Suddenly, Cass couldn’t sense the assassin’s breathing behind her. She was simply gone to her Atmospheric Sense. If escape had been all she cared about, Cass would have just kept running.

But the goal wasn’t escape. She needed Levina behind her.

Cass glanced over her shoulder, slowing as she searched for the assassin. But her eyes only confirmed what Atmospheric Sense had already told her, the assassin was gone.

But why give up here? Why now? After going this far? Had the Fairy Fire worn off? Had the assassin realized she was being led around by the nose?

No, the purple flames still danced over her skin.

Then why?

Cass slowed but didn’t stop, her head whipping in every direction looking for the other woman.

She had to still be here. It had to be a skill, bending perception, obscuring the assassin from her perception. Some powerful stealth skill.

This was fine. Even knowing that would help her break it. She was still here, somewhere.

Should she just keep running? Should she drive her out of hiding first?

How would she do that?

She’d broken the illusions around the traps in the labyrinth by focusing hard on each one individually. But how did one check every inch of open field? How did one do that fast enough to find a moving assassin magically incentivized to murder her any moment?

By that logic, she should just keep running. It was easy enough to assume that Levina was still behind her.

But what if it was a trick? What if she’d gone invisible to sneak back and ambush Alyx? If Cass kept running, would she be abandoning Alyx to her fate?

No. Cass needed to find Levina. There had to be a way to find her.

But Cass didn’t have a clue how.

She considered the traps in the labyrinth again. She’d touched each tile with her staff. One after another. She’d compared every tile to every other tile. It had been difficult, mentally exhausting work, but she’d done it.

She hadn’t searched for the trap with her eyes alone then and she couldn’t now.

Sight was what the assassin was expecting Cass to use. Sight and sound. Even hidden her breathing had disappeared. But Atmospheric Sense could pick up more than just breaths. Had the assassin obscured the flow of air around her?

Could Cass find it?

Cass strained Atmospheric Sense, pulling in as much information as her Perception would allow and her Will and Alacrity could handle while still running over uneven ground.

Wind idly danced over the flat plane, heavy with thick drops of water suspended in its grasp. It meandered. It dipped and eddied and gusted. All of it natural.

Was she alone here? Had Levina turned around? Was she standing still?

No, even standing still would change the flow of air around her.

The wind wasn’t blowing hard enough for this. Was that turn because it had meandered right or because something had moved? She needed it gusting so she could watch for major deflections as it rushed around a body.

Could she do something about that?

Cass wasn’t sure, but she had to try.

She leveled her staff, drawing a wind blade around it. As much air as she could gather. The sharpness was unimportant. Fatter and wider was what she needed, a thick-bladed axe, not a dagger’s fine edge. More. Still more.

More.

Cass had turned all her Stats from Atmospheric Sense to this single Wind Blade and the motion she wanted to create with it. Will clamped down hard on the air, as Resolve fed it more and more Focus.

More.

She couldn’t hold more. She had to release it now or lose it entirely.

She swung her staff, spinning in place like a spinning top, throwing her oversized blade as she did. It flew off, forming a ring of wind expanding outward around her.

As soon as it was flying from her staff, she refocused her attention on Atmospheric Sense, watching the ring expand from her in a wider and wider ring.

The air spun as it raced away from her, but the direction was uniform, even, predictable.

Everywhere except immediately to her left. The air hit something solid and then buffeted around it.

Then the spot of turbulence moved. It jerked toward Cass.

A hand grabbed Cass’s robe, yanking her toward the suddenly visible assassin. Yanking her into the blade Levina simultaneously stabbed into Cass’s shoulder.

Cass pulled away, flailing. Screaming. Falling.

Cass landed on her back, Levina on top of her, the dagger blade buried deep in Cass’s shoulder.

“Got you,” Levina hissed, leaning close, her dagger twisting. There was a madness in her eyes. They reflected the purple of Salos’s Fairy Fire, drowning out all the natural color of her eyes. “I’ll enjoy gutting you after the chase you’ve led me on.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Cass was still screaming. She shoved against the other woman, but her Strength didn’t move her at all. Cass wasn’t that strong. She hadn’t put much into physical strength. Not before ending up in this world. Not after. Not even when it was as easy as allocating Stat points.

Now she wondered if that was a mistake.

She flailed for Elemental Manipulation. She’d gotten out of similar binds before with it.

Fireball to her face.

Stone spear through her abdomen.

Something. Anything.

Elemental Manipulation fizzled. She could feel it, but attempts to activate it only increased the pain in her shoulder.

“Ah, ah,” Levina cooed. “No skills now. That would be very inconvenient.”

Something she was doing was blocking her skills? Cass’s panic skyrocketed. How could she possibly escape without skills?

She was just an ordinary woman without them. Ill-equipped to survive in this messed-up world of levels and power.

Levina left her dagger in Cass’s shoulder as she drew a second, this one no less gruesome. Curved and deadly. The blade flickered with white light. She lowered it to Cass’s face.

Cass closed her eyes, turning her head away. It didn’t help. She could imagine it just as easily. The blade inches from her eyes. The blood it would free. The flesh it’d separate from bone.

This was how she died.

There was a surprised grunt, and then Levina’s weight was gone.

Cass’s eyes flew open. There was a glowing, amber sword sweeping over her field of vision.

She craned her neck back. Alyx stood behind her, sword swinging, Salos sitting on her shoulder. Cass had never been so relieved to see her scowling face.

“Oh ho, you didn’t run?” Levina said, her eyes shifting between Cass and Alyx. They no longer glinted the purple of Salos’s Fairy Fire. Cass glanced down at her no longer flaming hands. The skill had been canceled.

“Why would I do that?” Alyx asked. “You’d just chase me down when you realized my guard was a decoy.”

Cass yanked the dagger in her shoulder out. Blood rushed from the wound, through her undamaged robe, dripping quickly from the unstainable material.

“What are you doing here?” Cass whispered up at Alyx.

“Why’d you run off with her?” Alyx shot back.

“I had a plan,” Cass started.

“Salos told me.” She did not sound impressed.

“Do you have a better one?” Cass asked.

“Go sneak off and make yourself a campsite, recover your Focus and Stamina. Run for the boat at dusk.”

“And leave you?” Cass asked.

“This is my fight,” Alyx said, her eyes never once leaving the assassin on the far side of Cass. “You cannot die for it.”

Cass frowned, turning the dagger she’d pulled from her shoulder over in her hands.

Skill Sealing Dagger

Class: Dagger (Bladed Weapon)

[A blade forged with Felsworn Iron which cuts off access to all System skills and severely cuts the effect of Physical Row stats.]

“I think my plan can still work,” Cass said.

“Your plan is a bad plan.”

“Your plan is to fight her alone,” Cass pointed out.

Alyx’s jaw clenched. “What else am I supposed to do?”

Now, wasn’t that the million-dollar question? Cass looked over her resources:

Stamina: 18/69

Focus: 129/270

Bottom of the barrel Stamina. Less than half her Focus. She could fight the assassin with Alyx, but she was back to the original problem. How much could Cass help?

We should go, Salos confirmed. You recover faster than most with your camping skill. If you hide now, you can probably avoid the assassin until dark.

It won’t help, Cass said. She doesn’t need to find me. She just needs to go back to the boat and wait for me to try to get on.

Salos scowled but didn’t refute her. She was right.

Running wasn’t an option. Unfortunately, running was what she was best at.

“You two done chatting?” Levina sneered.

Alyx charged forward in response, her sword flashing into Levina’s dagger. The two clashed, sparks flying from their exchange. Alyx wasn’t interested in other plans. Levina was unlikely to fall into Salos’s Fairy Fire again.

But they were in the Pass. The mouth of the Pass. Barely a few steps within it, but in it. Weren’t they? Cass checked with Salos.

Yes, we technically are, he said. What does that have to do with anything?

Can’t I do the same thing as before, but in reverse?

You want to do what?

Bring the Boar here.

Why in the Deepest Abyss would you want to do that? It came out more as a sigh than an exclamation. He already knew why she wanted to do it.

Well?

Yes. It could be done. But…

Can you ask Alyx to draw the fight deeper into the Pass?

He sighed. Yes, sure. One moment. I’m not letting you run off without me this time.

You should stay with Alyx. She needs the help more than me. Cass protested.

You plan on luring the boar here without my Fairy Fire? Salos asked.

Cass bit her lip. Yes?

He snorted. Wait. The next second he had Shadow Stepped across the battlefield to Alyx’s shoulder. She didn’t slow her vicious attack, her arms kept swinging, even with Salos balanced there. There was the slightest nod of her chin and Salos was gone again, demanifesting and returning to his necklace around Cass’s throat.

Alright, let’s go.

Cass nodded and, activating Stealth, slipped away from the battlefield. Stealth was probably unnecessary, the assassin was busy with Alyx, but Cass didn’t have the energy to get pulled back in.

You sure you don’t want to just sneak off? Salos asked.

Can you think of a way to get out of this valley before the lightning falls tomorrow if we don’t kill Levina?

Salos glowered. Time traveling back to the point before you attacked her?

That’s what I thought, Cass said.

She might still forgive you if you kill Alyx, Salos suggested.

Cass wrinkled her nose in disgust.

No? Salos asked. Fine.

Never suggest such a thing again, Cass said.

We both know I will.

Cass walked as fast as she could while still recovering Stamina. It wasn’t a fast recovery, but it was better than nothing. She would need every point she could get her hands on for this. The Lord wasn’t too far away now, but she didn’t know how the fight was going to go. This would be the first true Lord she’d fought.