Ethan Cole - The Unlimited System

Two of the pursuers moved closer, creeping across the rooftops with practiced ease. Their steps were light, but not silent enough to escape Ethan's senses.

He noticed them almost instantly.

A slight shift in the air. A shadow where there shouldn't be one. The sound of a foot brushing against tile.

Alden, walking below, didn't notice anything. His pace remained steady, his focus forward.

Ethan, however, stopped moving.

He crouched low behind a chimney, letting the night conceal him once more. His breath quieted. His heartbeat slowed.

Then it clicked.

'Wait… my Divine Eyes.'

He had forgotten about it. With everything that had happened—Mark's capture, Maya's condition, Nova Tech, the mission, and the trial—he hadn't used the skill at all. Not once since arriving in Cahaya.

He had only used it without him realizing when he got the Dragon Ring.

'I'm such an idiot.'

He activated it quickly with just a thought in his mind.

His vision shifted. The world sharpened. Light traced around the two approaching figures like threads of energy. Their bodies pulsed with power.

But they didn't notice it at all.

'Middle One-Star Ascendants… both of them.'

Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly.

'So this world really does have Ascendants too.'

Ethan stayed crouched behind the chimney, eyes fixed on the two Ascendants creeping closer.

He considered his options.

Fighting them head-on might create noise. Risk exposure. Risk alerting Vareth too early.

'Better to take them out quietly,' he decided. 'No killing. Just enough to put them down.'

He slipped further into the shadows, moving behind them in silence. Every step calculated. Every breath measured.

Within seconds, he vanished from their sight entirely.

They didn't even know he was there.

In less than two breaths, he dropped behind them. No sound. No hesitation.

The first barely felt the grip closing around his mouth before his legs buckled from a strike to the neck. Not enough to kill. Just enough to send him into unconsciousness.

The second turned, eyes wide—too late.

Ethan's arm coiled around his throat. A quick press on the pressure point beneath the ear, followed by a sharp twist of the wrist. The man slumped, crumpling soundlessly beside the first.

Both were down. No blood. No noise. No witnesses.

Ethan adjusted his footing and turned toward the street, but Alden was already gone.'

With a thought, the world shifted. Layers peeled back before his eyes. Faint glows. Traces. Footsteps.

He didn't need words or gestures.

The moment he willed it, Tracking activated.

A trail shimmered ahead of him, glowing faintly where Alden had walked. Ethan moved without delay, following rooftops and alleyways with ease.

But not long after, he saw them—two more figures shadowing Alden.

Their attire didn't raise suspicion. In this village, many dressed that way.

But now that he looked closely…

He whispered, almost to himself, "I see. There are more of them."

His eyes scanned the street, then the rooftops.

He sensed nothing else.

'But is this all?'

Ethan moved without hesitation.

He dropped from the rooftop and landed in silence behind the next pair of pursuers. They hadn't noticed a thing. Their focus was locked on Alden.

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Just like before, Ethan took them down in swift, precise motions. No sound. No struggle. One collapsed from a blow to the back of the neck. The other was choked unconscious in seconds.

He dragged both of them into a nearby dumpster area, hidden behind crates and sacks of dried grain. With practiced care, he made sure their bodies were concealed and positioned so that they wouldn't be spotted easily.

He checked their pulses, applied pressure to keep them under, and muttered inwardly, 'They won't be waking for at least half a day. Unless someone stumbles on them.'

Then, without wasting a second, he picked up his pace.

He reached Alden just as the guy was turning a corner. Ethan grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a narrow alley.

Alden gasped, startled, but Ethan held a finger to his lips and gestured for silence.

Alden quickly nodded, heart still racing.

"They were following you," Ethan whispered. "Four of them. I already took care of them."

Alden's eyes widened. "So what Hera said is true… The Elder, or at least his Protector, knows you're here."

Ethan didn't answer that directly.

Instead, Alden asked, "Where did you leave them?"

"Hidden. They won't wake up for the next twelve hours," Ethan said calmly.

Alden nodded again, though his face remained tense. He didn't smile. Couldn't.

Ethan looked around the alley, then asked, "How far are we from Duran's house?"

"Five minutes," Alden replied. "Straight ahead, through the next two turns."

Ethan was silent for a beat.

"Then we take a detour," he said. "Just in case more of them are watching."

He looked back toward the street, his voice low and steady.

"If there are… I'll take care of them too."

As Alden said that, Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly. 'Taken care of them?'

He had almost forgotten again.

With a quiet breath, he activated his Divine Eyes—and this time, he focused them on Alden.

Light shimmered at the edge of his vision. Threads of energy wrapped around Alden's frame, and within a second, Ethan saw the truth.

Middle One-Star.

He stared for a moment before muttering, "You're a Middle One-Star Ascendant?"

Alden blinked. "A what?"

Ethan looked at him, surprised by the reaction.

"I mean… a Middle One-Star… whatever people are called here," he said, searching for the right word.

Alden looked surprised at first, then gave a short nod. "Oh… you mean a Vessel? If that's what you mean, then yes. I am."

Ethan processed the term in silence. The word felt foreign, yet somehow familiar.

'Vessel…' he repeated in his mind.

Alden, noticing Ethan's expression, continued. "Some people of Anterra are chosen… by one of the Four Elemental Gods. That's what makes them a Vessel."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "You mean the God of Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth?"

Alden nodded as he looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if unsure how to respond. His mouth opened slightly, then closed again.

Finally, he asked, "So… you really aren't from this world, are you, Ethan?"

Ethan gave a small nod to Alden's question.

As they began walking again, his mind turned inward.

'So this world is called Anterra… and what I know as Ascendant, they call Vessel. The source may be different, but the structure feels almost the same.'

He exhaled softly, the weight of that truth settling in his chest. That meant there was something else he needed to know—something crucial if he wanted to survive.

"How strong are the Elder and his Protector?" Ethan asked.

Alden didn't hesitate. "In any village, the Elder is the strongest. To even be considered for the position, someone must be at least a Higher Three-Star Vessel. As for the Protector, the minimum is Middle Three-Star."

Ethan's steps slowed slightly. That level of strength… it wasn't something he could match yet.

'I see. I'm nowhere near strong enough to go against them… No wonder the system hasn't given me any mission related to confronting them yet.'

He glanced at Alden and nodded. "Thanks for telling me this. Let's hurry up. We need to meet Duran quickly."

The detour took longer than expected.

They encountered three more pursuers along the way—each of them shadowing the streets from above or trailing behind on foot, pretending to be casual passersby.

But Ethan wasn't fooled. Not with his Stealth, Tracking and Divine Eyes active.

Without needing to speak, he dispatched them one by one. Quick, efficient, quiet. Sometimes from the rooftops. Sometimes from the alley's edge. All without Alden needing to turn back or break his pace.

The last one, a particularly slippery man dressed as a merchant, barely had time to realize his mistake before Ethan pulled him into a stack of crates and sent him into unconsciousness.

"I think Vareth's starting to get nervous," Alden muttered as they slipped beneath an old archway, the stone cool and damp above them. "None of his people are reporting back."

Ethan smirked faintly. "Good. Let him stew in silence."

A brief pause passed between them before Ethan tilted his head slightly. "By the way… how do people here communicate? I mean, from a distance. Is there some kind of signal, or—?"

"Magic," Alden replied, not missing a beat.

"Magic?" Ethan echoed, one brow rising.

Alden gave a small nod, lifting his hand to show the simple bronze ring on his finger. "It's a part of our lives. Everything here runs through magic in some form, but especially through these."

Ethan glanced at the ring, studying the faint shimmer of etchings along its surface.

"They're more than just accessories," Alden went on. "Most rings start off with basic storage capabilities. You can keep tools, food, anything small inside. But that's just the lowest tier. If a ring is properly refined and tuned to the right current, it can do more—like allow you to speak with someone miles away."

Ethan's eyes narrowed with interest. "So it's like a… magical phone?"

"Phone?" Alden repeated the word, tasting it like it was foreign.

"It's what we use to call and message people where I come from," Ethan explained with a small smile. "Looks nothing like a ring though."

"Ah. Then yes, same concept. Just… more elegant." Alden returned the smile with a hint of pride. "But higher-tier rings are rare. Expensive. Usually reserved for nobility, high-ranking Vessels, or city guilds. Most folks here in Cahaya only have the lowest-grade ones—basic storage, maybe a few enchantments. Just enough to get through the day."

Ethan nodded thoughtfully as his mind drifted to the Inventory, the one granted to him by the system.

'Inventory... can I use it to store real items? Not just the items given by the system.'

It was a question he hadn't tested. But the idea sparked something in him.

'If I can store items in my Inventory and bring them across worlds… that changes everything.'

The road finally narrowed toward a quiet part of the village. Fewer lights. Fewer sounds. Ahead was a modest home built from gray stone and dark wood, its windows shuttered and its porch lit by a single flame crystal set in a brass holder.

"This is it," Alden said. "Duran's place."

Ethan nodded once.

They approached in silence. Behind them, no footsteps followed. No shadows stirred.

For now, the hunt was over.

But Ethan knew it wouldn't stay that way for long.