Chapter 11 · Grind, Loot, Survive - Chapter 11: Blood Price Bargain

"Get your hand off me before I decide you're more useful as a corpse," Selene spat, her voice a low, dangerous blade.

She didn't just pull away; she shoved me. I hit the floor hard, the wind knocking out of my lungs in a sharp wheeze. My wrist was still screaming, the cursed gear clamped onto my skin like a parasite, pulsing with a rhythmic, sickening heat. It wasn't just drinking blood—it felt like it was rewriting my DNA with every throb.

"I was helping!" I gasped, clutching my arm. "You saw that thing, Selene. I didn't just survive; I took its hit. I'm the only one here with a glitchy sigil that actually does something!"

Selene stepped over me, her boots clicking on the stone. She didn't look back. "You're a liability, Milo. A loud, broke, stumbling liability. You didn't 'take the hit.' You stumbled into a disaster and somehow didn't die. That's not skill. That's a statistical anomaly."

I scrambled up, ignoring the dizzy spell that made the room tilt. I stepped into her space, close enough to smell the ozone and cold steel clinging to her gear.