Chapter 7: The First Mission

Thursday arrived without ceremony.Mustak woke before dawn, the sky outside his small window still painted in deep blue. The world was quiet — too quiet. For a moment, he lay still, staring at the ceiling, listening to his own breathing.Today was different.Today, he was no longer just a shopkeeper.He was a Destroyer.He reached the abandoned warehouse exactly at 6:00 a.m.Tosif was already there, leaning against a cracked pillar, arms crossed.“You’re on time,” Tosif said.Mustak nodded. “You said Thursday.”Tosif pushed himself off the wall and walked toward him.“This is not training,” Tosif said. “This is a mission.”Mustak’s eyes did not waver. “Where?”Tosif tossed him a small device — a square metal scanner with a flickering screen.“Sector 19. Edge of the dead zone. Energy fluctuations detected. Possibly a young Setam forming.”Mustak caught the device easily.A young Setam.That meant it wasn’t fully formed yet.That meant it could still grow stronger.They traveled by an old government transport vehicle. The road became emptier the farther they went.Buildings thinned.Trees became blackened skeletons.The air felt heavier.Mustak could feel it before he saw it.The vibration.The corruption.The silence that didn’t belong to nature.Tosif stopped the vehicle.“We walk from here.”Sector 19 looked like a frozen memory of destruction.Half-melted cars.Broken concrete.Ash floating in the wind like gray snow.The scanner in Mustak’s hand began to beep softly.Beep.Beep.Beep.Stronger with every step.Then it stopped.A deep crack split the ground ahead of them.And from within that crack —Something moved.It crawled out slowly.Not fully human.Not fully monster.Its body twisted like it was still deciding what shape to take. One arm was long and skeletal. The other was thick and armored. Its face was smooth — no eyes, no mouth.But Mustak could feel it watching him.“You sense it, don’t you?” Tosif said quietly.Mustak nodded.The thing tilted its head.And then —It screamed.Not with sound.But inside his mind.The pressure hit Mustak like a hammer.Memories flashed.The destroyed world.Burning cities.The dragon’s voice.“You are chosen.”Mustak clenched his fists.Purple veins glowed faintly under his skin.The poison within him stirred.“Focus,” Tosif said. “Young Setam attack through the mind first.”The creature lunged.Faster than it looked.Its long arm stretched like rubber, claws forming at the end.Mustak moved instinctively.He didn’t think.He reacted.The claw slashed past his shoulder.He grabbed the extended arm with both hands.The poison energy surged from his palms.Dark purple light spread through the creature’s limb like ink in water.The Setam screeched — this time aloud.Its arm began to decay.Rotting.Cracking.Disintegrating.It pulled back violently and tried to regenerate.But the poison wouldn’t let it.Mustak stepped forward.For the first time —He attacked.He drove his fist straight into its torso.The ground shattered beneath the impact.A shockwave burst outward.Purple energy exploded through the creature’s body.For a second, everything was silent.Then —The Setam’s form collapsed into dust.Gone.Ash drifted through the air.Mustak stood still, breathing hard.His hands trembled slightly.Not from fear.From power.Tosif walked up beside him.“You didn’t hesitate.”Mustak looked at the empty ground where the creature had been.“It wasn’t human.”Tosif studied him carefully.“That’s not what I meant.”On the way back, the silence between them felt heavier than before.Finally, Tosif spoke.“Most first missions end in panic. Some end in death.”Mustak didn’t respond.“You didn’t panic.”Mustak stared out the window at the ruined landscape passing by.“I felt something,” he said quietly.“What?”“It was incomplete. Like it was still searching for something.”Tosif didn’t answer.But his expression darkened.Back at the warehouse, Tosif handed Mustak a small black badge.A symbol was engraved on it — a broken circle with a vertical line through the center.“From today,” Tosif said, “you are officially ranked.”Mustak looked at the symbol.“What rank?”Tosif met his eyes.“Beginner Destroyer.”A pause.“But your power…” Tosif added, almost to himself.“…is not beginner.”That night, Mustak couldn’t sleep.When he finally closed his eyes —He saw the Setam again.Not attacking.Not screaming.Just standing there.Watching him.And in the darkness behind it —Something far larger moved.Something ancient.Something waiting.