1% Lifesteal

Freddy Stern, a twenty-one-year-old cashier, has lived a plain, albeit harsh life. Having been orphaned—twice—he's spent the last ten years working and staying out of trouble. His only aspiration is to save enough money to become an archhuman. His dream gets the jump on him when he barely survives a near-death encounter and finds himself in possession of 1% Lifesteal, a bizarre talent with numerous contradictions and just as many uses.

With his time in Faralethal’s mines coming to an end, Freddy is finally free to tackle the world. With the spoils of his unlikely victory, he expects to take the world of delving by storm. Unfortunately for him, things are never that easy. Big city life is harsh for those without backing. There are many who have been born into power, and many who are willing to do anything to get ahead. In the grand scheme of things, an independent two-star is still prey.

Finding himself on the run from the law, Freddy will need a safe place to hide. His target? A borderline lawless subordinate territory of the Empire; a land of cruelty, vigilantism, and mountains of ice—the Northern Belt. Despite having acted in self-defense, Freddy knows that, should the law catch up with him, he stands no chance of being declared innocent. If he wants to remain free—or even alive—he needs to find somewhere he can hide long enough to bury the trail. His first choice ends up being the infamous, crime-ridden area of the Northern Belt.