Hemdal didn’t say another word and practically scurried away from the man in the doorway under the eyes of the new visitor. Kal watched him go before bringing his gaze back to the armored man and now that the pain was gone he felt the full brunt of the man’s presence.

The Fist of Dhinir stepped into Kal’s cell and his armor seemed to shine brighter, filling the room with golden light. Kal’s vision flashed across his spectrum of mana affinities against his will as his soul rose up in a sudden rage far greater than it was even with the Uton worshipper present.

Alavan Kelvore’s face was devoid of emotion and his eyes scanned Kal’s body and wounds that arisen from Hemdal’s skill. His hair was stark white, and his eyes glowed with divine golden light that Kal might have thought looked awe-inspiring if they weren’t the eyes of a Dhinir worshipper.

Alavan’s head tilted to the right slightly as he inspected Kal, “So. You are the one we were prepared to take? Interesting…” Alavan’s voice boomed through Kal’s mind despite its actual volume. His head straightened and he turned back to the corridor but looked over his shoulder, “It is a shame I did not get to see you kill.”

Without another word Alavan walked away, the cell door swinging shut on its own. It took longer than usual for the rage Kal felt to fade away but when it finally did, he let out a sigh of relief and let the chains of his Cuffs of Binding fall, “Who the fuck was that?”

Whoever he was, he was stronger. Not as strong as the Shadow Lord but there was a weight to his presence that Kal couldn’t quite put a finger on. If he hadn’t been so caught up in fighting his instincts Kal might have tried to question the man but Kal also had the feeling that the Fist of Dhinir wouldn’t have been interested in answering questions.

But in the end, Kal didn’t really care about the man. If it came down to it, he would definitely not be fighting the man one-on-one for some time, but Kal suspected he wouldn’t need to if he was from the capital. The thought brought a growl to Kal’s throat as he wondered if Alavan was involved in his sister’s capture.

Kal closed his eyes for a moment to focus his mind. There was no point fixating on how his sister was captured. What he needed to do was break out of this fucking place and take her with him. and when he opened them, he activated Eyes of the Slayer. It hadn’t been that long since he had used a skill but the rush of it activating was a welcome sensation compared to everything else, he had experienced.

His own eyes filled the cell with gold-marbled crimson light and as he had hoped from the moment he had access to it again once it was active he could see the final array. The moment his eyes fell on the fourth and final array how it was hidden finally clicked in Kal’s mind. It wasn’t an array at all.

Threads of golden light interwoven several threads of various other colors hovered just inches from the ground in a ring that was far less anchored than the rest. Five constructs of surprising complexity were spaced out evenly along its diameter and Kal could tell immediately that each had its own specific purpose just by the different resources woven into it.

“No, not an array. It’s a skill,” Kal muttered under his breath as he found what he was looking for. Among the constructs was one that seemed to be made solely of perception threads and was directly connected to the second array. He focused on the construct and its individual strands until he felt understanding slowly creep into his mind, “Well that explains it all…”

Someone among his captors must have a class specializing in arrays. The fourth array was actually some kind of long-term skill that was able to interact with pre-established arrays. This one specifically had several functions, but it also had a construct that was able to obfuscate the arrays it was attached to along with itself and its own constructs. The only weakness Kal could quickly identify was that the construct couldn’t hide itself besides hiding the entire skill’s mana presence.

In many ways, Kal had been lucky. Eyes of the Slayer only allowed him to see the skills, channels, affinity, and level of a person. If someone had managed the same effect on the array with a true physical array he doubted even Eyes of the Slayer would have let him see. Regaining the skill had given him more information but still not enough to start cutting threads right away.

Kal looked down at his chest to where his amulet hung just above his skin and matted with dark blood. With a gesture of will Kal felt the amulet respond immediately and with a grin, he sorted through the books he had so haphazardly dumped into his storage.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It took him a moment to find it but when he did his amulet flashed and the book appeared about a foot in front of his eyes. Kal whipped out a tendril of will to snatch it out of the air before it hit the ground and brought it closer to his face. When the light of his eyes washed over the book’s cover Kal’s grin vanished. The small white book with red, blue, and gold inlays was battered and worn from the passage of time but Kal’s eyes were focused on something else.

Jangalar’s Guide to Intermediate Array Structures and Implementation [Rare] [Critical Damage]

Within this tome, Jangalar describes the runes and knowledge required to become an Array Disciple in the Academies of ~~~~~~.

Warning: This item has suffered critical damage. Estimated loss of information: 74%

The book was no longer rectangular, one entire corner had been neatly sliced off as if by an incredibly sharp blade. Kal frowned and his anger rose again making his concentration begin to waver again. Kal began to flick through the pages with his will and his frown only deepened as he saw the extent of the damage. Each page had diagrams for what Kal figured was the recommended position of specific array runes but nearly every single one of them was neatly cut in half.

At that moment Kal felt he would have set the damned thing on fire if he had any wrath left instead his will lashed out and sent the book hurtling through the air with a crack. The book didn’t make it far and slammed to a halt in mid-air as if it had hit a stone wall. In his sudden fury, Kal barely noticed the single thread of golden light that darted from one of the array skill’s constructs but, he caught it.

“A barrier, of course,” Kal remembered seeing it already when he had lashed out against Hemdal. His soul's influence had been in control at the time so it was only a vague recollection, but it was clear that it also intercepted his will tendrils. Kal ground his teeth for a moment and reached out with his will and found the barrier's edge immediately and like when the book struck it a golden thread sprung into existence and prevented his tendril from going any further.

Kal increased the pressure he was applying to his will and several dozen more golden threads appeared to resist his tendril. As more appeared the construct that created them grew brighter until its light was uncomfortable to look at. Kal could have found the barrier without Eyes of the Slayer, but he would not have been able to see the feedback from his interactions with it.

He continued applying pressure and the skill continued to adapt but soon the golden threads connecting the construct to the rest of the skill began to glow with azure light. The light slowly moved along the threads around the skill before it reached another construct that was connected to another portion of the alarm array.

Kal withdrew his will and his grin returned. The barrier construct had a limit and if it received too much force it would notify the skill’s owner by activating the alarm array. On its own, that didn’t help Kal understand the skill and array combination, but it did give him another idea.

Reaching out with his will once more Kal grasped the barrier from multiple sides and this time instead of pushing willed the barrier closer. At first, nothing seemed to happen but then the entire cell was filled with golden light as the barrier threads shook in place. The pressure he applied warped the skill array inwards and several of the strands that had been obfuscated were separated from the main thread.

A separate construct flashed to life and another thread leading to the alarm array began to light up. Kal’s grin deepened. Two of the five constructs were just linking constructs to warn of internal and external forces trying to break the array. Several people had stepped through the array so it clearly had some kind of guide to distinguish between people and their equipment but that didn’t matter.

He had already ruled out three of the constructs. The last two would be more difficult but as he flexed the skill array their connecting threads were clear to see. There was a strict order of events if the alarm was triggered, and the barrier broken. All he needed to do was bypass the worst of it.

While he concentrated on watching the skill array’s threads change his anger didn’t fade but remained a constant pressure against his mind. His soul burned with the knowledge they apparently shared. Soon he would be free. Soon betrayer-touched will die.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could feel something in the air changing. His fear aura darkened and somewhere far above him, people began to scream. Some analytical part of him noticed that feeling but it was irrelevant to breaking free.

He would be free, and they would die. Soon his mind could rest, and his body could do as it was made for.

“Kill!”

Until his sister was safe. Then it could end.

“Never…”

With freedom in sight, Kal’s vision darkened, and the walls writhed. The transition between thought and furious will was so subtle he barely noticed. It felt as if he had just drawn his sword and a dreadful stillness settled over his mind and with that stillness, he couldn’t find the will to care.

Dalen staggered two steps and fell onto one knee, his injuries throbbing enough to make him see stars for a moment. Melisia did much the same a moment later while Leo stood tall in front of them both, seemingly unbothered by the teleportation.

They were standing at the edge of a clearing with the stacked stone walls of Serpent’s Rest. The Sceleti heat was as overwhelming here as it was everywhere else in Sceleti. They had landed somewhere to the east of the main entrance so most of the city was blocked from their sight by the city’s walls other than two monolithic towers, one black and one white but each equally sickening in Dalen’s eyes.

“Well! They haven’t blown us up yet so-” Dalen words faded away as Leo tensed suddenly. Dalen was about to ask what was wrong but then he saw it as well. A column, no dozens of columns of smoke rose into the sky all over the city, their sources were obscured by the walls but even at a glance Dalen could tell the fires had to be serious, “What the fuck is going on?!”

Melisia stepped up beside Leo, “It isn’t Kal. We would be able to feel it if it was.”

“Then what is it?” Dalen cursed as the smoke increased dramatically but before anyone could answer hundreds of golden bolts arced through the air, forming channels in the smoke as they surged back toward the ground. Screams of pain and death finally reached them over the walls.

Dalen ground his teeth, “Dhinir!”