They walked down the hall of the police station, careful to avoid any more monsters.

After a few minutes, they found a stairwell leading down. Lance led them down the stairs, feeling his heart pounding in his chest as they descended.

They reached the bottom floor and stepped out into the main room. The place was empty, except for a single body lying face-down on the ground.

"Someone was here," Lance whispered.

Sophie knelt down beside the body, checking for wounds. Her fingers felt for a pulse. Nothing.

Lance shook his head. "He's dead."

"I know," she replied.

"Is there anything useful in his pockets?" Lance asked.

"Probably," Sophie said, rummaging through the man's pockets. After only a few seconds, she pulled out a gun and tossed it to Lance. "Take it. The last time I went to a shooting range, I nearly took the instructor's head off."

"Thank you." Lance caught the gun and checked it out. A Glock 19. A standard service weapon for the NYPD. What the hell had happened here? There wasn't a wound on the police officer's body, and yet he had died far from any action.

An ability?

"Don't mention it. Now let's go."

They returned to the stairs and started descending them, moving deeper into the station. Lance tried the handle of another door, but it was locked.

"Another dead end," Lance muttered.

They kept going, moving down another hall, when suddenly they heard noises coming from a room at the end of it.

"Sounds like someone is fighting," Sophie said.

"Or dying," Lance added grimly.

They hurried toward the door, but it was locked.

"Stand back," Sophie said.

She cast her skill, forming a spear of ice and shooting it at the lock. Lance squinted at the beam, and he almost jumped out of his skin when he saw text again.

[Icicle Spear lv. 1 identified!]

Sophie grinned. "Pretty cool, right?"

She pressed her hands together, and a second icicle formed in front of her.

"On the colder end, really," Lance said with a grin.

The icicles smashed the lock open, and then they pushed through. Inside the room, Lance saw a man wearing an NYPD uniform, holding a sword against a bloody female monster.

"You're not cops!" the man said. "How did you get in here?"

Lance looked around. He saw several bodies on the ground, including some monsters, while others lay lifeless.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Lance demanded, his voice echoing throughout the room.

"I don't know," the man replied, panting heavily. "Some weird things have been happening lately. Monsters are attacking us left and right. I've tried to keep these doors shut, but I guess they got through somehow. Some of them came from the inside."

"Are you hurt?" Sophie asked.

The man nodded. "Just a couple of cuts."

"Good. Let me see your wounds."

Sophie took a step closer to him, and Lance noticed a strange tingle in the air, as if a spell was about to be cast. He didn't want to risk it, so he put his hand on Sophie's shoulder, stopping her from getting too close.

"Hey, what's the matter?" the man asked.

"I sense something," Lance said. He activated his special ability.

the man was thinking.

"Get down!" Lance shouted.