As I rushed through Daybreak City, with Agility boosted, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of irony. Just a few days ago, I had been running the opposite direction, fleeing from a well-deserved punishment.

Now, I hoped, was my chance to prove myself.

I don’t want to let the Region Lord damage the city, I told Samantha. I want a clean victory.

Samantha shot back.

What’s so bad about fighting a Water Elemental? Why can’t I just whack it with Ghost Biter?

Samantha said.

I was halfway towards Dawnbreaker’s villa when the city’s Mana Shield broke. The defensive ward schemes around a city have something like surge protectors. Put too much sudden strain on the wards powering the Mana Shield, and the shield will shut off for a split second—even if there is more juice in the mana Shards powering the shield.

It was a bit more complicated than that, because shields weren’t actually designed to break when something powerful strikes them.

But the end result was that the shield shorted out, for a split second, which presumably was enough for the Region Lord to enter the City.

As I ran through Daybreak, I kept my focus on my Mana Sensing. The Region Lord was still underground, but it was past the city’s shield, now.

Judging from the shape of the mana I could see, the Region Lord was in the shape of a narwhal, and its long, pointed horn was digging directly into the Mana Shield surrounding a building in Dawnbreaker’s villa.

I poured more mana into Agility, climbing and then leaping over the wall that surrounded Dawnbreaker’s villa. I saw the familiar fruit trees, the council room that I had eavesdropped on—the tree I had hidden in was notably absent, leaving just a pile of churned dirt in its place.

The Narwhal Region Lord was attacking a building that I had to guess was Dawnbreaker’s private residence.

I reached Dawnbreaker’s house just as the house’s shield started surging with mana.

Then I paused, breathing heavily, not really sure what to do, and not receiving any guidance from Samantha.

The Region Lord was underground. I could try digging, but there was no way I could catch it that way. I wasn’t actually able to enter Dawnbreaker’s home, because it was under lockdown, and I hadn’t been given access into her home for obvious reasons.

Alex, probably, had access, but she was well behind me.

So I waited for a second, for the house’s Mana Shield to fail.

Samantha sighed wistfully.

Excuse me for actually caring about other people. Justin needs it more than me.

As I waited, Samantha had me take off all of my equipment, until I held only an F-rank sword in my hand, and a pouch at my hip. The sweats I normally wore under my robes had been destroyed by the Lamia Impression, so I was standing in my underwear and undershirt.

I was starting to learn that having to unequip items meant a lot of pain in my future. Samantha, conveniently enough, claimed she didn’t have time to explain her plan.

I watched the Narwhal exert more and more pressure, drilling its long horn into the Mana Shield, until eventually the shield failed.

The moment the shield failed, I poured even more mana into Agility and some into Strength, and I kicked down Dawnbreaker’s front door.

It was a distinctly uncomfortable feeling. Here I was, trying to save the city, forced into breaking and entering into the residence of the most powerful human on the continent.

I gulped.

There was absolutely nothing ostentatious about the house. The entrance took me directly into a living room, which had a cozy Old World couch—the type you’d enjoy a TV dinner on—and two overstuffed reclining chairs.

The dining room was adjacent to the living room, and it had a rather large, long table which barely fit 12 chairs around it.

Samantha said, dryly.

I snapped out of my daze, and followed the combat shadow up a flight of stairs.

The hallway had a plush carpet, with photos lining the walls. A picture of Dawnbreaker, in a wedding dress, next to an unfamiliar, smiling man. A picture of Dawnbreaker and her elderly parents.

I continued down the hallway, following the combat shadow and my own Mana Sense, stopping at a room that had another Mana Shield around it.

Then I waited once again.

As I waited, I started to hear an ominous swishing sound. Like angry waves, rushing up against a rocky beach.

I didn’t have to wait long before I saw the narwhal climb the stairs.

Climb is the wrong word, of course. The narwhal elemental was a floating mass of water. At my best guess, it was a spirit capable of hydrokinesis. That would also explain why there was a rising tide of water accompanying the narwhal, up the stairs.

I felt a moment of sympathy for the plush carpet, which would likely never recover from the water damage.

I hope Dawnbreaker doesn’t blame me for the damage.

The narwhal was about twenty feet long. It seemed to be able to control its shape, because it curved its body in a rather unnatural position in order to turn the corner up the stairs and enter the hallway.

Now that it was in front of me, I was finally able to identify the creature.

Greater Water Elemental (level 64)

I guess I should stop calling it a narwhal.

It was somewhat surprising to me that everything was happening at a relatively slow pace.

Why is it moving so slowly?

The combat shadow had me back up and tremble, away from the door that was protected by a Mana Shield and presumably held the City Control Crystal.

As the narwhal approached—painfully slowly—I couldn’t help but notice it scraped both sides of the walls of the hallway. It looked as though it was sucking in its sides, just barely able to squeeze into this hallway with its massive body.

As it scraped by the hallway, I cringed as I watched Dawnbreaker’s wedding photo, and her photo of her elderly parents, get swept up into the rising current of water that was now lapping at my feet.

Samantha said suddenly.

I knew better than to delay when it came to Physical Defense. I felt relatively naked, wearing just my undershirt and boxers and holding a sword that could do virtually nothing against a Greater Water Elemental.

I added the points immediately, noting at the same time that three icicles flew towards me, just as the water at my feet hardened and turned into blocks of ice.

The three icicles landed directly on my chest, shattering before they could pierce too deeply, and I grunted, falling over backwards, tipping the block of ice holding my feet, and letting all my muscles relax.

The F-rank sword fell out of my grasp, and a swift current carried it further down the hallway.

Samantha said. Just breathe in, then hold your breath.>

What is this, charades? If the Narwhal is smart enough to directly target the City Control Crystal, then why would it fall for this?

Samantha said. Then, with a teasing tone, she added,

Fuck you.

she added.

The room’s Mana Shield only lasted a second under the pressure from the narwhal’s horn.

I poured 50 more points into Agility, and 10 points into Strength, and then I drew Ghost Biter from my pouch.

The moment I drew Ghost Biter, the narwhal spun towards me, shattering the walls around the creature.

But I was already in the air, closing the distance with a powerful, arcing leap.

The narwhal’s horn shredded the walls of the hallway as it sliced towards me, but with my heavily boosted Agility, I was able to dodge the horn in mid-air by contorting my body.

It seemed Samantha really didn’t want me to touch the narwhal’s horn, even with boosted Physical Defense.

Even as I dodged above the horn, icicles flew towards me, but I ignored them, letting them shatter uselessly against my skin.

My leap ended directly above the narwhal’s head, and then I had the strange and unenviable experience of landing on top of solid water.

As I landed, I poured my remaining Mana into Luck and I dug my blade deep inside the Narwhal’s body, essentially carving a cylinder out of the narwhal’s torso.

While it would be faster to stab the core directly, there was no point in unnecessarily damaging the loot. By carving around the mana core, I was interrupting the spirit’s control of the water around it, and dealing severe enough damage that it would quickly die.

Congratulations for killing a Region Lord. +5 Available Stat Points

Along with the announcement came a sudden collapse into a quickly draining pool of water.

Along with the waterfall-like sound of water rushing down the stairs, I could also hear frantic steps of someone coming up.

I quickly rose from the ground, collecting the City Token and the skill book that had fallen to the ground.

Hydro Drill (D-rank): Create a high-pressure jet of water that specializes in dealing heavy damage to stationary targets. Requires Water Affinity. Cost: 10 mana/second.

Maybe I could sell it to Petrov. And the Greater Water Elemental’s Core, as well, for that matter.

As I waited for Alex or the other guards to come, I allocated my points. Having to unequip everything twice in one day had really emphasized that the stat I arguably rely on the most during battles—Agility—was actually my lowest stat, not counting equipment bonuses. I decided to put 3 points towards Agility, and two points towards Luck.

Alex appeared at the stairway, rushed past me through the open door of the study, and I could see the tension in her shoulders release when she saw the City Control Crystal still on the podium.

“Why did you take off your equipment?” she asked, the moment she came back into the hallway. She fished out two soggy photographs from the water pooling on the carpet.

“I can explain,” I started feebly, realizing at the exact moment I said it, that I had no idea why it was necessary to unequip everything.

Name:

Jarek

Level:

32

HP:

42/42

Physical Defense:

18

Strength:

31

Mental Power:

14

Dexterity:

10

Agility:

13

Perception:

20

Luck:

22

Mana Pool:

100

Mana Regeneration:

47

Available Points:

0

Coins:

9,909,000

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

Rune Master

(E-rank)

Titles:

Region Lord (E-rank)

Skills and Spells:

Identify (E-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Mana Sensing (E-rank)

Healthy Magic (E-rank)

Don’t Mind Me (D-rank)

Aquatic Respiration (E-rank)

Polyglot (E-rank)

Soul Communion (D-rank)

Cursed Lightning (D-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low), External Unattributed Mana (E-rank Low), Soul Magic (D-rank Low)

Equipment:

Interdimensional Pouch (D-rank):

Ghost Biter

Missions:

Zone Offense

Renegade Bounty Hunter