"Nothing is yours, little man!” cried out the creature.

  The time for talking was over. I Flash-stepped; the ground detonated the instant I moved. I was right in the Ardent’s face as it finished its taunt. Ember howled in my grip, a comet?trail of silver sapphire tearing through the ether. “Limit Slash!”

  As my Slash was about to land, the Ardent raised its arms, flaring a dark aura. The impact of Ember on its bones was thunder in my ears.

  The creature flew backward from the force of my strike. It was a ragdoll caught in the shockwave of Regalia and Limit Slash combined power.

  I gave chase, my upgraded armor enhancing every movement to the extreme.

  The Ardent crashed through a hundred yards of countryside before its momentum slowed. With my new speed and the help of Flash Step, I was already on top of it when it came to a stop.

  The creature's structure had changed. It had formed dark bone plates across its whole body in what must have been a last-ditch defensive measure.

  In that moment of observing the foul creature, I saw Will’s face in my mind, eyes full of relief as we were about to crest the hill. I saw the villagers’ decapitated heads thrown out from the Ardent as if they meant nothing. Balt almost died from the horde this creature had unleashed as well.

  Every scream, every drop of blood, every desperate prayer this creature caused, it all roared through my head.

  The Ardent stirred, lashing upward in desperation.

  Its claw met my hand and stopped. My Regalia?clad gauntlet clamped down, crushing bone and its enhanced armor alike with a grinding crack. The creature shrieked, a sound of rage and pain, but I only squeezed harder.

  It thrashed, flailing to tear free, but I refused to let go. I yanked it closer, dragging the monster to me with brute force, its struggles growing more frantic with every centimeter I pulled it. “Your days of killing people are over.”

  Ember flared in response to my words. I brought it up slowly, so the creature could see what was about to happen to it.

  “Limit Breaker Slash!”

  I brought Ember down on its head, while still holding the Ardent in place with my free hand. The creature's bone armor cracked, then shattered, fragments exploding outward in a storm of black shards.

  The monster buckled beneath the force, driven into the ground. I was not finished with this creature yet though. With my left hand still clamped around its clawed hand, I pulled. With a final wrench, the limb ripped free in a spray of blood.

  I stabbed down piercing its body several times until it was doing little more than twitching at my feet, its body now a ruin. Charred flesh clung to splintered bone, and even that bone was flaking away in brittle shards, crumbling with every ragged breath it drew. I stopped my assault while it was bleeding out to ask a question. "Why did you attack these people?"

  Its head tilted toward me; one eye was a hollow socket; the other was burning faintly with dark fire. “You think… you won,” it rasped, voice shredded, each word bubbling through scorched lungs. “You’re just… delaying the inevitable. My master commanded me..." it coughed several times before continuing, "to kill these vermin… he will come for you now.”

  Then it wheezed a laugh, thin, broken, but defiant. I tossed its severed limb next to the dying creature in response. I dismissed Ember and stared down at it in its one good eye, my gauntleted hand clenching into a fist. I felt my head getting light. I wanted to ask more questions, but I needed to end this. “I hope he does.”

  I drove my fist down. The charred skull caved in easily, all the strength gone from the creature. I leaned over the ruined body, my voice low. “He’ll find me ready.”

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  I began to climb out of the crater one step at a time, boots crunching over scorched ground. I looked over the battlefield, the fight had been short but destructive. My new power had quickly torn the once?beautiful landscape into a mess. My eyes lifted toward the sky and I wondered. What was this floor meant to test? Where was the System task I was supposed to complete this time?

  And beneath those questions, the one that hollowed me out: Was Alice still safe? Or had my little sister already fallen to something like this?

  The Regalia flickered, light sputtering across the small, interlocked plates until the armor unraveled into fading sparks. My body gave out with it. I dropped to one knee, trying to catch my breath. The center of my body, where my soul tree resided, was pulsing with pain. It felt like something was pouring molten lava into my soul.

  A hand settled on my shoulder. Balt’s voice, steady but edged with worry. “Are you alright?”

  I tried to answer, but the pain in my soul surged to new heights, tearing through me. The world tilted. I rolled onto my side, vision swimming, and found myself at the base of my soul tree.

  Its bark glowed faintly blue in the dark as usual, but a small golden crack split across its giant trunk, pulsing with golden light.

  A System Notification hit my vision.

  Lawson appeared then. “Well… you’ve gone and done it now.”

  Carson

  Carson stood in front of the Shattered Blades Faction’s elder council with his father, Robert, at its head. His father’s gaze was as piercing as ever, the weight of command radiating from the central seat of the five?person council.

  The braziers along the chamber walls burned hot, but the sweat running down Carson’s back came not from the flames, it came from the gnawing uncertainty of why he had been summoned.

  Robert lifted a piece of parchment, the crackle of the stiff paper echoing in the chamber. His voice carried with the measured cadence of judgment as he read aloud:

  “The target is not to be found on the Tutorial Floor. I have dispatched all available agents and have been unable to locate him or the guide. My team and I request permission to advance to Floor One to begin the search anew. We await your guidance on the next step.”

  With the utmost respect,

  Sager

  The words hung in the air like a blade suspended over Carson’s head, the council chamber was silent except for the sound of his own breathing.

  Robert lowered the parchment, his gaze sweeping across the chamber before settling on Carson. His voice was steady, commanding, each word carrying the weight of finality.

  “As you just heard, Blackthorn has failed to locate the Outlier after weeks of searching. Circumstances have changed, but the plan remains the same. The council and I agree, he is most likely leveling, preparing himself for an attempt to rescue his sister and niece.”

  He leaned forward slightly; the firelight catching the hard lines of his face. “We will create that chance for him. Word will be leaked that you are stationed on Floor One to observe the faction members’ resource gathering efforts at our forward castle in Lukehaven.

  You will go there with the woman and the child, and you will be seen walking through the town often with them. Your location will spread, and when he comes for them…” Robert’s eyes narrowed, his tone sharpening to a blade’s edge.

  “…Blackthorn and you will end him.”

  The silence pressed down like a physical weight. Carson’s hands were shaking, and he clenched his fist to stop it.

  Carson lowered his head, the firelight glinting off the sweat on his brow. Slowly, deliberately, he bent at the waist until his bow was deep, his voice steady despite the storm in his chest.

  “I will complete this, or I will die trying.”

  The council remained silent, their faces unreadable in the flickering glow. Only the echo of his righteous vow lingered, heavy and unbroken, as the chapter closed on the weight of his oath.

  Ethan, one of the councilors, leaned forward from his seat. His armor was flawless grey, fitted perfectly to his tall warrior frame. His voice was low but carried easily in the chamber. “If you fail to kill this Outlier, there is no need for ‘I will die trying’ platitudes, Carson of the Shattered Blade. We will end you ourselves for such a colossal failure of judgement. The only reason you still draw breath and are given this chance is the respect this council holds for your father.”

  The words struck harder than any blade. Carson bowed even deeper, forcing his voice to remain steady. “I understand. I will complete this… mission.”

  Shadows from the fire danced across the chamber walls as the vow settled into silence.