Jace and Kinfild marched along the walkway as fast as they could, leaving the great hall behind them. The spaceport towered ahead of them, now. They just had to get back to the Luna Wrath, and then they could set off again.

It didn’t stop Jace from looking over his shoulder, or glancing around at every dark crevice and alley that they passed. Shadowy creatures lurked in the darkness below, waiting for the sun to drop further behind the buildings before they could pounce out and attack anyone out on the streets too late.

But there was something stronger chasing them, this time. Lady Fairynor said the Watchmen were nearby.

Jace's hands began to tremble. He clenched his fists, then deceased to place one hand on the pommel of his Whistling Blade, mostly just to keep it still and steady.

A golden sheet swirled into existence in front of him, bobbing up and down as he walked. [Subquest available: Kill One (1) Watchman. Reward: Twenty (20) Standard Aes Units]

He whispered, “Accept,” mainly to make it go away. But the extra reward wouldn’t hurt if they got into a fight. “Now you think I’m ready, hm? Or you’re just tired of them hunting me, too?”

No response came.

“Fine.” Sooner than later, he’d have to deal with them. May as well be now.

But that tended to mean one was nearby to kill. His heart began to beat faster.

They crossed an intersection. An entourage of repeller-cars roared overhead, and a sign flickered. A cafe to his left turned its lights on, and moments later, all of the streetlamps flashed to life. Jace flinched.

When the three brown-cloaked men stepped out onto the pathway ahead, he was ready. The same three Watchmen from the library.

“Kinfild…” Jace whispered.

“I see them,” Kinfild replied.

“And do you—”

“We would be wise to evade them—there is no need to fight them.”

“They’ll keep following us…”

“Then follow me,” whispered Kinfild.

At the intersection, Kinfild took an abrupt turn to the left, which Jace followed. The Watchmen were behind them, now, and Jace looked over his shoulder. “Kinfild, pick up the pace…”

“We don’t want—”

“You there!” the level twenty-one Watchmen called in a deep, booming voice. “Halt and present your identification!”

Jace and Kinfild didn’t stop.

“Halt!” the Watchman demanded. “You have passed through the Wall without permission, and you are suspected of aiding a light-aspect Wielder! If you do not submit—”

“Run,” Kinfild said. “If we get split up, meet me back at the Luna Wrath.”

Jace ripped his Whistling Blade out of its sheath, then took off down the walkway. Kinfild ran beside him. The evening crowds exclaimed in shock and fear, and pressed themselves against either the glass railing or the storefronts, allowing Jace and Kinfild through.

“Turn right, here!” Kinfild yelled. They turned onto a walkway that ran across the valley of buildings. A stream of repeller-cars shot along beneath them, and above, a smoke-chugging starship roared. Jace couldn’t hear Kinfild’s next instruction. He ran straight into the alleyway ahead, on the other side of the walkway, before realizing he had lost Kinfild.

Now wasn’t the time to panic. A pair of normal-sized alleycats with mangy fur, pure black eyes, and sickly red deer antlers approached—level two darklings. They snarled and hissed. Jace hacked through them both with the Whistling Blade and continued onwards.

The alley had to emerge somewhere. He hoped the darkness would conceal him from the Watchmen, but he had killed the two darklings. A faint puff of dust and sparks swirled around his chest, lighting up the alley.

Shouldn’t have done that.

One of the Watchmen broke off—the level eighteen one. He charged down the alleyway after Jace. He too had drawn his Whistling Blade, an orange weapon that sang in a high-pitched tone as he ran.

Jace emerged from the alleyway. This time, he stepped onto an old roadway that had been converted into a market. Tarp-covered market stalls filled the asphalt plaza, and people milled about. As soon as they saw Jace and the Watchman, they scattered.

The Watchman stomped and held his hand out. He snapped up a technique card from the air—before Jace could even see what it was. Shadows leaked out of the alley behind him, gathering on his fingers, before he thrust his arm out. An arc of dark Aes blasted through the air towards him.

Jace leapt to the side just in time. The blast of shadow and void continued onwards. It tore through a market stall behind him, spattering him with the guts of an exotic fruit.

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He scrambled to his feet and kept running. When he looked up, past the edge of the nearby buildings, the dome of the spaceport beckoned him. He dashed between market stalls and the evening shoppers. The Watchman followed, activating his technique card within seconds of the previous use and flinging shadowy crescents at Jace.

Jace scrambled around a market stall filled with old kyborg parts. Just ahead, he spotted an enclosed stall—a perfect place to hide. A column of steam rose from its red fabric roof, along with the smell of roasting meat. The counters and walls were tall enough to hide him.

He used a hyperdash to launch himself away, and to pass unhindered through the walls of the stall. He appeared inside the market stall, and immediately, pressed himself tight against the ground. He had been out of the Watchman’s direct line of sight when he used the dash. Hopefully, he would have just disappeared from the Watchman’s view.

“Hey!” the stall’s owner, a humanoid man with hair made of glass, shouted.

“Quiet, quiet!” Jace whispered. “Please, sir!” A trail of golden dust had followed him into the stall, and it floated through the air. Jace willed it to settle faster. A cooking timer rested on the counter, and if the dial told time as he knew it, there were about two minutes left before it went off. It wouldn’t take that long for the dust to settle, would it? His foot trembled in his boot.

The man looked up, then around, then back at Jace. Softly, he asked, “Got in trouble with the Watchmen, eh?”

Jace nodded.

“Not too fond of them, myself.” The man chuckled, then looked away from Jace and returned to the counter. He was making some sort of food. Jace watched the process—there was nothing to do but watch, look up, and hope the Watchman didn’t find him.

A shadow passed in front of the stall. The Watchman. His eyes scanned the stall. “Where did he go?” he demanded in a booming voice. “A young man, blonde—”

The Watchman cut himself off. He held out his hand, and one of the last remnants of Jace’s golden trail landed in his palm. “In here!” the Watchman yelled, then activated his technique card and blasted the counter away with a pulse of shadow. Shards of wood, metal, and pastry exploded into the air, and the old starship thruster that the shopkeeper had been using to grill meat sputtered out.

The Watchman charged into the stall. Jace kicked the man’s knees, then pushed him into the remains of the steaming rotisserie. The man’s hands clasped the hot starship thruster, and he bellowed with rage and pain.

Jace was already running. He bolted out of the stall, then across the market and towards another alley. He could escape! He was almost—

Something struck him in the shoulder. It was the most powerful punch he had ever felt, and it flung him through the air. He crashed through the patio of a nearby restaurant, then collided with the wall. The guests, dressed in their fancy suits and dresses, all leapt to their feet and scattered.

Jace groaned, then rolled onto his back. The Watchman approached, a new technique card hovering over his left hand. Shadows whirled around his right hand, his sword hand, clinging to his skin and darkening his veins.

Jace focussed on the card. [Technique Card: Blackvein (Rare) (Fortification) (Compatible Class: All) (Compatible Aspects: Shadow, Void)]

Jace pushed himself to his feet with the help of a hovering wooden table, then looked side-to-side.

But there was no time to run. The Watchman leapt forward, taking powerful, fast strides towards Jace. He raised his Whistling Blade, ready to swing it and cleave Jace in half. Its cutting edge glowed white.

Jace raised his own sword and swung it so its own edge would heat up. The two cutting edges collided, and when they struck, they screeched in a dissonant tone.

The Watchman, despite being about the same size and build as Jace, pushed Jace’s sword down into the cobblestones of the patio with ease—even using only one hand. A Fortification technique must have additionally strengthened the user’s body.

Jace tried to step back, but his back pressed against the white stone wall behind him. The Watchman stabbed with his sword, but Jace ducked. The orange blade pierced the wall. Jace rolled to the side, avoiding the next strike as the Watchman swept his weapon to the side.

Jace couldn’t run. Sure, his hyperdash made him fast, but only for a short distance. With the blackvein fortification, the Watchman would catch up. Jace had to fight.

But the Watchman didn’t know about Jace’s technique cards. The Watchman didn’t know Jace had a dash…almost ready.

If he could survive until it completely charged, he could use a single dash to get away, then swap his cards and reset himself, then use another dash again and place himself to strike a winning blow.

Just survive long enough. Kill him before he can kill you. Simple enough.

The Watchman spun his sword, slashing upward at Jace. Jace deflected the blade, but just barely. He stumbled to the side, and only managed to duck away from the Watchman’s follow-up in time to protect his head. The Watchman’s blade cut a burning gash through Jace’s calf.

Jace inhaled through gritted teeth. He didn’t know how much longer he had, but…it had been a minute, at least. Just a little longer.

He retaliated with a punch. His fist collided with the Watchman’s mouth, and the man’s teeth tore through his knuckles. But it hurt the Watchman more. The man reeled, swinging wildly at Jace.

Jace ducked under a broad swipe, then raised his sword and parried the next blow. The force of the Watchman’s swipes made his bones tremble, and it made his muscles itch. He staggered back into another hovering table, knocking porcelain plates and crystal wine glasses onto the ground. The Watchman swung down at his head, but Jace rolled aside. The blade sliced clean through the table and cleaved it in half.

That had to be enough time.

Jace looked up, then targeted the empty, open space on the other side of the Watchman. He launched himself away, as far as he could get.

The Watchman turned around immediately. Jace swapped his technique cards and activated his cooldown reset, then swapped back to the Hyperdash.

It’d activate right away. He locked onto the area right behind the Watchman and flashed through the air, phasing straight through the man. An instant later, his body returned to realspace, with a physical form once more.

Jace thrust his Whistling Blade forward. The glowing white edge pierced clean through the Watchman’s chest and emerged from the other side, coated in boiling blood. He ripped it out to the side, then hacked the Watchman’s head off.

The Watchman collapsed. Jace ripped the Whistling Blade free, wincing as a blazing heat surged into his chest. Aes surged into his body, and he backed away from the corpse.

The blackvein technique card tumbled out of the Watchman’s hand. Jace snatched it up, even if it didn’t have a compatible aspect. He might be able to do something with it still.

A sheet appeared in front of him, notifying him of a completed subquest. He barely paid attention to it.

He had to get back to the Luna Wrath. He leapt over a table and centered the spaceport in his vision, then sprinted away down the nearest alley.