Kaelen hit the underground lake like a discarded stone.

The freezing water knocked the breath from his lungs. The heavy leather rucksack dragged him straight down into the lightless depths. Water rushed into his mouth, tasting of stagnant decay.

’Not today,’ Kaelen thought. ’I refuse to die for them.’

He tore at the thick leather buckles across his chest. His numb fingers slipped repeatedly. He cursed silently, pulling with desperate strength. The strap snapped. The heavy bag of iron ore sank, freeing his shoulders instantly.

Kaelen kicked upward and broke the surface. He gasped violently, spitting out metallic-tasting water.

"Roderick!" Kaelen screamed into the pitch-black darkness. "You coward!"

Only his echo answered. There were no sounds of battle above. He was completely alone.

"Three years," Kaelen muttered, his teeth chattering uncontrollably as he treaded water. "Three years of bleeding for them, and they threw me away like garbage."

He swam blindly until his hands scraped against smooth stone. He dragged his shivering body out of the water and collapsed. He lay there for a long moment, forcing his breathing to slow down.

Pushing himself to his knees, he pulled out a cheap glowstone. He pushed a sliver of mana into the rock. A dim green light flared.

Kaelen froze.

He wasn’t in a natural cave. He stood on the grand staircase of a colossal, ruined temple. The towering statues lining the walls weren’t the Church’s winged avatars. They were multi-armed, horned, and serpentine.

"Heretical," Kaelen whispered. "The Inquisitors would burn this mountain range to ash for this."

"Flee..."

The weak voice echoed from the center of the vast room.

Kaelen drew his small hunting knife. He raised the glowstone and cautiously approached the massive raised dais in the middle of the floor.

"Who’s there?" Kaelen demanded.

"Do not... come any closer. The miasma..."

In the dense shadows behind a white marble altar lay a woman. Her silver-and-gold armor was shredded. Her white Paladin cape was stained dark with blood.

He knew that face. It was minted on the kingdom’s silver coins.

"Seraphina Dawnstrider," Kaelen breathed out, lowering his knife. "The Abyssal Saintess."

The supreme commander of the Church’s forces, the strongest woman in Aethelgard, was writhing on the dirty floor. Dark purple veins of Abyssal Corruption pulsed wildly across her pale neck.

"I said stay back," Seraphina gasped. She clutched her ruined chestplate. "The corruption... it’s highly contagious. It will take you too, citizen."

"I’m not leaving," Kaelen said. "The Church declared you were on a holy pilgrimage two weeks ago."

Seraphina let out a pained laugh and coughed up dark blood. "A pilgrimage? Is that what the Grand Inquisitor told the capital?"

"Yes," Kaelen answered. "They threw a festival in your honor."

"I was betrayed," Seraphina groaned, arching her back as feverish heat wracked her body. "We found this temple. The Grand Inquisitor... he locked me in here. He triggered a cave-in."

"Why?"

"He wanted the power in this room for himself," she panted. "He left me in the dark to rot."

Kaelen scoffed. "So they abandoned you too."

"I’m a servant of the World Tree," she said, her voice trembling. "I’m prepared to die. But you... you are a civilian. Run."

"Run where?" Kaelen snapped. "Up the stairs? Straight back to the Silver-rank cowards who threw me into a monster’s jaws to save themselves?"

Seraphina blinked, genuine confusion breaking through her pain. "Knights of the Church did that to you?"

"They treat me like a dog!" Kaelen shouted, his voice echoing. "I’m a Level 1 Mana Transfusionist. I’m a living battery. I feed them my own health. Today, they picked me up and threw me as bait."

"No," Seraphina whispered. "They broke their oaths. A true knight protects the weak."

"There are no true knights," Kaelen spat. "There is only power. Your Inquisitor proved that. Roderick proved that."

"You’re ying," she sobbed.

"Look at my clothes," Kaelen demanded. "Your precious vanguard decided my life was worth exactly ten seconds of running time."

A violent spasm hit Seraphina. She screamed, clawing desperately at her throat. The corruption was acting as a lethal aphrodisiac, burning out her nervous system.

"Please," Seraphina begged, tears streaming. "It burns so much. Kill me. Cut my throat."

"No."

"I’m turning into a beast!" she cried out. "Grant me mercy!"

"I’m fresh out of mercy," Kaelen replied coldly.

He looked past her. Resting on the marble altar was a skeletal corpse clutching a heavy, pale leather grimoire. It radiated a suffocating aura of raw magic.

"What is that book?" Kaelen asked.

"Do not touch it!" Seraphina yelled frantically. "It is the Primordial Abyss. It will kill you instantly."

"Good," Kaelen said, stepping forward. "I would rather die touching heretical magic than live another day as a slave."

He slammed his bare palm flat against the cover of the grimoire.

A violent shockwave exploded. The glowstone shattered. Blinding violet light erupted from the book.

A cold, mechanical voice echoed directly inside his brain.

[System Alert. Forbidden Artifact detected. Origin: The Primordial Abyss.]

[Scanning User... Entity identified as Kaelen Vance.]

[Anomaly Detected. User class Mana Transfusionist is a heavily suppressed, artificially induced state. The Holy Church forcibly bound your true potential.]

Kaelen gasped. ’They intentionally crippled me?’

[Commencing class unsealing process. Brace for impact.]

Pain erupted in his chest. It felt like invisible hands had plunged into his heart, violently ripping iron chains apart. Kaelen fell to his knees and screamed.

His stunted mana circuits were violently torn open. His blood boiled. Violet light poured from his eyes. He clawed at the stone floor.

"You... Fight it!" Seraphina shouted.

The torture consumed him completely.

And then, the burning abruptly vanished.

Kaelen collapsed, panting heavily. The sluggish exhaustion he had carried every day of his life was gone. He felt incredibly strong. He felt hungry for mana.

[Unsealing complete. True Class Awakened.]

[Class: Mana-Binder. Rank: Unique/Mythic.]

[Passive Skill: Abyssal Extraction. Draw out, absorb, and purify corrupted mana from living vessels through intimate physical resonance.]

[Active Skill: Stat Devourer. Upon successful extraction, permanently copy a calculated percentage of the vessel’s core stats and abilities.]

Kaelen stared at the floating violet text. He wasn’t a support class. He was a parasite. A system-breaking anomaly. He could absorb the corruption the Church feared and steal the strength of the infected.

A dark laugh escaped his lips. He pushed himself off the floor.

He looked at Seraphina. She stared at him in terror.

"You touched it," she whispered, shrinking back. "You are damned."

"I’m saved," Kaelen corrected her.

He knelt beside the fallen Paladin. The sickly-sweet purple miasma radiating from her body washed over his face. It felt like a warm breeze. His new class was purring, eager to consume the poison killing her.

"Kill me," she begged, her eyes rolling back.

"I’m not going to kill you, Saintess," Kaelen said, a dark smile spreading across his face.

He reached out and gently touched her flushed, burning cheek.

"I’m going to cure you."