The fifth floor was the largest to date, a huge labyrinth of damp tunnels and caves. It was uncharted territory, so Finn was running through it blindly. Keeping close to the walls, he was rushing through tunnel after cave, cave after tunnel, relying on his memory to make sense of it all, and on his senses to track down his enemy.

‘Where is he?’

The more shots were fired, the easier it became to figure out his location. ‘One from behind, slightly to the right. He’s circling around me.’

Finn ran towards the next cave, opened his palms towards the tunnels in front and to the right, and released a torrent of flames into them.

“Holy smokes, you a wizard, boy?”

Finn concentrated his flames into the right-most tunnel, but no further comments were heard.

Suddenly, there was a bang and something pierced through Finn’s left eye. Grunting in pain, he canceled the spell and ran into the tunnel ahead.

“God can’t save ya, boy. I’m coming for ya!”

‘Why? Shit.’ The pain was excruciating. He couldn’t pinpoint his enemy’s location, and without the warrior’s breath, his arrows would not pierce through walls.

Finn kept on running until the injury healed, then searched for a bend in the tunnel, and right after the turn, he placed a hand on the stone.

‘I should’ve learned more magic.’

With no time to waste, he pushed as much mana as possible into the tunnel’s wall, took over a portion of it and peeled it right off. A small cavern was formed, on the right side, after the tunnel itself bent to the right.

If the shooter was going to come from behind, he would not see Finn in time. ‘But if he comes from the front… Shit, how are there guns in this world? I need to get my hands on one.’

“Where did you go, boy? I can’t hear your footsteps. Good ol’ Johnny’s gonna getcha.”

It was a dwarf with brown hair, a twisting mustache, and the nose of a feline. He was dressed in leather boots, brown pants, and a leather jacket.

As soon as he turned the corner, he noticed the pile of soil up ahead. His eyes went wide, he turned towards the left, but before he could aim his rifle, a torrent of flames pushed him against the wall.

The dwarf grunted and Finn held nothing back.

‘If the rifle’s ruined, then so be it!’

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Yet, the gun did not melt. The clothes and the dwarf were also fine. Sure, he was sweating and frowning and squinting his eyes, but there was a glowing object in his pocket and a transparent shield around his body and weapon.

“Ya think you can off me that easily, boy?”

“You’re a mage?”

Slowly but surely, John Bluntcoat pointed the muzzle at Finn.

“I kill mages.”

Finn ducked and the bullet flew above his head.

“Ya Loki worshipers, you’re the bane of this world!”

Before he could fire again, Finn shot another wave of flames for cover and sprinted out of the tunnel into a nearby cave. The hunt resumed and Finn was at an impasse.

“I’m not a Loki worshiper!”

“Bullshait!” [Bang!] “Your God has brought the downfall of this world, yet you suckle at his feet as if he brought you salvation!”

Several shots pierced through the tunnel’s wall, hitting Finn’s shoulder and grazing his ear.

“I know, Loki sucks!” Suddenly, Finn heard thunder in the distance and the tunnel trembled as if there was an earthquake. “I mean, he’s fine. I’m just not a worshiper.”

“Liar!”

Shots flew above his head as the boy ran into a clearing. He entered a large cave, ducked his head, and rolled out of the way of a giant, red sword which obliterated the ground.

“Buzz off Josie! He’s my prey.”

An open palm flew towards Finn’s throat when something grabbed and pulled it out of the way. Michael appeared out of nowhere, kicked the beastman in the gut, grabbed Finn and rushed him into a tunnel.

“Do the thing!” said Michael, and Finn sent energy into his gauntlets, powering them up right before they ran out of mana.

“Get back here!” he heard Bluntcoat shoot his rifle, but they were gaining distance so fast that every shot missed. Three tunnels and two caves later they met up with Natalie and continued running.

“There’s a new one,” said Michael. “A wizard shooting stones.”

“What a pain,” muttered Natalie.

“We need to plan,” said Finn.

The teens shared information as they made their way through the floor. Every once in a while, there’d be a gunshot, and they would have to change directions.

Finn scorched the muddy ground to cover their trail, but the enemy still managed to find them. Splitting up was not an option, so they had to set up a trap.

“There has to be a dead end somewhere, a cave with a single exit,” said Finn.

“Like the one we arrived in,” said Natalie.

“Do you know how to get there?”

“No.”

“Shit.”

As the teens were talking they stumbled over another cave. It was not what they were looking for, quite the opposite in fact: As large as a gymnasium, with countless tunnels linking to it. There were countless blue snakes, the size of anacondas twisting on the floor, and the glowing statue of a winged man in the middle.

Suddenly, a bang was heard from behind, and the teens rushed into the clearing. Kane, Josie and John Bluntcoat showed up moments later, with grins plastered on their faces and their weapons ready.

“Nowhere to go, little lambs,” said Bluntcoat.

“Let’s make it fair and square,” added Josie.

“You’re full of shit,” said Michael.

“Let us begin,” added Kane.

Noticing the humans which invaded their cave, the oversized snakes started slithering towards them. Bluntcoat cocked his gun, and Josie lifted her sword. Finn summoned a fireball, and Michael smacked his fists.

What followed was complete chaos. Shots were fired, people bled, and one of them died.