Author's Note:

Hey, everyone! It's late but it's still Friday so it counts! I was trying to make this chapter at least as long as usual today but it kind of got out of hand and I passed the usual mark by more than 2k. That resulted in a late update for I needed to proofread while being half asleep too. Hope you don't mind and enjoy this chapter, the last installment in this volume.

P.S.

Thanks for reminding me about proofreading laexdream. I had uploaded that chapter late at night too and had forgotten to look over it. I'll do it first thing tomorrow morning (hopefully, I'll catch most of the mistakes) now that I'm finally finished with this weeks chapter and have a day off before starting on next one's ^^

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Bright light blinded a group of people as they left a dark tunnel. They shielded their eyes, trying to see through the fingers what was up ahead.

“Woah...” whispered one of them, pointing up ahead. “Is that what I think it is?”

His finger was aiming at the place in general. Old houses with fallen in roofs and rotten out doors, broken windows. Grass was up to one’s waist, vines taken residence in various cracks in the walls, crawled all over the houses and the ground.

Even the path to the abandoned city was overtaken by weeds and grass. There was no easy way to reach the place without walking through that jungle. One that was just below Ace’s shoulders in height.

He wanted to hiss in annoyance but kept it inside, motioning with his hand forward. “Spread out and scout the grounds. Meet up in an hour near the tower ruins.”

“Got it,” answered Dark with a nod and jumped down. He crouched down to hide within the overgrown grass and soon disappeared from sight.

The rest of the group wasn’t so eager to follow his command, but after a glance went out. None dared to contradict him, or even ask to change his opinion. They were too scared. Though they might also know that he wasn’t going to change his mind so didn’t even try.

Only one person stayed behind. The girl Lara.

“May I follow you? I think that would be the best learning experience in my case.”

It wasn’t what Ace had planned, but he had to agree it was the best choice. She was going to die without help if there was at least a single monster here. And though she was a useless baggage, he wasn’t going to just send his followers into certain death.

If anyone was going to kill them, it had to be him.

“Stay close,” he said in an undertone, jumping down without a glance back to see if she was following.

They had entered some underground cave following the map’s light and then walked for a few hours. Tunnel after tunnel until they were let out here, in the belly of some mountain. Blue sky was high above and towering walls surrounded them on all sides.

Ground was a bit farther away too, there was a few meters of steep slope to it.

Ace slid down, half running, half jumping. He heard sounds after him so he moved forward into the grass. It was a true jungle for him. All he had to do was hunch down a bit and he was wholly hidden.

This was somewhat fun when he had [Instincts of a Predator] to know whether anyone was around. It gave him an idea. There was no monsters in a close vicinity but him.

Time to make use of it.

He crouched down even more and activated [Silent Steps] along with [Shadow Veil] and went towards a moving shape to his left. It hadn’t taken many steps, a straggler of his group. Something Silver Wing would never tolerate.

But it wasn’t an offence worth killing. So Ace sneaked closer, taking out his cane. It was deadly if he stabbed someone but the sides were made of wood. A beating with it might hurt, but won’t endanger anyone’s lives if done in moderation.

That was the plan and Ace jumped on his target. The guy was on his knees, crawling through the grass. Ace rolled his eyes, hitting the guy over the back with his cane.

“Eoegh!” screamed out the crawler, falling on his stomach. Ace rolled his eyes and hit the guy a few more times.

He turned around then, showing his face and identifying himself to Ace as Thoran. “You sure this is how a god acts?”

The guy clutched his head, which had received a hit, crying almost. He even crawled away from Ace, pushing himself backwards with legs and one hand. “What was that for?” he asked, his voice low and soft.

Ace gritted his teeth, smashing the cane at the hand holding the guy’s head. Thoran howled in pain, taking the hand into his lap and covering the other. Now real tears showed up in his eyes.

“Pathetic,” Ace hissed, readying for another strike.

“Stop it!” Lara shouted out, falling through the grass. She quickly picked herself up and came to stand before Thoran, hands outstretched.

Ace sneered at her, using [Void Step] to appear behind her and show his judgement. The cane flashed through the air, bouncing back after contact with human flesh.

Before Thoran’s scream had ended, the cane met with Lara. She gulped loudly at that, tears coming to her eyes but she didn’t utter a sound. Ace nodded at that. “Take care of him,” he hissed motioning towards Thoran. “And don’t order me around.”

Her body shivered, but without a word she went to Thoran, passing him a healing potion. The guy drank it and breathed an easier sigh.

Ace imperceptibly shook his head. This was a game. He could beat someone to death and the person wouldn’t learn a lesson. Pain was irrelevant here and wounds healed in seconds. How was one to make others suffer and fear with such limitations?

He took a step towards the two and both of them cowered, pulling into themselves. “Be aware of your surroundings. I let you live, a monster wouldn’t.”

Thoran’s eyes widened alongside Lara’s. “It was a lesson?” she asked, her breath coming out with a rush. “I didn’t...”

Ace wasn’t listening. He turned around and left the stomped grass, a clearing now, to look for another prey. His students had been free for too long. They needed to learn what real life was like. Not everything always went like planned.

He heard Lara rushing after him but ignored her presence and hurried forward. She was making a lot of noise so he circled the next person around and came at him from behind.

Ace didn’t use any abilities, but simple dagger skills. His were lacking in a professional sense but neither Thoran nor Razvan now seemed to be aware of that fact.

Though Razvan did try to defend himself. He was hit by the first slash, but instead of falling apart, he jumped forward, turning around. His dagger was out and in a moment the two were locked in combat.

However, Razvan hesitated to attack for a moment, noticing Wing’s mask, and cold steel pierced his flesh. He hissed in pain, blood going down from the wound in the shoulder. But it wasn’t the time to wail around in pain.

He dashed forward, clashing his daggers against his master’s.

Sparks flew and Ace faked a stab to the right. Razvan fell for it and received a slash over the same wound on his left shoulder. Pain made him stumble and Ace pushed his advantage. He stabbed and slashed, making sure his student had no time to react.

Defence was his only option but with a damaged shoulder there was little success even on that. Especially when Ace made sure to focus his attacks on that side.

Lara burst into the clearing. Her breath was coming in short gasps as she looked over the scene.

What first caught her attention was the red spots on the grass. They led her eyes to see her best friend on the ground, trying to defend himself with one hand against Wing’s attacks. Ones using both hands and two gleaming in the waning light of the sun daggers.

“Stop!” she shouted out, running to them, but Wing didn’t spare her a single glance. If she was to judge, his attack speed only intensified after her appearance. “Please, stop!”

But her voice had no effect on the fight. She tried moving forward but it only made Razvan give her a terrified look and shake his head, for which he received a slash across his previously undamaged right hand.

“No!” she shouted out, but no longer moved closer. Her presence would only distract Razvan while Wing didn’t care one bit about her. He knew her not to be a factor. She was powerless. Her skills were non existent.

Tears rushed to her eyes, went down her cheeks but what was she supposed to to. She was nothing but a weak little girl. Razvan was her knight in shining armour. He was the warrior, the fighter, the hero.

But who would save him?

She looked at her inventory but books, scrolls, ink and pens lined the boxes. These weren’t weapons. They were useless in a fight. Why didn’t she ever bring anything useful? Why did she believe that Razvan could win against anyone or anything?

Did she think he was invincible? He was just a normal player like her! It was amazing what he’d achieved by hard work, but he wasn’t a monster like his opponent! It was impossible to win alone against that guy!

Her eyes landed on some stones resting a few meters from the fight. They were no larger than her fist so she could throw them. But did she dare?

She glanced back at the fight, Razvan getting cut and stabbed everywhere. He was about to be killed.

That was all the motivation she needed. Next moment she was grabbing the stone from the ground and without aiming throwing at Wing. It went past, to the side but she didn’t give up.

Another stone and Ace was forced to lean back to dodge.

That was enough. He took a few steps backwards, turning his eyes towards the female. She shivered under his gaze, but didn’t let go of the stone in her hand.

Ace smiled. “So you do have a backbone,” he whispered, moving closer to her. She took a few hesitant steps backwards, eyes wide open, hand shaking. “Don’t come... near me!” she shouted out, but her voice broke in the middle, destroying the effect.

“What did I say about ordering me around?” Ace asked in a low voice, red eyes shining through the holes in the mask. He crouched down in an obvious preparation to jump and the female broke down.

The stone fell out of her hand and she ran towards Razvan. Ace let her, watching what she was going to do next.

Lara felt her body shaking. It was hardly under her control any more. She didn’t think she’d feared anything this much in her life.

Her mind said this was just a game, this Wing creature could do nothing to her. Yet her body didn’t agree. Her eyes saw the cruelty in those two gleaming orbs, a certain madness with a touch of ingenuity.

He was a monster, but a smart one. Dangerous.

Ace sent [Flare] through the grass, letting it out only right before the two. They gulped, trying to move backwards, unsure of what this light meant. But it was too late. [Burst] was activated and their eyesight was gone for a couple of seconds.

When they could finally see again, Ace was gone.

He returned to the tall grass, calling [Flare] back. It flew to him the moment he thought of it and hid in his cowl, out of sight.

Ace in that time moved to where he felt another breathing organism. This one was walking in a slow crouch, glancing all around to prevent anyone from sneaking up. It was a fine example of scouting an unknown area so Ace let him be.

He was here to teach his students, not to kill them.

If one knew what he was doing, the better for him. He wouldn’t be punished like the others. And there were many of those. Ace had to meet up with most of his students for they were doing things wrong, expecting danger only from up ahead.

But now Ace hoped they would know better. Never feel safe. Never trust anyone unless you want to die. That was the way of the assassin.

He smiled. It was a great idea, a person having no obligations to anyone. Someone who can kill anyone and only cares about finishing his contract. One who trusts not even his shadow.

Could he turn his students into that?

That was an interesting thought, but he doubted it was possible. One would need to be moulded from childhood for that. On top of that he would have to trust his teacher at first to learn everything before losing his connection, killing his master.

None trusted him so it was out of the question. He would have to make something else out of them. ‘Maybe someone who knows how to sneak,’ Ace thought to himself as sounds of someone slithering reached his ears. ‘That would be an improvement.’

But he didn’t bother to go and attack the idiot. All, who needed it, had already taken a beating and there was no point to making them suffer any more. There was no way for them to learn in a few minutes. They would have to dwell on it later and try their best to change.

There would have to be another lesson like this next week or so. It would be tiring work but Ace planned to drill into them what it meant being an assassin.

Now, however, he was free and ready to explore the ruins himself. In moments he reached them and carefully made his way in.

Nature had overtaken the place. Vines were everywhere. They had covered the ground, were sprouting through the cracks in the walls and windows. Whole houses were covered in this greenery, it hanging from as far up as rooftops at some places.

It was hard to see the buildings beneath, only the size of vine mountains suggesting that there should be something underneath. Ace made his way to one of them, pushing through hanging flowers. They moved easily, letting him in.

Grey walls met him inside. There were dark stains on the one up ahead, rain water having run down it for years. Ace moved in, touching the wall. It was dry to the touch, a bit chipped.

What surprised him more, though, was the general emptiness of the place. There was nothing inside. Not a single piece of furniture, no signs of it having rotten away. Someone had cleaned up thoroughly before taking their leave.

But so well?

He made his way into another house and it was similar. Water paths on walls, dirt and dust in the corners, broken glass and vines dominating the ground, some hanging from the ceiling.

“Why abandon good houses but take everything with you? Everything to the smallest of things?”

It could have been thieves, but even they wouldn’t have cleaned this place so well. There was nothing here. Not a single broken piece or rotten part of anything. It was as if there hadn’t been anything here in the first place.

Ace quickly returned to a crouch, getting behind a wall.

‘If there hadn’t been anything,’ he thought, closing his eyes to focus solely on hearing, ‘someone must have chased them off.’ He stood like that for some five minutes, listening to wind passing through the leaves, old wood rattling.

But there was no sound of anything alive. No insect buzzing, no chirping of the birds. It was as if this was the land of the dead. But plants lived, that meant the place wasn’t hell itself. There was something that chased all other life forms away.

Or taught them how to hide better.

Ace wasn’t sure which was worse, but that had little difference. This place was dangerous and he had weakened his allies. That might not have been the best of ideas.

Something moved three meters behind Ace and he slowly sneaked to the door. Vines hid most of it so he dared a glance through, keeping most of his body behind the wall.

His eyes landed on a somewhat familiar figure. Sandra was walking through the middle of what once was a street without a care in the world. Her weapons were pocketed out of sight, eyes taking in the buildings with wonder. In time she even started whistling.

‘Dead,’ Ace decided about to turn back to his own exploration when he felt another presence. It was moving through the houses on the other side of the street. There was a decent amount of killing intent coming from there so Ace was sure this was Muriel.

She was the more dangerous of the two. And apparently the one sitting in the shadows while her partner tested the waters. It was a dangerous tactic for the bait person but he had to applaud them for trying. This was more sophistication than he had expected of any of his students.

Though, it all rested on Sandra’s ability to survive the first attack until Muriel was in place to spring the ambush. If Ace went for them, he could kill the first before the other arrived and the strategy would have only aided him. To use it, one should first know the opponent. Not go in blindly and hope it would work.

But he wasn’t up for bursting their bubble. It was a better plan than none and he didn’t dare to expose himself. This was an uncharted territory. Unknown dangers lurked in the shadows.

Better to be one of them than their prey.

Ace left his female students alone and went in another direction. The never lived in city was big enough for all of them. He could find his own enemies and without having to rely on bait.

It wasn’t fun that way. Too easy.

Wind rustled in the leaves. A branch groaned of some unseen tree. Sounds Ace knew well and ignored. They were every day things, something that posed no danger to his person.

But then there was a rustle of cloth, brushing of steel against leather. Ace stopped in his tracks, trying to hear better. [Instincts of a Predator] told him there was someone to his right, but he couldn’t tell if it was one of his students or not. All he knew was that it posed danger to him and had steel weapons.

Ace thought for a second and activated [Void Step]. The ability released no sound on activation so he appeared within a different building crouched on the ground. He sneaked to where a window had once been and moving vines slightly to the side glanced outside.

Thick leaves blocked Ace’s sight of the street below. They weren’t going anywhere so Ace had to move. He stepped into the building on the other side of the street. A bit of smoke rose where he had been, but it couldn’t be seen from the ground below.

Good thing for Ace was having doubts about facing what was down there. It wasn’t one of his students. Not even close. This was a creature he’d never seen before.

Human shaped, two horns, bare chest, sword blades starting from wrists, fur covered legs and hooves. It was scratching its leg with one of the blades, making the sound Ace thought had been steel against leather.

The name of the creature was written on top of its head, but Ace was too far away to see it. However, [Instincts of a Predator] told him that this creature was no laughing matter. One had to be wary of it.

To test that Ace took out a dagger and threw it with as much force as he could. It flew like an arrow, but the moment it was supposed to hit, the creature raised his left hand. Steel clanked and the dagger fell harmlessly down.

“That’s some nice reflexes,” Ace murmured to himself, pushing himself against the wall by the window. There was a small space between the vines he could see through, which hopefully was invisible from below.

It seemed to be the case as the creature looked around, raising his hands up threateningly. He made something akin to a growling noise, but Ace didn’t feel like responding to the challenge. He was perfectly fine up here on his own.

The creature growled a few more times, but hearing no answer started moving down the street. His steps were unhurried but his head was tilted in a listening motion.

That made Ace take a closer look. He leaned in, almost falling over the window. ‘Are those rabbit ears under a mop of dishevelled hair? Yes, yes it is! Why in the widest..?’

It was doubtful the creature would answer so Ace decided to follow it. This might be an elaborate trap but he wanted to see more of these things. Were they all only in this combination, or each was unique with a different combination of animals?

He waited till the creature was a considerable distance away and then activated [Void Step]. It brought him to a nearby building and he fell into a crouch, looking around to make sure the room was empty.

[Void Step] was a quicker way to travel, but when you teleported into an unknown place... Things could easily go wrong. But Ace didn’t feel any other presences around so he was pretty sure it was safe. If someone didn’t appear on his enemy radar, it was as weak as a rabbit or not-threatening in nature.

That left only one possible problem, if Ace came into existence in a room that was filled with rubble. Like now.

His hands got stuck between fallen in beams, feet thrust into a space between two pieces of stonework. One of the legs were in an unnatural manner and Ace tried moving it, but his only reward was more pain.

He hissed at that and took a look around, ignoring his complaining limb. The house’s top three floors seemed to have fallen in, only the roof staying up, and had landed in the middle of all the rubble.

It was an interesting fact that [Void Step] changed his body’s position if it didn’t fit, but Ace had bigger problems at the moment. His body was stretched and twisted, hurting all over. He would have loved to reactivate the ability but all he could see was more rubble.

There was no way to get out of here until he found a way to move himself near a window or some crack in the wall. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see one. Sunlight pooled not ten centimetres away from him, but it was lower than he was stuck. No matter how much he craned his neck, the outside was out of his sight.

“Flame Step,” he whispered, ignoring the burning sensation under his feet. This was all for the better good. Ace hoped some vines would catch fire and he could work from there.

But none were close enough to his feet. They were too deep into the hole between the boulders that once had been a floor.

“Excessive Heat,” Ace muttered through clenched teeth as he deactivated the previous spell. Then after a moment added, “Burst.”

Flare left from its hiding place and exploded into a millions of pieces, creating a few sparks. Those were more than enough to set Ace on fire. “Yes!” he shouted out.

He had really doubted if this was going to work. The flame onto his whole being that didn’t burn him. He had activated it only once before and on accident to top it.

But it worked out and in moments the vines surrounding him caught fire. They didn’t want to burn, being green and healthy but fire was a harsh mistress. If allowed to, it took everything under its crimson wing.

And with vines drying up, turning to ash, the stones groaned. The plants had been an integral part of this ruined structure. Though weak and at first glance easy to dismiss, they held the whole place together.

Not for much longer, though. Fire was spreading in all directions and previously solid formations were coming undone. One of the stones moved forward, pushing against Ace’s leg, squashing it further.

Ace narrowed his eyes at that, but kept his mouth closed. Then he had an idea. “Winds that don’t find rest, Gust!”

Stones groaned, being pushed in different directions by air and gravity, making Ace wince, but for a second freed his leg. He bent his knee, pulling it back, faster than ever before in his life and it was free. The stone falling with a crash where the leg had once been.

Ace breathed a sigh of relief and returned to watching the burning vines. It took time for them to light up, fire advancing slowly but it did. More and more of the plants were disappearing, allowing the rubble to change its position.

It was a good chance for Ace to get himself out, but not without its own dangers. At any moment he could be compressed into a cheese, not able to do anything.

Or was that it. He remembered another skill of his. “Acid Splash!” he hissed, aiming it at the wall behind him. The bricks sizzled a bit, but only a small part of it eroded.

That was more than enough encouragement for Ace. He recast the spell a dozen more times, mana not being a problem. Then a single ray of sunlight washed in, blinding him for a second.

Ace blinked and seeing a patch of grass instantly activated, “Void Step”.

A loud groan escaped his lips as he bumped on the ground, limbs resting in awkward positions. He lay there for a moment, limp, breathing heavily. There was a soft rumbling coming from a house he’d left. Smoke was leaving through the vines, light shining inside.

“Why didn’t I think of this before?” Ace muttered, rolling over onto his back. He could see his right leg bleeding so he took out a potion and drank it. The effects weren’t immediate but numbness washed over him. “And I just destroyed another set of good clothes...”

When he though the leg was healed, he stood up and tried it. A slight twinge passed through but nothing to interfere with his movements. There was still two minutes of the potion’s recovery so it would heal as Ace moved.

He was better to catch up with the strange creature. It couldn’t have moved too far. Ace activated [Void Step]. He moved along the line of the trees, appearing behind them or going on the rooftops but keeping himself out of the houses. He’d had enough of cramped spaces for today.

Danger up ahead. Even without having him in his sight Ace knew this was the creature. This time he kept his distance, following the instincts rather than his eyes. There was no point in coming closer.

As he waited for the creature to move away, Ace noticed that they were going towards the tower. Half of it had fallen down, or what looked like a giant having sliced it sideways. The closer he got, the more obvious it was becoming that it wasn’t of natural causes.

The upper side of the remaining wall was just too clean. He couldn’t imagine anything breaking so equally and staying in the same position for years to come. Vines and moss had taken most of the walls but where they hadn’t, stones sliced in halves could be seen.

And something moving.

Ace was too far to feel their presence, but he had an idea of what was waiting there for him. ‘So this is their stronghold? I seem to have an eye for making my students suffer. I wonder how many will reach it alive and be smart enough not to venture in through the front door.’

He couldn’t feel any of his students so he made his way towards the tower, circling the creature. It was useless to him now, he had found what he wanted to see.

Two creatures left the house Ace had been standing on and he ducked down, heart picking up in speed. Why didn’t he know they were there? Did his ability think they were harmless?

Ace took a peek downwards through the crack and saw sharp blades glistening at the ends of their wrists. ‘In what world would that be harmless?’ he wondered, taking note that they had the same masses of hair, rabbit ears and furry legs.

“How boring,” he whispered and two pairs of ears perked up. Ace covered his mouth with a hand, stopping to breathe. The creatures stood still for a moment, ears shifting to the sides but soon lowered their heads and went on their way.

Ace took a deep breath, deciding it was time to get a bit more serious. He activated [All Ears] and [Echo] along with [Mystic Eyes]. It was heavy artillery but if Silver Wing managed to get himself killed while his students survived...

It hurt even to think about it so Ace threw that thought off his head and activated [Void Step]. He was two houses away from the tower now so he didn’t dare use the ability again. There was no telling who might be waiting on any of the roofs or behind some tree.

He was crawling beneath a stone bench next to the tower when a sound came.

Ting!

*You have received a new message!*

He rolled his eyes at the timing, but opened it. This was a somewhat safe location. Who in the world would look for intruders under a stone bench next to a crumbled building. It’s stones lying all around, blocking most of the bench from view.

/The tower is filled with monsters. Do we really have to meet inside it?/

It was Sandra, but before Ace could reply Dark’s message came.

/We had agreed to do that. Are you too scared or incompetent to keep your word?/

Ace chuckled, listening to make sure no one had heard him. There didn’t seem to be any movement nearby so he allowed himself another laugh. Dark was one interesting guy.

/Am not! But the tower is huge! Where do we meet? Monster are respawning ones most likely./

/Boss room,/ Ace wrote, deciding on the course of action. /Clean the dungeon and find its secrets. The first ones get the largest part of the boss’ loot./

It was accepted with a solemn silence, no one replying but that was fine. All that mattered was that he was heard and would meet them inside. He wasn’t foolhardy enough to think he could take care of a high level boss monster himself.

Not yet at least.

/What about going straight for the boss?/ Beofen asked.

That caught Ace’s eyes. Since when could you go straight for the boss? That wasn’t normal. /Explain./

/If you go straight the main path, you’ll reach the end room with a giant snake like thing inside. It’s red named and looks hungry./ Second later he added a bit more. /Bladecarriers don’t dare to enter this room so it is safe to fight inside There shouldn’t be any reinforcements for the snake and behind it there’s some kind of wooden door./

Ace had to say it sounded tempting. Who wouldn’t want to skip all the boring parts and go straight for the boss! Should he..? /Hour,/ he wrote and crawled out of his hiding place.

[Shadow Veil] was up so he ran straight for the tower. It wasn’t the best of strategies. If anyone took a better look, they’d notice a huge discrepancy in the air, but it was worth the risk. Ace wanted to get in and those creatures, probably called Bladecarriers, were more reliant on their ears rather than sight.

The entrance was empty and Ace crept along the right wall. [Silent Steps] helped him move soundlessly and he froze whenever someone appeared in the path. This allowed him to stay invisible and no more than fifteen minutes later he was before the cave.

Three other people were already there. He guessed two of them were Beofen and Furor, working in a pair even if he told them to go separate ways. It didn’t seem like anyone listened to him word by word.

He gave himself out, stepping into the cave where the serpent slept, and they came out. As he guessed it was the two and Dark after them. Before a word could be said, Muriel and Sandra made their entrance.

The blonde, Sandra, had her cloak ripped and blood on her sleeves. It was clear their path had been more entertaining than his. Though, his pants’ right leg was dried red too. Would they think he’d gotten hit or killed someone?

He smiled. It was hardly a question. In their eyes, he was the monster. Nothing could harm him while his every move set the world on fire. A lovely fantasy.

“Let’s go,” he hissed and before anyone had time to disagree threw a dagger towards the sleeping snake. One that was three times his height while lying flat on the ground.

The blade bounced off its skin but woke the beast. It opened its large, slanted eyes and took a good look at their little group. Then the snake bared its fangs and lunged their way.

Ace blinked away, appearing on its back and started to hack. But the scales were too hard, simple attacks weren’t getting through and it was hard staying on. The surface was slippery and the snake was moving much more agile than Ace could have ever believed.

He was thrown off and had to catch himself mid air with [Radiant Step]. Maybe he should have used it from the start. It was much better than trusting the scales on the snake.

A tail flew at him and he destroyed the field, dropping to the ground like a rock. The fall took a bit of his health points but he was still alive. Something he doubted he could be boasting about after being hit with that tail. It was twice his size and flashing at speeds his eyes had a hard time trying to follow.

“Aim for the eyes!” came Fenek’s voice from the right. Ace took a quick glance and saw him rushing in the cave with Razvan and Lara in tow. Had he went to pick the two up?

It was probably the case, but Ace was a bit busy at the moment. He flashed towards the snake’s neck, using fields when he was close, and activated [Magma Blade]. This skill heated up his blades and they sliced through the scales like butter.

But there another problem showed itself. They were too short! The whole dagger’s blade was the length of a scale. He didn’t even touch the vulnerable parts beneath.

Ace thought for a second. Cutting out the scale could work but it would take too much time. “Acid Splash!” he shouted out, aiming it at the wound.

Judging by the overly loud hiss the snake hadn’t appreciated that. It rounded on Ace and went after him with a fervour of a hunting dog set after a prey. He dropped to the ground to evade the fangs again, but this time they returned to go after him.

[Void Step] saved his life, taking him from where the snake made a dent in the ground, but it wasn’t over. The maddened serpent shook its huge head and lunged after Ace again.

He could see his students standing at the sides, not daring to get in the way of the slithering giant. “Bastards,” he growled, rushing straight at them. They were either going to aid him or be eaten in his stead.

That were the only two actions he was going to accept.

“A bit to the left!” Dark shouted from above and Ace moved to that side without thinking. He heard something falling on the snake’s head, but it didn’t seem to care too much. Fangs that were larger than him came after Ace and he had to activate [Void Step] again to escape.

Apparently he was slower than a snake. That was a worrisome thought, but it had to be put away. Fields helped him go up in the air, but the snake was so large it only had to raise its head to reach him.

The jaw snapped, biting half of Ace’s scarf off. He turned to glance at the violet material between the snake’s teeth and his eyes turned crimson. No one had the right to ruin his appearances. This was a step too far.

He turned to face the snake, their eyes meeting with mutual hatred burning inside. Time stopped and Ace started to chant in a voice not his own. "Water, frozen up in time, rise and swallow this place in your icy grip, let the wrong doers be washed and cleaned of impurities which dirty your beautiful face, Ice Field!"

The snake seemed to be mesmerised by his tone, listening to it attentively. It followed Ace’s face with rapt attention, swaying to a tune no one else heard. Or so it felt to the students who watched in wonder.

Fenek had no way to explain what was happening before his eyes. One moment the monster was thrashing around, ready to kill anyone and the next it was like a puppy listening to its masters words. It didn’t make any sense.

But soon the spell was over and the snake shook its head, eyes refocusing on Silver Wing. It hissed at him and lunged forward. Tripping.

Ice had covered the whole cave, creeping up even to the ceiling. There was no ground to take a safe step on, or sliver through. The snake slipped and hit the ground, breaking the ice.

As if after a Winter’s breath, the place frosted over and in seconds was back as new. The snake had no way to make a move there, slipping and sliding into walls.

It was an interesting way to defeat such a monster, but soon Fenek noticed the snake going into the direction of Razvan and Lara. The guy was good and might be able to escape himself, but not with the girl. He wasn’t that good and the ground was just that bad.

Fenek took a quick look around but no one else was close enough. He fisted his fingers and started running. It was more of a slide but he moved fast. Faster than he wanted to.

A flash of him face planting the wall passed through his mind, but he did his best to ignore it. He was going to save them.

His body passed the snake’s. Just a meter more. He reached his hand out, grabbing Lara’s clamped one and tried to drag her away. Her body slid easily after him and they were rounding the corner. Out of the danger zone.

BAM!

Something crashed into him, the force burying him into the wall. He could hear a female scream and tried glancing that way but his body didn’t comply. Pain surged through his whole being, making him groan aloud. Or he tried to but something was pressing against him, preventing him from taking a breath.

Fear set into him. Air. He needed it but there was none. Blackness surrounded him. Was he dead and being logged out? But where was the air? He tried clawing at his chest, but his hands couldn’t lift up. He was choking and unable to do anything about it.

Then there was bright light, blinding him. He tried seeing what was happening but that hadn’t been a good decision. His body was flying through the air, and though there was oxygen now, the wall was coming closer at a worrying speed.

“Aaahh!” he screamed out as he felt bones breaking. Even with 70% pain reduction this was torture. It was hard to breathe again and he wasn’t sure how to move his limbs.

All he could do was raise his head to look up and see the snake coming his way. It had noticed his crumpled state and decided this was an easier prey. Fenek couldn’t disagree to that. He felt like he wouldn’t be able to move for years to come.

“Fight!” came a growl from somewhere beside him. He glanced to the right and saw a demon from hell itself. Crimson hair were flying wildly around a masked face in which two holes resided. Black orbs so cold a shiver passed his mangled body.

Instinctively, Fenek pushed himself away. It wasn’t more than a millimetre but he received a chilling glare. Then Wing turned away and hissed at the rest of his students. “Fight! Fight, you pathetic things!”

It made the others take a few tentative steps forward but they were nowhere close enough. The snake was much nearer and had its jaws open, ready to replenish its energy with some human meat.

“Dammit,” Wing cursed and grabbed Fenek’s arm. He hissed in pain at that, but his supposed teacher didn’t seem to care. Instead he muttered something under his breath and they were off.

Fenek had never thought teleporting was such a disorienting experience. His stomach lurched and it took all his energy just to keep its contents inside. Was this how it always felt? He didn’t want anything to do with this blinking around any more!

But Wing did it again and Fenek fell limp on his hand. This was too much. He hurt, air was hard coming and all this blinking around. His head felt like it was going to explode any moment now.

“Take care of him!” Wing shouted, throwing him to the ground where cold ice cooled his heated skin. It was a nice feeling, though the yelp he released was certainly undignified.

He felt soft hands trying to roll him over and helped them as much as he could. It made another groan leave his mouth, but this was better. “Drink this,” Lara said and he gulped the liquid down.

It went down his throat with a welcoming warmth, giving him enough energy to sit up against the wall. He did just that and took a glance ahead. The potion, like always, was making miracles so he could relax and look how others were doing.

The snake still had no way of moving comfortably on the ground so it had resorted to staying in one place. Only its head and tail moved, lashing out at anyone who came closer.

Wing was at the head of the resistance. He was shouting something to everyone as they went at the monster one after the other, keeping its attention on themselves.

Dark was fixing ropes on the ceiling and moving from one to another, closing in on the monster. He was near when one of his daggers didn’t push deep enough and fell off. Dark himself managed to grab onto another rope, keeping himself up but the dagger was going to attract attention.

Wing blinked forward, right at the snake’s face, slashing at its nostrils. The creature hissed in outrage, trying to grab onto him but to no avail. He jumped on the air, moving in all three dimension as he wanted to.

It busied the monster and the dagger fell harmlessly to the ground, unnoticed.

“Now!” Wing shouted out and everyone jumped back so the snake couldn’t reach anyone. It thought about following but Dark had descended on its snout. He had a double handed heavy sword and used it to stab a giant eye.

The monster hissed in pain, shaking its head violently but Dark held on. Blood and some liquid washed over him, but he ignored it, his whole attention on the task before him. There was still one eye left.

He waited till the snake thrashed itself against the wall, unable to control its own motions on the ice. Then at that moment of stun he brought out the sword and swung it into the other eye. This time the blade didn’t go in so deep and he was flung off.

The monster tried to find him, shifting that way and another but Wing made himself known at that time. He jumped close and threw a few daggers. They bounced off uselessly but Wing got noticed. The snake lunged after him instead of the lying man.

It was an honourable action, taking on such a dangerous task as baiting the monster but soon Fenek had to re-evaluate that. Wing was playing with the snake. He taunted it into hitting the walls or the ground, wrapping its body into a knot.

Blood was going out of its head but Wing didn’t seem to feel any remorse. He went in circles, confusing the monster and pouring acid into its wounds when the snake thought better about chasing him. The pain then would rile it up again and everything would start anew.

Dark shook Fenek’s shoulder. “Let’s get everyone up. It’s dangerous here.”

It took Fenek a moment to return his eyes to his own condition and notice how close the snake was sliding by. The monster was missing him and Lara by a few meters at best. “Sure,” he agreed, jumping to his feet.

He slipped and crashed to the ground with a yelp. “How long is this ice going to stay?” he asked, standing up and moving to the ropes Dark had fixed earlier. They were close to the ground so Fenek wrapped it around his waist.

Dark helped Lara get prepared and lifted her up a bit so Fenek took that time to climb up himself. It was easy and soon he was there, watching how the girl was doing.

She was trying her hardest to pull herself up but all she could do was keep at the same height at best. It was too dangerous so Fenek grabbed onto her rope and holding himself just by the legs started dragging her up.

That was harder than he thought. All his muscles strained for each centimetre but somehow he managed to get her into a decent height. He was sure if this hadn’t been a game, he wouldn’t have done half of it.

Dark swayed closer to him. “I don’t think this ice is ever going away. It was cast by Wing.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Fenek asked, turning to him. Dark was dressed in his usual black clothes with a thin mask over the face. Only his eyes weren’t hidden, shining brightly as he looked at Wing playing below.

“He’s our Master, the most well known legend in our country and probably the whole continent.” Dark turned his head to look at Fenek. “Do you really think he could be that weak?”

“Weak or not, he’s still a player,” Fenek said, taking a look at the other students.

Everyone had come to the cave at some point and now were all hanging at the top, watching the kid. Most had awed expressions, pretending they weren’t listening in on the conversation.

“Are you sure?”

“Sure of what?” Fenek asked, returning his eyes to Dark.

The black rogue swayed away, his voice echoing around the cave. “That he’s just a player. I’ve met him before you, only a week away from the beginner city, and even then he was a monster. You sure it takes a few days to become the best?”

“He’d trained in Mora for half a year!” Sandra intercepted. “Or even more as Wing just then became known. He could have been one of the first players to enter the game for all we know and spent all that time training.”

“Would you do that?” Razvan asked, looking at her through narrowed eyes. “Who in their right mind would stay half a year in the beginner city? And what could you possibly learn there? Everyone leaves for the sole reason of growing stronger, not because they’re tired of the sights!”

Fenek had to agree to that. He’d spent a week in his first city before taking his leave. The birth place just could no longer give him anything useful, there were nothing to gain by staying there.

Everyone stayed quiet for a moment, eyes going down to Wing. He was sliding on the ice now, cape billowing around him as a giant snake slithered after him. It was going right and left like a drunkard, hitting the walls but none of that made it look any less menacing.

The snake was the size of a good building. There was no way not to be intimidated by it but Wing didn’t seem to have heard about that. He had a malicious smile on his face, turning often around, sliding backwards to be facing his opponent.

Wing was having fun. This was a game to him.

“Us not, but he would. He’s not normal!” Sandra whispered, holding a hand before her mouth.

Fenek had to agree to that. Wing’s appearance might be one of a human being but that was just another of his illusions. He wasn’t truly human. Not in the most basic of ways.

Death was his trade, life his game and they his puppets.