Jorden’s guts turned to ice, and not because of his ride.

His eyes glued onto the terrible sentence that hung before him.

As if to drive home just how fucked he was, the text was different from usual. Instead of plain white, the letters swirled and twisted with a bright ruby light, every line ornate and pulsing with malice.

The fourth Hunter has been released.

The last five minutes had been hectic. Jorden had narrowly kept away from the spiders, killing one and injuring a second. The other Hunters had closed in, and he’d lost the lumberjack sculpture in the ensuing fight.

But now…

The fourth Hunter didn’t need to look for Jorden. As soon as the words faded, a blood-red portal appeared, like a line cut into reality, showing pure blackness on the other side.

The portal rippled, and Jorden braced himself for a terrible beast.

A fancy leather dress shoe stepped through, followed by navy blue pants with a golden chain hanging from the pocket.

Huh?

The rest of the figure followed. A matching blue suit jacket, a dark undershirt, black gloves, and a silver necklace.

It was…a man? Yep, that was a man.

Somewhere in his late twenties to early thirties, with shoulder-length blond hair and handsome features, he stared at Jorden with dark brown eyes that glinted in the streetlights.

Jorden got ready to run when he saw that the other Hunters had frozen in place and bowed.

Jorden, consider joining them. Maybe the new Hunter would take pity on him.

The man groaned and stretched, his motions quick and fluid.

He turned his gaze to Jorden.

“Now, why has O sent me to a new world in its infancy? The air here is so thin.” His voice was smooth and rich and bubbled with confidence.

It made Jorden think of an aristocrat.

He blinked. Who the hell was ‘O’?”

“Don’t answer,” the man waved. “I’ll figure it out myself.”

He stared at Jorden, and nothing happened as far as he could tell, at least since something clearly changed for the man.

His eyes widened, and he chuckled, the sound low and dark. “He’s managed to cobble up a connection to Chaos, huh? And not too shabby of one either.” He stroked his chin. “I didn’t even think that was possible for someone below the fourth Threshold.”

Jorden’s mind spun. He hadn’t the foggiest clue what this man was talking about, but he wasn’t trying to kill Jorden, so he would count this as a win.

As if he could read his thoughts, the man frowned.

“Well, looking at the script, I’m supposed to run you through the paces.” He grinned, and the sight made all the hairs on Jorden’s body stand on end.

It was feral, like looking at a tiger showing its teeth more than a human.

Jorden took an unconscious step back.

The man noticed, and his smile widened. “Good instincts. And don’t worry too much. This is survivable…technically.”

He activated Are Those New Shoes, and energy flooded him.

He threw himself onto the moose, and the power raced into it.

They took off with a burst of yellow light, the air trembling as they fled.

The man called after Jorden, his tone cheerful. “The name’s Belmore by the way!”

~<>~<>~

Belmore didn’t waste time.

Jorden had barely been running for five seconds before the man appeared next to him, holding the bird Hunter under one arm like the eight-foot-tall horror was a small child.

“That was lucky. That ability has the power of a Third Threshold Skill. He nodded, keeping pace without even trying. “Impressive.”

“How are your reflexes?” He asked. Then he threw the bird.

Jorden squealed as the massive avian sailed at him.

The bird screeched in response, its talons raised and beak spread wide.

Jorden jumped off the moose.

Constantly switching Skills had given him a lot of experience with being tossed through the air, so he was already righting himself for the fall before he finished leaving the moose.

It also helped that whatever Skill he’d landed on was making his reactions faster.

He hit the ground and rolled, yellow sparks blasting up around him.

The bird crashed into the moose, and the two went down in a tangle of limbs.

He rolled to his feet, his back aching, and took off.

Power coursed through his limbs, pushing him faster than he’d ever moved before.

Jorden looked to his left. Belmore was running next to him, a grin firmly in place.

“You know, some would call you a coward for being so quick to run. But I think it just shows good judgment.”

He punched out, and Jorden ducked.

The air tore apart under Belmore’s fist.

The shock wave took Jorden off his feet, sending him bouncing along the pavement.

He hit a trash can and gasped, pain flaring down his spine.

Belmore’s spotless shoes entered his vision.

“Nice dodge.”

Jorden groaned.

“If you want to live through this, you’ll have to get off the ground.” The man pulled his foot back, and ruby light began to swirl around it.

If a simple punch had created shockwaves, Jorden didn’t want to find out what this would do.

As Belmore’s foot started to move, Jorden reached out on instinct. Grabbing hold of the ice sculptures, he pulled.

The moose and polar bear appeared next to them with a pop!

Jorden reacted before he could even feel surprised. “Attack!” He screamed, his voice cracking slightly.

The sculptures rushed in.

Belmore raised his hands before pausing.

He huffed. “Yes, I know the rules, fool.”

He shifted, casual, despite the hundreds of pounds of living ice rushing toward him.

He crossed his arms behind his back as he cracked his neck.

“There, much more fair.”

The sculptures reached him, and Belmore moved.

A twist caused a claw to miss, a casual step back sent a hoof wide, and another step forward made the bear miss a bite. All the while, his smile only grew.

I can’t outrun him. Belmore had made that clear.

But he couldn’t fight. The man was a monster.

But he said Jorden could survive, technically.

But not if he stayed on the ground.

Running wasn’t an option, and fighting was terrifying. But if it was between fear and certain death, the choice wasn’t that hard.

Jorden pushed against the cold ground. He shook for a second before he swallowed. I got this...fuck I don't got this!

He charged in, his heart pounding like a drum.

Belmore saw him coming and laughed, a gleeful light in his eyes. “There it is! Show me what you can do, sapling!”

Jorden reached the bear and slapped his hand against its flank. His power rushed into it.

He dodged a kick from Belmore. The attack should have made the man vulnerable, but he bent in half as the moose tried to gore him. He straightened in an instant and jumped over the bear.

Jorden ran over to the moose and tapped it, refreshing the yellow power bouncing through it.

Belmore took a single step, and the ground cracked. He vanished, appearing in front of Jorden with his foot raised high.

Jorden flung himself to the side while sending out an order to his sculptures.

When could he command them like that? Didn’t matter. Had to keep moving.

In the brief instant Belmore was attacking, instead of dodging, the moose kicked out with its back leg like a horse.

The hoof connected with Belmore's back in a burst of yellow light, and the man went flying.

Jorden scrambled to his feet as the man picked himself off the ground.

Against every instinct in his body, Jorden charged the man again.

His sculptures ran with him, and he reached Belmore just as the man finished dusting himself off.

He threw out a punch as fast as he could, his muscles burning with yellow light as his fist practically flew forward.

Belmore moved his head, and the punch sailed past.

Before Jorden could process how fucked he was, his sculptures attacked, and everything became a blur.

A claw was dodged, a charge from the moose stopped cold as the man charged back.

Jorden struck again, clipping the man, then it was his turn to make a series of frantic dodges as Belmore rushed him.

Each kick whistled through the air, and Jorden knew a single hit might kill him.

Faster, he had to move faster.

He pulled more from his Skill, and the world slowed, the mist that had begun to gather freezing in place.

Belmore matched him.

"Good!" He laughed, the sound completely unrestrained.

"And I thought I would be bored!" He slammed a kick forward that obliterated a trashcan, then threw himself after Jorden.

They were moving too fast for the sculptures now, too fast for Jorden, really. But somehow, with the power in his chest and the simple need to survive filling his head, he matched Belmore.

They danced, and it was terrifying.

Kick, dodge, jump. Faster!

He ducked as a spinning roundhouse tore the air apart. Jorden jumped forward, slamming into Belmore.

Despite being on one foot, the man grinned down at Jorden for a moment before he threw himself backward.

This was game was only happening because Belmore wanted it to.

Faster, I need to-

Belmore appeared in front of him, his body glowing with red light.

Jorden swallowed.

But instead of attacking, Belmore smiled.

And suddenly all the tension was gone from the air. The overwhelming sense of malice vanishing as if it had never been. Belmore rolled his shoulders. "Times up. Try not to die. I'm curious to see what you’ll do."

"What-"

Another portal appeared behind the man, and without another word, he stepped through.

"What!"

"Congratulations!" The Systems monotone voice said in his mind. "You have survived the night with your body intact. Ha. Ha. I believe a reward is in order."

Level up! Augment gained! Skill gained!

Jorden collapsed onto his ass.

He stared at the sky, his hands shaking.

He was alive...holy shit.