The first guard reached them before the rest. Noah sidestepped, jamming the end of his pipe into the man's ribs hard enough to knock the air out of him. Emily swept her hand in an arc—thin whips of carbon lashing outward and snagging the man's arm, yanking him off balance into Noah's follow-up swing.
The second came in low with a dagger. Emily conjured a burst of compressed nitrogen right in his face. He gasped, stunned by the sudden cold, and she kneed him under the chin.
Then the hallway was full.
Steel clanged. Boots scraped against the floor. The air smelled of oil, dust, and sweat.
Noah was a blur, his pipe clashing against swords, deflecting strikes just long enough to counter with brutal elbows and knees. Emily darted behind him, laying down a moving shield of beryllium plates, each one forming and dissolving in rhythm with her steps.
The man with the cane—Vorren—watched from the far end, the mithril still glinting in his grip. The faint, knowing smirk on his face made Emily's blood boil.
She conjured a thin disc of titanium and hurled it like a frisbee. One guard barely ducked in time, the metal slamming into the wall and embedding itself with a dull thunk.
"Cute," Vorren said, voice carrying even over the noise. "Let's see how long you last."
He gestured toward the stairwell.
From the shadows, a massive figure emerged—seven feet tall, armor blackened and scarred, a greataxe resting on his shoulder as casually as a broom.
Emily's system chimed:
[Elite Enemy Detected: Vorren's Enforcer – Level 4]
[Recommended Tactic: Disruption and positional control.]
"Not good," Emily muttered.
The Enforcer charged.
The impact of his first swing sent shockwaves up Noah's arms as he blocked with the pipe, sliding back several feet. "Emily!" he barked.
"I know!" She flicked her fingers—twin spears of phosphorus flaring into life and streaking toward the giant's eyes. He swung the greataxe like a flyswatter, knocking one spear aside, but the second burst into a flash of white light that made him snarl and shield his face.
Noah lunged, slamming the end of the pipe into the giant's knee. The man barely flinched, but it was enough to stagger him for half a heartbeat.
A crossbow bolt whistled past Emily's ear. She snapped her hand out, pulling copper from the wall plating and twisting it mid-air into a sharp coil that whipped around the shooter's throat. A yank—he dropped the weapon.
Her system chimed again:
[+40 EXP]
[Level Up → Level 3]
[You have gained 1 Skill Upgrade Point.]
Emily didn't hesitate.
[Upgrade: Element Conjurer Lv1 → Lv2?]
[Lv2 Effect: Can now conjure first 35 elements of the periodic table. Reduced materialization time by 25%.]
[Confirm?]
"Yes."
The rush hit like a tidal wave—new weights, colors, and textures blooming in her mind. Sodium's shimmer. Chlorine's bite. Phosphorus's flare. She could feel their bonds, ready to snap into shape at her command.
Noah's own chime followed:
[Level Up → Level 3]
[Strength +2]
[Dexterity +2]
His grip tightened instinctively; his legs felt lighter, quicker. The pipe moved in his hands like an extension of his body now.
They met eyes. Emily's grin was feral. "Want to see what Level 2 looks like?"
Noah smirked. "Do your worst."
The Enforcer recovered with a roar, bringing the axe down in a two-handed arc. Emily dove aside, conjuring a line of chlorine gas along the floor. The front line of guards coughed, faltered—Noah was already there, smashing knees and elbows, flipping the pipe to strike with brutal precision.
Emily layered a wall of beryllium to block the stairwell just as more reinforcements clattered down. Then she pulled phosphorus and magnesium together, the mix igniting in her palm. She hurled it high—the burst lit the basement like a miniature sun, sending shadows screaming across the walls.
Vorren finally moved, slipping the mithril ingot into his coat and drawing a short blade. The way he held it—like someone who knew how to kill—made Emily's pulse quicken.
The Enforcer swung wide, his axe catching a wooden beam overhead. The old timber groaned. Dust rained down.
Emily's system blared:
[Caution: Sustained melee in confined space risks structuralcollapse.]
She ignored it, conjuring solid aluminum along the blade of the greataxe until the sudden heat made the Enforcer hiss and drop it. Noah took the chance—slamming the pipe into the man's temple.
The Enforcer staggered but didn't fall. Instead, he reached for a secondary weapon: a wicked, jagged sword glowing faintly red.
Noah spat blood, planting his feet. "Round two, big guy."
Vorren's voice cut through the roar: "Kill them and bring me their bodies. I want to know exactly how they work."
Emily's upgraded conjuring flared—five different elements spiraling in her grasp. Noah crouched, pipe raised, both of them breathing hard.
The Enforcer charged—
.... ..
The Enforcer's charge shook the floor. His jagged red sword cut a vicious arc toward Noah's head—
CLANG!
Noah caught it on the pipe, sparks spraying across his face. He gritted his teeth, arms screaming from the impact, but held. "Emily!"
"I'm on it!"
Emily conjured a razor-edged sheet of titanium, swinging it in a tight arc. It clipped the Enforcer's thigh, the force enough to bite into armor. He snarled, backhanding the sheet away, but she was already shifting—chlorine mist hissing up from the floor, seeping into the wounds of the closer guards.
They coughed, faltered—Noah darted forward, his boosted dexterity turning him into a blur. The pipe smashed into a helmet, denting steel like tin foil.
"Two down!" he barked.
A spear-wielding guard lunged at Emily. She formed a beryllium plate to intercept, then superheated the edges with magnesium—the tip of the spear clanged uselessly against the glowing metal. A kick to the stomach sent him stumbling back.
The Enforcer swept his sword wide, clearing the space between them. "You're dead!" he roared.
Emily's hands blurred—phosphorus flared to life in one palm, magnesium in the other. She clapped them together, creating a blinding white flash. The Enforcer roared, swinging wildly, momentarily blinded.
Noah used that opening. He slid under the giant's guard and rammed the pipe into the soft joint at the back of the knee. The man buckled—Emily was already moving, shaping titanium spikes along the floor beneath him. His weight slammed down on them, armor scraping, blood spotting the steel.
Vorren's voice drifted over the chaos: "Pathetic."
The words burned in Emily's mind. "Oh, we're not done."
The guards were thinning fast—Noah cracked a final skull against the wall, turning just in time to see Emily conjure a spear of titanium, point glinting. She drove it into the Enforcer's chest plate—not piercing, but locking him in place.
Noah came in high, swinging the pipe like a bat. It smashed into the side of the man's helmet with a metallic crunch. The Enforcer swayed, tried to stand—Emily formed another titanium spike and hammered it with a magnesium explosion. The giant hit the ground with a crash that rattled the beams.
[+50 EXP]
[Level Up → Level 4]
[Emily Cross – New Skill Gained:] [Element Fusionist] → [Instantly combine two conjured elements into a single compound or alloy.]
[Noah Reed – New Skill Gained:] [Instant Blueprint] → [Instantly generate a complete design of any mechanical device or structure you can observe.]
[Updated Stats:]
[Noah Reed]
[Strength: 18.6]
[Intelligence: 12.6]
[Dexterity: 15.6]
[Charisma: 15.6]
[Wisdom: 11.6]
[Constitution: 13.6]
[Emily Cross]
[Strength: 12.6]
[Intelligence: 20.6]
[Dexterity: 15.6]
[Charisma: 23.6]
[Wisdom: 11.6]
[Constitution: 11.6]
Only Vorren remained.
He stepped forward slowly, drawing the silver-headed cane across the ground. His smile was thin, cold.
"You've made a mess of my evening," he said, pulling the mithril ingot from his coat pocket. "Let's see if you can make it to the morning."
[To Be Continued…]