My Mana Shield cracked almost immediately due to rocks that were quickly burying my feet.

But the moment of resistance that the Mana Shield offered me was enough.

I was about to be buried inside a floating mountain, and all paths that we had previously formed had been collapsed by the Gravity Leech. But I knew what I needed to do.

I leapt forward, as close to Dawnbreaker as I could be. Dawnbreaker’s suit formed a web-like orb surrounding the two of us, and the orb resisted the pressure of the earth and dirt that ground up against us.

“That way!” I said, pointing a finger. “We’re close!”

I couldn’t help but feel like a glorified hunting-dog.

This had to be one of the worst possible match-ups for me. I was strong, I was fast, I was resilient…

But I was acutely aware that I was risking my life here.

I didn’t stand a chance catching the Gravity Leech on my own. Unlike Dawnbreaker, I didn’t have an overpowered skill that could also tunnel through literal tons of rocks and dirt. And if I was caught underground, it was only a matter of time before my Physical Resistance wore off, and I died.

But despite what Dawnbreaker had said, I didn’t really think she would just let me die.

The golden light flashed again, and we ran together.

It was like an absurd game of tag. A thousand feet in the air, underground in a floating mountain, against creature that could play with gravity.

As we rushed through the tunnel faster, I realized that we were closer than we had ever been.

I could tell because the resistance against us was so great. It was like crawling upstream in a river of molasses.

Then, finally, we caught sight of the Gravity Leech. Harpoons launched from Dawnbreaker’s unisuit, digging deep into the only visible part of the Gravity Leech’s body.

Just a split second after the harpoons sunk into the creature’s body, the earth around us started collapsing again, closing in the tunnel that Dawnbreaker had just made.

But the thick line anchoring the harpoon split into smaller threads, which wove against the walls of the collapsing tunnel, buying Dawnbreaker time as the remaining harpoon line retracted, pulling us forward towards the Gravity Leech.

I could have sworn the Gravity Leech was just ahead of me, but it was as though the floor shifted, and suddenly, the Gravity Leech was above me, and there was a long shaft below me.

I unceremoniously grabbed Dawnbreaker’s ankle.

I realized then, by watching the walls around me, just how quickly we were traveling through the mountain.

The Gravity Leech was fleeing frantically, dragging us along. Samantha’s suit lined the tunnel that was formed in the Leech’s as it traveled through dirt and rock, allowing us to trail behind it and not get pulverized by rock and stone.

The harpoon line was connected to Dawnbreaker’s shoulders, leaving her right arm free.

Dawnbreaker launched another golden blast, this time directly towards the Gravity Leech.

Not to be outdone, I finally struck.

Dawnbreaker might have overwhelming firepower, but I had precision.

I raised my free hand and cast Cursed Lightning, putting all my remaining mana into Luck.

Dawnbreaker flinched in surprise as the lightning seared right past her shoulder, following in the wake of her golden beam.

The lightning traveled directly through the Gravity Leech’s body, continuing through the Leech until it reached the part that I knew held the most mana—the Leech’s core.

KREEEEEEEEEE

The leech gave a long, earsplitting cry of pain that somehow reverberated through the mountain.

Congratulations! You have slain North America’s Zone Lord. +20 free Stat Points.

You have completed the mission, Zone Offense.

Reward: 1 Schema Treasury Token (C-rank)

Zone Offense mission updated: Slay another Zone Lord on Earth. Reward: 1 Schema Treasury Token (C-rank).

Level up!

I had no time to feel pleased or proud of my accomplishments.

Gravity shifted around me. It wasn’t that I lost my footing, but that what I thought was the floor was actually a wall. Then I started falling down the same tunnel the Gravity Leech had just created.

Meanwhile, I could tell that the tunnel that connected me to Dawnbreaker and the Gravity Leech’s loot was starting to fall apart.

I dug my sword into the dirt to stop from falling, and watched, in vague frustration, as Dawnbreaker collected all the loot that the Gravity Leech had dropped.

It didn’t take long for the body of the Gravity Leech to disappear into Dawnbreaker’s Interdimensional Pouch.

With the absence of the Gravity Leech’s corpse, the tunnels that we were in started crumbling at an even faster pace.

“Let’s go!” I called.

We both knew that I didn’t stand a chance digging myself out of a mountain.

And I could only hope that there would be some sort of delayed response after the Gravity Leech’s death—we were on a floating mountain, after all, and we could still die if it just decided to fall to the ground.

I had to wonder if Dawnbreaker was intentionally leaving me in the hot seat. She probably wasn’t too happy that I had killed the Zone Lord just a second before she would have.

But we wouldn’t have even found the Zone Lord without me in the first place.

Dawnbreaker had nobody to blame except her own bad aim.

After just about two seconds of flying around the collapsing cavern, Dawnbreaker flew next to me.

“Get on my back. Fastest way up and out?”

I was so disoriented, it took a moment for me to figure it out.

There was dirt all around us, but I could sense small, condensed bundles of mana in a certain direction.

I pointed, and Samantha blasted a long golden ray of light with her sword, following in the golden ray’s wake, until we left the mountain and were finally surrounded by blue sky. Dawnbreaker immediately turned back around towards the mountain.

I hugged Dawnbreaker’s back tightly, as I watched the falling mountain collide with the ground.

The moment of collision was followed by an earth-shaking crash and tremble. Trees in a mile-wide radius shattered and fell, huge cracks in the earth opened up, but then everything was covered in dust, and I couldn’t see anything else.

Dawnbreaker sighed. “Time for some search and rescue.”

It was an absurd thought, imagining anybody surviving that collision. The dust plume itself was massive. I could only hope that Daybreak had been able to evacuate the area in time.

But I sensed some mana above me, and I glanced up. I could see a floating platform approaching us. Petrov and Vasilia stood together, along with a few other people I didn’t recognize. Their platform was flying slowly towards Rebirth City.

I sat at my desk in my old room in Rebirth City, studying the two new skills that Dawnbreaker had finally given me.

Spiritual Traveler (D-rank): Allows your soul to leave your physical body and travel through the spiritual plane. Cost: 10 mana/minute. Cooldown: 1 hour. Requires: Soul Magic Affinity (D-rank).

Soul Explosion (D-rank): Allows you to permanently sacrifice up to 20 Stat Points from your character sheet to create an explosion that directly attacks nearby souls, disregarding physical defenses. Requires: Soul Magic Affinity (D-rank)

I didn’t ask what loot she picked up from the Gravity Leech’s corpse, but it must have been good, for her to grant me the two skills without any fuss.

Samantha said.

Now that I had some time to myself, I could finally reflect on the battle.

Dawnbreaker could have easily let me die. She had even said as much, that she would. But I had rushed foolhardily forward anyway, stealing the kill from her.

She had not been happy. It turned out, every time she reset the cooldown of her golden ray of sword energy, she had to pay in Stat Points.

She had been counting on the +20 Stat Points from killing the Zone lord to come out ahead.

That said, the loot somehow seemed to make it up to her.

It was possible that Samantha had made me braver, more foolhardy, in this whole encounter. Why would I ever think tunneling into a mountain was a safe decision?

Even if she had affected my mind, could I blame her, if it worked out?

The simple answer was yes.

But now that the punishment and consequences of messing with me would be dealt with by Petra, that did leave a bit more space for me and Samantha to at least pretend to get along.

What’s so great about the two spells?

Samantha said.

Being an assassin doesn’t sound very heroic, I said, half-heartedly.

We can talk more about that later. How do I use the Treasury Token?

Samantha said.

No. I want something that will keep you from messing with my head. Something like Mental vs. Mindful.

Samantha replied.

I will have to see for myself, I said.

Samantha said.

I want to check with Petra before making any decisions.

During my call with Petra, I also confirmed my plan with my 21 free points, settling on putting 11 points into my Mana Regeneration, and 10 points into Agility.

After a brief call with Petra, I activated the Treasury Token, which, I immediately learned, doubled as an Information Crystal similar to the ones we had used at the auction at the end of the tutorial. I saw a blue screen in front of me, laying out thousands of options of things to buy, with various filters on the left. Equipment, weapons, potions, Classes, Professions…

It seemed I had 10 minutes to make my selection.

I spent the first five minutes browsing for anything that might help limit Samantha’s control of my mind, but I had no luck. Then I spent a few minutes just looking around to see what kind of C-rank items, skills, and classes there were.

There was a unisuit, which was particularly tempting, after seeing what Dawnbreaker was capable of with hers. There were hundreds of weapons, each with terrifying skills.

But when you think about it, it only made sense to pick a C-rank class or profession.

Most C-rank classes would come with a C-rank skill, and a C-rank profession would allow you to create numerous C-rank items.

I selected the C-rank Rune Master Profession, and the moment I confirmed my pick, the world around me faded to black.

The last words I heard were Samantha’s:

Name:

Jarek

Level:

34

HP:

44/44

Physical Defense:

18

Strength:

31 (+5)

Mental Power:

14

Dexterity:

10 (+5)

Agility:

24 (+14)

Perception:

20

Luck:

22

Mana Pool:

106 (+10)

Mana Regeneration:

60 (+10)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

420,000

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

Rune Master

(E-rank)

Titles:

Region Lord (E-rank)

Skills and Spells:

Identify (E-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Mana Sensing (E-rank)

Healthy Magic (E-rank)

Aquatic Respiration (E-rank)

Polyglot (E-rank)

Soul Communion (D-rank)

Cursed Lightning (D-rank)

Spiritual Traveler (D-rank)

Soul Explosion (D-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low), External Unattributed Mana (E-rank Low), Soul Magic (D-rank Low)

Equipment:

Vampiric Blade (D-rank): +5 Strength, +5 Agility.

Bloodied Battle Robes (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Imperial Scout Boots (E-rank): +4 Agility.

Greedy Gloves (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Bonded Blades (D-rank): +5 Dexterity, +5 Agility.

Communication Amulet (E-rank):

Interdimensional Pouch (D-rank):

Missions:

Zone Offense

Renegade Bounty Hunter