Rory and the donkey threw themselves against the far wall, Miles closing the door and joining them. No one spoke, and Rory did his best to make his breaths as shallow and quiet as possible.

Miles reflected the same panicked and frightened expression that he held. He was eying the little shed Rory had rescued him from as though wondering if he could turn back time and hide behind burning debris again. Rory couldn’t blame him.

Outside, the monster was prowling. Its claws skittered over the tarmac and there was a light hiss accompanying every one of its breaths. Rory was hoping not to make its acquaintance.

Against all reason, the donkey looked exhilarated. He eyed Rory and Miles as though wondering if he could throw them bodily outside to face this Hooktongue creature. “It will find you soon.”

“You sound too excited about that,” Rory muttered.

“Of course! What I wouldn’t give to witness deadly combat first-hand.”

“We’re in hiding,” Mils hissed. “And if you two would shut up, we can stay hidden. Then it won’t find us.”

The donkey shook his head. “Fortunately, the Hooktongue is quite adept at sniffing out prey.”

As he said so, the thumping steps and skittering claws of the creature outside drew closer. Jerky little hisses indicated it was trying to catch their smell. It seemed the donkey was right. Hiding wouldn’t be enough.

“I’ve got Sigils, but I can’t use them,” Rory said. “Not with Weaving in.”

“What’s Weaving?” Miles asked. “Better yet, can it kill that thing?”

Rory opened his mouth, then paused for a second. Could he Weave living things? “Weaving lets me turn anything into Sigils, so technically, it’s possible that I could turn this… Hooktongue into one. But even if it is possible, that thing would kill me before the Weaving finished.”

Miles cursed, though quietly so. The monster was nearing them. Rory was expecting it to hammer down the door nay second.

“I could replace the Sigil of Weaving.” Rory stared at the back of his hand. “That would let me use other Sigils, right?”

“Correct,” the donkey said. “But in most cases, replacing a Sigil can only be done by destroying the Sigil to be replaced. Surely you do not wish to destroy something so valuable?”

“Of course. Shouldn’t have expected it to be that simple.”

“But you have Sigils, yes? You may not be able to use them, but your friend here, however, can.”

Rory and Miles exchanged looks. The donkey was right. All Miles had was the Sigil of Stats, which had no such restriction as Weaving.

“I’ve got a bunch of Sigils, yeah,” Rory said. “Think you can use them?”

A riot of expressions passed over the younger man’s face. Then it settled on grim determination. “I’ll have to, won’t I?”

Rory nodded. They quickly went over the Sigils Rory had, which turned out to be unappealing. None of the Sigils of Rubber, Medicinal Storage, Health, or Barricade would help take attack the Hooktongue. They needed something more offensive.

“I don’t have any Mana flakes to Weave anything more,” Rory said, looking around the shop. If there was any Mana in there, it was difficult to see in the smoke and flames. “You might be stuck with these.”

“Mana flakes?” Miles asked. “Mana comes in flakes?”

Rory had no answer to that. He was starting to worry how they were supposed to combat the approaching Hooktongue, when the donkey nudged his hand with its white snout. Rory looked down to see it dropping a few glowing blue flakes into his palm.

“Were you talking with these in your mouth all this time?” Rory asked.

The donkey ignored the question. “I believe it is time for you to Weave, yes?”

Rory froze when the door jumped. That shouldn’t have been possible. The Hooktongue’s steps had still been far out. Then the door jumped on its hinges at another heavy thump again.

“Now, gramps,” Miles said.

No time to lose. Rory activated his Sigil of Weaving, turning it on the patch of fire next to him. He again got a couple of Sigil options as the white lines of his Weaving dug into the entire area around the flames. With the urgency pounding down everywhere, he picked the first option.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Fire. Fire is life and fire is death. Which are you?

[Argent II] allows creation and manipulation of energy in a 3-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Energy

Rarity: Ordinary

Tier: Argent II [0%]

Efficiency: Low [10%]

Rory thrust both the Sigil and the remaining flakes of Mana at Miles. He fumbled with it, enclosing his fist around the Sigil which disappeared into him.

“How do I use this thing?” he asked, panic rising higher with every word.

Rory shook his head. “You’re asking the wrong guy.”

“I mean, it says I can’t use it because its Tier is higher than my personal Tier.”

Rory needed a second to parse what that could have meant. This strange system needed new Sigils to be the same as the personal Tier or lower.

Deciding not to judge the strange rules in place, Rory thrust the Sigil of Health at Miles. “Use this. It might raise your Sigil of Stats’ Tier since I think it goes under that, if I read it correctly.”

Miles took and absorbed it without question. His face went blank for a moment, and Rory imagined he was reading whatever words were popping up in front of his face. A weird idea occurred—what would happen if he punched Miles now? Would it break the flow of the strange text and make him deal with a more immediate danger?

His line of thought was cut short when the door jumped again. This time it didn’t fall back in place. Rory swallowed. The Hooktongue’s hissing was loud and clear now, heavy and hammering into them with its stench as well. It was going to break through any second now.

“I got a fighting achievement, and I can use the Sigil now!” Miles said. “But… how do I activate it?”

“Just imagine summoning the power that has now been granted to you,” the donkey said. “You own it now. It is yours to command. Live it, mortal.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Miles muttered.

That’s when the door to the convenience store burst open. Rory gawked along with the others as the Hooktongue was revealed in all its glory, screaming at them.

The first impression was that of an overgrown black lizard the size of a minivan with giant lamprey for a neck and head. Stubby, crocodile legs made it slow over the ground. But there were strange, segmented appendages coming off its back, like hairless tarantula legs, each one ending in a dark, hollow hole.

Miles yelled and ran forward. He had slung his arm forward and a fireball erupted from his palm. The glowing ball of orange-and-white flames flew at the monster.

The Hooktongue screamed. It turned the strange appendages towards the store. Rory noticed the holes at their ends a split second before they ignited like rockets, and the Hooktongue was pelted backwards.

Ah, so that explained the sound Rory had heard earlier. Fascinating as it was to witness, Rory really didn’t want to face a monster that had natural jetpacks on its back.

Credit to Miles, he wasn’t daunted for long. Continuing to scream, he rushed out of the store, pursuing the monster. He threw more fireballs, launching salvo after salvo at the creature quickly flying away with its rocket-wings.

Rory wondered how he was using his Sigil so much when he only had a few flakes of Mana. Then he noticed the small pile of glittering blue powdery flakes at his feet. The Hooktongue must have dropped Mana when it had been forced to dodge Miles’s attacks suddenly. Served it right for attacking them.

But Miles’s assault wasn’t working. The Hooktongue was too good at flying around. It avoided the fireballs with ease.

Then it counter attacked.

Its rocket-wing appendages arranged themselves to let it hover as Miles’s blasts slowed. Then it opened its reptilian mouth to launch a long, spiky, chameleonlike tongue ended with a curved hook like a dinosaur claw. That explained the creature’s strange name.

The long tongue shot at Miles like it was rocket-powered as well, but he rolled away from the point of impact with a shout. Good thing he did too. The impact of the tongue left a small crater in the hard ground.

Rory breathed out a sigh of relief. Another reason why Miles, the far younger of the two of them, was better off taking on the Hooktongue. Rolling around like that wouldn’t hurt him.

The Hooktongue had landed on the concrete shade, its rocket-wings turning off. Miles fired more fireballs, and the creature pranced away to evade. It was dodging on foot. Interesting. Maybe it needed to rest its wings for a little while.

Rory still couldn’t use his Sigil of Knowledge, but he could sense a trickle of info about the creature settle inside his head. He learned that its scales would feel rubbery to the touch, that it was usually a nocturnal hunter, and most importantly, that it had been hunting the people for Sigils.

That was worrying. It meant monsters could use Sigils just like him too.

There was a shout that made Rory jerk his head at Miles. He had flung more fireballs, but the Hooktongue had taken off and countered with its hook-ended tongue. This time, Miles had failed to dodge in time.

The vicious hook tore a large gash in his shoulder. He had fallen to the ground, clutching his wound. The Hooktongue had retracted its tongue to launch it again. That had granted Miles the space he needed to move to a more defensible position, trailing blood all over the asphalt.

Rory grimaced, turning to the donkey. He was watching the battle progress with an avid gleam in his eyes. “Can’t you do something to help?”

“I’m afraid I’m simply a spectator,” he said. “My participation in such things as monster-slaying is strictly forbidden. Otherwise, my Observation License would be removed.”

Rory considered arguing with a talking donkey, then decided against it. The Hooktongue was now prowling towards Miles. It was angling to take advantage of his wounded condition.

Time was of the essence once more.

Picking up some Mana powders from the ground, Rory hurled himself into the store. His head was beginning to pound again. It really didn’t enjoy any movement. Rory ignored the throbbing, then used his Weaving, focusing it multiple times in quick succession.

He got another Sigil of Fire—this time checking to see the orange Sigil’s image of a candleflame. Then he Wove another fiery patch to get a new, orange Sigil. Its picture showed wavy vertical lines.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Heated Wind. When you blow air out of your mouth, it always comes out warm. Think of this as the world blowing some air to you.

[Argent II] allows heated wind manipulation in a 15-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Uncommon

Tier: Argent II [0%]

Efficiency: Low [17%]

Finally, Rory turned the Weaving onto the roof of the convenience store. He weakened its structure but made sure to halt before it collapsed.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Support. Not everyone has to be at the forefront of every encounter, for without adequate support, we all crumble to dust.

[Argent II] allows minor physical and mental resilience.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Ordinary

Tier: Argent II [0%]

Efficiency: Low [13%]

Rory gripped the Sigils tight and headed back out. It wasn’t hard picking up a piece of debris to chuck as hard as he could at the Hooktongue’s rear.

The monster had been rounding on Miles when the broken stone hit its rump. With a hissing growl, it turned, its wings flaring lightly and its mouth opening to spew the barbed tongue. Rory was in terrible danger. But he had distracted the Hooktongue from Miles, which was all they’d needed.

“Miles!” he shouted. “Catch.”

Rory threw all his newly-Woven Sigils over the Hooktongue. The monster tried to snap at them, but Miles had risen when it turned, using its distracting to make a fireball explode on its flank. The Hooktongue screamed and jumped away, prancing and dancing in an effort to smother the fire. At the same time, Miles caught the flying Sigils.

Rory smiled through the pain as he moved away, his Sigil of Locomotion quickly giving him some much-needed distance. Even after all these years, his throw was perfect.

Miles stepped out from the column he was hiding behind. If Rory wasn’t mistaken, the wound on his shoulder seemed to have healed a little bit. At least, there was less blood dripping everywhere, and Miles himself moved with more surety.

When the monster tried to attack him with its projectile tongue again, Miles blasted his fire in a stream, like his palm was a flamethrower. Retracting the appendage quickly, the Hooktongue jumped back. Then it flew up to the nearest high point—the roof of the convenience store.

The same roof Rory had weakened moments ago.

It collapsed under the monster’s weight. The Hooktongue screamed as it fell through, its rocket-wings firing to no avail whatsoever.

“Now, Miles!” Rory shouted.

The younger man was already on it. He ran towards the collapsed store, thrusting both hands forward. A stream of blistering fire burst from his right hand, his left throwing a storm of twisting, ripping wind that scorched everything it touched. The two attacks collided at the store, an explosive inferno shooting into the air and burying the Hooktongue’s screams.

In moments, the huge pyre died to embers and a wash of heat. The monster had died with it.

New Achievement!

Defender! You’ve proven you’re no meek prey. Beware any creature that tests your mettle.

Rewards

When unexpectedly confronted by hostile enemies, your Attacks deal 25% more damage.

“We did it!” Miles had raised both hands high, his Sigils glowing on the backs in triumph. “All thanks to you, gramps.”

Rory could only smile and remember to breathe normally. His heart could settle down now, thank the heavens. He tore his eyes away from the blaze, fixing his gaze on the donkey and ignoring the impressed look on his face. It was time for some straight answers.