Tana Metalbottom turned from her terminal and exited her office as she stepped into her workshop to check on the projects she had running. A tinker gnome by trade, Tana had set up her workshop in the city of Suigen. Suigen was the only city that connected to the Labyrinth train lines at the only Blue and Purple line junction. In fact, the only way to get to Suigen was to first reach Nexus on the Yellow line and then ride the Blue line to Suigen.

There were other ways to reach Suigen but it was so far toward the center of The System that encounters were quite deadly. The safest way was to portal into town at one of the five portal points on the outskirts of the city or to arrive by the Labyrinth train line. The entrance to the Labyrinth was also on the outskirts of town and well-guarded. Unlike other train stations, the paths that led directly into the labyrinth and the Train line were separated. The Train station was absolutely safe and looked like any subway station entrance in any industrial world one might visit. The entrance to the deep paths of the labyrinth took the form of a huge cave mouth down on the shoreline to the largest freshwater river in the area which emptied into a saltwater sea. That entrance entered the Labyrinth and bypassed the train’s arrival points.

Tana had even gone down to that estuary where the river met the sea and determined that brackish water didn’t stabilize into normal sea water until almost a mile offshore. Even so, the flow rate of the freshwater river was such that fifty feet from the sea the water was safe to drink. Also, while some of the businesses in the city of Suigen disposed of their waste into the sea, no one dared dump their waste into the river which supplied the city with all of its fresh water. It was even rumored that the source of the river was from one of the elemental dimensions adjacent to this one.

It was kind of ironic that her current Apocryphal Class, the term she used to describe the next level of classes above Legendary Class which were also referred to as Fabled or Mythical Classes. It was kind of ironic that she’d received access to her current class as a result of some very bad business practices which had led to the deaths of over 30% of the local workforce and a host of contracts being issued by the ruling class of the area.

Once the dregs had been taken care of and the city once again had safe drinking water, Suigen had become a city that combined all technologies and magics. Her basic class had been simply an Engineer, while her advanced class was that of a Physicist. A war that had been going on right around her advancement into her Master Class which had been Weapon Engineer Specialist. Her heroic class had been chosen merely to allow her to survive. During the war, she’d been a passenger on a craft that had been destroyed. She’d been one of a handful that had ejected and found themselves on a planet with heroic-level monsters and even a few Legendary ones. Only three people survived out of the 21 that made it to landfall. She had helped by establishing defensive lines and helping set up perimeters utilizing all of her engineering and weapon engineer specialist skills which had given her access to a Heroic class called Trap Master.

Choosing that class had helped her keep the three of them alive until they were finally able to find a route into the Labyrinth and work their way back toward civilization. Unfortunately one of her spatial traps had misfired and she’d found herself lost in the Labyrinth and alone. Luckily she was small and had some stealth ability so she’d been able to craft a couple of devices that had allowed her to survive. She’d spent almost 65 years lost in the Labyrinth and her adventures had given her access to her Legendary class.

That choice had been interesting. She’d chosen a hybrid class called an Infiltrator that would allow her to improve her stealth skills as well as set traps that allowed her to target and execute harder prey from afar. She’d also been given access to the Assassin’s Guild though she hadn’t been able to join them until she’d finally found her way to Nexus through the Labyrinth. Once she’d exited the Labyrinth in Nexus, the first thing she did was check on the other two survivors, Alana and Bearford. They had both survived. In fact, the same accident that had sent her deeper into the Labyrinth had sent them to the outskirts of Orgalon. From there it had been a simple train ride to get to Astrix and report back to the company that had hired them to help with the war. Of course, the war was over by the time Tana emerged and she’d been released from her contracts so everything had turned out okay.

Once she was free and clear she’d rented a top-tier room with access, set up her privacy tech which would prevent anyone from knowing what she was doing, and accessed the Assassin’s Guild for the first time. Very quickly she realized how insecure the system was when she’d accepted a low-level contract just to see how the system worked.

The contract had been straightforward. Kill Target A, Get paid 20,000 credits. The target package had included the target’s name, affiliation, and location at the time the contract was issued. Tana had accepted the contract and used a localized trap she placed within the target’s personal vehicle to kill them when they entered the car to go to work. The contract had been almost too easy. Once proof of death was supplied she received the notification that The System had added 20,000 credits to her account. It had been relatively easy money.

That is until the Conglomerate showed up.

The Conglomerate was, as far as she could tell, a group of very rich, very high-level individuals that did not like it when someone killed one of their employees for whatever reason. Tana hadn’t known she was under surveillance until she’d been beamed into a holding cell in a Dreadnaught class stealthed vessel in orbit.

She’d been given a very specific offer which she could not say no to. Which is how she’d earned the class she currently held. System Assassin. Tana was not only a professed assassin. Her skills and abilities were tied directly to the System and utilized some exploits she’d discovered while serving the Conglomerate. To get away from them she’d had to fake her own death which was why she had a tinker’s shop on Suigen. Even the Conglomerate didn’t waste time looking for or chasing people down a Blue line to Suigen. There were too many powerful people in the city that even they did not want to cross. She’s checked on her status within the Conglomerate through The System and as far as they were concerned she had died in the staged assassination she’d created.

Once she was satisfied she’d changed her appearance, another perk of being an Infiltrator, and set up a Gnome tinker shop to make back some of the money she’d spent. 75 years later, she was still here. This shop was her primary source of income. She repaired and created any gadgets the adventurers that made it this far toward the Central System might want or need. Being as it was on Suigen she could charge a pretty penny for her services as well. On the side, she watched the Assassin’s Contracts Board and would sometimes accept contracts if the price was right or it was easy money.

One, her System Assassin skill made it nigh impossible for her to get caught. She had created the callsign Finalis when she’d accepted the Apocryphal Class. Those without similar System access would glean no other information about her unless they were willing to pay an ungodly number of credits for it. If that ever happened there wasn’t much she’d be able to do about it so she didn’t worry about it over much. The other ability that came with the class was an ability called Marked for Death.

Marked for Death allowed Tana to Mark anyone within the purview of the System, no matter where they were. This had three primary effects. First, the target would not receive a message that they were marked though their current status effects tab would light up with the information. If the target looked at that they would know. While the status was on the target the target could not heal, which was the second effect. The third effect was that Tana could open a portal to the target from whatever angle she wished it to open. When she’d first started out she’d open a portal to the back of the target, right above the heart, and stab them with a knife.

One target had shown her why this was a bad idea when his back had exploded and Tana had almost lost her hand due to the explosive force that came back through the small portal opening. One thing about the portals, distance and dimensional crossing didn’t matter. The portal was a benefit of the class and the System allowed Tana to open the portal to almost any location with very little personal cost to any contracted target. There was one serious drawback to the ability. She could only use the ability to target individuals that had at least a 100,000 credit contract against them through the Assassin’s Guild that had been purchased through The System.

Even so, the ability was fantastic when the only bounties she took were generated by The System. Over the years she’d perfected her method of assassination and been very picky about the bounties and contracts she’d accept. She refused to target innocents or mothers with newborns, though there were exceptions. Additionally, she would not take targets within the Conglomerate because to do so might inadvertently allow them to discover that she might not be as dead as they thought.

Earlier today when her virtual assistant had pinged her that a contract for 5 million credits had been issued she’d practically dropped everything to get back to her terminal and review it. As she’d reviewed the contract information she’d used another perk of her class was to know exactly who issued the contracts. Queen Pellmir, how interesting. Tana had pulled up the contract, reviewed its location, which wouldn’t matter to her, and then reviewed the information in the contract.

Target: Adamantadine

Location: Arch-Mage Maneece Personal Pocket Dimension

Bounty: 5 million credits. 1 million upon acceptance, 4 million upon completion.

Classes: Unknown

Level: At least Master Level 50

Tana had one more trick up her sleeve and activated another ability that was specific to the class System Assassin, Detailed Target Information which did exactly squat in this case. Normally, the abilities and attributes of the target, as well as a detailed listing of their classes, would be provided. Instead, nothing happened. That could only happen if there was a specific ability that negated System requests. She’d run into that when an Administrator had been her target one time. It hadn’t saved him in the end. Of course, she might have gone a little bit overboard but that was okay, she’d collected her Bounty and was known as an assassin that could get things done. This target was probably an Administrator as well. An ability to hide their system information wouldn’t save him from her though. Of course, the other reason her ability could have failed was that his attributes or resistances were higher than her own attributes and ability but she doubted it. There weren’t many individuals that could claim to be the same level as she was, that she knew of anyway.

Though everyone in Suigen thought of her as a Legendary tinkerer, that was only a byproduct of her ability False Pretense which allowed her to alter the information people saw about her. With that ability, she could change the description and title of any of her classes, which she had so that she appeared to be a Gnomish Engineer and Tinkerer. Since she actually had the skills along those lines and she was very proficient it wasn’t hard for her to keep up appearances and fix and repair items brought to her. Of course, if some of the people on the planet knew exactly who she was she might have some issues.

Tana focused on her workshop, made sure the workers hadn’t messed anything up, and then checked on her bailout package. Just in case. If things went tits up, she could retreat here, enter her powered armor, and be gone from Suigen and heading into the Labyrinth before anyone would be the wiser.

Once the batteries and consumables were topped off Tana made her way back to her office and then stepped through a hidden portal at the back into her ops center. 4 million more credits, for 5 million total, here I come, she thought.

She’d devised this method of killing hard targets for those that were a little too powerful for her a long time ago when she’d worked for the Conglomerate. Anyone could do this, though it was almost impossible to know where a target was going to be at any given time. In her case, it wasn’t an issue. She had a weapon in orbit around the planet Suigen was on, she could never remember its name because honestly, no one cared. Everyone just called the city and planet Suigen.

She’d created the weapon she was going to use a long time ago as an upgrade to a cruiser-class ship. When the contract had been nullified, she retasked the weapon for her needs. The weapon fired a kernel of plasma, locked inside a beam. That kernel contained a very unique particle. A particle that was incredibly hard to get or replicate. Luckily for her, she knew exactly how to extract one particle and create the ammunition cartridges the weapon used. The kernel contained a single Putrescent particle, the opposite of the Absolute Particle, which some considered the God Particle. She could have used Anti Particles but that would have made a huge explosion which was nice when indiscriminate killing was the goal. She didn’t kill indiscriminately though. She was meticulous. Only the target of her contract died.

Unfortunately for anyone, Putrescent particles were extremely nasty. Spells and energy weapons that utilized that higher energy corrupted whatever they touched and converted it. During one of her tinker sessions, there had been an accident and she’d witnessed firsthand how the energy had spread and eaten through everything until the effect had been neutralized by accident from one of her other weapons. The lab and surrounding area had been utterly annihilated when everything was said and done.

Afterward, she’d sought out some scholars who’d explained to her that Putrescent Energy was just another way of saying corruption. To counter corruption one had to overpower it with organized energy. How much energy was needed to eradicate the corruption depended on the type of energy. None of the base eight elements would work. Spirit, Soul, and mental energy didn’t work either. Divine Energy was the least expensive, though she’d never been able to harness divine energy for a weapon so she couldn’t perform tests to see how much better it was. Space, Time, and Gravity had no direct effect but could be utilized to control the spread or remove the threat if Time was used. Order and Chaos worked equally well and pretty much required the same amount of energy to negate the corruption cycle, though Order was much better than Chaos. Chaos tended to not do exactly what was intended. Next to Divine energy, Proper and Absolute energy were the best. Proper energy-based attacks only required one-half the same energy and Absolute energy attacks negated the corruption for only a fourth as much energy. Anti-particles or energy of the Anti-type had the direct opposite effect and would magnify, or speed up the corruption.

None of that mattered though because the method Tana had created to take out extremely troublesome targets was flawless.

First, she would use her ability to Marked for Death on the target which would prepare the target for her next attack. Next, she would prepare the beam weapon which was in orbit. It was self-enclosed so no one looking at it would think that it was anything but a communications satellite. A portal from inside the satellite would open inside her sealed workshop. Directly below the portal in a predesignated location Tana would orient the portal she could open with her Marked for Death ability perpendicular to the body of the target and in line with their neck as it opened one-quarter of an inch above their head. The Portal was only two inches in diameter. The weapon would fire and the beam would travel through both portals into the top of the head of the target.

The weapon was geared to do ship-based damage but she’d modified it so that the beam would travel exactly one foot before the putrescent particle was released. There wasn’t a personal shield that could withstand the power of the initial blast, though if something did the particle would still survive to pass through their shielding and armor.

Normally the passage of the beam weapon and putrescent particle were enough to kill the target though the final part of the attack made sure no one would be seeing the target again. As the beam cut off a micro singularity with a half-life of exactly one second followed the beams path through the target. The two collided and any matter, the putrescent particle, as well as any energy that might be created as a by-product were stopped by the gravity of singularity and sucked in. The singularity was magic driven and artificial. One second after it was fired it transferred to the adjacent elemental dimension of the void, pulling everything it had absorbed with it.

Her thoughts when designing the attack were along the lines that should the target survive the initial energy blast it was unlikely that the target would survive a particle of putrescent energy traveling through it followed almost immediately by a singularity that sucked all matter that was loosely touching the event horizon.

The first time Tana had utilized the weapon she’d thought it would remove the head, neck, and a portion of the chest from the target and leave the arms and legs. That had not happened. Instead, the portal had opened, the recording had picked up a “pzzt” sound and then the whole body had disappeared. She’d had to slow the recording down to notice that the head, hands, arms, feet, and legs has been sucked toward the chest just as the body disappeared as it was drawn into the dimension of the void.

After she’d sent sensors into the void at that location and found no hint of the singularity or any other particles. She recalibrated her sensors and detected a wave of infrared radiation radiating out from the point the singularity would have entered the void.

The next contract she’d accepted, she’d taken the time to set up recording devices in the void and watched as a singularity appeared and then evaporated as the infrared radiation was ejected. No sign of the target appeared in the void. So, she’d created a weapon that made it appear as if the target had just disappeared as it killed them instantly.

For easier targets or targets that needed to be publicly assassinated, she’d simply shoot them through the top of their head and allow the portal to close. She could adjust the Portal that Marked for Death created up to five feet in diameter. Also, her ability allowed her to bypass most shielding devices. The few times that wasn’t true she’d use what she lovingly referred to as her “PP Gun” which she knew was a funny play on words that she found hilarious.

Enough self-reflection, it was time.

Tana activated the weapon in orbit and a portal opened directly in front of her in the workshop. She was of course behind a protective barrier, just in case. Next, she activated her ability Marked for Death, target Adamantadine. The portal created by her ability opened beneath the portal for the PP Gun, the weapon fired, and both portals closed.

Tana waited for The System to award her experience and send its congratulations message for a successful contract completion but nothing happened. She pulled up the camera footage of the device and made sure it fired. It had. Still, nothing. She checked the targeting camera of the PP Gun and watched as the first portal opened, then the second to the top of the target’s head, the weapon discharged, and the portal closed. Still, nothing.

Tana checked her Combat Log which indicated that she had attacked Adamantadine but gave no information concerning the attack. She had two choices at that point. Pretend like nothing happened or try again. She chose to try again.

***

Adam had finished searching out and destroying the 184 traitors that had made it into the Arch-Mages domain. It had been slow going for him, but he’d finished searching the estate in almost 30 minutes. Adam then made his way back to each assassin head killed and touched each as he activated Treasure Renderer. When it was all said and done he had acquired a lot of bladed and small projectile weapons with extra ammunition as well as 234,636 credits which left him with 240,060 total. Not rich by any means but…

Adam’s thoughts were interrupted as his mind noted a status change and called up the information.

Marked for Death – All healing and regeneration abilities suppressed.

Duration: 50 seconds

Adam hadn’t noticed anyone around himself so he activated Obscure and tried to find the person that was targeting him. True Sight and Aura Sight showed nothing. Next, he checked his combat log. When he first looked at it nothing appeared then just as something smashed into his head his Combat Log populated with information.

WARNING! You have been targeted by the System Targeted Ability Marked for Death

WARNING! You have been Surprised.

WARNING! You have been struck by Putrescent Particle Gun.

WARNING! You have been struck by a micro-singularity

He’d been surprised? How the hell had he been surprised? Adam increased his mental capacity to machine speed and reviewed his combat log.

Putrescent Particle Gun Strikes for 10 Structural Damage, (1,000 Hit Points) + 10 Putrescent Particle Damage

Putrescent conversion attempted. Chaos Incarnate is immune to Putrescent conversion. No effect

Micro-singularity strikes you, Putrescent Particle absorbed by micro-singularity.

Micro-singularity has No effect on you.

Micro-Singularity has transferred to a parallel dimension.

Marked for Death is still active, Health is NOT regenerating.

End Combat Log

Adam activated Stutter-Step and then considered what to do next. Someone had a targeting ability that allowed them to utilize the System wherever they were to target their victim. Considering that the System knew where everyone was at all times Adam could see how such an ability could develop. The attack that hit him had been interesting too, he’d been struck on the top of his head but he hadn’t felt, seen, or heard the attack until it was already on him which meant that the attack had been translocated to him at a point near the top of his head.

While he did allow his inherent Chaos to spread around him when he was using Mold Chaos, he did not have nanites around him to help determine what was happening to him. With his Perception as high as it was he should be able to detect anything. He thought back to the moment right before the attack and recalled all of his senses. His ears had felt a slight pressure change just before the beam weapon struck.

Using Mold Chaos he released Nanites into the area around him. He didn’t make a lot due to his lack of health regeneration, just enough to create enough nanites that he could detect anything that appeared next to his body. Next, he made sure his abilities Obscure, Freedom of Flight, and Flight were activated or activated them while he waited for the attack he knew was coming

As Adam predicted a portal opened directly above the point that was now his body in his Freedom of Flight form. The portal was only 2 inches in diameter. While he’d been surprised by the first attack, which Stutter Step active and the ability to take at least 11 actions every half second, 5 actions every quarter second, or two actions every 8th of a second it was very easy for Adam to move to the side of this beam attack and move up through the first portal, Activate Technomancy and utilize Mold Chaos to create physical Nanites that would infiltrate and convert the weapon on the other side of the second portal as he looked around the room he found himself in.

Once Adam was sure the conversion was underway he looked around the room he found himself in and noticed a female gnome looking through what he would assume was blast-proof glass. A moment later he was behind the gnome and had ejected enough of his mass to create nanites that dived into and marked the target with a quantumly linked tracking device that he could follow anywhere.

The control booth he found himself floating in contained three chairs. He moved over to one deactivated Freedom of Flight sat down in a chair and then deactivated Obscure. With the last few actions he had, he used Technomancy to infiltrate and memorize the systems around him. A few lines of code caught his attention as something he’d never seen before and he spent the majority of his remaining Stutter-Step actions to review and trace the coding as he committed the usage to memory.

As the combat round came to an end the Gnome’s eyes darted to Adam’s sudden appearance in the chair beside her and how Adam was casually watching her. Adam could tell by her body posture that she was preparing to bolt. So he smile and said.

“I am Adamantadine, First, you are tagged. Second, remove your Marked for Death ability from me, and third, if you flee you die.”