Chapter 38: [38] : Street Lethal, Bare Knuckle Brawl

The Flesh-Stalker lunged.

It cleared the distance between the dumpster and Declan in a fraction of a second. It didn’t run like a human. It scrambled on all fours dragging its heavy scythe-like arms across the pavement and throwing off sparks.

Declan’s mind raced.

He opened his right hand and willed his +20 Carnage Cleaver to materialize.

Nothing happened.

He tried to summon his +30 Warden’s Halberd.

Nothing.

The digital interface in his mind threw up a harsh red error message.

[Error: Synchronization Rate insufficient. Physical manifestation of Grid items locked. Required Sync Rate: 45 percent. Current Sync Rate: 15 percent.]

Declan cursed out loud. He didn’t have his god-tier weapons. He didn’t have his pitch-black Predator’s Coat with its fifty points of absolute defense.

He was standing in a dark alley wearing a faded orange prison jumpsuit.

The Flesh-Stalker slashed its right claw horizontally aiming to cut Declan in half.

Declan dropped completely to the floor.

He moved with blinding speed. His 15 percent sync rate gave him the raw physical stats of an Ascendant-tier player even if he didn’t have the gear. His base agility kicked in.

The bone scythe swung over his head missing his hair by an inch. The claw slammed into the solid brick wall of the alley.

Crack!

The brick exploded into red dust. The monster’s sheer strength was terrifying. A normal human would be dead instantly.

Declan rolled across the wet pavement and scrambled to his feet.

He needed a weapon. Fast.

His eyes darted around the trash-filled alley. Next to a pile of rotting wooden pallets he spotted a thick rusted steel pipe. It looked like a broken piece of scaffolding.

Declan grabbed it. It was heavy weighing at least thirty pounds. But in his hands it felt like a hollow plastic tube.

The Flesh-Stalker ripped its claw out of the brick wall and shrieked again. It leaped into the air bringing both bone scythes down in a vicious overhead strike.

Declan didn’t run. He gripped the steel pipe with both hands and stepped directly into the monster’s guard.

He swung the pipe like a baseball bat aiming straight for the monster’s ribs.

Smash!

The heavy steel collided with the Flesh-Stalker’s pale stretched skin. The impact sent a massive shockwave up Declan’s arms.

A blue damage number popped up in the air above the monster.

[-45 HP]

The monster was knocked off balance mid-air. It crashed hard into the side of the metal dumpster denting the heavy green iron inward.

Declan didn’t wait for it to recover. He rushed forward.

"You want to eat?!" Declan yelled his voice cold and furious.

He brought the pipe down on the monster’s knee.

A sickening crunch echoed through the alley. The Flesh-Stalker’s leg bent backward at an impossible angle.

[-30 HP]

The monster thrashed wildly. It swung its left claw in a desperate blind arc.

Declan was too close to dodge entirely. He leaned back but the razor-sharp tip of the bone scythe caught his left shoulder.

It sliced right through the cheap fabric of his prison jumpsuit and bit deep into his flesh.

"Argh!" Declan grunted.

Real pain flared through his body. It wasn’t the dulled simulated pain of the dive pod. This was raw agonizing physical trauma. Hot blood instantly soaked his sleeve.

A red number appeared in his own vision.

[HP: 85 / 100]

Declan’s eyes narrowed. The pain didn’t scare him. It just made him angry.

He ignored the bleeding shoulder. He stepped heavily on the monster’s broken leg pinning it to the wet pavement.

The Flesh-Stalker opened its jagged needle-filled mouth to bite his leg.

Declan jammed the rusty steel pipe directly into the monster’s gaping maw.

The heavy metal shattered the monster’s teeth. Black sludge sprayed everywhere. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Chew on that." Declan snarled.

He grabbed the ends of the pipe with both hands and pushed downward with all his enhanced synced strength.

He put his entire body weight into the leverage. The monster’s neck cracked under the pressure.

It thrashed its scythe arms blindly cutting deep gashes into the concrete alley floor but it couldn’t reach Declan.

Declan kept pushing. The muscles in his back and arms bulged tearing the seams of his fresh clothes.

[-50 HP]

[-25 HP]

With one final violent shove Declan completely crushed the Flesh-Stalker’s windpipe. The monster’s spine snapped against the pavement.

[Level 1 Flesh-Stalker Defeated!]

[Experience Points Gained: 50]

The monster’s body instantly went completely limp.

Declan let go of the pipe and took a massive step backward panting heavily.

He clutched his bleeding shoulder. The rain washed the black sludge and red blood off his face.

He watched as the dead monster on the ground began to glow.

Just like in the Grid the physical body of the Flesh-Stalker dissolved. It broke apart into thousands of bright blue digital pixels that floated up into the rainy night sky and vanished.

There was no body left. No blood on the ground. Just the shattered bricks and the dented dumpster to prove a fight had ever happened.

Declan stared at the empty spot on the pavement.

"This isn’t a game anymore." He whispered.

Where the monster’s chest had been a single item rested on the wet concrete.

It wasn’t a piece of gear. It wasn’t a rusty sword or a pile of copper coins.

It was a small jagged crystal. It glowed with a chaotic shifting light that flipped between deep purple and bright gold.

It looked like a piece of broken glass holding a tiny galaxy inside it.

Declan walked over and picked it up. It felt warm to the touch.

A system prompt appeared in his vision.

[Item Retrieved: Reality Shard]

[Description: A crystallized fragment of corrupted dimensional code. Dropped when Grid entities are slain in the physical vessel’s dimension. Proof of the Great Convergence.]

Declan gripped the glowing shard tightly in his uninjured hand.

The Great Convergence.

The Grid was eating his world. Soon it wouldn’t just be Level 1 Flesh-Stalkers spawning in dark alleys.

It would be Level 40 Wendigos tearing through skyscrapers. It would be Level 15 World Bosses crushing entire military bases.

He needed to get stronger. Fast.

Declan turned around and walked out of the alley heading straight for his warehouse. He needed to get back into the pod.