Reborn With A Technology System In A Fantasy World-Chapter 284: Traitor

Karl first made sure Yuna got healed by a Light Mage, and calmed down the students, reassuring them that all was fine and nothing happened.

When he was done, he scanned the room. He didn’t know every single face in the massive class, so he couldn’t immediately identify who was missing.

And there was also the possibility that it wasn’t a student at all, but an intruder who had slipped in during the chaos. Yuna was one of his strongest pupils; for someone to take her out with a single spell meant the thief was skilled.

’Thank goodness it’s not the real thing,’ Karl thought, trying to comfort himself as he walked back to the dais. ’It’s just a shard. The thief will soon realize they can’t do anything with it.’

His only real worry was what he would tell Damien. The Dwarf Lord treated that shard like his own child. Karl grimaced. ’I’ll just... let him assume he lost it. Yeah. That sounds like something he’d do.’

He turned back to the class, projecting an aura of confidence. "Alright! Show’s over! Just a little security drill to keep you on your toes! Back to sparring! I want to see sweat!"

He continued the class as if nothing had happened, moving through the ranks, correcting forms, and shouting encouragement. But all the while, his eyes were sharp, scanning for any sign of the thief or the missing crystal. It was futile. The thief was gone.

***

In one of the unassuming grey houses on the far edge of the sector, two humans with white hair, a boy and a girl, were the only ones in a room for five. They were both breathing hard, their chests heaving after literally racing home through the back alleys of the slum.

"That was a close one, Fabian," the girl gasped, leaning against the wall for support. "Why did you have to involve me in your mess? And why did you even steal the crystal? Do you really think your dumb brain can replicate Adrian’s invention?"

Fabian’s anger flared. He turned on her, his eyes blazing with a cold, hateful light. He flared his aura, making Diana fidget in shock. "You better control your mouth, you little wrench. Or I’ll make you regret it."

She kept quiet, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to impose some confidence, but her eyes darted away from his.

Satisfied with her reaction, Fabian sneered. "Of course you’re not smart enough to know why I took it. You would have known if you had bothered to read the Galactic Rulebook."

"What rulebook?" Diana asked, confused. Then, a memory surfaced. "Oh, that massive file on the PAD? Don’t tell me you read all that? It’s thousands of pages long!"

Fabian sighed, shaking his head at her ignorance. "Shut up and let me finish, woman. If you’d read it, you would have known that Void Crystals are contraband. Possession by a non-sanctioned entity is a capital offense. Now, tell me... how could Karl, or even Adrian, have gotten their hands on one?"

Diana went into thought, her brow furrowing. Then, it clicked. Her eyes widened. "They must have... stolen it."

Fabian nodded, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "We don’t know if they stole it, but they certainly acquired it illegally. The Concordat doesn’t hand out Void tech to slum-dwellers."

Diana looked at him skeptically. "Okay, so what do you plan to do now? I don’t think the Concordat will take you seriously if you try reporting Adrian to them. We’re nobody."

Fabian laughed. "Of course they won’t care about us. But this isn’t a normal case. Do you think flying spears are normal? The rulebook says Void Crystals are just energy sources. It says nothing about giving weapons sentience. Which means... our little Adrian might be capable of doing something the Concordat can’t."

Diana gasped as she imagined the implications. "No way."

Fabian’s smirk deepened. "And do you think the mighty Galactic Concordat will sit down and watch a nobody in the slums quietly grow in power with technology they don’t understand? No. They’ll cut him off. They’ll dissect his little empire to find out how he did it."

Diana held her chin, a flicker of doubt crossing her face. "Fabian... I don’t have a good feeling about this. It might mean trouble for everyone, not just him. And what will we gain from this? We could lose our home."

"Don’t be stupid," Fabian snapped. "Of course we’ll gain a lot. We’ll be informants. They could reward us with credits, maybe even invite us to the Heartland after we help them expose a dangerous criminal."

He noticed Diana was still showing signs of hesitation. "Don’t you dare feel sympathy for that coward and his underlings," he spat. "Have you forgotten? He’s the reason Mum and Dad are dead. He’s the reason we’re living like rats in this box instead of in a palace."

The reminder hit Diana immediately. She remembered how Cedric couldn’t handle the physical ruin Adrian had left him in, eventually succumbing to his injuries and despair. Their mother had followed soon after, grief-stricken and broken.

The painful memory felt like a knife twisting in her gut. Her doubt vanished, replaced by a cold, burning hatred. She looked at Fabian, her eyes mirroring his own.

"When do we get started? Let’s destroy that bastard."

Fabian smiled with an evil, satisfied expression. His plans were finally falling into place.

’I’ll make you regret sparing me, Adrian,’ he thought, clutching the stolen shard in his pocket.

***

Meanwhile, light-years away, in the heart of a chaotic asteroid field, a brutal battle was reaching its climax.

Adrian moved like a blur, his body unarmored, his grey uniform torn and stained with ichor. He was surrounded by six Void Beasts, sleek, serpentine nightmares that moved through the vacuum with terrifying speed.

He wasn’t using his Power Suit. He was testing the limits of his new, evolved body.

A beast lunged, its crystalline jaws snapping shut inches from his face. Adrian didn’t dodge. He caught the creature by its jaws, his hands glowing with a golden aura of Qi-infused strength. He ripped the beast’s mouth open, then delivered a mana-charged kick to its throat that shattered its spine.

[You’ve acquired a Void Crystal!]

Another attacked from behind, its claws raking across his back. Deep gashes opened up, blood floating into the void. But before the creature could strike again, the wounds were already closing, knitting together in seconds with a hiss of dark mist.

He spun, and in a whirlwind of fists and magic. He obliterated the remaining beasts one by one, not with strategy, but with overwhelming, raw power. He punched through their armored hides, tore off their crystalline fins, and crushed their skulls, making sure to leave nothing behind.

[You’ve acquired Void Crystals!]

Finally, only one remained. He grabbed the last beast by the tail and slammed it into an asteroid, stunning it and killing it. He then materialized a specialized containment unit from the ring Greg gave him. He wasn’t obliterating this one. He needed a carcass to present to his Escort to avoid suspicion.

"Phew..." he heaved a sigh, floating amidst the carnage. "This was fun."

As he turned to leave, heading back to his ship, his senses suddenly triggered as something pulled him.

Before he could process what it was, the System lit up with a blinding notification. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

[New Quest Unlocked!]