Just as Zoe stepped over the threshold, a hand wrapped around her chest and yanked her back. Another hand joined it, clasping down over her mouth.

“I’ve got her!” The guildsmaster yelled, “Drop it as soon as we’re —”

His words cut off as Zoe set herself on fire.

To her immense surprise, he still clung on instead of letting go. Wrestling her backwards with immense strength, he kicked her legs out from under her and they collapsed to the ground. An enormous boulder slammed down to the ground just mere inches in front of them, cracking the rock beneath.

Finally, the guildsmaster let go. Zoe leapt to her feet.

The older man’s furs were blackened and charred, but he himself didn’t look too much worse for wear. Well, half of his face was horribly burned, but he was already scarred anyway. Also, Zoe had by now seen much worse.

And then he did a roll and a backflip, landing on his feet with stunning agility.

Several more people dropped down around them. What the fuck is going on this time?

Whirling around, Zoe counted three additional opponents. Two women and a man. The first two looked like twins, each dressed in slick black leathers and sporting an assortment of blades. The last was huge and bald. Wearing nothing but some trousers and a tunic, he looked like a club bouncer. Except usually bouncers don’t drop car sized boulders over the entrance and then jump people from above.

“I thought she was just a healer,” the big guy said in a surprisingly high pitched, reedy voice.

“She’s a worldwalker you idiot, they always have two paths,” one of the ninja-looking women spat.

The big guy scratched his head. “Oh, right. I forgot about that. And I was just reading a romance between one of them and this unawakened peasant girl. You know, I think you would like it, Jane. There’s this one part where —”

“Idiots!” The guildmaster roared, “she’s probably already analyzed all of us and put together a plan!”

Zoe had, in fact, analyzed them and put together a plan.

{Elementalist (Lightning) - 52}

{Blade Dancer - 27}

{Blade Dancer - 27}

{Scholar - 35}

The plan was simple: punch the guildsmaster as hard as she could and then sprint towards the elevator while on fire. What could go wrong?

A bolt of electricity struck her square in the chest, immediately revealing how her plan could go wrong. She flew backwards, hitting the rock wall hard and collapsing down to the ground. Looking down, she blinked. There was a charred spot on her chest, still crackling with sparks of electricity. It hurt, but not very bad. She blinked again. This is not how lightning is supposed to work!

“Alright, let’s bag her,” the guildsmaster said as he strode forward. The two twins followed, and the big guy, who was a scholar for some reason, just stood still and looked around as if not sure what to do.

She returned her attention to the most dangerous opponent while simultaneously activating {Heal Wound}.

“— and why the hell didn’t you jump on her?”

One of the ninja twins glared at the guildsmaster. “Because she had just set herself on fire? I saw what she did to you. She must be a fire mage or some shit.”

“That wasn’t normal fire.”

At the last moment, Zoe pumped mana through her body with {Physical Enhancement} to leap up at the elementalist and aim a {Kinetic Strike} at his skull.

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He dodged.

A bolt of lightning struck her side, flinging her against the boulder now blocking the enchanted door. Groaning, Zoe immediately stood up and activated {Heal Wound}. She checked her mana.

{Mana: 162 / 190}

Not bad.

She would still have to end this quickly.

“Go on, stick her with a knife or something. I don’t want to keep wasting mana on nonlethal attacks.”

Zoe scowled. She was not a waste of mana. With a smirk, she realized that her perk {Last Defiance} hadn’t activated. That meant she had a decent chance.

“Don’t give me that look!” The guildsmaster scowled back and shot her with another bolt.

This time, Zoe was prepared. A combination of {Physical Enhancement} and {Kinetic Manipulation} applied to her whole body held her in place, though just barely. The latter started draining her mana at an alarming rate as the guildsmaster continued channeling lightning into her raised arms — which was kind of starting to really hurt.

{You have learned Lightning Resistance!}

{Mana: 98 / 190}

Fucking hell.

Just as Zoe saw one of the twins dashing towards her, she put everything she had into {Kinetic Manipulation} while pushing as hard as she could with her mana-infused muscles.

{Physical Enhancement has leveled up! Physical Enhancement is now level 2.}

{Kinetic Manipulation has leveled up! Kinetic Manipulation is now level 3.}

{Confluence between Physical Enhancement and Kinetic Manipulation detected.}

{You have learned Kinetic Enhancement!}

Three things happened at once. First, the guildsmaster stopped channeling his lightning. Second, the blade dancer closed in right in front of her. Third, Zoe launched forward with barely controlled momentum, slamming into the other woman with a great degree of force.

They tumbled over each other in a heap. Please land on top. Rolling to a stop, they brushed against the wall and the other woman straddled her. Pulling out a knife, she held it to Zoe’s throat. “Playtime’s over, Kitten.”

Zoe’s brain struggled to come up with a clever retort. She wasted several seconds grasping for something, anything, and footsteps were drawing nearer. She glared. “This cat has claws, bitch.”

She set herself on fire. As the other woman screamed and slit her throat, all Zoe could think was That sounded fucking stupid.

Activating {Heal Wound} was honestly hardly necessary, as the healing power of her {Cleansing Hellfire} seemed to be doing more than enough.

{You have been envenomed! Condition is critical!}

Fuck.

Zoe pushed her flames higher and brighter.

{You have learned Venom Resistance!}

{Condition is critical!}

Zoe realized she could hardly move. {Heal Wound}!

{Venom Resistance has leveled up! Venom Resistance is now level 2.}

{Condition is critical!}

It wasn’t enough. Numbness crept through her extremities.

With a great strain of her willpower, Zoe forced the fire inside of herself. Flames poured through her orifices, into her ears, up her nose, down her throat. It was no longer soothing or comfortable. It burned, burned like drinking gasoline. But a fire spread back into her limbs, and the system rewarded her with a message.

{Venom Resistance has leveled up! Venom Resistance is now level 3.}

{Venom Resistance has leveled up! Venom Resistance is now level 4.}

{Venom Resistance has leveled up! Venom Resistance is now level 5.}

She activated {Medicinal Diagnosis}.

{Condition: healthy, low mana.}

The flames died down, and Zoe grinned. Peeling away the blackened embers of the corpse on top of her, she sat up. And then she started to snack.

The other three opponents were facing away from her now. The two men appeared to be consoling the other twin — the one that was still alive. For now. Sobs echoed across the tunnel, mixed in with choking sounds and even a guttural cry.

“Well that’s just fucking great,” Zoe heard the guildsmaster say, “we killed the fucking bounty.”

“She killed herself,” the heavyset scholar said, “it’s not Jane’s fault.”

“Give me her corpse,” the remaining woman said as she broke free from the restraints of the other two. Catching sight of Zoe, she froze.

Chewing, Zoe swallowed another crispy bit of flesh. A bit well-done, obviously, but she had to admit that the charcoal flavor did make her wonderfully nostalgic for her dad’s barbeque.

{+83 Mana}

Rising to her feet, she carefully picked up one of the dead woman’s daggers. As for the other twin, she was practically foaming at the mouth. “How are you not dead?” she seethed, “that venom should have eaten you alive by now.”

Instead of answering, Zoe flipped the dagger around and stabbed herself in the thigh before yanking it back out. And then she stabbed herself again. And again. And again.

{Venom Resistance has leveled up! Venom Resistance is now level 6.}

{Venom Resistance has leveled up! Venom Resistance is now level 7.}

{Venom Resistance has leveled up! Venom Resistance is now level 8.}

The dagger clattered to the floor, and Zoe smiled. “Perks of being a healer, I guess.”

With a roar, the other woman charged. Zoe rolled her eyes. What kind of person attacks the girl who just dominated their doppelganger? Well, at least she’d get to properly test out her new skill {Kinetic Enhancement}.

Fueled by devoured mana, Zoe leapt forward, fist cocked and ready.

{You have leveled up! You are now level 20.}

The notification came before either of them even hit the ground.