“Where are we going?”

“Be quiet!”

Ironically, Alexander’s shout was even louder than Zoe’s question. As the pair sprinted through the tunnel, wails and screams echoed from behind them. Zoe nearly lost her footing twice, despite the evenness of the floor. It was quite smooth, however, and a layer of stone dust had accumulated that made it deceptively slippery.

“I’m pretty sure they know we’re here. Where are we going?”

The paladin shot her an angry look. “I don’t know.”

“Oh.”

They continued in silence for about half a minute. Or at least, neither spoke. Along with the screams, the sound of breaking stone and metal resounded throughout the dark underground space. Zoe knew all too well that it meant her fellow demons had escaped. Focusing on taking deep, steady breaths, she tried her best to match the pace of the paladin, but found that she was steadily lagging behind. No matter how much she pushed herself, the distance grew, and he showed no sign of slowing for her to catch up.

Grunting, Zoe used her {Mana Manipulation} to force mana into her legs and chest. It burned, and she staggered for a moment. But she kept running, and she kept pushing mana into her own body.

{You have learned Physical Enhancement!}

Well that was actually fantastic. Without bothering to read the ability description, Zoe activated the skill.

It wasn’t really all that different from what she had already been doing, except that it was automatic. Instead of concentrating on directing her mana, the ability did it for her. She just had to keep channeling it and endure the pain.

{Your body has exceeded its limits! You body has restored itself! Your body is adapting!}

Well that’s fucking great.

Zoe was about to activate {Heal Wound} when she saw that her mana was dangerously low — or at least, it had finally dipped down below her maximum capacity of sixty. It was painful, but she was still moving — in fact, she was just about to pass Alexander. If she got to the point where her body started degrading to the point that she actually lost functionality, then she would start healing.

But before then?

She would grit her teeth and bear it — as long as she had mana, that is. Speaking of which, how did it ordinarily regenerate?

As she peered into the darkness, she had a brief moment of panic where she thought the corridor ended in a dead end. Fortunately, as the pair neared, the radiance of Alexander’s armor revealed that it was just a bend. As they rounded it, Zoe risked a glance backwards.

She could see at least three or four shapes darting forward through the darkness. With just one brief glance it was hard to discern any details, but her mind nevertheless conjured up the impression of reptilian monkeys.

They were only a few dozen yards behind.

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

“We’re not going to outrun them.”

Zoe glanced over at Alexander. The paladin didn’t appear at all tired, and he was sprinting at exactly the same pace he had started at — or even faster — but he must have glanced backwards as well.

“Can’t you just kill them?” She wheezed.

“Definitely,” he grunted, “but I just wanted to be more efficient. Get to the cultists before they can flee.”

“Right.” She paused. “Because of course.”

“You keep going. I’ll take care of them and catch up.”

Fighting to keep the surprise and hope off of her face, Zoe glanced back at him. “You can handle it?”

“Can you?”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “Only one way to find out.”

Activating {Kinetic Manipulation}, she pivoted on one foot and punched through the face of the monstrosity lunging for the paladin’s back.

{Kinetic Strike has level up! Kinetic Strike is now level 2.}

The demon’s fangs raked across the skin of her forearm, drawing blood — but it was dead before it hit the ground.

{You have leveled up!}

For his part, Alexander didn’t look surprised. Instead, he drew his sword and cleaved another demon in two. “Go! Go find a safe place and stay hidden!”

Zoe didn’t have to be told twice. Pumping her body with more mana from {Physical Enhancement}, she pivoted back around and sprinted off down the corridor. Screams and wails continued to echo down the passageway — many of them cutting off halfway through. Alongside the noise, flashes of golden light illuminated the way ahead, though they grew fainter as she put additional distance between herself and the action.

As she sprinted around another bend, Zoe tried to wipe the blood off of her hand. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but it was obvious now, and rather irritating. Unfortunately, as soon as it touched the fabric, it sizzled and smoked, burning a hole straight through it.

Cursing, she yanked her hand back. She didn’t want to ruin her only clothing. Even if it were really, really shitty clothing. But why wasn’t it burning her skin? Her legs and chest were on fire from the raw demonic mana coursing through them, but the blood on her hand just felt wet. And sticky.

And then she had a really stupid thought.

She licked it.

Her next thought was Why does it taste fucking good?!

{+2 Mana.}

Oh.

Zoe was so surprised that she almost stopped running completely. Was that a demon thing? Was it because she was a demon, or because the monster was a demon, or did it have to be both?

In any case, that was pretty handy. And terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

All the more reason to get the fuck away from Alexander and whatever church or sect he was part of. If she were now some sort of bloodthirsty monster, that was something she needed to deal with on her own. It definitely wasn’t something she wanted other people interfering with — especially not religious types.

Coming to a fork in the passageway, Zoe chose the left passage at random. After a few more bends, forks, and intersections, she realized she had two problems: one, she might be lost. And two, she was pretty much out of mana.

Staggering to a stop, Zoe put her hands on her knees and heaved several deep breaths. Her legs weren’t just burning from exercise — it felt like something was seriously wrong with them. But she had to keep moving. Taking one step at a time, Zoe limped, and then staggered, walked, and then began to jog.

Tears welled up in her eyes. Without the mana remaining to sustain her {Physical Enhancement}, all the pain was there but none of the supernatural strength and energy. She needed to press forward on willpower alone.

{You have learned Pain Resistance!}

The first thing Zoe thought was Oh thank god, and then she realized that the pain hadn’t lessened in the slightest.

It was just easier to think through it. Well that’s not exactly what I’d prefer, but I guess I’ll take it.

Her jog picked up pace, even as her mouth ran dry. Unfortunately, she knew that she couldn’t sustain it for very long. No matter how much willpower she used, her body had limits.

Great. Just fucking great. I finally get away from the fucking paladin and then I die in a cave from exhaustion and dehydration.

What could she do to improve the situation? What tools did she have at her disposal? The most likely resource, she thought, was mana. She didn’t know how to make it regenerate — was it just time? But she did now know that killing things could give her at least a little.

Zoe chuckled. That was one thing that hadn’t been scarce in this godforsaken underground complex — enemies.

Now, she just needed to find something to kill.