Emotion Hunter: System Awakening.

"Something's different."

Marcus said it the second their boots hit solid pavement again.

The Riverside District hadn't changed...still broken glass, busted lights, and the occasional scuttling of rats in shadows...but Marcus looked like someone had jammed a live wire straight into his nervous system.

His gray eyes were too wide, gleaming like they'd caught a reflection of the Veil itself.

He kept twitching his head around, staring into alleys like a dog catching scents humans couldn't.

Riven studied him carefully. He'd felt it too...their emotional anchor had… shifted.

Stronger, heavier. Not just sharing looted emotions anymore, but something new humming beneath his skin.

"Different how?" Riven asked, already bracing for an answer he half suspected.

Marcus rubbed his temples. "It's like… impressions. Not full-on emotions, not thoughts. Just… nudges. During the spider fight, I thought I was just running on adrenaline. But now? I could tell where they were moving before they actually did it. And right no—"

He froze mid-sentence, eyes narrowing on a dark wedge of space between two collapsed buildings. His grip tightened on the knife he'd carried all night.

"There's something alive in there. Small. It's not human that's for sure but also not dangerous. Just… hiding...."

Riven turned, peering hard. His system-boosted senses picked up nothing.

But when he focused on the tether between them, there it was....

Faint. A skitter of awareness Marcus was somehow… translating.

"Holy shit," Riven muttered. "You're developing abilities."

Marcus blinked like he couldn't believe it either. "But I don't have a system. No glowing menus, no quests, no stat sheets. Nothing."

"Maybe you don't need one." Riven's pulse sped. His own system was precise, rules-bound. But Marcus wasn't system-bound at all...he was bleeding into it through the anchor.

"You're not getting your own interface. You're most likely becoming an extension of mine."

Marcus tested it by striding toward the shadow he'd sensed. His certainty only grew, his voice calm. "Its definitely alive....it's size is that of a cat....I can feel it's emotions....it's scared.... Hiding under debris."

A second later, an orange cat shot out from behind the rubble, yowling before it vanished down the alley.

Marcus exhaled hard, then grinned despite himself being spooked. "Okay. That's freaky. But its useful. What else can I do?"

They spent twenty minutes testing. Riven tried looting emotions...fear, determination, even curiosity...while Marcus described what bled across their tether, as they made their way back home.

The results were… ridiculous.

Marcus couldn't loot emotions himself, but he could feel them radiating off creatures like emotional sonar.

Fear, aggression, even hunger...he picked them out with eerie accuracy.

When Riven looted something, Marcus got a diluted version...thirty percent strength, maybe.

When Riven surged with looted fear, Marcus's reflexes spiked.

When Riven hoarded determination, Marcus gained tactical clarity like his brain had run a systems check.

The wildest part? Marcus was completely immune to accidental looting.

Even when Riven pushed hard, Marcus's emotions refused to drain unless they consciously chose to share them.

Riven stepped back, chest rising with adrenaline. "This changes everything. You're not just moral support anymore. You're like a multiplier."

Marcus glanced at his rusty vest, tugging it skeptically. "Yeah, but I'm still basically defenseless. This thing might stop a butter knife, but a goblin claw would slice me open like tissue paper."

"That's what these are for," Riven muttered.

His interface blinked alive,

survival points tally blinked brightly: sixty-two points in total.

Forty-seven earned from tonight, fifteen carried over.

"System shop," Riven said.

Back at the apartment, the shop options materialized across his desk in ghostly projections.

Marcus leaned over them like they were picking loot drops out of a video game menu.

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[Enhanced Combat Knife – 25 SP]

Sharper than mundane blades and also Self-maintaining.

[Protective Ward Ring – 30 SP]

Reduces damage from supernatural attacks.

[Tactical Crossbow (20 bolts) – 35 SP]

Effective against armored targets.

[Minor Enhancement Serum – 40 SP]

Temporary boost to physical capabilities.

Side effects are possible.

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Marcus frowned, but kept tapping the crossbow "This one is too expensive. Even the Serum sounds like it'd come with a fun side order of kidney failure."

Riven nodded. "Lets get the knife and ring. And that leaves us with seven points in case of emergencies."

With a thought, he made the purchase. Two soft pops cracked the air, and the items materialized on his desk.

The knife gleamed under the dim ceiling light, its edge unnaturally sharp. The ring looked plain silver until you squinted and saw runes shifting like they were alive.

Marcus picked up the knife, kept flipping it in his palm. He gave a toothy grin. "Feels like it belongs here. Balanced but lethal."

"System shop gear adapts to the user," Riven explained. "Try the ring."

He took the ring from the table then slipped it in his finger only to realize that it's too big.

But...

The ring resized itself to fit his finger perfectly.

The instant it slid into place, their tether pulsed like a live wire. Riven staggered slightly, overwhelmed.

Suddenly, Marcus's heartbeat, fatigue, and even a faint ache in his left knee lit up in Riven's head like he had a live feed monitor.

Marcus sucked in a breath. "You feel that too, huh?"

"Yeah." Riven blinked hard, adjusting. "It's like I've got a readout of your vitals. Seems you can't pretend you're fine while you're bleeding out."

"Rude," Marcus muttered, though his grin gave him away.

Testing the gear ate up another hour....

The knife carved through leather, steel wire, even a chunk of stone like it was butter.

The ring glowed faintly when Riven attempted to loot Marcus's curiosity, but it bounced the ability back harmlessly....he can't loot his anchor its seems.

"Perfect," Riven breathed. "No risk of draining you mid-fight."

They collapsed onto opposite ends of Riven's bed, surrounded by system shop wrappers and empty takeout boxes.

The adrenaline was at least fading but left exhaustion in its place.

But both of them wore the same expression: which was them grinning from ear to ear.

Then their talks shifted to strategy.

"The Crimson Wastes was like a training ground though," Marcus said, turning the Veil Compass over in his hands. Its needle twitched faintly toward points far beyond the Riverside District. "But these other readings… are further.....and stronger."

"Gray Veils are beginner zones obviously," Riven explained. "But the red Veils are nastier, as for the Black Veils…" he couldn't even complete his sentence.

Marcus finished for him. "The black ones are the Veils professional Hunters hit.....but it's also the kind with higher casualty rates."

"Exactly." Riven agreed.

Marcus studied the compass silently. "Eventually, we're going to have to hit Red Veils, aren't we? That's where your family might be."

Riven didn't answer at first.

He glanced at the framed photo sitting crooked on his nightstand...his mom, dad beaming at the camera....he wished hehad his baby sister pictures too.

His chest tightened.

"Yeah," he said finally. "But, we can't face the red Veils yet.... we need more gears. More experience and most importantly...More levels."

Marcus leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. "Think I'll ever get a system of my own? Full menus, stat upgrades, dumb daily quests?"

Riven considered. His gut said no...at least not in the normal sense.

Marcus wasn't getting slotted into the system's neat ruleset.

He was… evolving sideways. Their bond was rewriting the boundaries.

"Maybe," Riven said slowly. "But I don't think that's where this is heading. What you're developing....it feels like something new. Not the Hunter standard issue. More… specialized."

"Unique." Marcus's grin was lazy, tired. "Yeah, I can live with that. Never really been the rule-following type."

Before Riven could respond, his interface chimed.

-------

[Partnership Evolution Detected]

[Companion: Marcus Chen]

[Status: Enhanced Anchor]

[New Feature Unlocked: Tactical Coordination]

[Host can now have Shared situational awareness and Enhanced combat synchronization.]

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Riven read it aloud. Marcus sat up, eyebrows raised. "Enhanced Anchor, huh? Sounds like I just unlocked co-op mode."

"It means when things go to hell, we'll be able to fight like one person instead of two." Riven said, but in a way that seems like he was talking to himself.

Marcus laughed, but the sound had weight behind it. "A week ago, my biggest problem was Professor Logan's midterm. Now I'm apparently an 'Enhanced Anchor' in some cosmic co-op survival game. Life's wild."

"Yeah," Riven said quietly, gaze drifting back to the photo. "But for the first time since they disappeared… I think we can actually do this."

Marcus followed his gaze, then nodded firmly. "Correction. We will do this." He smirked. "But uh, side note...how long before Jake and Maya start asking why we suddenly look like we're LARPing in abandoned buildings at 3 AM?"

Riven groaned. "That's a tomorrow problem."

"Yep, tomorrow problem," Marcus agreed.

Tonight, though, they'd proven their partnership wasn't just viable...it was evolving.

Marcus wasn't dead weight anymore.

He can be a weapon. A shield or maybe a new factor the system hadn't accounted for.

And with that, they had a path forward.

More Veils to conquer.

More power to claim.

Riven leaned against the window, watching the city lights blink against the night. "One step at a time."

Somewhere out there, more Veils waited. Darker. Deadlier.

And they'd be ready....I hope.