“What?!?!” Lydia shouted as she bolted towards me. “Noah, talk to me, what's going on?!?!”
“That girl on stage. I know her, she was one of my students.”
“How is that possi… Are you sure?”
“Very.”
Again, I leaned heavily into Meditation.
‘Inhale, Exhale. Inhale, Exhale. This is not the time to lose it, Noah. Clear your mind. You need to plan.’
Congratulations, You have unlocked the Ability: Battle Trance.
Battle Trance: An evolved form of the skill Meditation that can be activated when the user is in or is about to enter combat. Skill calms the mind and allows the user to focus without emotional concerns. (1/10).
Skill detected, “Autodidact,” would you like to transfer 100 experience points to level Battle Trance.? Y/N.
‘Thank God. Max’
I activated the skill and felt my mind clear. There were no stray thoughts, no overwhelming compulsions, no miscellaneous concerns. I had a single purpose: I was going to liberate Jessie.
Lydia’s face betrayed both relief and concern about my sudden calmness.
“Um… Noah?”
“It’s okay. I’m back in control. But I’m leaving with the girl.”
Lydia paused. For a moment, ear-splitting silence pierced the room.
“Yeah… Okay. What do you need me to do?”
“No arguments?”
“I don’t think I’m talking you out of this one. So I guess I’m in.”
“Thanks.”
The bids outside were getting higher and higher, but it was still well within our budget.
‘Maybe I can just buy her-’
Crashing noises and shrill screams erupted. They were distant, but getting closer. The crowd murmured, and several people rose from their chairs.
The auctioneer attempted to settle the audience.
“Everyone, If you’ll please take your seats. I assure you that we have the highest quality of security in the city. This problem will be resolved shortly.”
The shouts grew closer, and the auctioneer's face became uncertain. A body slammed through the door. A bloodied arm shot across the room, bouncing off his stunned face. The room was silent for a brief moment. Then all hell broke loose.
Screams and howls burst forth. People ran from their chairs. On the stage, Jessie smiled and began to cackle.
“Plan B. Put on the mask and run to the lobby. Cause as much chaos as possible while I grab the girl. If you think you’ll be overwhelmed, run.”
Lydia nodded in assent. I materialized her mace and shield, handing them to her.
We hustled out of the room, joining the herd of the other VIPs abandoning their own private boxes. I saw the open door of the room next to us..
“Lydia, you take the stairs.”
“Where are you going?”
“Short cut.”
I entered the vacant box, shifted into Goliath, activated Eldritch Cloak (the upgrade of Eldritch Geometry that gave me a “a shape rejected by mortal perception”), and ran straight through the glass panel separating the room from the main hall.
It was then that I saw the party crasher for the first time. The creature's outline was that of a human, but its features were not. It had blackened skin and was far taller, reaching at least 7 feet. Its mouth was unnatural: exaggerated in size and without lips, exposing pointed fangs. Finally, Its large hands ended in dagger like claws, already stained with blood. The auction’s guards moved to intercept but were cleaved in half. The creatures' attacks were too fast for them to deflect and too powerful for them to block. A chunk of viscera bounced off my shirt.
‘Alright Noah, how do I play this? Use too little power, and Jessie may get stolen away. Show too much power, and you could attract more attention than you’re ready for. Fuck, I always hated goldilocks.’
I prepared to fight, but the creature ignored me, charging straight towards Jessie.
‘Of course.’
I sprinted behind the creature. It was fast, but I was faster. As it neared the stage, I was able to grab its wrist. The creature went horizontal as its legs moved forward, but its arm did not. It finally looked at me, and its jaw gaped.
“What are you?” The creature snarled.
“I ask myself that every day.”
“What does tha-”
I hurled the creature across the room. It sailed 30 to 40 yards before slamming head first into the wall, face first. A crunch sounded through the air as it fell to the floor, the monsters neck bent at an unnatural angle.
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‘Huh, I was expecting that to be a lot har- Oh shit, I just jinxed myself.’
A moment later, the creature dragged itself to its feet and forcibly snapped its neck back into place with a sharp pop.
“AAAAAHG, I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU ARE. I WILL EAT YOUR HEART!”
‘Damn. Hopefully Lydia is having more luck.’
********************
As she sprinted down the stairs, Lydia tried to think of things that would stir up chaos. She kept rejecting ideas as either completely impractical or wildly immoral.
‘I can’t release the monsters, they could hurt innocent people. Wait! The slaves!’
When Lydia reached the lobby, she moved opposite to all the people heading to the front, searching for some type of backdoor. She spotted a flood of heavily armed, but eclectically dressed individuals rushing a side door.
‘What is going on there? Likely robbers trying to steal anything that isn’t nailed down. They are probably headed to where I need it be… do I follow? ’
Lydia steeled herself.
‘Fuck it.’
********************
Creed activated Chameleon Skin and snuck into the lobby. In this state, he could blend into the background. While his outline was still detectable when he moved, someone would need to be very lucky to notice him skulking about. As he looked towards the stage, he stopped cold. A giant demon was fighting… a hole in the world. It was a black outline but to call it a shadow wouldn’t do it justice. It was as though the universe had ceased to exist in that location. The image burned into his psyche. Creed looked away, unsettled.
‘Just finish the mission.’
He clung to the wall, attempting to slip past the brawl and reach the girl. Hajim had made it clear: acquire the demon at any cost.
********************
‘This is a complete mess,’ Magum thought as he pushed his way through the crowd rushing out of the lobby. A weaker individual may have been trampled, but against him, the crowd could do nothing but part. He couldn’t fathom how a necromantic spell book and a mediocre magic sword could cause this degree of mayhem. He strode forward with a clear objective, find the “hero” and his elf companion. If either got seriously injured due to events he set into motion, the backlash from the system would be severe.
Emerging from the crowd, he spotted the elf, scurrying towards danger.
‘It’s always the sidekick who dies first.’
He pulled up the hood of his cloak and began to follow her.
********************
‘Why! Won’t! He! Die!’
I punched the creature again, caving in its skull. No sooner than I pulled back my fist, did its face reform. The monster opened its mouth to taunt me, but I silenced it by shattering its jaw.
‘What is this thing!’ I thought as I dodged a claw. The creature attacks were simple. It couldn’t outpace me, but it just wouldn’t die.
‘Do I grab Jessie and ignore it?’
The thought was tempting. It couldn’t catch me if I ran away, but it was clearly after Jessie. I needed to find out why or, at minimum, get rid of the threat.
‘How in the hell do I kill this thing?’
After dodging another strike, I materialized a sword out of my inventory.
‘If I can’t bludgeon it to death, let’s see how it does with dismemberment.’
********************
Lydia followed the crush through the back halls. People were stampeding in all directions: thieves rushing in, guards trying to intercept them, and employees rushing out.
Her plan was to stay low and sneak by. Many of the thieves were large and adorned in bright colors, making them almost impossible to miss. Lydia hoped that If she could keep her head down, she could pass through the chaos unnoticed. Crouching low, Lydia followed the crowd. To her pleasant surprise, other than having someone's wine spilled on her, she arrived at the thieves destination with relative ease.
‘I’m getting better at this!’
The room she entered was where the auction house stored the merchandise. However, instead of only seeing treasures, monsters, and slaves, she was greeted by something altogether different—mayhem.
Men clad in black with katanas exchanged blows with the colorful thieves. Limbs were severed and a few lay dead, but healers from both groups kept the majority in the fight. Amidst the thieves, or atleast what she now realized may not have been thieves, the Hero Klein fought on near equal terms with one of the black clad men.
“We'll never let you have it! That relic gets destroyed tonight!” Klein shouted as the mens’ swords clashed.
“I do not know what your interest is in it, but I assure you, that is not how this will end,” the other man replied coolly.
‘The hero is fighting… what the hell did I walk into? Clamp down Lydia, just open the cages.’
********************
‘Imbecile!’ Magum thought as he watched Lydia attempt to creep through the crowd.
‘That idiot child is going to get caught. Who told her she could sneak anywhere!’
As his frustration grew, Magum reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial containing a thin crimson potion. Verifying its contents, he then followed Lydia into the rabble. Magum weaved through it with an expertise honed from a millena of practice, effortlessly going unnoticed.
Eventually, he arrived right behind Lydia.
‘Just let this work’
He threw the contents of the bottle on Lydia’s neck, then suddenly lost focus. Magum was not sure where she went, even while being certain he was still staring right at her.
He exhaled. ‘I think that’s all the help I can give her without overstepping. Please, please don’t die.’
Magum sighed.
‘Time for idiot number two.’
********************
I continued to trade blows with the beast. We were equally ineffectual. I was too fast, and he kept regrowing whatever I managed to lop off. I stayed calm, Battle Trance keeping me steady. I observed the monster's combat style. It was unrefined, leaving openings everywhere.
‘How can something this strong be this bad at fighting?’
I toyed with the idea that the creature was so powerful that it had never needed to learn proper technique, but, as time dragged on, I realized the truth. The beast was baiting me. It knew what I was doing couldn’t hurt it, so it was leaving openings in order to draw meaningless attacks, attempting to create opportunities.
‘Clever. Let’s see where its leading me away from.’
Before I could pursue my new plan, the strike that I had been in the middle of connected. The beast's head severed and flew onto the stage, landing at Jessie's feet. At that moment, I saw a blur moving towards her. She began to struggle against something, her legs lifting off the ground.
‘Son of a bitch.’
My moment of distraction resulted in the headless monstrosity putting a claw in my back, gouging out a chunk of flesh.
I turned and kicked the center of its chest, sending the monster flying away.
‘I don’t have time for this.’
I charged the stage, ready to fight.