**Chapter 14 : The hollow's and factions**
The air beneath the Citadel was thick with ozone, carrying the faint metallic tang of rusting machinery and desperation.
Beneath its gleaming towers, where power was displayed in polished steel and cold glass, the true pulse of Hollow Whale thrived in the shadows. It wasn’t the upper levels that mattered here—it was the labyrinthine network of tunnels and caverns carved deep into the earth.
These subterranean veins housed the city’s beating heart: the black market, a den of secrets where anything could be bought or sold.
Deals were struck in dimly lit corners, whispered promises carried on the humid breeze like ghosts haunting the living.
At the center of it all loomed the enigmatic figures known only as the Hollows. They ruled not through brute force but through influence—a web so intricate that even the most cunning factions dared not cross them without careful consideration.
Their presence was felt everywhere, yet they remained unseen, their motives obscured behind layers of secrecy.
To speak their name aloud was to invite misfortune; to defy them outright was to court death.
Hollow Whale’s factions weren’t born of ideology or shared beliefs—they were forged by necessity.Each specialized in a particular brand of criminal enterprise, their identities shaped by survival rather than morality.
The Smugglers controlled the flow of illicit goods, trafficking everything from black-market tech to rare and dangerous creatures.
The Tech-Shades dealt in information, hacking secure systems, stealing secrets, and selling them to the highest bidder.
The Flesh-Carvers, the most brutal of the factions, operated in the darker recesses of the underworld, their trade built on exploitation and violence.
And then there were the Iron Ravens, led by Raven himself, masters of acquiring rare artifacts—a pursuit that often blurred the lines between theft, extortion, and outright bloodshed.
Raven stood in a hidden observation post overlooking one of Hollow Whale’s busiest trading hubs
. His sharp gaze swept across the scene below, analyzing the flow of goods, the movements of rival factions, and the subtle shifts in power dynamics.
Information was currency in Hollow Whale, and Raven was a master at extracting it. Every transaction, every whispered deal, told a story—and Raven had always been a keen listener.
But now, his focus was singular: the enhancer. Its loss gnawed at him like a festering wound. It wasn’t just the value of the artifact itself—it was the message its disappearance sent.
To the Hollows, it was a sign of weakness, a challenge to his authority. They demanded results, and Raven knew the price of failure. Failure meant more than losing face; it meant annihilation.
Either the Hollows would destroy the Iron Ravens entirely, or worse, turn them into pawns for another faction. Time was running out.
He turned to Kael, his second-in-command, a hulking figure whose cybernetic enhancements gleamed faintly in the dim light. “Any word on the girl?” Raven asked, his voice low and gravelly, each syllable weighted with barely contained fury.
Kael shook his head. “Our trackers have lost her trail. She’s good, Raven. Too good.”
Raven’s jaw tightened. He had underestimated her. He had thought she was just another desperate scavenger, someone easily manipulated.
But she had outsmarted him, slipping through his fingers like smoke. A flicker of grudging respect surfaced, quickly smothered by a surge of anger.
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“Double our efforts,” he ordered, his tone cutting through the tension like a blade. “I want every corner of Hollow Whale searched. Contact our informants in the upper levels. Someone must have seen something.”
Kael nodded, his expression grim. “And what about the Hollows?”
“They’re growing impatient,” Raven admitted, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “I’ve bought us some time, told them we’re close to recovering the enhancer. But that won’t last. We need to find her, and we need to find her soon.”
His gaze returned to the bustling marketplace below, his mind racing. This wasn’t just about reclaiming the enhancer—it was about proving his strength, reaffirming his position within the tangled web of power in Hollow Whale. It was about survival, ambition, and securing his future.
A subtle movement caught his eye. A figure slipped away from the main thoroughfare, disappearing into a shadowed alleyway.
There was something about the way they moved—the fluidity, the precision, the ease with which they blended into the darkness—that sparked Raven’s interest. He gestured sharply to Kael.
“Follow them,” he said quietly, his voice laced with urgency. “See where they go.”
Kael nodded and melted into the crowd, vanishing into the maze of alleys after the mysterious figure. Raven watched intently, his gaze fixed on the spot where the figure had disappeared.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that this might be more than a random encounter. Perhaps it was a lead—a thread he could pull to unravel the mystery of Zara’s whereabouts.
Perhaps it was the break he needed to reclaim the enhancer, restore his authority, and secure his place among the Hollows.
For now, all he could do was wait—and hope his instincts were right.
---
Meanwhile, miles away, Zara lay hidden in a secluded cave beneath Brackish Lake. Few knew of this place—it was a sanctuary buried deep within the outskirts of Hollow Whale, protected by ancient agreements between factions.
These pacts, forged under the previous founder of Hollow Whale, ensured that certain territories remained untouched unless war broke out. For now, it kept her safe.
Unaware of the frantic search underway, Zara stirred awake, her gaze falling on the enhancer resting beside her.
She picked it up, turning it over in her hands. “Maybe I can regain some of my strength with this,” she muttered to herself.
Focusing on the tattoo etched into her skin, an interface flickered to life before her eyes:
```
NAME: ZARA
AGE: 19
JOB: ASSASSIN
Strength: 7
Agility: 10
Vitality: 9
Psychic: 10
Skills:
SHADOW ASSASSIN: (F)
+SHADOW BLIND
+SHADOW BIND
+SHADOW SLASH
+SHADOW STEALTH
+SHADOW MOVEMENT
INVENTORY: (F) STORAGE SUBSPACE (3x3x3)
CHAIN OF OATH: (F) CAN BIND ANYTHING WITH A MASTER AND SERVANT CONTRACT AS LONG AS HE HAS OWNERSHIP OR CONSENT.
SYNCHRONIZATION IN PROGRESS 9.5% (238:13:18 until Stage One opens.
Please be prepared.)
```
Zara paused, recalling Alex and Thorne—the ethereal figures trapped in the realm she’d accessed through her tattoo.
Time there seemed frozen, disconnected from reality. Exiting the realm felt like stepping back into the same moment she’d left, unchanged by the passage of time.
Shaking off the thought, Zara prepared the enhancer. Carefully filling a syringe pump, she positioned it near her ventrogluteal site and injected herself, ensuring not a single drop went to waste.
As the liquid coursed through her veins, a surge of energy ignited within her. Heat and cold clashed violently inside her body, as though fire and ice battled for dominance.
Her muscles spasmed, bones shattered and reformed, nerves burned and rewired themselves. Pain consumed her, forcing her into a crouching position as the energy cocooned her like a chrysalis.
When the transformation finally subsided, cracks formed across the glowing shell encasing her. Emerging from it, Zara felt reborn. Her presence radiated a chilling aura, so potent even her own shadow seemed to shiver.
Opening her eyes, she focused on a small rock nearby. With a mere thought, it levitated into the air. She hurled it toward the wall, where it struck with enough force to crack the stone and send echoes reverberating through the cave.
Eager to test her newfound abilities, Zara examined her UI again. Nothing new appeared, so she attempted to connect with the rock directly.
As she focused, something shifted. Suddenly, she saw herself from the corner of her vision—but when she tried to move, her body refused to obey.
Just as quickly, her perspective snapped back to normal. Looking at the rock, she noticed new information displayed above itappeared:
```
Rock: Lv 1
Can share body functions with the rock.
Chains of Connection: (F) (1/5)
Rock: Lv 1
Connect / Disconnect
```
Curious, Zara chose to disconnect. Instantly, the rock crumbled to dust. A profound sense of loss washed over her, as though part of her senses had been severed. After several minutes, the feeling faded, leaving her drained both mentally and physically.
She glanced at the loot scattered around her—a mix of salvaged tech, data chips, and fragments of weapons. Testing her skills further, she realized maintaining her *Shadow Assassin* state cost one psychic point per minute.
Currently, she had only one point remaining. Overexertion triggered a nosebleed, a stark reminder of the toll her powers took on her body. Exhausted, Zara collapsed onto the cold floor of the cave, her body surrendering to sleep.
Miles away, beyond the sprawling metal structures of the Citadel, a monstrous shape stirred in the desolate wasteland. Its bioluminescent eyes pulsed rhythmically, scanning the horizon.
The Scavenger—a grotesque fusion of flesh and machine—had detected something. A faint trace of psychic energy lingered in the air, drawing it inexorably toward Brackish Lake.
Its mechanical limbs whirred as it began to move, each step shaking the earth beneath its massive, clawed feet.
The hunt was on.....!
