Landsknecht and the remnants of Fortuna’s squad chased the lancers through the dungeon, passing through winding corridors. Viviana scooped up Bena, who was still dazed from the rapid gravity changes, and slung her over her shoulder.

  Evidently that had made it worse, because Bena threw up. Viviana ignored it and continued her pursuit. She could track them by eye for now, but their superior gear would let them get away. Fuck. I should have kept one alive and tracked them with [Scareye].

  She’d need Bena’s scout skill.

  “Turn left…” Bena said weakly. Viviana did as obliged. “Not too fast… I’m gonna hurl!”

  Viviana cursed, but she could not acquiesce. If they moved any slower they would leave line of sight. She tried to adjust Bena on her shoulder. It didn’t help. Viviana kept moving as Bena complained.

  “How do you… move like this?! Your stupid dash is too fast, and I keep getting electrocuted!”

  Right. I forgot about that. Viviana just ignored the strange feeling of electricity during her [flash step], but Bena wasn’t used to it. Bena won’t be able to take much more than this.

  So she stopped, taking Bena off her shoulder, briefly glancing forward at the same time. Just as she thought, the lancers were gone, vanishing around a corner. She looked back, and saw the rest of the group catching up to her.

  “Bena, I need you to concentrate. Do they have a scout?”

  Bena was not focusing. Her pupils were pointing in different directions. Viviana shook her.

  “No…. I’m taking shortcuts to get to them, but they don’t react to us catching up by taking opposite routes…”

  “Give me the directions to cut them off,” Viviana said.

  Bena shuddered, dry heaved, and then spoke. “Okay… only once. Right, left, forward, forward, down, up, top right, left, left, down, forward, right.”

  Viviana nodded. That was enough. She put on the mask she kept on her belt.

  [Scareye]

  [Passive - Blood Seeker - While wearing this mask, you are able to instinctively sense the location of bleeding enemies you have recently injured.]

  The idea was simple. All she had to do was land one, singular blow. As long as they were bleeding she’d be able to track them. She spoke to Bena. “I’m gonna go ahead. Meet up with Fortuna’s scout and work together. Then you won’t have to push yourself so hard.”

  Without waiting for a response Viviana darted off, navigating through the tunnels with Bena’s directions in her head. She flew through the tunnels at maximum velocity, no longer slowed down by Bena’s weight, not caring about the buzz in her head from mana fatigue. She was spacing out her [flash step] now, making sure to only use it in the most optimal positions.

  Bena’s directions were perfect! Viviana had ended up at the opposite end of a long tunnel. On the other side, she heard the distinct noise that flying grapples made. They haven’t noticed me. They’ll hear my grapples, but I won’t give them the chance to defend.

  Viviana pushed herself even further, accelerating down the dark tunnel. Then, there was light, and she was right on top of them. Three lancers in power armor, moving through the tunnels. Viviana made impact.

  She led with her blade, and it struck true, but the lancer had reacted.

  Shallow, but enough. It drew blood. Viviana felt it. The trail of blood as the lancer kept on moving.

  “How are you here without your scout?!”

  Viviana didn’t respond and brandished her blade again as she fired grapples. But the lancers didn’t stop to fight her. It was disadvantageous for them to continue fighting with the rest of Viviana’s group following. So she kept up with the pursuit. She had to end this quickly, because apparently their ‘backup’ was coming.

  Or maybe I don’t need to. The system likely won’t give me a feat for killing people running away from me. Maybe once their backup comes?

  A part of her wanted to finish the fight quickly and complete the mission. Another part wanted to stall it out and try to get a system feat.

  Then one of the Lancers spoke. “Sir, he’s here! The Adapter! We should turn and fight!”

  “The Adapter, you say? Well, why didn’t you say so?! We can’t afford to look bad in front of him!”

  Comically, simultaneously, all three lancers hounded on Viviana. Viviana dived through an attack, spinning and firing her grapples to swing around the narrow corridor, reversing her forward momentum completely to attack at an unsuspecting angle. Kicking off the wall she changed directions again, putting in a [flash step] for good measure.

  Of course, always feint the initial strike. Works every time.

  It didn’t land, but the strike forced the lancer to perform an unstructured parry. Viviana was surprised at the resistance she felt. The lancer clearly had a high STR stat. Whatever the case, Viviana followed up with another strike, plunging into armor and then into flesh. It wasn’t a lethal blow. The next strike was.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  [You have slain a level 5 soulbound]

  [+5 exp] [stored]

  Viviana was quickly getting tired of the [stored] modifier. Not enough for you, system?

  The two other lancers looked at each other, then back at Viviana, who was already firing grapples towards them. Without a word, they turned to run. Viviana was perplexed. A three-versus-one was suicidal for her, especially out levelled. It was a miracle she was able to take out one, due to her [flash step] mobility giving her superior instantaneous movement. But still, their superior grapple gear and levels made them faster overall.

  Plus, they fought me two on one and nearly killed me. So why are they running now?

  As Viviana moved, tracking them down with [Scareye], an explosion boomed behind her. Her mind jumped to the rest of the Landsknecht. Did they encounter monsters?

  “Hah! You’re so dead! The Adapter is here!” the leader said. His voice grated on Viviana’s ears.

  Another explosion. The rush of flames. Fortuna’s skill. Viviana didn’t turn to look. The mission was in front of her, and she was completing it. Then she’d deal with this ‘Adapter’.

  She pushed forward in her pursuit. Someone showed up by her side. “Lucian?!”

  Lucian threw himself into the leader of the lancers, attacking all the while. The other lancer, shocked, didn’t react in time and tangled their grapple lines, making them an easy kill.

  Viviana rushed forward. They exchanged a couple blows, but Viviana had only one match when it came to swordplay. She finished them off while Lucian performed an acrobatic maneuver, narrowly dodging a skill that cut through the air with a whistle.

  [You have slain a level 5 soulbound]

  [+5 exp] [stored]

  Lucian’s movement was impeccable, and his skill usage worked perfectly. He kicked off his own grapple line, using a dash skill all the while, shooting forward like a slingshot. I’m gonna have to try that later.

  And then it was done. Just as quickly as Lucian jumped in, the fight ended. Viviana rummaged through the lancer’s belongings, remembering that this was the one that had the fire gem– the thing that Fortuna hired them for. And they’re all dead, so that means a bonus for us.

  [Fiery Ruby]

  [Stores mana over time. Mana can be retrieved out of this gem and used. If a fire based ability is used, boost the effectiveness of the ability and refunds a portion of the mana spent.]

  System-recognized artifact for fire users. No wonder Fortuna wants it so badly.

  “Lucian, what’s the situation with the explosions?”

  “A high ranker is here. Someone in full armor. Fortuna’s fighting them. We’ve got to get out of here, now.”

  The Adapter, I assume. “How high of a rank?”

  Lucian shook his head, dangling sideways balanced on his grapples. “I don’t know, but Thomas recognized him. Someone he knew was high up.”

  A tiered ranker, then. Someone in the top thousand. “The mission is of paramount importance,” Viviana said. “We have achieved all our targets, but the client will not pay if they’re dead, and captured. Plus, I still have business cards to distribute.”

  Lucian nodded. “And we’ve got to get Bena and Thomas out of there.”

  I’m also itching to level up. “I’ve got a better idea. Take this,” Viviana said, throwing the [Fiery Ruby] at Lucian. “And get it out. I’ll get them back.”

  “Huh? Who said I was leaving? We’re a team,” Lucian said, throwing back the item.

  Viviana pocketed it, not really caring. She wasn’t planning on dying, so either way, the mission would be complete. “Let’s go.”

  Lucian moved down the corridor, grappling only, but moving fast. Viviana was a little annoyed that he was faster than her when it came to pure grappling. She could easily outpace him if she used her skill, but the mana fatigue was too taxing right now, especially because they had to save mana for the fight.

  Lucian’s innate grappling talent surprised Viviana. He wasn’t very aerodynamic. Too big of a frame. Yet something about his movement was fluid.

  It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the fight. Bena and Thomas were already running in their direction, and Fortuna was desperately trying to fight two adversaries at once. All the unidentified opponents had dark green armor on. Viviana recognized it.

  The same people who stopped me after I killed the vomit bird. Breach armor. Breach knights.

  The armored knights rushed through the corridor, flanking and fighting at the same time. One of Fortuna’s squad went down, body flailing through the air as the zero g propelled them with momentum.

  Viviana rushed in, attacking with her blade, while Lucian pushed around for a flank angle, but both attacks were simultaneously blocked by a breach knight wielding two blades.

  Viviana blinked in surprise as she was forced to [flash step] off of her own grapple line, like Lucian did, just to avoid a lightning fast followup attack. A dual wielder. Two short swords in each hand.

  Viviana’s thoughts raced, analyzing the new opponent as fast as possible. Faster attacks, simultaneous attacks, at the expense of reach and striking power. But if this person is a high ranker, their stats will make them hit just as hard… no, harder than any of us.

  Just then the knight fired a grapple in one direction. Viviana watched as it moved, anticipating a move in that direction, but the knight fired another grapple in another direction, moving that way, and around her, instead. Right towards Bena.

  “Bena!” Lucian cried out. Bena whirled, but it was too late.

  Bena was completely unprepared for the attack. She was separated into two. Feinted the grapple, fast target acquisition.

  Viviana’s eyes narrowed. This would be a dangerous opponent. Even so, she had to try. At this rate the breach knights would kill everyone.

  “Careful, Viviana! That’s The Adapter!” Thomas yelled, currently fighting an opponent to retrieve Bena’s body. He was struggling. The stat and skill difference was too large.

  Both Viviana and Lucian rushed towards The Adapter. Lucian circled left, Viviana circled right, moving in a pincer attack.

  Then Lucian whirled. Another knight intercepted, forcing him to grapple out of the way and into his own fight.

  The rest of Fortuna’s squad and Fortuna herself were occupied. Fortuna was throwing fireballs left and right, explosions echoing out as one the breach knights parried blow after blow.

  That left Viviana and The Adapter opponent-less. They looked at each other. Viviana removed her mask, placing it aside so she could get an obstructed view of her surroundings. Then the knight spoke. A familiar voice. “Adler-Stern.”

  “Vomit bird guy.”

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