weapons around on campus."

Marcus walked the perimeter, testing the acoustics with a few hand claps. "Plus sound doesn't carry much outside these walls. We should be able to make some noise without attracting attention."

"Good, because some of the weapon forms are loud when moving with them." Riven pulled out the Resonance Blade, feeling its familiar weight in neutral rod form. "Ready for a demonstration?"

"Been ready since you showed me that shapeshifting trick in your apartment." Marcus positioned himself at what he clearly thought was a safe distance. "Start with whichever form is least likely to accidentally kill your best friend."

Riven focused on determination...the quiet, steady resolve that had carried him through two years of grief and uncertainty.

The rod hummed softly and began to elongate, flowing like liquid metal into the seven-foot spear of Piercer form.

The weapon felt perfectly balanced despite its length, the spearhead was gleaming with an edge that seemed sharp enough to cut through the air itself.

Riven gave it a few experimental thrusts and spins, marveling at how naturally the movements came to him.

"Damn," Marcus breathed. "That thing looks like it could punch through a tank."

"Piercer form is all about precision and reach," Riven explained, demonstrating a series of strikes against an imaginary opponent. "Good for keeping enemies at distance and finding weak points in armor or defenses...at least that's what the system describes it as...."

He transitioned into more complex movements...sweeping attacks, defensive parries, the kind of flowing spear work that looked like a deadly dance.

The weapon responded to his intentions almost before he formed them, making adjustments to balance and weight distribution that kept every motion smooth and controlled.

"How do you know how to use it like that?" Marcus asked. "You've never trained with spears before."

"I think the system provides basic weapon knowledge," Riven replied, completing a spinning attack that would have decapitated anyone standing within the spear's arc.

"It's more like Muscle memory or instinctual understanding of leverage and timing. It's not perfect...I'm not suddenly gonna a master warrior...but I'm not fumbling around like a complete amateur either."

"That's terrifying and awesome in equal measure."

Riven let the spear shift back to rod form, then focused on fear.

The memory of facing that first goblin in the cave, the moment when terror had nearly paralyzed him. The rod split and flowed, becoming the twin daggers of Whisper form.

Now it felt completely different...weightless, like it was designed for speed and stealth rather than strength and power.

He moved through a series of quick strikes and evasive maneuvers, the daggers seeming to absorb light rather than reflect it.

"Those things look like they're made of shadows," Marcus observed.

"Whisper Twins are for hit-and-run tactics. Fast strikes, and i can then fade back into cover before the enemy can react." Riven demonstrated with a rapid combination...then he dart forward, twin slashes across where an opponent's torso would be, then spin back into defensive position with his arms crossed in front of his face. "Perfect for dealing with multiple weak enemies or getting past stronger opponents' defenses."

Finally, he summoned rage.

The fury he'd felt when the goblins had threatened him, when he'd thought about his family trapped in some hellish realm.

The daggers flowed together, expanding and reshaping into the massive two-handed battle axe of Devastator form.

The weapon was brutal in its simplicity...a wide blade designed for cleaving through multiple enemies, backed by enough weight to shatter rocks.

Just holding it made him feel capable of splitting the world in half.

"Jesus Christ," Marcus said, taking an involuntary step backward. "That thing is a monster."

"Devastator is pure offense," Riven said, hefting the axe with both hands. "It needs no finesse, no subtlety. You point it at whatever needs to die and swing until nothing's left standing."

He demonstrated with a series of devastating strikes against one of the old machines, the axe blade biting deep into rusted metal with each blow.

Sparks flew and the metal made a heavy thump sound... as the old equipment kept getting disintegrated under the assault.

When he finally stopped, he was breathing hard from the labor he put himself to, a significant portion of the machine had been reduced to twisted scrap.

"That's not human strength," Marcus said quietly.

"No, it's not." Riven let the axe return to neutral rod form. "The weapon amplifies whatever emotion I used to shape it. Rage makes me stronger, fear makes me faster, determination makes me more precise."

"What happens when you use multiple emotions at once?"

"I nearly died last time I tried that." Riven's expression grew serious. "The system overloaded my body when I looted rage from four different goblins simultaneously. My muscles started tearing, even my bones felt like they were cracking....but....that's where you come in."

"The emotional anchor thing?"

"Yes, let's test it." Riven focused inward, finding threads of anxiety about their planned Veil missions, about Marcus's safety, about whether he was making the right choices.

"I'm going to loot my own worry about this partnership. According to the system, you should be able to help stabilize me if things get intense."

-------

**[Emotion Detected: Worry (Self)]**

**[Emotional Anchor Present: Marcus Chen]**

*[Do you wish to Loot this Emotion? (Self)]**

-------

"Yes."

The familiar sensation of emotional draining began, but this time something was different.

Instead of the worry simply vanishing, he could feel it flowing through some kind of connection to Marcus.

The anxiety didn't disappear....it became shared, diluted between them until it was manageable rather than overwhelming....the sense of my feelings getting drained is not as potent as before...

------

**[Worry Looted Successfully]**

**[Effect: Strategic Focus - Planning efficiency increased for 20 minutes]**

**[Emotional Anchor Effect: Psychological stability maintained during looting process]**

------

"Whoa," Marcus said, blinking rapidly. "I just felt... I don't know how to describe it. Like someone handed me part of your stress, but in a way that made sense instead of feeling foreign."

"How do you feel now?" Riven asked, noting that the strategic focus was already sharpening his thinking about their training and future missions.

"More concerned about the details of what we're planning, but not anxiously worried. Like the feeling got translated into something useful." Marcus looked thoughtful. "Is that what it's supposed to feel like?"

"I have no idea either. This is all new territory for me." But the system's notifications suggested the anchor effect was working as intended. "Let's try this....I'm going to loot some determination and see if you can feel it."

He focused on his resolve to find his family, letting that steady, unwavering commitment fill his mind. The rod in his hands began shifting toward spear form as he initiated the looting process.

------

**[Emotion Detected: Determination (Self)]**

**[Emotional Anchor Present: Marcus Chen]**

**[Processing emotional overflow through anchor connection...]**

------

The determination flowed out of him but didn't disappear. Instead, it settled into a shared space between them, becoming the "confidence" they both carried.

Now the emotions doesn't just becomes strength to only the user..

"This is incredible," Marcus said, his posture straightening. "I can feel your certainty about finding them. Not as strongly as you do, but enough to understand why you're willing to risk everything for this."

Riven nodded, understanding dawning. "The anchor effect doesn't just stabilize me during intensive looting. It lets you experience diluted versions of what I'm feeling, so you can understand the emotional context behind my decisions."

"Which means I can provide better tactical support because I actually comprehend what's driving you in combat situations."

"Exactly." The strategic focus of "worry" was making the implications clear. "You're not just watching my back...you're sharing the emotional intelligence that guides how I use these abilities...."

They spent the next hour testing different combinations.

Riven would loot various emotions from himself while Marcus observed and reported what he experienced through their anchor connection.

Fear translated into heightened awareness of potential dangers.

Anger became focused aggression toward specific threats.

"Joy"....which Riven had to work to find amid his grief-heavy emotional landscape...turned into shared optimism about their chances of success.

"This changes everything," Marcus said as they took a break, sharing a water bottle and energy bars. "I thought I'd be dead weight in a Veil, someone you'd have to protect while trying to fight monsters. But if I can feel echoes of what you're experiencing, I can anticipate what you need before you even know you need it."

"More than that," Riven replied, the strategic focus from "worry" is still sharpening his analysis. "You can help me stay grounded when I'm looting from enemies. If I steal too much rage from monsters, you can remind me who I am underneath all that stolen fury.".....He's still worried for his friend's safety.

"Am your humanity anchor."

"Exactly."

As the afternoon went on, they developed a rhythm.

Riven would demonstrate different weapon techniques while Marcus observed and asked questions.

They tested the emotional anchor with increasingly complex scenarios, building understanding of how their partnership would function in actual combat.

By the time the sun began setting, casting long shadows through the broken skylights, they had established something neither had expected...a true symbiotic relationship where Marcus's routine was enhanced rather than hindered Riven's supernatural abilities.

"One more test," Riven said, pulling out his phone to check the time. "I want to see what happens when I loot an emotion from you instead of myself."

Marcus considered this. "What emotion?"

"Curiosity. You've been bursting with questions all day, and scientific curiosity might translate into investigative focus or analytical thinking."

"Go for it."

Riven focused on Marcus's obvious fascination with the weapons and abilities, the dozens of questions he'd been asking about system mechanics and combat applications.

------

**[Emotion Detected: Curiosity (Marcus Chen)]**

**[Emotional Anchor Present: Willing participant]**

**[Do you wish to Loot this Emotion?]**

-------

"Yes."

The curiosity flowed from Marcus to Riven, but the anchor connection meant Marcus didn't lose the feeling entirely....it became shared rather than stolen.

------

**[Curiosity Looted Successfully]**

**[Effect: Analytical Insight - Pattern recognition increased for 25 minutes]**

**[Anchor Effect: Emotional harmony maintained between partners]**

-------

"That felt completely different from when you loot your own emotions," Marcus said. "It feels less like something being taken but more like lending you part of what I was feeling."

Riven nodded, the analytical insight already revealing patterns in their training session. "When the target is willing and we have an anchor connection, it becomes sharing instead of theft. But I bet it would feel very different if I tried to loot emotions from someone who didn't want me to."

"Like those goblins you fought?" Marcus asked with his eyebrow lifted.

"Exactly. They definitely didn't give consent to having their rage stolen."

As they packed up their equipment and prepared to leave the warehouse, both felt a sense of accomplishment that went beyond successful training.

They had forged something new...a partnership that transformed Riven's potentially isolating abilities into a shared strength.

Walking back through the industrial district as evening settled over Silver Town, Marcus asked the question that had been hovering between them all day.

"When do we find our first Veil?"

Riven pulled out the Veil Compass, watching its needle swing to point steadily northeast. "Tomorrow night. There's a Gray Veil about three kilometers in that direction. If it's stable, we'll make our first run as a team."

"You sure you're ready to risk bringing dead weight into a monster realm?"

Riven smiled, remembering the feeling of their emotions flowing in harmony during the training session. "Marcus, after today? I don't think you're dead weight. I think you might be the most important piece of equipment I have."

Their partnership was no longer a theory.

Tomorrow night, they would test it against real monsters in an actual Veil.

And for the first time since entering that first Gray Veil alone, Riven felt like he had a real chance of bringing his family home.