Suspended by clusters of chains, the giant lift cranked lower. Jankoh continued to address the Cellar's population with a voice so awfully shrill, one would rather drive an ice pick through their eardrums than suffer through his monologue.

  "Do not kill the trespassers if you find them. They will learn of our dedicated hospitality soon enough." Jankoh turned to face his entourage as his voice echoed down the spire. "How was that? Scary enough? Fuck, disable the vocal enhancement, nimwit!"

  Jankoh slapped Kashlee's hand from his shoulder, then scanned his surroundings, eyes wide with embarrassment behind his horned-skull helmet that made him look like a tiny Satan.

  I figured both of his lieutenants were mages considering I hadn't seen any warriors or fighters rocking any fancy bathrobes. Someday I'd have to ask a mage why they preferred fabrics that were so easily stabbed through.

  Despite the lift being three stories above me, there was a clear view going both ways. I gazed up, somewhat surprised they hadn't noticed me, considering I was the only one standing among the fiftyish prisoners kneeling on the surrounding walkway.

  From the looks of it, Jankoh was still bent out of shape from his subordinates' error and in the process of reaming him—finger pointing, spittle flying, the whole nine yards.

  My plan was simple. Keep my Shadow Weaver abilities secret, minimize stamina usage, and win through simple agility driven melee combat.

  As their lift hovered just one story above, Jankoh realized I was the odd man out, refusing to conform to his weird worship fetish unlike the masses of prisoners.

  "Trespasser, have you come to terms with your fate? You must have already realized there's no escaping Barret's glyph lock. I see you've conducted a partial tour of our facilities. Hopefully, it's to your liking because you and your cohorts will be spending the rest of your lives making quotas."

  The low level mercenaries lined the lift. Several of them nocked arrows, taking aim with their bows. Maldrioneth leaned in close to Jankoh, whispering in his ear until Jankoh pushed him away. As the lift leveled out with the walkway I was standing on, the guards hit a lever and the platform came screeching to a halt.

  "This fool beside me says you're Cyprus. The very adventurer our squads are out looking for," Jankoh said, his voice even more grating at such a close distance.

  A 10 foot gap remained between the walkway and the platform until a mercenary pulled a second lever and a wooden ramp shot out from the lift, bridging the gap.

  "Tell this cretin here just how idiotic that notion is. Then tell me where your friends are," Jankoh commanded, fingers tightening around his warhammer's shaft.

  "Unfortunately for you, he's correct."

  Jankoh threw back his head, cackling like a hyena. His discordant laughter caused something inside of me to snap. I had wanted to inquire about Viessa's capture. Instead I found myself leaping across the gap, sword in hand with an insatiable desire to lop his obnoxious head off.

  Maldrioneth snapped his fingers and a translucent barrier appeared a foot from my face, blocking off the lift. I leaned back, landing with my feet on the barrier, preparing to kick-off and reposition, but Jankoh jumped toward me, swinging his warhammer, which unexpectedly cruised through the barrier and connected with my side.

  The blunt force reverberated through my bones and sinew as I spun through the air and crashed into a stonewall and landed hard on the walkway. Dull pain bloomed down my back as I lay on my stomach, taking my sweet time getting up, seeing as there was no follow-up.

  They were all still standing on the lift. Jankoh likely assumed his blow had shattered my spine, if not outright killed me. Sure, the initial impact, the rough landing, and the momentum behind it, looked fatal. In reality it felt like someone had smacked my bare back with a wet pool noodle. It stung a bit, but I wouldn't be feeling it in another minute.

  "One of you signal for a healer," Jankoh muttered. "There's no need to waste potential labor if he's still breathing."

  Several prisoners scurried out of the way, keeping their heads bowed as they cleared my section of the walkway. One elderly prisoner glanced up, looking Jankoh's way for a split second. An arrowhead burst through the side of his skull and he dropped beside me.

  I pushed myself off the ground, shook my arms out, and cracked my neck. Jankoh did a double take, stunned by my recovery. As I bent over and picked my sword up out of the dead prisoner’s pooling blood, a flurry of arrows flew at my back. I spun around, deflecting a few while the rest hit my chest and arms. One arrowhead bounced off my forehead, reduced to a harmless stub.

  Between my Resilience stat and the archer's insignificant levels, they may as well have been shooting spitballs at a gorilla. A wave of confusion swallowed the platform.

  "Why didn't the glyph strip away his protective enhancements?" Jankoh muttered, gripping his warhammer tight.

  "The glyph lock is absolute," Maldrioneth said.

  "I detect no enhancements or magic," Kashlee added, frowning beneath his beard.

  The archers reloaded their crossbows. Before they fired a second volley, I lunged across the gap, prepared for another barrier. No blockade emerged as I touched down on the lift and ran my sword through an archer's neck.

  Jankoh and his lieutenants didn't bother moving a muscle. They watched carefully as I swiftly cut down another four crossbowmen while the rest of the low level mercenaries fell back behind their superiors.

  Dagger Step.

  I teleported behind Jankoh and stabbed at his spine. But Kashlee clapped his gloved hands together and my blade slowed. Suddenly, it was like my whole body was moving through a pool of Jello. Maldrioneth snapped his fingers twice, placing a translucent barrier between the point of my blade and their captain's spine and a second barrier at my back.

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  The tip of my sluggish sword scraped against the barrier, while Janko twisted around, slamming his warhammer into my chest. I soared backward and ricocheted off the barrier behind me. I dropped my sword, attempting to brace myself as Janko followed-up, but my arms moved too slow and he nailed me again.

  I skidded off the lift, and fell two stories down, spinning off into a pile of wooden crates. Disoriented, and increasingly annoyed, I regained my footing and wiped the splinters off my shoulders, noticing the slow-mo effect had dissipated. Dozens of prisoners rushed by, clearing out from the warehouse.

  Neat tricks.

  No wonder Garik had bailed the moment they showed up. None of them would've proved difficult to deal with alone, but together they were a major pain in the ass. I was mostly concerned with the incantation-less spell Kashlee had cast, which sapped my speed entirely. And I was pretty sure the second blow I ate from Janko's warhammer was going to leave a mark.

  "Stay here and guard the lift. You pigs will only get in the way," Jankoh said, as he stepped off the lift and onto the spiral walkway with his lieutenants in tow.

  They descended the walkway and strolled into the open warehouse, closing in on where I landed.

  "Still not dead?" Janko asked. "Next time I won't hold back."

  Abyssal Veil.

  I activated the ability preemptively as I charged at them, armed with a dagger in each hand, eager to carve out their throats. Closing in from two yards out, Kashlee clapped his hands together and Janko wound back his hammer while Maldrioneth snapped his fingers, raising a barrier on my flank.

  What the fuck?

  My momentum collapsed while Abyssal Veil remained active, passively draining stamina.

  Abyssal Veil doesn't work against every spell type?

  Agility Burst.

  Even with the boost to my speed, I barely sidestepped Janko's swing, much to the trio's surprise. Although, the mobility didn't last as Kashlee clapped his hands once more, bringing me back to a crawl. I disabled Abyssal Veil, stopping it from needlessly draining stamina.

  "Destructive Reckoning," Jankoh shouted as he reared his warhammer back, then drove it forward like a golf club.

  The blunt hammerhead drove into my gut, knocking the air from my lungs as I smashed into the barrier behind me, which set me up for a perfect follow-up swing. I tried raising my arms only to find I was still stuck in slow motion. My leather armor chest piece absorbed a whopping zero percent of the hammer's impact as it punted into my chest, hurling me backwards into the barrier. Bones rattling, the force-field shattered and I bounded out of control, smashing through a row of empty wooden boxes until a crate filled with nautical ropes halted the momentum.

  Somewhere along the trajectory I dropped my daggers. I wiped the trickling blood from my nose, stood up, and stared down the trio who were casually strolling toward me from the warehouse's opening. Beyond them, an audience of prisoners lined along the walkway two stories up, intently watching the one-sided beat down.

  Despite looking worse for wear, I didn't feel any lasting damage. Jankoh's last attack may have bruised some ribs, but of the three, he was the least of my problems. Kashlee and his silent agility reduction spell was the true hurdle.

  I backpedaled deeper into the warehouse, keeping my distance from the trio while they took their time coming after me. When Kashlee didn't immediately lock me down again with a clap, I figured his spell required me to be closer.

  "Try and scurry away you little rat." Jankoh laughed. "There's no way out."

  I glanced over my shoulder, spotting a wrought-iron door in the back corner of the warehouse. "That looks like an exit to me."

  Maldrioneth snapped his fingers, summoning a barrier over the door.

  Defeating them without utilizing Shadow Weave was beginning to feel impossible. Towering crates and stacked shelves cast an abundance of shadows. The captain and his lieutenants were unknowingly walking down a lane of potential hazards.

  Take the easy way out. Cut them down along with the witnesses. Hell, you'll be doing these starving bastards a solid. Put everyone out of their misery.

  I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, tasting iron as I pondered a non-nuclear alternative. That's when I noticed Kashlee's sweat drenched brow. The man looked like he was in desperate need of a hot shower and a month-long nap.

  "What's the matter? Realize there's no point in running?" Jankoh asked as they drew closer.

  I chuckled as I settled on my gambit. "Think you can kill me before your mage runs out of mana? "

  The trio dashed forward in tandem with Jankoh leading the charge. I raised my arms up, protecting my head just as Kashlee clapped, locking my movement down. I ignored Jankoh and the blows he rained down on me. Instead, I stared at Kashlee tightly clasping his hands together and the intensity blooming in his beady eyes.

  Jankoh pummeled me to the ground, repeatedly trying to bash away at my skull. But I kept my chin tucked into my chest and my hands and arms wrapped around the back of my head, absorbing a bulk of the blows. While the hits stung briefly, the unrelenting buzzing in my bones was more bothersome.

  Finding less force behind each subsequent hit, I loosened my guard.

  "This isn't working!" Maldrioneth's deep voice echoed through the warehouse.

  He snapped his finger, spawning a barrier on top of my back, pinning me flat against the ground. Jankoh jumped back, catching his breath.

  "What the fuck is happening?" Jankoh muttered between labored breaths.

  Oh, how the 'what the fucks' have turned.

  I moved my hands away from my head, still locked in perpetual slow motion. Positioning my palms on the floor, I pushed up, forcing my back against the barrier. My gaze remained glued on Kashlee.

  Panic hadn't set in yet. However their demeanor had shifted from the gluttonous thrill of tormenting their prey to an infectious confusion. They were all trapped in the same unraveling logic, caught in the throes of a waking nightmare.

  "I can't hold him much longer," Kashlee said, the desperation in his voice palpable.

  "Channeled magic's a bitch, huh?" I said, grinning as I tasted iron on my tongue.

  Jankoh lifted his mace over his head and yelled, "Absolute Crushing Blow!"

  Unfortunately for Jankoh and his annoying, but dedicated mages—his ability's activation phrase was just too goddamn long. By the time he said, "Crushing," and the top of his mace took on a pearly glow, I had already activated a recently refreshed Dagger Step and teleported directly above Kashlee.

  Jankoh's special move blew out a hole in the ground. Meanwhile, gravity dropped me on top of Kashlee, disrupting his spell as we toppled to the ground beside the other mage. Seizing the momentary opening, I grabbed hold of his wrists and tore them backward. Bone punched through skin and the mage let out an ear piercing scream.

  "Fuck! Dear sweet gods—help me! My hands—captain please."

  As he belted out another agonized wail I reached for his throat. Fingers snapped and a barrier appeared between us. Although it got me off Kashlee, it also encased him with his back against the ground, trapped in what amounted to a translucent coffin. Satisfied knowing he wouldn't be clapping again, I stood atop the barrier and turned toward the others.

  Maldrioneth jumped back behind his captain, hands jittering as he readied his index fingers against his thumbs. Leaning against his mace's shaft with sagging posture, Jankoh stared at me, unblinking. Like he had already written off Kashlee as a loss and was now on the defensive.

  He cursed beneath his breath. "No mage has the mana reserves or the spellforce to cast teleportation magic under a glyph lock. Unless you've been attuned by the boss himself..."

  Jankoh stroked his chin. "Are we being audited? You've gone way too far! Kashlee was nominated two times for the outstanding company dedication awards. Barret will be furious when he finds out what you've done."

  I tilted my head to the side, still standing on the barrier that was keeping the bottom of my boots an inch away from crushing Kashlee's skull while Jankoh continued blaring his lungs out.

  "Is everyone in your organization this caliber of stupid ?" I asked as I drove my heel down, shattered the barrier, and pulverized their employee of the month's skull into the ground.

  The wet splattering noise invoked a visceral reaction from Jankoh and Maldrioneth. I expected immediate retaliation.

  Instead, they ran.