SSSSS-Rank: Negative Leveling

The dragon girl's eyebrows shot up, and for the first time since they'd found her, she actually laughed. It was a pleasant sound, one you wouldn't expect to hear from a dragon.

"Eat you? Seriously? That's what you're worried about right now?" She shifted against the cage bars, her tail scraping across the floor. "Look at me. I'm half-starved, chained up like a dog, and you think my first priority after getting free would be having a snack?"

Rebecca peered around Luthra's shoulder, her curiosity overcoming her fear. "Well, I mean... you are a dragon. Don't dragons eat people in all the stories?"

"Stories." The dragon girl's voice went flat. "Right. Because stories are always so accurate about everything." She looked directly at Luthra, those ember eyes boring into him. "You just killed Silas and you're asking if I'm going to eat you. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"

Luthra shrugged, "Just wanted to be clear about it. I've had enough surprises today."

"Fair enough." She tilted her head, studying him more carefully now. "You really did kill him, didn't you? I can smell his blood on you. It's... different somehow. Weaker. Like something drained out of it."

"His power died with him. That's why the slave brands crumbled." He reached through the bars again, his hand moving toward the collar. "This should work the same way, just slower because there's more magic packed into it."

The dragon girl tensed as his fingers approached her neck. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

"Pour my own mana into it. Create a reaction that might break down the binding."

"Might?"

"Would you prefer to stay here?"

She was quiet for a moment, then slowly leaned forward, exposing her neck. The collar was thick obsidian, covered in pulsing gray runes that seemed to writhe under his gaze. Up close, he could feel the power radiating from it - not just magic, but something deeper. Fear made solid. Control given form.

'This thing... its not normal, it feels like there is a soul inside it.'

His fingers touched the collar, and immediately he felt it trying to drain him, pulling at something inside him that it couldn't quite reach. The collar was designed to feed on regular mana, to turn a prisoner's own power against them. But Luthra's negative mana was something it didn't know how to digest.

"This might hurt," he warned.

"Can't be worse than the last few years."

"...If you say so."

He began pushing his negative mana into the collar, just a trickle at first. The obsidian grew warm under his touch, the gray runes flickering like dying flames. The collar tried to absorb the energy, but it was like trying to swallow acid. The positive mana woven into its structure began to break down, consumed by the void-like nature of what Luthra was feeding it.

The dragon girl hissed through her teeth, her whole body going rigid. "It burns... differently. Like ice instead of fire."

"Should I stop?"

"No, keep going. I can feel it weakening."

Rebecca watched with wide eyes as the collar began to crack, hairline fractures spreading across its surface. The runes were fading now, their light guttering out one by one. But something else was happening too - as the collar weakened, the dragon girl was changing.

Her scales became more prominent, spreading up her neck and across her arms. Her horns lengthened slightly, and her tail grew thicker, more muscular. She was becoming more dragon, less human, as the suppression lifted.

"Almost there," he muttered, pouring more power into the collar. His vision was starting to blur from the effort, his already-damaged body protesting the energy expenditure. 'Come on, just a little more.'

The collar gave one final pulse of gray light, then shattered.

The pieces fell away like black ice, dissolving before they hit the ground. The dragon girl gasped, her hand going to her neck where only unmarked skin remained. For a moment, she just sat there, breathing hard, feeling the absence of something that had been part of her for so long she'd almost forgotten what freedom felt like.

Then she stood up.

Even cramped in the cage, her presence filled the space. She was taller than Luthra had realized, maybe six feet, and her body radiated a heat that made the air shimmer. Her ember eyes were brighter now, actually glowing in the darkness.

"My name is Khorvash," she said.

Her voice had changed too - deeper, more resonant, with an undertone that made Luthra's bones vibrate. "Daughter of the Scorched Peak clan. And I owe you a debt."

She grabbed one of the obsidian bars with her bare hand. The stone began to glow cherry-red under her grip, and with a sound like breaking glass, she tore it apart. The cage that had held her for years crumbled like paper.

She stepped out, stretching muscles that hadn't moved properly in far too long. Her tail swept across the floor, leaving scorch marks in the stone.

"So," she said, looking at Luthra with those burning eyes. "What happens now?"

Before he could answer, Misha's voice echoed down from the tunnel entrance. "We've got a problem! Syndicate reinforcements just arrived! A whole battalion from the eastern branch! They're demanding to know who killed Silas!"

'They got here that quick?'

Luthra sighed, the exhaustion hitting him all at once. His broken ribs, his mangled hand, the energy he'd just spent freeing Khorvash - it was all catching up to him. 'Sigh. of course there are reinforcements. Why would anything be simple?'

Khorvash flexed her fingers, and small flames danced between them. "Reinforcements, you say?" She smiled, showing teeth that were definitely sharper than they should be on anything remotely human. "Good. I've been sitting still for a very long time. I could use the exercise."

Rebecca looked between them, then up at the tunnel. "Um, maybe we should run? There's like three of us and probably hundreds of them and you're kind of falling apart right now." She pointed at Luthra, who was definitely swaying on his feet.

"The kid has a point," Khorvash said, steadying Luthra with one scaled hand. The heat from her palm was almost uncomfortable. "You're in no shape for another fight. And I'm... well, I'm not at full strength either. Haven't eaten properly in years."

"We can't run," he said, though he had to lean against the wall to stay upright. "The freed slaves can't move fast enough. They'd hunt us down before we got a mile from here."

"Then what do you suggest?" Khorvash asked.

Luthra was quiet for a moment, his brain trying to work through the fog of exhaustion. Then he remembered something. "Misha said they're demanding to know who killed Silas. They don't know yet. That means they're not here to fight - they're here to figure out what happened."

"So?"

"So we tell them. We tell them exactly what happened. Silas lost a duel. A legal, witnessed duel with terms both parties agreed to. I am sure, under Syndicate law, that makes me the rightful owner of everything he had."

Khorvash raised an eyebrow. "You know Syndicate law?"

"No, but Misha does. And she's smart enough to play along if she wants to stay alive." He pushed himself off the wall, standing as straight as his injuries would allow. "We're going to walk up there, and we're going to negotiate. And if that doesn't work..." He looked at Khorvash. "Then you get your exercise."

The dragon girl grinned, and for just a moment, Luthra could see the shadow of something much larger and more terrible behind her human form. "I like the way you think."

They made their way back up through the tunnels, Luthra leaning heavily on his chain like a walking stick, Rebecca hovering nervously beside him, and Khorvash bringing up the rear, her presence making the air noticeably warmer.

When they emerged into the main cavern, it was chaos. The freed slaves were pressed against the far wall, terrified. A line of new Syndicate soldiers blocked the exit tunnel, their weapons drawn. And in the middle stood Misha, Borris, and Jako, trying to keep the two sides from starting a massacre.

The Syndicate commander, a woman with silver hair and cold eyes, turned when she saw them emerge. Her gaze went from Luthra's injured form to Rebecca's defensive stance to Khorvash's scaled skin and glowing eyes.

"What in the seven hells is going on here?" the commander demanded. "I came here expecting to find Silas, and instead I find his operation in ruins, his slaves freed, and his best hunters taking orders from... whoever you are."

Luthra stepped forward, the movement nearly making him collapse. Khorvash caught his arm, keeping him upright.

"My name is Luthra," he said, his voice carrying despite his exhaustion. "And I killed Silas in single combat. We both agreed that it was a legal duel. These three witnessed it." He nodded toward Misha, Borris, and Jako. "According to Syndicate law, that makes his holdings mine."

The commander's eyes narrowed. "You expect me to believe that you, in your current state, killed a B-rank hunter?"

"I wasn't in this state when I fought him."

"Convenient."

"It's the truth," Misha spoke up, stepping forward. "I watched the whole thing. Silas agreed to the terms. When he lost, this man became the rightful owner of the mines."

The commander looked at Misha for a long moment, clearly trying to figure out what game was being played. "And you're just... accepting this? All of you?"

Borris grumbled something under his breath, but Jako elbowed him before he could speak properly. Misha kept her expression neutral.

"Silas is dead. Our contracts died with him. This man freed us as much as he freed the slaves. We're choosing to help manage the transition because someone needs to, and we know how these operations work."

"I see." The commander's hand moved to her sword. "However...what the hell is that thing doing out of its cage?"