Magi turned the small black cube between his fingers while Keller and the Golden Lions maintained a respectful or perhaps fearful distance.

  The cube pulsed with a subtle rhythm against his skin, like a tiny heartbeat in perfect sync with his own.

  "Whatever it is, you need to surrender it to Guild Authority," Keller said, though he made no move to approach. "Unclassified items are required to undergo proper testing before—"

  "Let me handle this," Marc cut in, stepping between Keller and Magi. "We've got protocols for team-acquired items."

  Keller's jaw tightened. "This isn't a standard situation. That thing communicated with him."

  Echo Squad formed a loose circle around Magi, their protective stance clear despite their own obvious curiosity about what had just happened.

  "The Rift is closed," Marc pointed out. "The threat is neutralized. By Guild Association charter, Section 22, paragraph—"

  "Spare me the paperwork lecture," Keller snapped. "Fine. You deal with your porter's little souvenir. But when that thing does whatever it's designed to do, remember I warned you."

  The Golden Lions leader turned and walked away, gesturing for his remaining team members to follow.

  The other Raiders and Guild support staff began the post-incident cleanup, giving Echo Squad a wide berth.

  "Well?" Eli asked once they had relative privacy. "What is it?"

  Magi shrugged. "The notification called it a 'Void Seed.' Functions undetermined."

  Jax leaned in closer. "So basically useless?"

  "I wouldn't say that," Magi replied, slipping the cube into his hoodie pocket. "But it's not an immediate concern."

  Marc looked like he wanted to argue but settled for a resigned sigh. "We'll deal with this later. For now, let's collect whatever else came out of that dragon and get back to base. I need a shower and six aspirin."

  The bone dragon had collapsed into a scattered heap of yellowed fragments, most crumbled to dust from the reflected necrotic energy.

  At the center of what had been its chest cavity lay something that had survived the destruction, a simple gold ring with a small black stone.

  Layla reached for it first. "Dibs on any gear—" Her fingers were centimeters from the ring when she jerked her hand back with a sharp gasp. "What the hell?"

  "What's wrong?" Eli asked, moving closer.

  Layla rubbed her hand as if it had been burned. "I don't know. It felt... wrong. Like it was screaming at me."

  "Screaming?" Jax raised an eyebrow. "It's a ring, not a banshee."

  "You try it then, smart guy." Layla stepped back, clearly unsettled.

  Never one to back down from a challenge, Jax crouched and reached for the ring.

  His fingers closed around it, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then his face contorted, and he dropped the ring with a wince.

  "Okay, yeah," he admitted, pressing his palm against his temple. "There's definitely something. Like a high-pitched whine right behind my eyes." He blinked rapidly. "It's giving me a killer headache."

  Marc frowned. "Possible curse item. Those are rare but not unheard of from high-level rift creatures." He looked at Eli. "Any thoughts?"

  Eli studied the ring without touching it. "From the energy signature, I'd guess it's a Necromancer's Ring.

  They're artifacts that channel death energy, usually worn by undead commanders or death mages."

  "Like our bone dragon friend," Marc nodded.

  "Exactly. The 'screaming' might be a defensive mechanism or a side effect of its connection to death energy."

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  Magi had been watching this exchange with his usual calm detachment. Without comment, he bent down and picked up the ring between thumb and forefinger.

  "Magi, wait—" Marc started, but fell silent when nothing happened.

  The team watched as Magi examined the ring with mild interest. After a moment, he glanced up at their concerned faces.

  "Something wrong?"

  "You don't... hear anything?" Layla asked.

  Magi cocked his head slightly, as if listening. "No."

  Jax stared at him in disbelief. "No screaming? No headache?"

  "No."

  Eli's eyes narrowed in concentration. "Can you put it on?"

  Without hesitation, Magi slipped the ring onto his index finger.

  The black stone gleamed dully against his skin, but his expression remained unchanged. He waited a moment, then shrugged. "It's just a ring."

  The team exchanged looks of confusion and concern.

  "The interface," Marc prompted. "What does your status screen say about it?"

  Magi seemed to check something invisible to the rest of them. "Necromancer's Ring. Rare item. Increases death energy manipulation by 22%. Cursed item: User hears the screams of the damned continuously."

  "And you don't hear anything?" Eli pressed, fascination overriding her concern.

  Magi shook his head. "No."

  "How is that possible?" Layla asked. "Even I felt it, and I'm about as sensitive to magic as a brick wall."

  A faint smile touched Magi's lips. "Maybe Basic Spirit Resistance."

  "You have that attribute?" Marc asked, surprise evident in his voice.

  "Along with the others." Magi twisted the ring on his finger, seemingly unbothered by its cursed nature. "It's just basic resistance against spiritual effects."

  What Magi didn't explain was how he'd developed that particular resistance.

  Years of sitting in an office cubicle, ignoring angry bosses, tuning out emotional coworkers, and enduring soul-crushing meetings had built an almost impenetrable wall of mental apathy.

  His spirit had learned to simply let the noise wash over him without penetration, a defense mechanism against the daily grind that now served him well against literal ghostly screams.

  "So you're immune to the curse?" Jax looked impressed despite himself. "That's... convenient."

  "I wouldn't say immune," Magi corrected. "I just don't notice it."

  Marc ran a hand through his hair, a gesture he often made when recalculating a situation. "We should still turn it in for analysis."

  "And lose the 22% death manipulation bonus?" Eli countered. "That could be useful."

  "For who?" Layla asked. "None of us use death energy."

  The team fell silent, considering the implications. The ring was valuable, rare items always were, but cursed in a way that made it unusable for most Raiders.

  "I'll carry it," Magi said simply.

  Jax frowned. "You sure? Just because you don't feel it now doesn't mean it won't affect you eventually. Curses have a way of... adapting."

  "He's right," Eli added. "Prolonged exposure to cursed items is documented to cause psychological deterioration, sleep disturbances, personality changes—"

  "I'll carry it," Magi repeated, his tone unchanged.

  The others exchanged concerned glances. To them, Magi's offer seemed like a quiet sacrifice.

  Willingly subjecting himself to potential mental torment for the team's benefit. Another example of their porter doing far more than his job description required.

  In reality, Magi simply recognized an efficient solution. The ring didn't bother him. The team needed someone to carry it. Problem solved.

  "If you start feeling anything… anything at all… you tell us immediately," Marc insisted. "That's an order, not a suggestion."

  Magi nodded, already losing interest in the conversation. "We should head back. The retrieval team will want to catalog the site."

  As Echo Squad gathered their equipment and prepared to leave, Magi glanced back at the scattered bone fragments.

  For just a moment, he thought he saw movement in the shadows beyond… a ripple of darkness that didn't match the ambient light. But when he focused, there was nothing there.

  The team made their way out of the Rift zone, past the Guild barriers and decontamination stations, and finally onto the street where civilian life had already begun returning to normal.

  People in nearby buildings peered out windows or stood in small groups, watching the Raiders with a mixture of awe and nervous relief.

  "Food?" Layla suggested as they reached the main road. "I'm starving."

  "Shower first," Marc insisted. "We smell like death and sewers."

  "Speak for yourself," Jax smirked. "I make death smell good."

  As they debated their next move, none of them noticed the figure watching from the third floor of an empty office building across the street.

  Hidden in the shadows of an abandoned conference room, a slender person observed their progress through specialized goggles.

  The watcher's focus lingered on Magi, specifically on the pocket where he'd stored the black cube. After a moment, they touched a device at their wrist and spoke in a low voice.

  "Target confirmed. Echo Squad. C-rank team, recently upgraded from freelancer status. Led by Marc Venn."

  A pause as they listened to a response.

  "Yes, I saw it. Black-class artifact, materialized directly to the porter. Designation unknown." Another pause. "No, there was no Guild interception. They're carrying it out now."

  The watcher tracked the team's movement down the street.

  "The porter is the one to watch. Something's not right with him. His status readings are..." They hesitated. "Inconsistent. Possibly masked."

  They listened to further instructions, then nodded once.

  "Understood. Will maintain observation. The Obsidian Syndicate will be most interested in this development."

  The figure melted back into the shadows as Echo Squad disappeared around a corner, unaware they'd gained the attention of the city's most dangerous underground organization, a group that specialized in acquiring the unacquirable, by any means necessary.

  Magi felt the Necromancer's Ring cool against his finger and the Void Seed pulse gently in his pocket.

  Despite the cursed nature of one and the unknown potential of the other, he felt strangely at peace.

  Whatever complications these items might bring, they were problems for tomorrow.

  Right now, he was simply looking forward to a quiet evening and, perhaps, checking apartment listings with his newly earned hazard pay.