There was only one pce we could go.

  The main entrance was blocked. The side passage led back to my father and the Hero. I jumped onto the raised ptform, having to reinforce my legs with mana just to make the small leap. Damian nded right next to me.

  We ran past the auctioneer, who was currently just staring wide-eyed at what was happening. We ran around the obsidian circle, making for the giant curtains in the back. They were only just barely open, a few people poking their heads out warily. A few of those people tried to call out to us. We ignored them.

  “Where-where are we going?” Damian asked, constantly looking behind him.

  “As far away as we can.”

  Anias had said there was some kind of barrier around the auction hall. If she was right, then the only choice was to hide as deep in this pce as we could. The screaming was getting fainter and fainter behind us now.

  “You think he’s going to chase us?”

  “He is!” My breathing was getting a little ragged now. Mana might have made me a little stronger, but it really did nothing for anything else.

  More screams. This time from somewhere close.

  “Shit. Shit. Shit. He’s following us!”

  I dared to gnce back. The Fox Mask yanked his sword away from a half-naked man. I’d seen him before; he’d been the one to bring out many of the items tonight. He was dead. Just like that.

  We ran into one rge corridor, dozens of rooms on each side. There were more people here. All of them looked afraid. Confused.

  “You kids shouldn’t be here!” A portly man muttered, stepping towards us. “This is for employees only!”

  I ignored him. The sounds of screaming were getting louder now, closer.

  “Damian, block the hallway. Now."

  He looked uncertain. Then he bent down, hands on the floor. I felt the air shift. There was a rumbling as a pilr of earth shot into the air, slowly blocking the entryway. Damian swayed on his feet, leaned forward.

  “Are you okay?” I put a hand on his shoulder.

  He shook his head, rose. “Just fine, Esra.” He shook his head. “I made it thick…I don’t think he’ll be able to follow us now.”

  That must have taken more mana than I’d thought.

  “I…I think you need to make it thicker.” I hated to ask this of him. Yet, something told me it was better to be safe rather than sorry.

  He stared at me and slowly nodded. “What a demanding Lady you are.”

  He moved forward and started to make the barrier thicker. When it was done, there was practically a giant boulder blocking the hallway. Damian almost fell over before I caught him.

  “Thanks for listening,” I said. “It must have been hard.”

  He grumbled something and stood up straight, swaying only once on his feet. “Not everyone has as much mana as you do, you know.”

  I looked back at the other end of the hallway.

  The small corridor ended in a rge, eborate door. I turned to the portly man again. His eyes were wide.

  “Is that an exit?” I pointed.

  He kept looking confused. I shook him. “Damn it. Answer me. Is that an exit?!”

  The man slowly seemed to come into himself. “N-no, that’s…that’s the safe room.”

  I had expected as much, even if I’d really wished that wasn’t the case. The only option I could see was hiding in one of the rooms. It might buy us a little time. Hopefully, that would be enough time for Anias to get to us.

  If she gets to us.

  “Come on. Let’s head inside there.” I dragged Damian towards one of the farther rooms.

  Boom

  Dust and debris were everywhere. There was a rge cloud of dust right where Damian’s wall had been. It slowly started to clear.

  “Why do they always run? Don’t they know all it does is waste mine and their time?” The Fox Mask attacker stepped through the cloud. It took me a second to even spot him, as his cloak slowly changed color from the brown of the cloud itself. A small rock fell from near the ceiling, hitting him in the shoulder. He didn't even seem to notice.

  He looked around and spotted us almost immediately. “Just come with me, little kid. I’m not such a bad adult. You don’t need to keep running.”

  We were trapped. He’d shattered Damian’s wall in one blow, and it didn’t look like it had taken much out of him either.

  People screamed. Men and women cowered back. The stranger seemed to notice them for the first time.

  “Seriously? How many more of you damn roaches are there?”

  I was slowly dragging Damian as far away from him as we could get.

  “You bastard! Don’t think you can just do whatever you want!” He raised his hand. The air between his fingers warped as air began to move faster and faster. “I used to be an adventurer! Don’t think you can ju-”

  The Fox Mask blurred.

  “Take t-” The man blinked. Brought his arms down to his face. They were just stumps now. The Fox Mask stood to his side, slowly sheathing a bde behind his back.

  Everyone screamed. I yanked Damian hard, pulled him towards the farthest room. I practically had to drag him.

  An old woman stood just outside it, looking just as horrified as everyone else. She saw us, hesitated. “Come inside. Hurry. Hurry.” She turned, put her hand on the dark door. There was a glow. Something clicked. It swung open. “Quick. Quick.”

  The screams behind us grew louder. I dragged Damian inside. The woman followed, and the door closed behind us.

  “We can’t beat him.” Damian was staring at his hands. “We’re going to die. Shit. We’re going to die.”

  “Not now.” I nudged. “Not. Now.”

  “You don’t understand.” Damian was staring at me, taking one deep breath after another “That wasn’t a Gift. He was just that strong.”

  I did understand. That’s why I was trying to keep my panic down.

  Right.

  Click. Click.

  I felt like I could breathe again. My heart still hammered in my chest, so fast it felt like it was trying to burst out. Still, I could think.

  “This pce has defenses, right? You can’t just walk in here.”

  The old woman looked surprised for a moment. Then she nodded. “Y-yes. The whole door is.” She pointed. “You can’t get inside unless your mana is keyed in.”

  That sounded very much like the kind of cim that was quickly going to be tested and then disproven. I looked around the room.

  I had seen many of these items before. None of them was useful for the situation we were in. The only item that might have been somewhat useful was the Four Barrier Pyramids, but those only blocked projectiles. They’d do nothing about what the bastard outside was doing.

  Bang.

  I half expected the door to fly open. It held.

  Bang

  Damn it. The closest thing to a weapon here was the Peasant Bde, and even that was supposed to be an antique, not an actual weapon. It rested inside an eborate looking gss box.

  I stepped closer, channeled mana into my fists. Punched. The gss shattered. My hand bled. I ignored it. An loud ringing went through the air: an arm. I ignored that too.

  “What are you doing?!” The old woman screeched.

  From up close, I could truly see the disrepair. Practically the whole thing was covered in rust. It was barely a weapon at all. I still grabbed it. It was oddly heavy in the hand. Maybe that was just me being weak.

  Bang

  I turned and looked at Damian. He still looked frightened and exhausted, but at least he wasn’t cowering from the door like the woman was.

  “Damian, how much mana do you have left?”

  “Not much. Barely any.”

  Damn it.

  Bang

  A foot smmed a hole right through the door. It pulled back, smmed again, making another hole right next to the first. Hands moved through those holes, pulling the door apart. The Fox Mask peeked in, then climbed right through the new entrance.

  There was a loud beeping now. It was probably some kind of arm. It was also completely useless.

  “How annoying.” He muttered. “You kids have too much energy.”

  How were we supposed to get out of this mess? No matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t have an answer.

  Click.

  Everything zoomed into focus. Pain came. I winced. I’d only just enhanced my sight a bit, but it still felt like I had a raging headache.

  Click. Click.

  The pain vanished. Two Perceptions and one Sensation. That’s all I had with my Gift, and this was the best combination I could think of right now.

  “What do you think you’re doing?!” The old woman cried out, stepping right in front of Damian and I. She stood in the center of the rge room.

  The Fox Mask ignored her, stepping forward. He pulled out his sword again, and this time the edge was a very obvious red. He stepped forward almost casually. The old woman quaked in front of him. His hand moved. The woman fell to the ground, a small pool of blood already starting to form around her throat.

  I was afraid. My entire body was shaking. The fear had grown that much. I tried to reach again for the Gift, but even my mental fingers were trembling now.

  Damian stepped in front of me. “I think- I think I can distract him for- for a few seconds. Take that chance to run.”

  The Fox Mask dismissively cleaned his sword “One second, maybe. For your sake, I hope you can run faster than you have so far.”

  Damian’s body was shaking. He was terrified, but trying to hide it.

  I took a deep breath and spped my cheeks from either side. The stinging was dull compared to the headache. Snap out of it, damn it.

  “Damian, shoot something at him.”

  Despite his exhaustion, despite running on fumes, Damian didn't so much as question me. A small stone spear rose from the ground in front of him, shooting right for the bastard. The man didn’t even move. He just stood in pce as it twisted and missed him.

  With these eyes, I could see it. I could see everything. It wasn’t that something was making attacks miss, like a barrier. No, it was just that the attack itself had veered out of the way almost of its own accord. The air didn't ripple. Nothing changed. It defied physics.

  “Did you honestly think that would work?” The Fox Mask sighed. “The girl I need. You, boy, I’m afraid, aren’t going to live to fix your stupidity.”

  It was a gamble. I focused mana into my hands, leaking out so much mana in the process that they were glowing.

  “Just great.” The Fox Mask growled, stepping forward. “With you two I’m going t-”

  The Godbde whizzed right past his head, just an inch above his head. I had to pour a lot of mana into my arms. It had gone in a perfectly straight line, smming into the door behind him before cttering to the ground.

  He stared back at him at the Godbde before looking at me. I gave him a smirk.

  “You don’t deflect attacks.” I hissed. “You deflect intention. The intention to harm you, right?”

  The air grew still. My whole body felt numb. Cold. I involuntarily took a step back even as Damian did the same.

  “Clever little bitch.” He hissed, no trace of mirth in his voice now. “And just what difference will knowing that make?”

  “Damian,” I whispered. “Make me a spear. Or a sword. It doesn’t matter.” It wasn’t like I knew how to use either well.

  He stared at me. When had his face gone so pale? “I- I think I can manage one.”

  Was he that low on mana?

  “No, I'll think of someth-”

  He swayed forward, almost falling on top of me. I held him up, even as something pressed into my hand.

  “Damian. Damian!” He didn’t answer. His eyes were open, but clearly not seeing me.

  Shit.

  I slowly let him down, saw the sword lying next to him. My heart clenched, but now wasn't the time for this.

  “How very touching.” The Fox Mask hissed. “Poor little thing almost used all his mana. You made him cover up the hallway too. How cruel. Using that much mana at his age.” He clicked his tongue. “You noble brats really are the worst.”

  I stepped forward, sword in hand. "Hey, do you know what happens when a person has nothing left?"

  He didn't answer.

  Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

  I knew my senses well and had experimented with them plenty of times. I turned them up as far as I dared.

  I turned down everything else. I didn’t know what combination of knobs governed complicated like intent. This was the only way.

  Click. Click. Click.

  The world turned cold. The colors were still there, but now they were lifeless to my eyes.

  I looked at the Fox Mask. Why was I walking toward him? It was hard to remember. Everything was empty, lifeless. Did I have to kill him? Did I have to do…anything? Some tiny part of me forced myself forward; the body was slow to obey, but it did obey.

  I was empty. It felt like I wasn’t Esra anymore, simply piloting a body by the name ‘Esra’.

  My body moved forward. The Fox Mask looked confused, but not afraid or concerned.

  “Oh? Finally, you’re coming to me. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to kill your little friend peacef-””

  My body moved forward. My arm thrust forward, stone sword in hand. I stabbed him right in his side. Mana made my thrust sharper, stronger.

  He let out a gasp. He leapt back, one hand on his wound.

  It was an attack that could only work on someone who’d never had to fear being attacked before.

  There was no joy. No satisfaction. There was nothing at all. There was no intent. The difference between an attack and a sword hand is simply moving in the direction of flesh.

  “You-you bitch!” He screamed. “How fucking dare you!”

  My body kept stepping forward, my eyes tracking his every move. With these eyes, they could see every tiny twitch he made.

  He charged forward, fast. He would have been a blur if my eyes hadn’t been working overtime. He swung, his bde singing through the air. My own hands moved to block. Sheer instinct.

  Not nearly fast enough.

  My body flew back and smmed into a wall. Blood leaked from the open wound. Bones were broken. Breathing came in rasps. The stone sword fell uselessly to the floor.

  The emptiness shattered.

  The world came back into focus again, my mental grip on my Gift slipping. I hissed in pain. Whimpered.

  Sensation smmed into me, a rush of sensations that almost made me dizzy as they all came pouring in at once.

  “You fucking bitch you’re lucky you have so much fucking mana.” The man hissed. “I’m going to turn you into a fucking neckce.”

  Besides the pain, I only felt one thing. Anger. Anger at myself. At this bastard. At everything.

  I’d failed. I’d failed. I’d failed again.

  Damn it. Damn it.

  The man stalked forward, towards Damian. He was limping, blood trailed behind him.

  He stopped right above Damian, raised his sword high.

  He was going to die. I was going to let him die. And then I was going to die. This second life was going to end too, snuffed out before I’d even had the chance to live it. A small part of me almost accepted it. What had I expected? To make some kind of difference?

  A much rger part of me screamed out. Against him. Against myself. Against the world.

  Light. So blinding, I had to shield my eyes for a moment.

  Something prodded at the back of my mind. An itch. It made me turn, made me crawl before I even knew what I was doing. Every inch was agony and nausea. My muscles weren’t working the way they were supposed to. I must have torn them. My Gift wasn’t working either.

  I was going to die.

  My trembling hand reached out and brushed metal. It felt familiar. Impossibly familiar.

  I blinked, staring at the cold steel in my hands. I stared at the impossible sword. The Godbde. The steel didn’t glow, and yet it was such a pristine white it seemed to anyhow. There was no rust to be found anywhere on the bde. The gemstone did glow.

  Cool air washed over me, and as it did, I could feel it fill me. My pains and aches didn't fade. It was more like they simply didn't matter. It was just enough that I could move again. The bde felt light in my hand as I started to rise.

  Nobody knew the intent to use a specific one of these swords. Yet, I knew the intent behind this one. I knew it as acutely as I knew my own name.

  Defiance.