I burst from the portal into open sky, fifty feet above a barren plain, gravity already dragging me down. Wind roared in my ears as Captain Tale tumbled beside me, his cloak snapping like a banner in freefall. Below us, Kelv plummeted faster, a dark silhouette against the pale earth.

  Behind us, the portal sealed with a thunderclap of displaced air. The world seemed to hold its breath, until the red knife in Kelv’s grip ignited. Crimson light bled across his body, veins of fire racing beneath his skin. The glow spread, suffusing him with terrible, otherworldly energy.

  Still, the ground rushed up to meet us, uncaring of the portal mage’s location.

  I locked on Kelv, Flash Stepping through the air, Ember raised high, its edge screaming toward the mage’s heart. I had to end him before that cursed red dagger finished whatever transformation it had begun.

  But just as Ember was about to strike, a white fissure ripped across the air. My sword’s tip slammed into it an invisible wall of raw reality. The impact jolted through my arms, halting me mid?plunge. The sudden stop wrenched my body sideways, momentum tearing me off course. Reeling, I caught sight of Kelv below. A portal bloomed open behind him, swallowing him whole. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the sky.

  I watched Captain Tale plummet past me. Just before impact, grey mana flared around him, threads of ash?colored light coiling through the air. His descent slowed, boots striking the earth with a thunderous crack instead of a fatal one.

  I timed Flash Step and landed beside him. My knees bent, the ground a welcome friend beneath me.

  Looking around, I took in our surroundings. An outpost, its walls sunken into the earth as if the plains had tried to swallow it whole. We’d landed on a rise maybe fifty yards from the main gate, a low ridge of cracked stone and dead grass that sloped gently down toward the fortress. Ahead, a massive bridge of weathered granite arched over a dry riverbed, its shadow cutting a dark line toward the outpost gates.

  Kelv stood at the bridge’s mouth, dagger raised high as coils of red mist poured into him, painting the world in a bloody haze. Behind him, the outpost’s gates gaped open like a wound that refused to close and from that wound, the missing army I’d seen in the cavern spilled forth. Rank upon rank of soldiers filled the bridge, steel glinting, banners marked with a crimson dagger snapping in the wind. The army I’d wondered about, the one that had vanished, had been waiting in this place all along.

  I looked at Tale. “Captain, do you know where we are?”

  Captain Tale’s voice was grim, steady as he scanned the distant mountains. “This is a border outpost named Corvose. It guards the northern edge of Duke Randall's territory. Or it did.”

  Kelv stood at the head of the host, the red dagger raised high until his arm locked straight up towards the sky. Its glow pulsed like a heartbeat, casting his face in a crimson wash. With a casual gesture of his free hand, a cluster of men stumbled toward him, then collapsed, their bodies unraveling into red mist. Threads of pale light tore free, streaming into the blade.

  The energy bled into Kelv, knitting shut the wounds I’d carved with Limit Breaker. Flesh sealed, muscle reformed, and his grin widened with every stolen breath.

  He laughed, the sound sharp and cruel, echoing off the stone, as he lowered the dagger. “That was a hell of a strike, wanderer. You almost had me. I’ll admit that much, but I have a few tricks of my own.”

  I raised Ember into guard, voice cutting across the field. “Then come closer and let’s see whose tricks are better.”

  Kelv tilted his head as if weighing the offer, then shrugged. “Tempting. But I’ve learned my lesson about letting you be too close. And why should I fight you one on one, anyway? I have an army at my back.” He swept a hand toward the ranks behind him. “I butchered the soldiers who once held this outpost, and so many more besides to make this force. What kind of fool would I be to face you one?on?one, knowing now what you can do?”

  I shrugged. “Well, you were stupid enough to stroll into the Duke’s hall alone. Thought it was worth a shot to ask.”

  Kelv coughed into his hand, eyes narrowing. “Yes, well, I only came to capture the Duke and drag him here. With him gone, my army could decimate Whiterock without its leader. Instead, what do I find? My apprentice chained, and you and Tale standing in my way.”

  I barked a laugh. “Don’t forget your girlfriend, the one who’ll have terrible breath for the rest of her life after what you made her do.”

  Kelv’s face flushed crimson. “That… that was a one?time thing! And she most assuredly brushed her teeth afterward,” he snapped.

  I glanced at Tale, hoping for backup in needling the mage. All I got was a flat, unimpressed stare. “He has an army at his back, we’re four hundred miles from Whiterock, and you’re making jokes about his bizarre habits. Do you really think this is the time?”

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  I just shrugged again. “If Balt were here, he’d have appreciated my humor.”

  “Well, if we survive, you can tell him about it after.” replied Tale.

  “Any last words before my soldiers tear you both limb from limb?” Kelv’s voice carried across the plain, cold and certain.

  I met his gaze, tilting my head as if considering. “Actually… I have a question. Why here? Why not just stay in your cavern, open a portal, and wipe out Whiterock outright?”

  Kelv’s grin widened. “Because this is bigger than Whiterock. My army is tearing down every outpost along this border, one by one. Clearing the way so another force can march straight through, unopposed.” He lifted the red dagger high, its glow pulsing like a living heart. “The Duke’s brother offered generous terms and it cost me nothing. With this artifact I bought from the System Store, it doesn’t matter how many soldiers I burn through. I can always make more.”

  At his words, the front line of soldiers stepped forward in unison, steel ringing as blades caught the light. The sound rolled across the plain like a promise of blood.

  I froze at the mention of the System store. “So, the System let this guy buy a weapon of mass destruction, Lawson?”

  As Kelv was about to say something else. His mouth froze. I looked to my left, and Tale had stopped moving as well. The Overseer’s voice echoed in my mind, calm and resonant.

  “Riven, every tutorial floor I’ve chosen for you was picked with purpose, to show you the kinds of people, and the choices, you will face in the System’s world.

  The first floor gave you a selfish coward. A man blessed with a rare class, yet too craven to lift a hand for anyone but himself. Power wasted on fear.

  I saw Dalton’s face, and his manic demeanor as he laughed at what he had done to the people that had just wanted his help.

  The second floor showed you a merchant who wielded wealth like a weapon. He ruled through coin and corruption, building his throne on ill?gotten gains. The people despised him, yet his riches shielded him—until you and Balt tore that shield away.

  I remembered the children that the merchant had tried to sell and how he thought his wealth would protect him from everything.

  And now, this floor. A man who craved power above all else. He turned to the System Store, not to survive, not to protect, but to betray. He stabbed the very lord he had sworn to serve, trading loyalty for ambition, fealty for treachery, all for a chance to seize control.”

  My grip on Ember tightened. Kelv’s actions flashed through my mind. Fear and indifference, greed, and now betrayal—it was all starting to come together.

  The voice lingered, heavy with finality. “Each floor is a mirror, Riven. A lesson. The System is not only monsters and dungeons, but also people. And people will twist power to their own ends. You must decide what you will do when you face these people, for this tutorial will end one day and you will not be fighting these people on a faraway world, but the world you’ll one day have to save.”

  The world lurched back into motion, and Kelv’s voice cut through the air. “It’s time to end this.” He raised the dagger, crimson light spilling from its edge as he brought it down. A thunderstrike split the sky behind me, the sound rattling my bones. I spun just in time to see a portal tear open, its edges sparking with raw energy. The look on Kelv’s face told me everything, this wasn’t his doing.

  The woman apprentice from the duke’s hall stepped through first, her eyes hard, her middle finger extended toward Kelv. But the portal didn’t close when she stepped out of the way.

  Balt followed, with an object that looked like a lantern in hand. Relief surged through me at the sight of him, my friend had made it. Behind him, soldiers poured out in disciplined ranks, steel flashing as they took their places. And then, at the end of the procession, came the Duke himself—clad in white armor that gleamed like a beacon, another lantern cradled in his gauntleted hand.

  Balt and the Duke raised their lanterns together. Twin flames ignited in its center, and with a sound like shattering glass, the portal behind them snapped shut.

  I found myself stepping back, inch by inch, toward them. Tale moved with me, his eyes never leaving Kelv. And strangely, unnervingly, Kelv did the same, retreating behind the wall of his army, the dagger still clutched tight in his hand.

  Relief still thrummed in my chest as I stepped back toward Balt. I couldn’t help myself. “Took you long enough,” I muttered, then jabbed Ember toward the glowing lanterns. “And what the hell are those things?”

  Balt smirked, holding his up like a prize. “These? The Duke bought them from the System. They’re called Lockdown Lanterns. With these babies burning, no portal can open within a square mile.”

  The duke’s voice carried over to me as he lifted his own lantern, its white flame steady. “It cost half of Whiterock’s treasury to acquire them. But if there is no Whiterock left—no people left—then what use is a treasury?”

  The outpost gates groaned shut, iron slamming into stone with finality. Beyond the walls, the dead began to march an endless tide of hollow eyes and clattering steel, their steps pounding in grim unison toward our small knot of defenders.

  I glanced at the Duke, voice low but urgent. “How long do those lanterns last?”

  He lifted his, the white flame steady against the dark. “As long as we can feed them mana, they’ll hold. Between Balt and me, we have enough potions to keep them burning for hours.”

  Hours. I swallowed hard, eyes sweeping the plain. The enemy outnumbered us a hundred to one.

  From behind the safety of the walls, Kelv’s mocking voice rang out. “It matters little! Lanterns or no lanterns, my army will grind you into dust. Attack!”

  The dead surged forward, a tide of metal and bone. Dust rose from the plain in choking clouds, swallowing the horizon. The clang of armor became a rising storm, rolling toward us like thunder across the bridge as the stones shook beneath the weight of an army.

  At my side, Alexandria’s face went pale. “There’s no way we’ll last even a few hours against that many.”

  I stepped forward, Ember blazing in my grip, regalia flaring with light. My voice carried over the thunder of marching feet. “If there’s a will” I raised the blade high, fire racing along its edge. “there’s a way, now follow me!”

  And with that, I charged headlong into the oncoming horde. This battle would decide the fate of Whiterock and floor three here and now.