The essence I’d drawn in from Priest Kane’s Water Manipulation Skill coursed through me like a heavy and warm internal wind. The streams of essence spoke to me as they swirled within my Soul. They did so in whispers and images, teaching me how to cast the Priest’s spell.

I threw my hand in front of my face in the same fashion as the Priest had when he’d cast the spell. In my mind, I commanded the water and the essence to obey me. I pictured a giant hammer with a wide handle, similar to the ones Gerald and the other Blacksmiths used when forging.

As soon as I finished casting the spell with the motion of my fingers crossing in front of my nose, just as Priest Kane had done, the Priest’s water sword morphed into a water version of a Blacksmith hammer, just as I had pictured it. But this one was made entirely of water and about five times as large.

Before Priest Kane could process what had happened, I internally commanded the hammer to crash down on his head.

Priest Kane’s legs crumpled underneath him, and he fell to the ground before he could catch himself. I called the water to me and stood with a magical water hammer and my spear at each side.

“How–” Priest Kane tried to rise from the ground, arms shaking underneath his weight. “How did you do that? You are just a Tier 1! How do you have my Skill?”

My lips tilted up into a crooked smile. “I’m a Tier 2, actually. And wouldn’t you like to know?”

Sarina charged at Priest Kane again, but he rolled out of the way, dirtying his robes in the process. His Vitality must have been very strong, for he was able to pull himself back into a standing position after the roll and look almost as healthy as he had before my water hammer strike.

Just as I pushed forward to charge, the Priest waved his hand, changed my hammer back into a sword, and commanded it to swing at my neck. I careened to the left and ducked underneath the massive blade of water.

“Codex!” I called in my mind. “How long until I can use my Tier 2 Skill again?”

“Calculating… with the help of your Skill Recharge Ring, you have four more minutes.”

Okay, I thought to myself, I just have to stay alive for four more minutes before I can steal another spell.

“Codex?” I called to the AI again. “Can I activate Skills I have already stolen, even if the person I stole it from doesn't cast it again?”

“Yes, Master. All spells you cast with your Tier 2 Skill become a part of you. You can use any Skill you have stolen. And I can help you remember what those Skills are as you gather them, if needed.”

I couldn’t stop the burgeoning grin on my face that came from that information, even as Priest Kane threw his water sword at me over and over again. But my adrenaline flowed strongly, and I dodged every strike.

I shifted my focus completely on the fight and watched as the Priest tried to cast another spell, all while slinging his sword at Sarina and me. My cooldown time hadn’t completed yet, and I didn’t know what Skill Priest Kane was trying to activate, but I knew something else I could do to hinder his spellcasting intentions.

A blossoming of essence clouded around the Priest as he attempted to cast a spell, and I called out to the streams. Every bit of it sped away from the Priest and entered through my outstretched hand.

Priest Kane’s water sword stopped for a second, faltering so much in the air that it started to fall. The Priest’s dark brows drew together in confusion, but he shook his head and flicked a finger, summoning a second water sword before I could do anything. However, the summoning seemed to have exhausted Priest Kane, and the second sword was much smaller than the first. I had taken away his spell’s effectiveness by stealing his essence.

I moved to attack but was stopped as Priest Kane’s strength seemed to return with just one long inhale of breath. Both water swords continued to swing at Sarina and me with just as much speed as ever.

I met eyes with Sarina as soon as I dodged another swing from the swords, and she nodded in understanding. We dashed toward the Priest from both sides. His head darted back and forth as we came at him, as if he tried to decide who was the bigger threat. But that didn’t seem to matter.

With another flick of his finger, Priest Kane split both water swords into two smaller ones, creating four in total, and flung two at each of us. I side-stepped the blades but barely. Bits of water droplets splashed into my face as the swords whizzed by me, just centimeters away from my cheek.

I continued charging for Priest Kane but was stopped in my tracks at what I saw next.

Sarina lay on the ground at the Priest’s feet, facedown in the dirt and motionless, red blood pooling underneath her head.

“No,” I breathed. “No!”

Was she hit? How did I miss that?

Surprisingly, Priest Kane allowed me to push past him as I slid on my knees to reach Sarina. I couldn’t think of anything else but helping her. I dropped my spear and gingerly lifted her head into my hands, whimpering at the warm blood wetting my hands as I did.

“Sarina?” I croaked.

I turned her entire body into my arms and gasped at the gaping, bloody hole in her abdomen. Her robes were soaked, both from the massive amounts of blood that continued to spill from her wound and from the water swords that had both stabbed through her entire torso and splashed all over her from the impact.

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I brought two fingers underneath her chin and felt desperately for a pulse. Nothing. Suddenly, I had forgotten all of my hatred toward her. All I could think about was that I didn’t want to know a life without her in it. Sarina had been my closest friend–no, more than that. There had been moments where I had wanted… us to be more.

Priest Kane had manipulated her. None of this was her fault. She had lived a life similar to mine–ostracized for having UnMarked parents. She’d just wanted to feel needed–important. And she’d thought Priest Kane had given that to her.

I pressed my nose into Sarina’s neck and choked back a sob.

“See what you did, Rayden?” Priest Kane clicked his tongue and stepped toward me. “So much unnecessary bloodshed.”

I ground my teeth and clenched my fists around Sarina’s bloodied robes.

“The Nagari are about to overtake the city under my command.”

The Priest placed a mock sympathetic hand on my shoulder. I tensed at his touch and caught sight of one of his still-intact water swords hovering dangerously close to my neck.

“There is no hope, Rayden. You can’t kill me. And the Edronans are outnumbered. The Nagari will kill all of the Marked, and soon only the few UnMarked and the children will be all that’s left. I can start anew! With an entire army of Nagari to heed my every command!”

His words sounded distant. I could only stare into Sarina’s beautiful, serene face. She looked like she was sleeping. Though I had hated her for what she’d done, she chose to save me in the end. Just another person on the growing list of dead people I could never repay.

“You hear that?” Priest Kane pointed to the west, where the sounds of a large battle drew nearer. “The Nagari will make it to the square any minute now. They won't hurt me, but how will you fight an army of thousands by yourself? Somany have already fallen.”

“Ten seconds, Master,” Codex said.

Priest Kane continued talking, “If you leave this city and never return, I’ll spare you. And I promise to not send any Nagari after you. You can run–run far away and never look back.”

I gently placed Sarina’s body back on the ground.

“I don’t have to show you mercy, boy. But I’m willing to. Go! Run!”

“One second, Master.”

Priest Kane started cackling again. As soon as he threw his head back and laughed into the sky, I flicked rapid fingers in front of my face and took control of his water sword. Then, within half a second, I commanded the sword to thrust itself deep into Priest Kane’s throat.

***

I was still on my knees in paralyzed shock when the Nagari army began trickling into the square. I sat in between the two bodies stained red from their blood. A few Edronans still fought against the advancing lines. I caught sight of both Gerald and Korin in the mix, but I couldn’t see anyone else I knew all that well.

The Edronan numbers were dwindling exponentially, one falling every few seconds as the snake people tore through anyone who stood in their way.

All I could see was red. The red blood belonging to both Sarina and Priest Kane drying on my hands and armor, the red blood shooting into the air as one Edronan after another fell to the wrath of the Nagari army….

With Priest Kane gone, would the creatures slaughter everyone? Even the children hiding in their homes?

The screams of fear and pain were horrific, and the Nagari were drawing closer to me, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.

“Master, you must leave.”

I didn’t respond to Codex.

“Master, your time in Edrona is done. You must go where you can continue your journey and strive to become the next Lord Solomon. This is your purpose.”

A single tear dripped off of my nose. “They’re all dead, Codex. Everyone I loved.” I glanced at Sarina’s broken body and shuddered with sobs. “They’re gone.”

“Leave, Master. There is nothing here for you anymore. But first, you must hastily retrieve the cores of your fallen opponents. The core from the Tier 3 Priest will especially aid you in the beginning of your journey.”

I tried to swallow, but my mouth had gone dry. “I’m not doing that.”

“Master, it is vital that you harvest all of the essence you can at every moment. In order to ascend to godhood, it is the only way.”

“I don’t care!” I yelled aloud, struggling to look away from Sarina’s lifeless face. I couldn’t even think about mutilating her body and digging for her core.

But Priest Kane…

Codex had gone silent after my outburst, leaving my mind at peace, even if just for a moment. I wiped an armored glove under my runny nose and crawled over to the Priest’s bloodied body. He lay mangled on the dusty ground, spiritless brown eyes staring up at the sky and neck teetering precariously off of his shoulders from the blow that had killed him.

Priest Kane had a simple dagger sheathed at his waist. I pulled his red robes aside and pulled the sheath away from his belt. I slid the dagger out from the sheath and found my reflection in its polished blade. I looked terrible. Streaks of red blood mixed in with my dark curls, and dots of the same red freckled my tired face.

I buckled the dagger’s sheath on my own belt, then grasped the emerald jewels circling the silver hilt of the blade with both hands.

What happened next went by in a blur. I barely even remember sinking the dagger into the Priest’s abdomen and harvesting his core. All I know is that I came out of the bloody mess with a new dagger and the core from a Tier 3 Priest tucked safely away with my loot from the Tier 4 Nagari.

None of the oncoming Nagari army had noticed me yet. They were still about a mile away from where I sat and were focused on tearing down the Edronans standing in their way.

I lifted my spear from the ground and forced myself into a standing position.

“It is now time to leave, Master. You must hurry,” Codex insisted, breaking its prolonged silence.

“What about them?” I said to Codex, talking about the Edronans fighting. “And all of their children? The poor children. Shouldn’t I help them?”

“Master, you will surely die if you try to help. Based on my knowledge of human emotion, I can understand why that is a saddening thought, but you cannot help them. The best thing you can do is to continue your journey. There will be plenty of other people to help along your future path.”

My feet moved from underneath me, and I soon found myself facing the east. I had no idea where I would go. I had never been more than five miles away from Edrona, and I didn’t know what else there could be on this wasteland of a planet. The Lord Solomon AI had revealed to me that there were millions–billions of worlds out there, but…

“Where am I supposed to go, Codex? And how do I get there?”

“Do not worry, Master. I will lead you.”

I forced my legs forward, reality slowly beginning to strike me as the menacing Nagari drew closer. Finally, I broke into a jog, then a sprint. Soon, I found myself outside of the Edronan borders.

I slowed for just a second, tempted to look back.

“Keep going, Master. Edrona is no more.”

I nodded, not knowing if Codex could see the gesture or not, then continued my trek east. I didn’t know what else could be waiting out there for me. What sights I could see, what experiences I could have…. But all I could think to do in that moment, amid my heavy grief and the growing cold clutching my heart, was to force my steps forward and somehow trust in the AI embedded in my head.