Now Tatehan lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, his body finally allowed to rest after the chaos of the day.

His muscles ached, his head throbbed faintly and his mind felt fuzzy and slow, like it was wrapped in cotton.

But he couldn't sleep.

Not yet.

He decided to think about random things instead. Anything to occupy his restless mind.

He thought about Lyra. About the day they'd spent together—the shopping, the restaurant, the easy conversation that had flowed between them. Thinking about it now, that had been a date. Of sorts. Even though neither of them had acknowledged it at the time, even though they'd both pretended it was just two friends hanging out.

But deep down, Tatehan knew it had been something more than that. Something that could have surely developed into something real, something meaningful, if not for the constant havoc being unleashed on the city these past days. Every time they seemed to find a moment of peace, another crisis erupted, another attack came, another disaster that demanded their attention and left no room for anything resembling normalcy.

But even despite all that chaos, he'd felt something. A spark. Something subtle but undeniable, tapping beneath the surface of their interactions—the way she'd looked at him across the table, the way she'd hugged him just a little tighter than necessary, the comfortable silences they'd shared.

And he was sure Lyra had felt it too.

"Arghhh!" Tatehan smiled despite himself, covering his face with his hands.

This felt childish. Like some teenager with a crush, overthinking every gesture and glance.

His mind drifted further back, to Earth. To his girlfriend. To the life he'd had as Gavin. He remembered the things they'd done together: the lazy Sunday mornings, the late-night conversations, the plans they'd made for a future that would never come. Their relationship had been heading somewhere real, somewhere permanent. Marriage, actually. A house…kids, maybe (definitely). All those normal, beautiful things that people built their lives around.

Until the Space Dragon Wars had torn it all apart.

He sighed, the weight of that loss settling over him like a familiar blanket. Heavy but somehow comforting in its constancy.

For now, he actually preferred himself as Gavin rather than Tatehan. Even though Tatehan had a system that granted him abilities, that gave him power beyond anything Gavin could have imagined, even though he could manipulate gravity and phase through solid matter and survive falls that should have killed him, none of that replaced the basic casualness of life that Earth had offered.

The simple pleasure of waking up next to someone you loved. Going to work, coming home, having dinner, watching movies. Living without constantly looking over your shoulder for the next threat.

But who knows, Tatehan thought, staring at the ceiling. Maybe in the long run, he might prefer this life to the one he'd left behind on Earth. Maybe once the constant fighting stopped. Maybe when he was deeply in love again, the way he'd been with his girlfriend on Earth. When he had something (someone) worth fighting for beyond just survival.

"Ahhhh," he groaned softly. How he missed being in love. That feeling of having someone who knew you completely, who chose you anyway, who made even the mundane feel significant.

And then another thought struck him, sharp and sudden like some random knife laced in thunder!

Killing the Obscuron!

That was the key to everything, wasn't it? Once that tyrant was dealt with, once his forces were scattered and his threat eliminated, then maybe—just maybe—there could be room for something like a normal life. For love! For peace!

Killing the Obscuron and finding true love like he'd had with his girlfriend on Earth?

Tatehan's lips curved into a small, wistful smile.

That would be peak. Absolutely peak.

Eventually he ventured off to his system, leaving all these thoughts to rest.

He should be reading but eh…., his mind wasn't at ease.

There was something nagging at him. Something he needed to check.

He pulled up his system interface, the familiar glowing text appearing in his vision.

Maybe he needed to uncover some mysteries. Figure out why the system worked the way it did, why it seemed to anticip…

Or maybe he was just bored and less busy than usual, and checking his stats was something to do while his body recovered.

Either way, the interface materialized in front of him.

[HOST STATUS]

Name: Tatehan

Level: 11

Species: Human (Enhanced)

Knowledge: 158/200

Repair Points: 57/100

[ABILITIES]

• Gravity Manipulation - Level 12

• Regeneration (Partial) - Level 8

• Enhanced Durability - Level 3

• Heightened Perception - Level 5

• Phase Shift - Level 1

[INVENTORY:]

[Shadow Goblin Cores: 54 total]

[Tri-Edge Shadow Chakram]

[Serrated Heavy Chakram]

[Backpack]

[Armor]

[Novels]

[Shadow-Forged Blade]

[Kinetic Absorption Armor]

[Devastator Hand Cannon]

[Core from the Destroyed Fortress]

Tatehan scanned through the stats randomly.

He noted his previous achievements from the fight with the Mech Monster.

His gravity manipulation had jumped to Level 12, surely from using it on something as massive as the mech. His regeneration had ticked up to Level 8, and thinking about it now, it explained why his body was already starting to recover from the day's exertion.

Tatehan smiled faintly.

Then his eyes drifted down to the inventory section, and he paused.

54 shadow goblin cores.

Fifty-four.

He'd collected them from the over sixty shadow goblins he killed back at the wastelands. Back then, they'd been essential. He'd used them to power the Dust Rider.

But now?

Now that he was a battle commander with access to the Red Crest Clan's resources, with vehicles that ran on advanced energy sources and tech that didn't require cores to function, what was he supposed to do with them?

They were basically useless at this point.

He could give the Dust Rider to Torvan, have him rebuild it into something cooler, something that didn't need cores at all. That would free up the cores for... what? Storage? Decoration?

Tatehan frowned, staring at the number.

There had to be something else he could do with them.

He focused on the system, forming the question in his mind.

Is there any other thing I can use the shadow goblin cores for?

The system replied immediately, the words flashing across his retina in bold, glowing text.

[Yes!]

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