CRACK CRACK CRACK

Brance watched wide-eyed as every lock in the cellway simultaneously shattered to pieces. His head whipped back and forth, from metal fragments on the ground to his brother, who had his hands still resting on the hilts of his swords.

[You…how…what…HUH!] Brance felt like his world view suddenly exploded wide open as Cynrik nonchalantly walked towards and picked up the teleportation waypoint. [My little brother, you must remember this is a world where anything is possible if you’re strong enough.] Cynrik snickered at his brother’s expense as he flipped the flashlight-like device in his hand like a toy.

But his face suddenly tensed up as he noticed the lack of creaks from cell doors opening. Then, getting annoyed, Cyrnik spoke up, “OI, HURRY UP NOW!” as if on queue, all the cell doors swung open, and the children obediently lined up several feet behind Cynrik.

Brance shook his head helplessly and opened up the door he was working on, retrieved the two unconscious children, and walked over to the rapidly forming group.

[Tobs, how do I turn this thing on?] Smacking the waypoint on his palm a couple of times, Cynrik finally gave up and asked for help.

-To activate the array, the Host must twist the cone counter-clockwise 180 degrees and then pull it out half an inch. Next, place it on the ground, and the array formation will begin forming. It will take precisely 60 seconds for the runic-spell array to be written and activated.-

[Cough, alright;] clearing his throat, Cynrik did as Tobs instructed, giving the waypoint a twist and a pull, the cone lit up in a pale blue light. Placing the device on the ground, Cynrik couldn’t stop himself from asking, [Tobs, you sure I’m not supposed to bop-it too?] Behind him, he heard Brance scoff at his dumb joke.

-…no…-

Slightly startled by the system’s response, Cynrik jittered his head in confusion but was sidetracked by a mass of pale blue lines spilling out from under the waypoint. These lines started wiggling and forming a neat circle spanning a full 4 feet in radius, with the center point being the waypoint itself. With the outer ring formed, the blue lines moved like snakes, creating strange symbols, which appeared to be a formula of some kind.

Brance stepped next to Cynrik, and the two brothers tilted their heads slightly to the right and watched the spell formula form. They both squinted similarly with their eyes rapidly scanning the strange symbols.

[Wait…HOLY SHIT, WE CAN READ THIS THING!] Cynrik’s stunned voice echoed in the mind link as he leaned closer to the array.

[Legacy Tier Language Proficiency, hey Tobs, what language is this?] Cynrik chirped as he continued to absorb the sights coming into view as the array built itself.

-Host’s authority is too low for this information-

[TSK, Cmon Tobs;] even though he was disappointed that Tobs refused to answer his question, Cynrik still tried his best to read the symbols on the ground. But the more he stared at them, the less he understood. Typically, all their Language Proficiency did was automatically translate whatever they read or heard into English in their brain, allowing them to understand. It was the same in reverse; if they wrote or spoke, for example, the word “hello,” Language Proficiency would essentially auto-correct it into the common language used in Vinestra. The exception to this was when they spoke in a language other than English. Like earlier when Cynrik said in Norse. The words came out in the correct language he spoke; however, Brance was able to understand it as the skill allowed him to, but it didn’t actually change the words for some reason.

Now, as they examined the symbols that formed the spell formula for the array, they could read the symbols, but they couldn’t understand them. They had visual recognition, but it was incoherent when the knowledge entered their minds. The strange situation caused Brance to give up, but Cynrik stood in place staring at formation, still trying to decipher it. Unfortunately, the only thing he obtained was a headache, and when the array was finished, he was forced to look away and rub his eyes.

-Part 3 C: Activate teleportation array. (Complete)-

-Timer reset-

The lines on the ground stopped moving and locked into place before turning a golden shade and emitted a sudden forceful pulse of Mana that shoved everyone near it, including the bothers, back two steps. The pulse rippled in the air creating a mirage-like reaction, similar to what happens on a hot day over asphalt.

The sudden occurrence caused Cynrik’s face to contort in displeasure. [FUCK, BRANCE, GET THESE KIDS MOVING NOW!] Sensing something was off, Brance immediately went to work sending kids through the portal while Cynrik swapped to his AC loadout and ran towards the stairs.

When the pulse went off, Cynrik wasn’t frozen in a stupor; his brain was still active, and using his Mana Sight, he watched as the heads of everyone upstairs swiveled towards the basement.

Brance didn’t ask questions; he had already concluded that Part 3 E was starting, and they had to defend the array now.

Cynrik didn’t stop at the base of the stairs; instead, he chose to climb halfway up the staircase and lie in wait, with a creepy smirk on his face. [COME TO ME, MY BEAUTIFUL XP;] carefully monitoring the bodies moving in his direction, he pulled out his final Mana potion and downed it to cap himself off before activating Shadow Veil.

Myer stood amongst about twenty children on the hotel’s fifth floor in front of a large metallic door. On the other side of the door was his master’s laboratory. Contrary to what the brothers believed, the master didn’t have eyes for the children in the way they thought. Instead, the master would use the children in his experiments, all of which revolved around the newly formed Mana Codexes held in their tiny bodies. Untainted by any elemental Mana, these pure codexes were a vital resource he absolutely required. As such, since he couldn’t buy human codexes in bulk on the black market easily, the master had created an organization that shared his name with the sole purpose of obtaining this valuable resource.

After the events earlier in the night, the master had a bad feeling that something was about to happen and commanded his slaves to bring a large group of children to him before disposing of the rest. However, time was of the essence, and as someone who lived in the underworld, he couldn’t shake the feeling he had been found out.

Knocking lightly on the metal door, Myer informed his master that he had completed what was asked of him. Just as his knuckles left the metal, the door opened with a loud mechanical hiss, and a short, fat man wearing an expensive-looking grey, and black suit appeared.

“Myer, bring the children in and go handle the situation downstairs.” The master, Haylon, said in an eerie, raspy voice that caused all of the children to shudder in fear. “It appears some rats have snuck into the basement and need to be…dealt with.”

Myer knelt in front of Haylon and replied that he understood without looking at his master. Instead, he stayed looking at the ground until he heard the mechanical hiss of the door closing, after which Myer stood up, and a ferocious glint shined in his eyes as he made his way to the staircase leading to the first floor.

With a wave of his hand, a small black cell phone-like device appeared in his palm, “Teams 3 and 7 get to the basement and kill the intruders. Be advised; it’s the same person who eliminated team one and the people on the second floor.”

Back in the basement, Cynrik watched in palpable excitement as a large group of Mana signatures gathered in the lobby and moved as a group in his direction. His eyes flickered to the left, where a notification was floating in the open space, detailing the completion of Part 3 D.

-Part 3 D: Send the freed children to the safe zone using the teleportation array. 16/83 (Incomplete)

[Tobs, can you give me an estimated time of completion if Brance stays at his current pace?]

-With the rate Host Brance is sending the freed children through, the final child will cross over the teleportation circle in approximately 13 minutes.-

[Set a timer for 13 minutes.] Cynrik watched as a second notification box appeared under the first, showing a timer with 12:59 on it.

[Brance, keep an eye on that counter and get those brats through the portal. I’ll try holding off these guys in the staircase as long as possible.] Then, looking at the stairs that extended up in front of him several dozen feet, Cynrik started plotting his attack.

‘There’s enough space here that two adults should have no problem walking side by side, which means they will be sending them down in pairs.’ Cynrik slowed his breathing as he continued analyzing.

‘The plan of attack is ankles first, take out the Achilles tendon, throw them off balance, quickly attack the vitals, and eliminate the target asap, I’ll need to create a blockage with the bodies, so I’ll have to know where I toss the corpses. There isn’t much space in this stairwell, so I’ll have to pick and choose my placement carefully.’

His first bundles of XP arrived feet above him as he finished his plot, causing Cynrik to grin evilly. ‘SPARTANNNSS, WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION!’

-AHHHH OOOOUUUU-

Tobs, knowing what Cynrik was thinking, played an audio clip from his memory of a movie about 300 warriors fighting an army in a narrow pass. The response caused Cynrik to nearly choke on the breath he was holding.