Nico felt more comfortable when he was on the move. The roof was concrete smooth. The stars lit his way. It felt good under his feet, though by this point he could run it with his eyes closed.

The 3rd City was split into three districts, each separated by the invisible wall of Energy income, and a not so invisible bridge with the literal abyss below it.

The 3rd was mainly made of the Living Blocks Nico was running across. They were long rectangle buildings with hundreds of little squares inside for Rats to live in. Each Block was 100 meters long and 50 meters wide. They all pointed towards the center of the city, with 2 meters in between each one. There were 9 floors, the same number of cities, that were perfectly parallel to the floor of the next Block, and if Nico had to guess, also weighing the same gram for gram.

The measurements were obsessively precise. An alleyway that started at the edge of the 3rd District went in a straight line for miles until it reached the 2nd District. Some people found beauty in the city’s geometric perfection. Nico thought it was boring and unnecessary.

The entire city had only four true roads that went straight from the four different cardinal gates of the North, West, South, and East to the center of the city. On those roads there were weapon shops, tailor shops, and other services people needed to stay alive, such as bars, which most of the time acted as hospitals.

Half of a Rat’s income went towards paying the rent to the House that owned the Blocks, while the other half went towards their stores—healing potions, weapons, Memory Cards, maps, information, and to those that can afford it, Boss Hunts.

There were three methods to moving across the city. The alleyways were the safest, but they smelled like old people and corpses, with the journey consisting of running across a series of long perfectly identical dingy corridors. The concrete walls were a dark silver that blended in with the darkness.

The second method was roof hopping, which was by far the fastest. It had a beautiful scenery thanks to the starry skies, and was light up in gorgeous lights, also thanks to the stars. The wind had a cool breeze, a little bit too cool for most people, but just right for Nico. Jumping from roof to roof, with the abyss stretching to near pitch darkness below his dangling feet was glorious. It made him feel free. He ran alongside the edges of the Block.

He got into the rhythm of it. A few Blocks went by in peace and much wanted solitary. He was the only one to run across the roofs. So I think I have one main problem, the Iron House wanting revenge against me, and a secondary problem, which is a lack of Energy income. He went through his options.

Can he fight? Probably not. Nico was just Rank I with a single skill to his name while his enemies consisted of a couple dozen Ascended, including a good quarter of the city. It didn’t make much sense.

Can we run into a different city? he didn’t think they could for the same reason they didn’t three years ago—they would just be assassinated quietly. The Iron House couldn’t resort to such drastic measures in the 3rd City because news would spread. Considering Nico’s history with them, it was easy to make the link. But in a different city and so far away? Nobody would care.

So I can’t fight and I can’t run. That didn’t leave him with many options. He supposed he could make himself too valuable to kill and instead make the Iron House recruit him, or two, he can join the enemy of his enemy, but he didn’t know which one his parents would be more disappointed in him for doing.

Most cities were controlled by their Syndicate—a cumulation of a few Houses bounded together by profit, though they behaved more like companies than ‘Houses’ or an actual government. They were intended to work together to maximize the city’s Energy production, but unsurprisingly, most of the time the tugging and pushing happened for the self-gain of each individual House.

The 3rd City had it better and worst. It had a second major party—the Underground. Good because it meant people aren’t at the complete mercy of the Syndicate, which as the 4th could have attested, and the 6th could still attest, it made for hellish living conditions, and bad because it meant Rats were at their mercy instead.

Short of collecting rent, the Syndicate did not mess with the 3rd District. Wars constantly broke out between the different gangs over ‘territory,’ as they called it. There were ambushes and skirmishes occurring, making the roofs a battleground at night.

Like the ones hiding ahead of Nico. Two of them were lying face down with dark cloaks covering them. A third waited a short distance behind them. If Nico didn’t have a habit of constantly using his Life Sense he wouldn’t have seen them.

His Life Sense worked somewhat like a radar. He had a range of around 6 meters, and he could use it every half second. Anything alive would pop a still image in his head. It was a yellow outline of their bodies shinning in empty dark space. His range was considered low among Rankers, but his cooldown was something he was proud of. Most Rankers had a second cooldown and around a 10-meter range.

For convenience, he named them Goons. There were probably more outside his range, but probably not more than five. Gangs still had their pride, after all.

Nico felt for his axe, pulling it back under the cover of his cloak. He didn’t alter his direction. That would alert them. Probably not higher than Rank II. If they were any better they wouldn’t be doing what they were doing.

Nico was looking for a gang, but these people were not it. He needed a group that was more ambitious than petty thievery or territory disputes.

Nico made sure to be on his tippy toes when their attack came. He didn’t actually see what they attacked him with, he just felt the enemy thrust forward their arms and assumed it was a spear from the glint.

Too low. Nico jumped forward, raising his right leg parallel to his hips. The spear skid the bottom of his thigh. His foot landed on the shaft and pressed it to the ground. He jumped off it, landing his other foot on the back of the Goon’s head and launching off. But instead of going up, Nico kicked off to reach the ground faster. The first step was a bit rough, but by the second he got his balance back. He sprinted straight into the welcoming spear of Goon II.

And that’s too high. It wasn’t even a feint. They just stuck their spear out on instinct. Nico dropped to the ground mid-run. Against the smooth floor he slid forward, letting the spear pass above his head as he passed in between their legs. Nico swung the back of his axe behind him. The flat head smacked into the back of their knee, making them collapse to the ground in a yelp as Nico sprinted away.

“Hello to you too!” Nico yelled, glancing behind him. Three other Goons rose from the ground in a line. One of them took the time to smack Goon I on the back of his head before they began chasing Nico.

Four of them had a pale-yellow shell covering their skin. One was in the lead, while the four others lagged. So all of them save for one are Rank I. Nico could tell by their speed. A 15% difference in physique was easy to notice. He named the Rank II Goon II, and bumped up Goon II to III, because obviously.

The only Goon to not have a Life Shield to protect them had one of their arms pointed at Nico. Their hand was shining yellow and was growing in intensity.

Probably a Life Arrow. At Rank I it took a second to Charge with moderate projectile speed. Let’s see if I still got it. Nico increased the stride of his sprint. He took an especially long step forward and spun on it, turning towards the Goons. He jumped backwards and slipped his axe from beneath his cloak, its flat end resting against his chest.

A small, foot long arrow fired towards Nico while he was in the air. It struck the axe’s head and broke into hundreds of little yellow sparks. Nico landed on the ground and faced forward as he continued his sprint. “Terrible!” he yelled. “Try to be a little less predictable!”

“Fuck you!” one of them yelled.

“Less, not more,” Nico yelled back. Life Arrow had a 7 second cooldown and cost 1 Energy to use. Since Rank I’s had two Energy, Nico only had to block or dodge another one and he’ll be good for ranged attacks.

The only issue was that Nico couldn’t run forever. The Rank II Goon was faster and was catching up with his hand axe. I just gotta take that one down and I’ll be good. There were two issues with that—the pale yellow covering him was a skill called Life Shield. It would block the equivalent of two direct hits to the face. He also had an unknown skill, though if Nico had to guess, it was probably a common one. These guys weren’t trained in the art of fighting. They were, as Nico correctly judged, just a bunch of goons.

When Goon II got close Nico made a sharp turn towards the left. In a few steps he reached the edge. He leapt over the alleyway, landing on the other side with a foot to spare, and made a hard turn.

Goon II was flying in the air towards a smiling Nico with an axe winding up for a good hit. In the star light Nico could see the panic spread in Goon II’s eyes. He swung his axe as he neared, but it was towards the chest area. It didn’t reach. Nico’s axe was a bait. He ended up kicking out. The natural form made Nico pull his chest back, making Goon II miss while Nico’s foot landed.

It felt like Nico kicked the ground. Sparks went off as the Life Shield brightened where Nico struck. A combination of that and Goon’s II momentum and higher weight lessened the knock-back effect Nico was hoping for. Goon II didn’t fly back into the alleyways, but he did end up landing right on the edge. Before he could regain his composure Nico headed butted him in the chest. It sent more sparks flying and sent him an inch closer to a date with Lady Death.

He stepped forward, ignoring Nico, which was the right move. Goon’s II Life Shield could take a few hits. The drop was the only fatal thing. The issue in doing, and as Nico just warned them, was that it was a very predictable move. Nico just placed his foot where Goon II wanted to place his. He tipped it forward and shouldered him.

In a beautiful mixture of yelps and panicked swinging of his arms, Goon II tilted back. Most of his body was over the alleyway. Just the edge of one foot kept him hanging. The other was pressed on top of Nico’s foot in the air.

“Remember your training,” Nico said.

“It’ll take weeks!” Goon II wheezed. “Please man, I don’t have enough to pay—

“Protect yo brainz,” Nico said, raising his foot higher. Goon II tipped over and fell.

The further he went down, the quieter his yelling and the more echoing it had. Nico took a step forward to watch the descent. Him spinning wildly in the air—which is exactly what he was supposed to avoid doing at all costs—made quite a fun tune.

The other Goons arrived at the edge of the Block a moment later. They followed Nico’s sight just as Goon II smashed into the ground. His Life Shell shattered like a piece of glass dropped from the 9th floor. His body probably experienced something similar.

They looked up at each other at the same time.

“What you should do is run,” Nico explained, and he motioned towards the one in the lead with his axe, whom he dubbed Goon V. He was the same one that smacked Goon I. “But what you’re going to do is waste my time and your lives.”