Janus sublimated into a mist of black particles, and the magical chains holding him down fell to the ground. [Awareness] enhanced my senses but anticipating Janus’ point of exit was impossible. The chains coiled around my chest and dragged me near Captain Kiln just as Janus rematerialized by the opposite end of the alley. Despite the strength of the chains, they were gentle and caused me no harm.
I used [Identify].
Chains of Light. [Identify] The signature skill of the Radiant Knight. Allows to snare a foe with luminous shackles, rendering the captured foe incapable of casting spells and suppressing teleportation skills. Available for: Radiant Knight, Sacred Knight, Sword Saint.
As kickass as the skill sounded, the description had to be wrong. Janus had slipped through the chain grasp with ease not a second ago. Then, I noticed that Captain Kiln’s expression showed the same confusion as mine. Something wasn’t right with Janus’ teleportation skill.
“So, a Radiant Knight? Not bad for Farcrest’s heroine, but a simple Knight would be more fitting to the protector of the rabble,” Janus said with amusement.
The effects of my flash pebbles had passed, and he eyed us down like a pair of filthy stray dogs.
Captain Kiln pushed her palm forward, and the chains shot forward. I noticed the huge amounts of mana flowing from her body and I almost had to shut down my mana sense to not get blinded. It was too bright. At the other side of the alley, Janus didn’t try to dodge. Instead, as soon as the chains wrapped his arms, he just vanished.
“You are not supposed to do that,” Captain Kiln grunted.
“You are not supposed to bypass a Fortifier’s barrier either, but here we are,” Janus smirked, turning into a mist of dark particles.
The next instant, he was upon Captain Kiln’s head. Janus swung his sword, but before the attack landed, a thick, golden dome surrounded us. The attack bounced. My mana barriers were wet paper compared to Izabeka’s skill. Not only did the skill pulsate with mana, but also the strands were intertwined so close to each other that my mana sense couldn’t see outside its boundaries.
“You were the one who tried to poison me during the feast. You bypassed the Fortifier’s barrier and poisoned the cup!” Izabeka said.
Janus smiled, full of himself, and gave us a mocking bow. “Yours truly.”
My mind worked at full steam. The woven barrier of several Fortifiers was supposedly impervious, and even the Prince and the Great Dukes were convinced about it. It was safe to assume they had spent lots of resources trying to bypass it, as the political gains of such a technique could be immeasurable. If none of the nobles had found a method to bypass the barrier in all those years, Janus had to have access to a skill never seen before. [Awareness] projected the pages of the Book of Classes into my brain. Shadow Fencers were already an Advanced Class, which meant Janus had ascended to the ultimate rank. Prestige Class. I went through the pages in a blink. Shadow Fencers usually turn into Shadow Stalkers, like Duke Jorn, but not even Shadow Stalkers had the skills to bypass the Fortifier’s barrier.
“Careful,” I said, holding onto my wounded shoulder.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
Izabeka channeled her mana and attacked, but Janus danced around the light chains, his movements so nimble that it was hard to follow with the sight alone. He wasn’t using any fortifying skill but showing his raw physical proficiency. I had already felt the difference in power during our short scuffle, but now I realized that Janus was toying with me. He dodged, jumped, and parried like the laws of physics didn’t apply to him, light as a feather but with the strength of a rhinoceros. The chains moved as fast as whips and slithered like snakes, coiling around Janus’ body but never managing to tie him down.
Janus made it look easy, but his brain was processing more information than I could imagine and moving his body with millimetric precision.
The chains smashed against the walls and ground, punching holes the size of wrecking balls through the bricks and cobblestone. Unlike Janus, Izabeka wasn’t subtle at all, but maybe it was for the better. The greater the commotion we caused, the more patrols would come to see what was going on. Janus, however, seemed to understand that allowing witnesses wasn’t his best bet because he stopped dodging and dashed toward us. Instinctively, I channeled my mana and threw two blades, but they merely bounced against Janus’ dark aura.
Izabeka pushed me behind her as the environmental mana quivered. Then, everything became pitch black, as if someone had suddenly stolen the sun. My eyes took a moment to get used to the darkness, and no matter how much I forced my mana sense or my Night Vision, I could only detect formless shadows. Janus was nowhere to be found, so I pushed my mana outside my body and conjured the thickest barrier I could muster.
I wasn’t Janus’ immediate target.
A gust of wind rushed to my right, and Izabeka let out a groan of pain. Her chains danced around us in a circular motion, but their light could barely scratch the darkness. Janus rushed between us, and despite the defensive aura she was exerting, he sliced Captain Kiln’s leg. The wound was superficial, and I could only attribute it to the Radiant Knight's high defensive stats.
Izabeka swung the chains in a desperate attempt to hit Janus, but it was in vain. The darkness was too thick.
“Dammit, Rob. Use your head,” I muttered, feeling useless. If I wasn’t going to catch Janus with my eyes, I could do it with my ears. “You aren’t a Shadow Stalker!”
“How keen,” Janus replied, his voice coming from every direction at the same time. “I’m something completely different.”
Izabeka’s chains crashed against the boundaries of the dark zone. It was solid, yet, for a fleeting moment, a small crack appeared, and the light of day cast the shadows away.
“Not even close,” Janus mockingly said. The delight in his voice was almost palpable. It wasn’t the mere thrill of the fight but the fact he could finally share his master plan with another living being. “When Prince Ragna made the first strokes to the plan of creating a highway between Ebros, across the Farlands, into the Elven Kingdom, I knew Farcrest had the potential to become the most important city in the continent. For a decade, I have been working with the Marquis to turn a backwater hamlet into a real city. From the price of potions to the number of recruits going to the Royal Army, I have been overseeing everything, and I will not allow an outsider to snatch the fruits of our labor from our hands.”
Captain Kiln discharged a pulse of light, illuminating the alley for an instant. Janus grinned like a little boy, standing a few meters before us. It was a disturbing sight. Then, the darkness swallowed the world again.
“Isn’t it too early to reveal your evil plan?” I asked, trying to make time.
Janus giggled, and the sound made my body freeze.
“I am one of the few blessed by the System who achieved a Prestige Class. You two are not going anywhere,” he said.
Janus had us in the palm of his hand. He had convinced us to keep the whole ordeal hidden from Prince Adrien and Lord Vedras not because he feared an escalation of violence but to avoid loose ends. I should’ve trusted my gut. Janus had used us from the very beginning, and even the invitation to participate in the tournament was part of his plan: to shame the orphanage in front of the nobles or to weaken the Osgirian faction, I didn’t know.
“And what Class would that be?” I asked.
“Scholars… curious to the very end,” Janus replied. “I’m a Void Jumper. There’s no place I can’t go, no chains that can restrain me, and nothing that can be hidden from me.”
Captain Kiln touched my shoulder.
“There’s no monster Chieftain Alton can’t hunt,” she whispered. “Near the pass into the Farlands, a kilometer south, there is a watchtower. He must be around there surveying the frontier. If someone can stop Janus, that’s Chieftain Alton.”
“I can hear you two,” Janus interjected.
Captain Kiln grabbed my shoulder and trapped me in a hug. Automatically, I cast Silence Dome, expecting her to tell me more details of the plan, but I was wrong. “You have been a good friend, Robert Clarke,” she whispered in my ear. “Let’s do this.”
I had an idea about what could distract Janus long enough, but I was going to need a lot of mana. I let my mana barrier fall, and my blade disappeared. None of them were effective against Janus, after all. I just hoped he continued focusing on Captain Kiln because the moment he went for me, I was dead. Trying to bury those thoughts, I touched the wall and ran forward. Captain Kiln’s defensive spell surrounded me but didn’t interfere with my own mana.
“Bring it on,” I muttered.
With thought alone, I drew a hundred runes over the bricks of the wall and the cobblestone of the road: Instantaneous, Light, Recharge. The enchantment was strong enough to blind a person in normal conditions, but the alley was barely lit with a dying blue light. My mana pool suffered a hit and a shiver took over my body, as I had to keep feeding the runes for them to work.
“What—” Janus muttered just as Captain Kiln’s chains smashed him against the ground, shattering cobblestone and the bedrock underneath.
The magic shadows seemed to drown the light of the enchantments, but the ghostly light was enough for my Night Vision to work again. It was also enough for Captain Kiln to use whatever detection skill she had in reserve. Her irises glowed with a golden hue as her scar-ridden skin shined like a small candle in a storm.
Janus grabbed the chains, his hand sizzling as the golden mana came into contact with his dark mana and pulled.
I didn’t expect Captain Kiln to be swept from her feet and sent to the ground. The Fencer evolution line was not characterized by its raw strength. A Knight had better strength growth than a Shadow Fencer, so I was expecting a Radiant Knight to have more physical force than whatever a Void Jumper was. But I was wrong. Janus pulled again, and Captain Kiln slid across the floor.
Janus jumped to his feet; his sword turned into a swirl of darkness. Izabeka grabbed her shield with both hands and activated a defensive skill. The amount of mana she moved around was incredible but Janus’ blade left a deep scratch in the iron. A few millimeters more, and he had cut it into two. They exchanged blows, Izabeka on the receiving end more than anything.
I stood still, not knowing what to do to help other than staying out of the way.
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“You are a fool, Janus,” Captain Kiln said, her armor falling apart and the cuts on her skin bleeding. “Your legacy will be a cold, dead pile of gold, the fattened leeches you have been feeding all these years, and the corpses of those you have sent to their death in the Farlands. Nobody will remember your name.”
Janus spat blood. “Big words for a barren woman. Who will remember you after you are gone?”
Izabeka grinned.
“Who will remember my name, you ask? A bunch of little orphans that believe my name is actually ‘Captain’.”
“What an embarrassing legacy,” Janus grunted.
“Get ready, Rob,” Captain Kiln dropped her shield and prepared a spell. “And tell the little ones I actually have a secret technique.”
Captain Kiln discarded her armor. The shredded piece of metal fell heavily on the ground, crashing into the cobblestone underneath. Janus tried to pierce the golden cocoon around her, but all his attacks were useless. Golden mana filled the alley, chasing the shadows away, and crackling arcs of electricity ran across the walls. I froze. Only the Lich and Prince Adrien’s Cursed Runeblade had been able to generate so much mana.
Captain Kiln clenched her teeth. Then, she grew. Her joints stretched, her muscles swelled, and her spine cracked as her bones grew to match the rest of her body until she towered above two and a half meters tall. Only her skin couldn’t keep up with the transformation. The old scars covering her body opened again, showing raw muscle. An instant later, the wounds regenerated like she had chugged a health potion.
“You asked for it, Weasel,” Izabeka muttered as she threw her chains forward.
Janus blinked past the attack and slashed Izabeka’s tight, but his shadow blade bounced against her hardened skin. The thick golden chains followed like bloodhounds, only stopping when Janus disappeared but quickly resuming the attack afterward. The man dodged, jumped, and blinked like his life depended on it. Izabeka’s strength had changed. She wasn’t a regular human anymore, not even one enhanced by the System, but something more, and Janus knew it too.
The chains hit the man, but even the damage of direct blows was mild in comparison to the slashes of the shadow blade. Izabeka was spending too much mana on her attack and defense, and I didn’t see her chains dealing a decisive blow any time soon. Over and over again, Janus slipped through the cracks of Izabeka’s attack and landed a powerful blow that shook the ground.
“Now!” Izabeka yelled, weaving the chains coming from both her hands and lunging at Janus.
“Pathetic,” Janus muttered and disappeared an instant before the impact. Then, he reappeared over Izabeka, and channeling a dangerous amount of mana around his blade, he buried the tip between her shoulder and collarbone.
The chains hit the shadow barrier, sending a shower of sparks and making a hole the size of a Skeeth. The day of light invaded the dark area. Captain Kiln grabbed Janus’ sword and pinned him in place. Instead of blinking away, he tried to recover his weapon.
“Run! Find Chieftain Alton!” Izabeka yelled, seemingly unfazed by the piece of iron deep into her body.
Before I could react, a golden chain wrapped around my chest and threw me through the hole. The chilling cold bit my face. I was outside, rolling on the floor. [Awareness] helped me determine which direction was up, so I jumped to my feet, but the darkness barrier regenerated. The fact Janus didn’t instantly chase me was proof enough that Izabeka was still alive inside. I forced myself to stick to the plan.
Elincia’s shared [Light-Footed] trait carried me through the city. Every time I meet a patrol, I send them in Captain Kiln’s direction under the false excuse of Forest Warden Saplings coming out of the ground. None of the mid-level soldiers could ever harm Janus, but they were witnesses, and Janus couldn’t kill them all without raising suspicion. I steeled my heart and ran towards the Eastern gate. Only [Awareness] and the vague hope Captain Kiln was safe kept me from panicking.
I turned around the corner and bumped into a wall where it shouldn’t be. I fell on my ass and massaged my nose. To my relief, it wasn’t broken.
“Found him, Z!” The wall said.
I recognized Risha’s voice.
“What are you doing here?!” I asked, looking around. [Awareness] told me we were alone, but I didn’t trust the skill to detect a Void Jumper.
“I felt you were in danger, so Miss Elincia sent us both,” Zaon replied without stuttering once. “What’s happening?”
I cursed my ancestors for my luck and the System for allowing fifteen-year-olds to have access to Classes.
“Janus is our man. He’s targeting Zaon, Firana, and me,” I said as my mind rushed. “Go back and stay close to Captain Garibal. I need to find Chieftain Alton.”
I turned around and ran down the cobbled path. There wasn’t time to lose, yet I heard the two sets of steps behind me. I stopped in my tracks.
“Do as I said,” I said.
“I’m not returning to the orphanage. If Janus wants me dead, I will not endanger the others,” Zaon said, matching my pace.
I hated to admit he was right. Zaon and Firana were a risk for the rest of the orphanage.
“Come with me, Zaon,” I said. “Risha, it’s up to you to pass on the bad news. Tell Elincia. She will know what to do.”
Risha gave me a painful look but ultimately nodded. “You got it, Big Dog.”
We split. Zaon guided me through the city, using his detection skills to avoid the rogue undead hidden in the alleys. The Eastern Gate was nearby. Out of nowhere, Zaon stopped me and put his finger against his lips.
“We have company,” he whispered.
I prepared my mana blade without letting a single speck of mana come out from my body. I ruled out the possibility for our company to be Janus as Zaon couldn’t detect him as a Level 1 Sentinel. Then, I heard the voices, and my blood froze.
“I swear my Spirit Animal saw them around here,” Ilya complained.
“An orc detection ritual wouldn’t have missed them,” Wolf replied.
I signaled Zaon to remain silent. We couldn’t involve them. As long as they remained away from Janus, he would have no reason to kill them.
Then, Firana, in her red billowy cape, landed in front of us.
“Found them!” She yelled and an instant later, Wolf and Ilya joined us.
I looked around. There was no sign of Janus or other pursuers.
“Why are you here?” I angrily asked.
“I saw Zaon and Risha leaving. We are here to save you,” Firana said, proudly puffing her chest.
My soul dropped to my feet, but [Awareness] told me this was all my fault. As usual, the skill was in the right. Classroom discipline has always been my weak point as a teacher. I wondered if things would’ve been different if I had put my boot down since the very beginning.
“You aren’t supposed to be here. Return to the orphanage right now! That’s an order!” I said.
“We are adults, Rob,” Ilya replied.
“You are barely more than little kids with magic powers!” I snapped back, shutting down any complaints. “Firana, Zaon, with me. Ilya and Wolf, you return to the orphanage and talk to Risha.”
Ilya recoiled as if I had slapped her across the face.
“I’m not going anywhere. If Firana is coming, I will too,” the gnome girl said. Then, I noticed Byrne’s shotgun strapped around her chest next to the Cooldown Bow. At least they hadn’t been so careless to get out without a way of dealing with monsters. Did Elincia send them too?
“Give me that,” I said and grabbed the bag of shells from Ilya’s hands. “Janus has a Prestige Class, and he is trying to get us killed. I want you to be safe. Go to the orphanage, and if Janus appears, play dumb. He will not leave a blood trail.”
This time, Ilya froze.
“I-I won't abandon my family,” she stuttered.
I massaged my temples. Damned be the gnomes and their loyalty. I took a deep breath and stopped for a moment to plan my next steps. Ilya and Wolf already knew about us. They wouldn’t be safe even if they returned to the orphanage, as Janus could try to crack them. The key piece in this debacle was Chieftain Alton. Captain Kiln was right. If someone could hunt down a Prestige Class, it was another Prestige Class.
“Alright, Ilya. Use your Spirit Animal. We are looking for Chieftain Alton in the watchtower south of the pass into the Farlands,” I said as I resumed the march towards the Eastern Gate.
Ilya summoned a small mana sparrow and threw it to the sky.
A groan came from deep below, and the bells began to toll.
“The Forest Warden!” Zaon said.
“Run. We need to get out of the city,” I replied.
Everything had turned to the worst. I channeled my mana and summoned my flying mana blades. Every time something similar to a root appeared near us, I slashed it down before it could turn into a Sapling. The kids hadn’t enough strength to fend them off yet. Back in the arena, even mid-level warriors had trouble against them. The ground trembled as more and more roots emerged, sometimes blocking our path like solid walls, others just coiling around buildings. Soon I learned it was faster to ignore them.
“Patrols are gathering in the Western District, I think,” Zaon said.
“They are,” Ilya replied, closing her eyes and letting Wolf guide her through the street. “There are several strange blooms growing from the roots.”
Roots turned into Saplings before us, but Firana and I mowed them down. The flames from the Aias Sword roared in anger, and Firana did her best to keep the weapon under control. Ilya figured out that the monsters were gathering around the blooms, so our path was mostly clear. We exited the city and headed down the dirt road northeast of town. The farmlands were dead, and the ground was frozen. Tree-size roots had destroyed a windmill, and the whole area around the city was turned into an undead graveyard.
We ran north, and shortly after, we reached the watchtower. Most of the royal army was inside the city as the Forest Warden wasn’t coming from the Farlands but from underneath. I was worried about the other undead, but no Wraiths or Harpies had appeared yet.
“It looks empty,” Ilya said as I cut down a lone Sapling. She summoned a small white fox and sent them forward. A moment later, she shook her head.
We climbed the ladder just to find an empty room.
“There’s just Sentinel stuff. Cloaks, tents, preserved food,” Wolf pointed out.
There was no indication of where Chieftain Alton had gone, but if I had to guess, he was in the city fighting the Forest Warden.
“Let’s rest for a moment,” I said, returning to the ladder. “Firana, we stand guard.”
We climbed down, as we were the only ones equipped to deal with Saplings but all the roots around us seemed to be dead. I sat against one of the wooden columns and closed my eyes. What now? Trying to reach Prince Adrien? It wasn’t a good idea. Janus had more value for the royalist faction. A person who could bypass a Fortifier’s barrier would be a powerful ally, more powerful than the Caretaker of a rundown orphanage. I sighed and buried my head between my knees. Maybe I should’ve taken the shotgun and gone to help Captain Kiln, but I couldn’t change the past, no matter how much I wished for it.
Firana sat beside me and leaned against my shoulder. Her silence worried me.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
For a moment, I had let my weakness show.
“When I’m with you, I know everything will be fine,” Firana replied.
I used to feel like that when I was around my father, but he was gone now, and I was the only one standing between the kids and Janus.
“We have company!” Ilya yelled.
I ran up the stairs. Down the road, a wounded Janus led a group of a dozen guardsmen, and they were already halfway between the city and the tower. Where was Izabeka? [Awareness] pushed that question to the back burner of my mind. I needed to focus on the imminent danger. If Janus managed to convince a group of guardsmen to follow him, that meant they didn’t know Janus was an enemy. Captain Kiln might be dead. I cursed and checked my pocket. There was enough ammo to mow the group down, but then what? Let the Marquis give me the death penalty for killing the city’s armed forces during a Monster Surge? No. I wanted to live a long life with Elincia and the kids.
“What should we do?” Zaon asked.
The sun set over the mountains, and a cold wave washed over the valley.
“Take everything you can. We leave in five,” I said.
Without arguing, the kids readied their backpacks with the Sentinel’s supplies. There was no doubt in their movements, just blind faith in my judgment. Five minutes later, our backpacks were loaded with everything we needed to survive outdoors. I looked at the kids, and a wave of pride hit me. I couldn’t hope for a better company.
“Let’s go,” I said.
As the afternoon became night, Ice Wraiths poured down from the mountains, Undead Harpies filled the sky, and old skeletons raised from the earth, but instead of running to the safety of the city walls, we headed towards the Farlands.