Balt

  The crystal in Sager’s hand pulsed again. He stared at it, breath shallow and ragged.

  Then the glow sharpened into a thin, needle?bright flash. The crystal disintegrated into dust. Balt exhaled through his teeth. “That can’t be good.”

  Marcilla sprinted toward him, eyes wide as she took in the carnage, the spear jutting from Balt’s abdomen, and the top half of what was left of Sager. on the ground

  Balt jerked his chin toward the pile of ash and ruined flesh. “She was clutching a crystal,” he said, voice rough. “It started pulsing… then it just disintegrated any idea what that was?”

  Marcilla’s expression tightened instantly. “We need to hurry.” She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “That was a more advanced signal crystal, same class as the one you’re carrying. And I’ll give you one guess who she was sending the message to.”

  Balt breathed out slowly, fighting to stay conscious. His vision wavered, and Marcilla gave him another quick once?over, concern flickering behind her eyes.

  “After that kind of fight, I can’t believe you didn’t level,” she said.

  “Yeah,” Balt muttered. “Me neither.” He exhaled, wincing. “Apparently I’ve hit the point where one Elite, even a strong one, just isn’t enough anymore.”

  Balt knew why though. The Tutorial bonuses were gone, and experience split across the party. Leveling would be slower now.

  He opened his anchor interface and sent a party?invite request to Alice, for her and Elizabeth both. The acceptance came instantly.

  That was the signal to Riven that phase one was complete. Alice was secure.

  Alice approached slowly, Liz clutched tight against her chest. Her voice trembled. “Balt… are you…”

  “Stay back a little,” he said, raising a hand. “Not until this spear is dealt with.”

  He was being extra careful; who knows what Sager could have done with the weapon in her final moments. “Marcilla can you get this thing out of me?”

  Marcilla didn’t hesitate. She moved behind him, already assessing the angle of the blade. A deep purple aura flooded her eyes. Her pupils glowed faintly as she scanned the weapon. “It’s clean. No harmful enchantments or lingering mana. I know what to do.” She placed both hands on the shaft protruding from his back. “Are you ready?”

  Balt nodded once, jaw tightening.

  “On three,” she said.

  He braced.

  “One—”

  She yanked.

  Balt’s cry tore out of him raw and involuntary. He collapsed forward, catching himself on one hand as blood poured freely. With the other, he summoned his last healing potion into his palm and downed it in a single swallow. Warmth spread through his torso as the wound sealed over. It was messy, but enough to keep him alive. His health bar crawled upward, settling just under half.

  He dragged himself toward what remained of Sager, reaching out to access her anchor.

  A sharp chime echoed in his mind.

  Balt stared at the message and let out a humorless breath. “Well, damn.”

  Marcilla knelt beside him. “What’s wrong?”

  Balt pointed to Sager’s anchor. “See if you can access it.”

  She walked over and placed a hand on the anchor. A flash of light flared, then faded. Marcilla nodded. “I’ve got it. Pulling everything out.”

  She reached inside, and her eyes lit up. “Hell yes. She had the Master Key.” Marcilla pulled out a rune?etched gem, its surface humming faintly. “With this, we can take the internal tunnels and cut straight through to the training hall. Closest exit we’ve got.”

  “Did Sager have another health potion in there?” Balt asked, hope creeping into his voice.

  Marcilla shook her head once. “No luck.”

  Alice finally stepped closer, glancing around the ruined chamber. “Why haven’t any guards shown up? With all this noise, they should’ve swarmed us.”

  Balt grunted, forcing himself upright. His legs shook, but he stayed standing. “I told you when we first met, I was a gambling man.”

  He wiped blood from his mouth and gave her a tired, confident smile. “And the smart money says the reason why, is your brother.”

  Riven

  The crystal flashed in the dirt. Balt had the girls, but he was fighting. I shoved the crystal into my inventory and launched myself out of the wolf?bear hole, Tucker’s paws thudding right behind me.

  Time to move.

  I reached for Tucker’s mind. Tucker… it’s time to go all out. You ready?

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  A pulse of raw excitement hit me from our link. “Hell yeah!”

  We tore through the trees, branches whipping past as adrenaline surged through my veins.

  “Let them know we’re here, Tucker,” I growled. “No more hiding. No more waiting. No mercy. Anyone who stands before us falls before us. You with me, pal?”

  “Let’s go!” Tucker’s mental roar cracked like thunder. His armor snapped into place in a burst of light, plates locking together as the speakers along his sides unfolded with a metallic click.

  We broke through the treeline.

  Tucker’s speakers roared to life, blasting Echo Harper–Warrior into the clearing like a battle cry that shook the leaves.

  I activated my Regalia and Limit Breaker at its base level. Tucker and I both dismissed our Turtle Cloud cloaks. I wanted them all to know who they were dealing with. I needed to draw as many eyes and bodies toward us as I could.

  I summoned Ember, heat flaring up my arm as I shifted into Sparks Mode.

  A patrol rounded the tree line, coming at us with speed. Five of them, weapons raised, shouting orders at us to stop.

  “Keep going ahead, I’ll catch up,” I sent to Tucker.

  I blurred toward the incoming patrol, Ember carving arcs of burning light. I was a whirlwind of motion, one slash, two, three, bodies dropping before they even realized I’d moved. The last two tried to raise shields; Ember tore through them like the shields were made of paper.

  I reappeared at Tucker’s side, still running, sparks trailing behind me.

  The front gate loomed ahead, massive up close, a towering slab of reinforced timber and iron. Soldiers lined the battlements above, staring down at us with wide, uncertain eyes.

  I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted up at them, “I’m who you’ve been waiting for! I’m the reason all of you are here! Now call your master, if you can! I don’t really give a shit either way, because we’re coming through all of you!”

  Tucker threw his head back and howled, the sound rolling across the walls like thunder.

  I unleashed a barrage of Searing Scars, streaks of burning light ripping into everything on the battlements. Screams, explosions, splintering wood it was utter chaos. I didn’t know who Balt was fighting. If it was Carson, I hoped my display made him disengage and come at me.

  I sprinted forward and slammed an Eclipse Strike into the gate.

  The gate detonated.

  Debris and dust blasted outward in a choking cloud. Tucker and I burst through the smoke together, momentum carrying us into the courtyard beyond.

  An incline stretched upward toward a second gate, another choke point, another line of defenders scrambling to form up.

  “No prisoners,” I growled.

  Tucker answered with a deep, savage roar, and we charged up the incline toward the next wall of bodies.

  Tucker and I tore up the incline toward the second gate, bodies and broken weapons scattered behind us. Anyone who stepped into our path didn’t last long.

  Ember carved through armor as if it were wet bark, and Tucker hit lines of soldiers like a living battering ram. We were a storm ripping through a forest of twigs.

  The second gate loomed ahead, thicker and heavier than the first, reinforced with iron bands and stone braces. Soldiers on the ramparts scrambled, shouting orders, firing arrows that hissed past us. None of it mattered. I was already gathering power for another Eclipse Strike, Ember humming in my grip.

  I was three steps from the gate when four figures dropped from the ramparts, landing hard enough to crack the stone. They rose in unison, broad, armored, disciplined.

  The lead warrior stepped forward, pulling a massive axe from his back. His face was sharp and scarred, eyes cold and hungry, jaw set as if he’d been waiting for this moment his entire life.

  “We are Blackthorn,” he growled. “And you finally showed yourself, Outlier... We will break you before we take you before the master.”

  I didn’t slow down. I didn’t answer. I didn’t have time for banter or introductions. My family needed me, and these people were in the way.

  I surged forward, the world stretching into streaks of color. Tucker howled behind me, the sound shaking the air.

  I appeared before them in a blink.

  Ember split into blazing arcs.

  One. Two. Three.

  Each strike landed with a wet, tearing impact, carving through steel and bone like they were nothing.

  The two warriors on the left didn’t even register what happened. Ember cut them from shoulder to hip, blood spraying in wide, violent fans across the stone.

  The axe-wielder’s eyes widened as he stumbled back. He recovered before my overhead strike could land.

  The impact detonated between us, shockwaves cracking the stone under our feet.

  His grin widened. “Finally…”

  Tucker hit him before he could finish.

  Bone shattered under the collision. The axe flew from his grip as Tucker’s jaws clamped down on his shoulder, teeth punching through steel and flesh alike.

  The warrior’s scream went high and ragged, panic shredding whatever composure he’d had left.

  Tucker shook once, violently, and the sound that tore from the man’s throat broke into a choking gurgle.

  That left one.

  I screamed my own battle cry, raw and furious, and the final Blackthorn fighter froze. He looked at the surrounding bodies, at Tucker dripping blood, at me, and I saw it. The panic. The instinct to run.

  He turned.

  I was already beside him. I dismissed Ember, grabbing him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. “Don’t you fucking dare try to run from me,” I snarled. “You wanted the smoke, now you've got it.”

  I crushed his throat in my hand and hurled him backward. His body tumbled down the stairs, limp and broken.

  Silence hung for a heartbeat.

  Then, from the ramparts above, I heard one soldier mutter, “Well… fuck this shit.”

  I faced the gate again, Ember blazing in both hands and checked my resources.

  Mana: reduced.

  Trigger gauge: stable. For now.

  A notification cut across my vision.

  Balt pulled it off. I exhaled, just for a fraction, letting the small victory settle over me.

  Phase one was done.

  Balt

  We sprinted through the interior tunnels, our footsteps echoing off the stone. The air was stale, heavy with dust and the faint metallic tang of old mana residue. Marcilla ran ahead of me, cloak snapping behind her as she pointed sharply to a door recessed into the wall.

  “There, follow me,” she said, already pulling the gem from her belt.

  She pressed it into a small socket beside the door. The stone shuddered, runes flickering to life in a soft blue glow before the entire slab slid sideways with a grinding rumble. Fresh air rushed in from the other side.

  We stepped out into a narrow hallway.

  Screaming hit me instantly, raw, panicked, distant but close enough to vibrate in my chest. Something heavy crashed outside, followed by another scream and the unmistakable sound of something being torn apart.

  Marcilla pointed to the right. “That way leads to the courtyard.”

  Which meant Riven was out there. And judging by the noise… he wasn’t exactly being subtle.

  We moved left instead, slipping into the training wing. The moment we entered, the space opened into a massive chamber. Stained?glass panels lined the left upper wall, each one depicting stylized warriors locked in eternal combat. On the right, carved stone murals showed the rise of the Shattered Faction: towering figures, broken crowns, jagged weapons raised in triumph.

  The double doors leading out were in sight.

  We were almost there.

  Then the air tightened. Like the world had just taken a breath and forgotten to release it.

  One moment the space in front of the doors was empty. The next, he was simply there, as if the world had blinked and decided he belonged in it. He held a crystal in one hand, its surface pulsing with a sickly green light.

  “Well,” Carson said, smiling like he’d been waiting for this exact moment. “Where do you think you all are going?”

  Silence stretched for a beat.

  Marcilla exhaled hard. “Next time,” she muttered, “I want to be Daphne and Fred. I’m done with this Shaggy and Scooby crap.”