"Why isn't he dead yet!" Some third-rate villain shouted to his subordinates.

"Sir, the bounty hunters are no longer interested in doing the job due to the most recent intelligence that's circulating about him."

The boss was furious. He did all the cliché things pissed-off crime bosses did. He slammed his hands on the table, threw darts at a very popular T-shirt, fumed, bit his pinky, and caressed his white cat.

"What? The rumors he's ascended to the third star? That's preposterous. The guy has been an arch for eight months! Eight months! That's not enough time to reach the second star, much less the third. Even if Samson pumped his ass full of essence to get him where he was, he would get stuck at the bottleneck!"

"The reports of him defeating several three-star Archs and entering dozens of passages suggested he has enough natural latent aura for that."

The boss roared, causing the poor pencil pusher to flinch. "Still, it's too much incompetence! So what if the assassins require more money, pay them!"

"But the real professionals are charging the full amount up front."

"Why?"

"Because most of them believe they wouldn't come out alive. The target is too dangerous."

"Explain it to me like I'm five, please!" The boss drawled with sarcasm.

"Sir, do you know how Life Archs are like cockroaches, impossible to kill, and laughing at the damage they take? Regrowing full bodies from only their heads?"

"Huh. So what?"

"And how Time Archs are impossible to surprise because they often know what you'll do before you even think of doing it?"

"Yes."

"And how Space Archs cannot be pinned down as they can be where they want to be and not where you are delivering your attacks?"

The boss's scowl became a frown. "Go on."

"And how Mind Archs can read your thoughts and dominate minds?"

The boss grunted.

"Force Archs have the best defense at the cost of their essence? And how Void Archs are dangerous, deadly, and mysterious? Pack everything I said together and you got one unstoppable force. Not to mention he has an undisclosed unique affinity. From his combat reflexes and experience, we assume the news of him being an Arch for only eight months was a gross fabrication by Samson. That guy must be in training for decades to display the proficiency he has."

"How does he have the essence to handle six Affinities?"

"We know that Titania Samson came into possession of a four-star artificial satellite core. We don't know to whom she gave it but it seems obvious. She gave it to Mr. Blaze as a reward for winning the tournament and defeating Disintegration Field. That put Samson in a very advantageous position. And now she's capitalizing on that advantage by parading her great-granddaughter like a piece of meat in front of several factions."

"That old vixen! Offer ten billion dollars and one two-star ascension potion as a bounty on his head," The boss shouted. "Not as payment to hire assassins. Let the rabble wear him out. I'll have Robert Blaze dead, one way or another."

The potion made an Arch break through the bottleneck of of the second star and manifest their third star artificially. They were guaranteed to get stuck in the third star but the difference in power was well worth it when they didn't have any hopes of ascending on their own.

Many of the three-star "elders" of these factions had availed themselves of these alchemical supplements to fix their erec–ascension dysfunctions. Though they would take the secret to their graves.

*

*

Titania Samson learned of the bounty the moment it was posted. Though the communication channels were considered "underground", it only meant that the people who used them had some expectation of secrecy regarding their identities.

"Good. That will put some nice challenges in the boy's path. Gerome, post the usual warnings to keep our guys from taking the bounty. If these guys are so kind to make everyone else send their assets in a quest to claim that potion—"

"And the money, ma'am," Gerome interrupted.

"Bah. The money means nothing. Anyone who's doing it for the money is a fool. Anyway, you know what I want done. And keep Amanda from learning about this bounty. I don't want her in the crossfire."

Titania leaned on her chair. The real reason she was forcing Amanda to take that many marriage interviews, that many PUBLIC marriage interviews, was to keep the morons from trying to use the girl as leverage against Robert's life. The boy would either perish to these challenges and assassination attempts or come out on the other side as another rising star to join the rank of elder. If he did, he would be worthy of her precious flower. The day Robert had enough balls to defy her to her face was the day she would feel safe handing Amanda's hand in marriage.

*

*

Old Parliament building, London, England.

* *

They said that once, a crazy terrorist wearing a funny mask tried to bomb the parliament. Others that the British Prime Minister ruled the world from the shadows. The rift that opened inside the building two hundred years ago was yet another solid proof that these initial realms were reflections of the collective subconscious.

Here, a passage to a place they call the Shadow Realm opened. A place full of Darkness essence, with hints of Illusion and Death. A dangerous realm, recommended for late two and three stars. Entry was strictly regulated by the government and the admission fee was ten thousand dollars for a week pass, along with a tax of twenty-five percent on all the loot brought from the passage. Expected weekly earnings for a team of four or five late two-stars was around three hundred thousand dollars. But what made this realm valuable was the amount of deviant shadow monsters. It pumped the odds of manifesting a Prime Vestige very high. But the death rate was also high. Rarely a day went by without someone dying inside this place.

Robert knew there would be trouble if he entered without going through the normal means. So, he went to downtown London, booked a hotel room, and went to the old Parliament building wearing his Academy uniform. Despite being on vacation, the Imperial Academy students were required to behave accordingly, and proudly wear the colors of their institution. But he knew they had recognized him and stayed on high alert.

People stared at him in the streets as he walked to the historical building. The guards didn't challenge his presence. Inside, he went to the information booth. The clerk told him where to buy the week pass as well as register for tax purposes. He also warned Robert that the tax inspector had a truth-telling talent. Robert didn't need to declare all he had in his possession but he needed to state what he obtained from monsters and other delvers inside, as well as the value of any trades he made. That was meant to avoid people using the Shadow Realm as a black market. The irony wasn't lost on Robert.

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He paid the fee plus a premium because of the currency exchange. After signing a waiver stating he understood the risks, they gave him a small crystal card that contained his personal information. Then it was time to wait until his number was called. The organizers spaced out the delvers' ingress to keep group attrition low. Once inside, you were supposed to make yourself scarce. Robert intended to make himself scarce-R.

Because he already sensed danger as he stood in the middle of the lobby. His Academy uniform and lack of decent protection or any visible weapons made him stick out like a sore thumb. Also, he made a point of staring at anyone who cast a spell on him, to make sure nobody mistook the fact he knew they did.

His Void Heart had slowly increased in capacity. The second stage required nine times as much effort to develop as stage zero. The third stage was twenty-five times harder than stage 0. It grew with the square of a Fibonacci sequence. He was sitting at 252% capacity right now. With 127% from his stars, he had 379 points of essence to use. That was the essence pool of a four-star.

Regrettably, his second-second-star's development went slower than before. Not as a factor of time but as a factor of how much shit he killed compared to the star's growth. It was expected. Stronger people developed slower. And considering how fast he was clearing these hard quests, he was too damn strong for a two-star. That's what gave him the confidence to openly present himself like that.

*

*

After they called his number, Robert quickly ran down one of the many paths leading deeper into the shadow realm. It was an imitation of XVII century London, with a dark and eerie ambiance. The distorted building proportions and shadows that moved independently combined with the scarce light to create a dread aura. Danger could be lurking anywhere. The streets were filled with twisted, blackened trees, broken cobblestones, and eerie fog. The sky had a full moon that failed to illuminate the ground. Scarce gaslight lamps shielded flickering flames that only added to the shadows and made them dance.

As he went down the streets without a hint of where he should go, Robert noticed old bloodstains on the cobblestones. Movement at the side alleys and random noises, like metallic objects dropping to the ground, clattering, and wooden window shutters slamming.

The first monster made its presence known. A tall, gaunt figure, dark as the deepest new moon midnight, with elongated limbs and two diffuse orbs that seemed like some child drew a ball with a pencil. It had no mouth, nose, or other body features. A Nightshade. As they made visual contact, it rushed toward Robert. He used his draining debuffs at full power, not caring about essence efficiency. This was a monster who drained lifeforce. While Robert had much more of it than an ordinary Arch, he loathed to lose any.

The Nightshade rushed to attack with its Darkness claws. Robert felt a pressure in his mind, the monster's panic-inducing sure. He countered with jade mind. The claws scraped his mage armor, causing tiny cracks to appear. Those arms defied inertia as they moved as fast as shadows projected from afar.

Robert used a two-star slow on the monster, evening the playing field. Physical attacks wouldn't work well on this semi-corporeal monster. Nor he could drag it to the liminal void. While not related to the Darkness affinity, he wasn't sure the monster would freeze or gain a power-up. Yes, it was an irrational fear and a sign that the monster's aura of panic was having some effect.

His response was a deluge of magic missiles as he rapid-cast the spell, without wasting time to aim. The rudimentary sentience of the projectiles did the job for him.

The Nightshade moved erratically, going faster or slower according to the shifting lighting. Robert noticed that his slow spell was having some effect but not what he expected. The monster landed some hits on his mage armor, forcing him to spend more essence to reinforce the spell. He noticed that when he placed himself between the monster and a light source, it moved slower.

Robert cast two walls of force to control the terrain and to block the direct lighting from two gaslight lamps on the street. The Nightshade lost its speed bonus. The creature shrieked it's frustration.

The champion spun on a heel and delivered a void punch spell along a haymaker. The resulting explosion made the monster's flesh stretch out like a rubber band. He followed up with a series of jabs, each delivering a void punch.

The assault was too much. Weakened by the drain of Robert's debuffs, the Nightshade dissipated, leaving behind a blob of sticky material. This shadow flesh was a potent reagent. Robert used a runic glass scoop to collect it in a special glass jar. The two items were part of a set and were single-user.

He stopped. His spatial senses were… "You can come out now," Robert shouted. I know you are there.

He heard laughter. Ten men and four women, all rugged veterans and in the late stages of their second stars appeared, from side alleys and rooftops.

"What is your business with me?" Robert asked.

Before they could even reply, he used his main talent. Or tried to use. Nothing happened. When he tried to blink, it also failed. He couldn't keep the surprise from his face.

"One of you blocks teleportation," he said. "May I consider you hostile?"

"Get him!"

The group jumped him all at once. Robert looked in shock as all of them used their twin stars to activate their abilities. Still hasted, he had a speed advantage but it would prove inadequate against fourteen assailants specialized in fighting other Archhumans.

The ability to see magic extended to talents. Despite not tapping into the essence pool, it used some unknown energy reserves. Otherwise, talent fatigue wouldn't be a thing.

Robert locked eyes with the woman who had the spatial lock talent. "Mind Blackout!" He shouted, invading her mind. He soared no time doing the most destructive and quick things he could do to her psyche. She dropped down as he gave a last order, to cancel her talent.

While he was busy, three attacks landed on his mage armor. The third shattered the barrier and sliced him but the contact was too brief and only burned some energy from chronal shear. Robert felt nothing from his temporal senses. Another talent? Was this team especially assembled to neutralize his advantages?

He dodged another two attacks and tried to blink away. Still blocked. Damn, the talent was a passive. He ran and ducked into an alley. With some distance, he shouted. "Mind blackout!" Another assassin became a vegetable. Jumping to the roof, Robert vaulted back to where it all began. He fired magic missiles to cover himself and keep his attackers away. When he came into range, he fired a Zoltraak beam at her. A guy with a tower shield moved as a blur and blocked it. He had to resort to mind blackout again and made the teleportation-blocking woman's brain forget how to make the heart beat as he fried her autonomic nervous system. Now it was just a matter of time before she died for good.

"Fuck, he got Penelope!" Shield guy said.

Robert renewed his mage armor, then cast two-star drain essence on three people. That would compound and increase the odds of spreading to others.

Someone crossed between shadows. Robert could see a 2D version of the guy sliding into his shadow. Robert jumped away, clearing twelve feet as he fired a Void lance where the guy would emerge. Instead of vaporizing the guy's head, he screamed in pain as he slid back into the shadow, leaving an illusionary double behind. But Robert still severed his leg.

Two throwing daggers bounced on his shield but left dire cracks along his back. Robert summoned his sword from the ring.

"Mind blackout!" A third body slumped down, bereft of a functioning frontal cortex.

He relied on his spatial senses to weave and block attacks with his sword. But the guy with the barrier-shattering talent brought his mage armor down again. And another chopped at his neck with a runic machete. Robert sacrificed his arm to save his neck. The runes glowed as they drew blood, draining his chronal shear reserves for the area cut. Only a few void blood vessels that managed to reconnect kept the limb from being completely removed. With but a thought, Reconstruction started to mend the arm.

He poured out magic missiles as fast as he could. He didn't care who he hit so long it gave his assailants something to keep them busy.

Some curse spells struck him. Blindness, disorientation, and even one to make him so sick he wanted to vomit. Robert had to drop into a defensive stance so he could cast purge essence on himself. The curses ended. Robert took a slash on the left forearm to recast mage armor.

On the defensive, he could only parry attacks and move out of the way, using the advantage haste gave him to force his attackers to move onto one another. It also saved him from being surrounded.

He placed a divergent spatial distortion around himself. Then he fired a Zoltraak void lance, turning it into a mid-potency disintegration cone. He caught four people who had all exposed skin flailed away, along with most of their armor. Three houses behind them ceased to exist, leaving only people-shaped cutouts.

But those five he left screaming in pain took a lot out of the pressure. He managed to parry two blows and save his mage armor from the guy with the shatter talent.

"Mind blackout," he said as they locked blades. Robert gave him the idea that the bounty was to defend him and kill the others.

With that, the odds turned from five to one to two to one. And just in time as he was running on fumes. With the respite he earned, Robert scanned around and locked on the shadow step guy, who was sliding away. He aimed and released a five-foot-wide Zoltraak beam, erasing the wounded guy and carving a cylindrical ramp down into the Dungeon underground.

He also fired normal void lances at the legs of the five whose skin he disintegrated. He felt a pop as Penelope, the teleportation-blocking woman, finally died.

Robert dove into the liminal void to recharge his void heart's essence.

Then he dominated the two still attacking him, putting them in an induced coma.

Finally, he did the same with the remaining two and recaptured the one with the shatter talent.

"Okay, who's going to tell me what's going on?" Robert asked.

Some managed to raise their hands. Robert dominated their minds and got their answers with 0% odds of falsehood.