The Gilded Wolf Captain on the loading dock spins around.

  "What did those idiots do? Stabilize the situation! Now!"

  BOOM.

  Ray completes the sabotage. The main intake pipe bursts.

  A geyser of superheated steam and molten slag erupts into the room, spraying the assembly line. The Gilded Wolves shout, diving for cover as the liquid fire consumes the conveyor belts.

  "Intruders!"

  A guard screams, pointing up at the catwalk where Ray stands, silhouetted against the steam.

  "Saboteur on the…"

  There is a crack of displaced air. Svane vanishes.

  He reappears instantly on the gantry, directly in front of the shouting guard.

  Svane moves faster than the eye can follow.

  Slash.

  The signal flare is severed from the guard's hand.

  Thrust.

  The blade pierces the gap in the guard's armor at the neck.

  Pommel Strike.

  Svane spins and drives the hilt into the helmet of the second guard, crumpling him instantly.

  Two Gilded Wolves down in less than a second.

  "Kill them!"

  The Wolves on the ground floor roar, drawing shock-batons and swords, rushing toward the stairs to cut off Rina.

  Ray closes his eyes.

  He activates ‘Quad-Concurrent Partial Immersion.’ His innate passive Cognitive Network skill immediately kicks in preparation to offset the coming mental strain.

  Ray immediately uses the Grizzled Veteran’s Tactical Assessment skill, which is also complemented by his innate Art of Transience, Fulcrum Principle. Then Serene Cultivator’s Aetheric Perception skill.

  The world slows down and becomes a battle grid in Ray’s mind, he sees everyone's movement and the possible vectors of attack.

  Using the Understudy Protocol’s Resonant Link Communication, Ray starts to command Rina.

  Rina,

  Ray’s voice echoes in her mind.

  Target approaching your left. Duck.

  Rina drops. A shock-baton sparks over her head.

  Thrust up. Hit the Ribcage.

  Rina drives her dagger upward. The Wolf gasps as the blade finds the weak point in his cuirass.

  Ray doesn't stay still. Now using the Stoic Assassin’s Flowing Shadow technique, he flows over the railing, dropping ten feet to the floor below. He lands silently, absorbing the impact with ease. His reforged body is now showing dividends.

  A Wolf rushes him, swinging a heavy mace. Ray doesn't block. He steps inside the swing.

  Ray places his hand on the Wolf’s metal breastplate. He casts the cantrip spell Shocking Grasp smoothly, lightning crackles silently. The Wolf convulses as the electricity scrambles his nervous system, and he collapses.

  "Captain! Mage on the south catwalk!"

  Ray barks, tapping his ear cuff.

  A Gilded Wolf mage has Rina dead to rights. His fingers are hooked like claws, dragging static from the air. A jagged arc of erratic blue lightning Witch Bolt is already tethering to his hands, crackling with a high-pitched whine as he prepares to unleash the sustained beam.

  Svane pivots. He doesn't run. He simply raises his left hand, extending two fingers.

  "Ictus!"

  The air distorts around Svane's hand. With a dull thump of displaced pressure, a lance of translucent, concussive force shoots from his fingertips. It crosses the distance instantly, slamming into the mage’s chest with the sound of a sledgehammer hitting a sandbag.

  The lightning sputters and dies as the mage is lifted clean off his feet by the impact. He tumbles backward over the railing, plummeting into a vat of cooling slag.

  “AAAAAAHH!”

  The Gilded Wolf mage screams in pain until its final breath.

  From the shadows another Wolf lunges to flank Svane. He doesn't even look. He parries the desperate sword strike with a lazy, bored flick of his wrist.

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  Svane ripostes with surgical precision, piercing the Wolf’s heart.

  The fight is over in ten seconds. Five Gilded Wolves lie dead or unconscious.

  "Clear."

  Svane states, flicking the blood from his blade.

  A blue translucent screen appears in front of Ray.

  [SKILLED APPLICATION DETECTED]

  [EVENT: COMBAT, ASYMMETRIC SKIRMISH (SQUAD LEVEL)]

  [PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: ADEPT]

  [ANALYSIS: Host successfully orchestrated a multi-front engagement against superior combatants (Tier 2 Elites - Gilded Wolves) while simultaneously managing a structural sabotage objective. The utilization of 'Captain Svane' as an autonomous kinetic asset, combined with the zero-latency 'Resonant Link' guidance of 'Rina' created a flawless tactical kill-box with zero friendly exposure. Large mastery gain.]

  [Tactical Assessment +15% (CAPSTONE already reached, adding half of mastery gain to the next archetype skill 'Survival Instincts (Passive)'), Aetheric Perception +10%, Flowing Shadow Technique +5%.]

  Ray dismisses the notification window.

  "To the stairs! They’re distracted now! Let’s Move!"

  Ray commands.

  They reach the heavy iron door marked 'Service Entrance - Upper Levels'. Svane kicks it open.

  They burst into the stairwell, leaving the inferno behind them.

  Ray pauses for a second, looking back at the ruin he has caused. He taps into his belt pouch. After the skirmish he picks up some void ore and its refined counterpart, the Null Alloy. He can’t put it in the bag of holding as it has anti-magic properties which would render his bag of holding useless.

  "That should buy us some time."

  Ray says while getting a nut bar from his belt pouch and opens it.

  He takes a bite and looks up the spiral staircase. Rina and Svane are already used to Ray’s quirk.

  "Kaelen is on the third floor, east wing. Let's go get our friend."

  They move up the stairwell, Ray thinking to plan their approach.

  He wants to try something. It is a technique he hasn't attempted yet. Unlike the full sensory displacement where his body goes limp and helpless, Ray wants to attempt to pilot his own body while simultaneously maintaining the connection to process the visual feed from Nox.

  It is dangerous. It is likely stupid. But the current situation calls for it.

  Ray looks down at his shadow. Detecting the stare, two golden eyes open in the darkness and look back at him.

  Nox, I need you to scout ahead.

  Ray projects.

  Nox understands. The shadow separates from Ray’s silhouette, flowing up the stairs like spilled ink.

  Ray takes a breath and activates partial sensory displacement.

  The change is instant and violent.

  His right eye changes. The light within the iris vanishes, replaced by a dull, violet void. In his mind, that half of his vision is replaced by a monochrome world of high-contrast heat signatures and fluid shadows.

  His left eye remains human, seeing the smoky, dim stairwell and Rina’s cloak ahead of him.

  [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

  [WARNING: NEURAL DISSONANCE DETECTED]

  [Technique: Bi-Location Sensory Stream]

  [Alert: Your optic nerves are not designed to process dual-spatial inputs. Prolonged usage (> 5 Minutes) will result in severe vertigo, migraine, and potential temporary blindness.]

  [Recommendation: Cease technique immediately.]

  Ray swipes the notification away with a mental flick.

  "Noted."

  Ray mutters.

  He reaches into his belt pouch pocket and pulls out another nut bar, opens it and takes a bite, forcing his brain to focus on the chewing motion.

  The Crimson Weaver’s passive ‘Neural Gastronomy’ skill kicks in.

  The effect is immediate. As Ray swallows, the splitting headache throbbing behind his eyes dulls significantly. The nausea roiling in his gut settles into a warm hum of energy.

  Cognitive Network handles the voices, but the Crimson Weaver pays the electric bill.

  Ray thinks his brain receives the fuel it needs to handle the dual-processing load.

  "Young master?"

  Rina whispers, glancing back.

  "Keep moving,"

  Ray says, his voice steady now.

  "I have Nox scouting ahead for us."

  "You’re bleeding."

  Ray wipes his nose. His Theorist glove comes away red, but he feels that the bleeding has already stopped.

  "Push through,"

  Ray mutters, blinking his eyes rapidly to clear the double vision.

  "Nox is just ahead of us. The hallway is clear. The Wolves have sent their forces to the basement to deal with the explosion."

  The sabotage is working. The distant roar of the ruptured furnace and the wail of the alarms mask the sound of their boots on the stone steps. The heat is rising, chasing them up the tower like a physical predator.

  "East Wing, let's move."

  Ray commands.

  They burst out the stairs onto the third floor. The hallway here is opulent, plush red carpets, gold-framed portraits of ancestors who look similar to Titus Thorne, and heavy velvet drapes.

  But the air smells of smoke.

  "Two targets, at the room ahead, at the end of the hall."

  Ray hisses, his left eye coming back to life as he deactivates the partial sensory displacement.

  They approach the corner. Ray signals for a halt.

  Two Gilded Wolves stand guard outside a heavy oak door. They are agitated, looking down the corridor toward the main staircase where smoke is beginning to curl up from the lower levels. But their discipline holds; they haven't abandoned their post.

  "They're armored, standard plates. If we rush them, they’ll have time to shout."

  Ray whispers, assessing the threat.

  "Then I won't rush."

  Svane says.

  He sheathes his longsword and draws two short, heavy combat daggers from his belt.

  He looks at Ray and suddenly disappears. He uses the same skill he used in the skirmish earlier, a short distance teleportation skill Tactical Shift, which is a trademark skill of a high rank Aegis.

  There is a sound like a vacuum collapsing, a sharp, distorted thump.

  In the same heartbeat, he reappears directly behind the two guards. The air displaced by his arrival ruffles their cloaks.

  Before the Wolves’ brains can process the sudden shift in air pressure, Svane strikes.

  He doesn't stab. He slams the heavy pommels of his daggers into the base of their skulls, right where the helmet meets the neck guard.

  Thud-Thud.

  It is brutal, precise, and nearly silent. The guards’ eyes roll back, and they crumple to the carpet like marionettes with cut strings.

  Svane catches one before he hits the ground, lowering him silently. He looks back at Ray and Rina.

  "Clear."

  Svane whispers, straightening his cuffs.

  Hey there friend,

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