Everyone got in front of the entrance they were assigned and pushed through the doors…

  ————————————

  Vii and Assassin walked through the door into a narrow tunnel. It was so narrow that they had to walk in a line, and they were able to feel the walls of the tunnel on either side of them. Since it was dark, they used one of their hands to scale the wall and used the other to hold each other’s hand to make sure nothing happened to the other person.

  “Since we’re alone, we can get to know more about each other.” Assassin figured he would have to speak first since Vii seemed very shy—or at least quiet and distant.

  “Since you already know my name is Assassin, we can discuss ages. I’m 17, how old are you?”

  “16.”

  “Even younger than me. What’s it like in your sanctuary?”

  “It’s boring.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because I stay to myself.”

  Assassin sighed. Her responses were lackluster, and he couldn’t spark a good conversation between them, so he just stayed silent. To him, she was the one that was boring.

  He stared ahead and saw a faint light.

  “It looks like the exit is coming up. I see a faint light.”

  Gradually, the light grew bigger and bigger.

  “Wait… that’s not a light! Duck!” yelled Vii.

  Assassin ducked down as the oncoming light zoomed through the narrow tunnel toward them. Vii reacted late, but she ducked and narrowly dodged the light that zoomed past them, blowing their hair with the wind of its speed.

  “We have to hurry and get out of here—we’re at a huge disadvantage,” said Assassin. Although it was obvious, they were indeed in a bad situation. They only had one path, which was straight ahead or to turn around and go back. They only had one answer after making it this far: to not stop and to prove their worth!

  “Can’t you teleport?” questioned Vii.

  “I can only teleport to places I can see with my eyes or places I can vividly remember. It’s not useful in this current situation.”

  “Okay, then leave this to me.”

  Assassin was surprised that she was taking the initiative, but he was confident in her abilities. They wouldn’t be paired together if their abilities didn’t complement each other. He understood this, and he was sure that Vii understood it as well. Just then, another faint light appeared to be coming in their direction.

  “When I say to run, run. I’ll be right behind you, but we only have a momentary chance. The exit doesn’t seem to be too far ahead, and the person on that side is trying to stop us,” said Vii.

  As the light grew closer, Vii’s eyes shined, and she showcased one of her abilities.

  “Assemble,” said Vii. A glowing light resembling the shape of a weapon appeared and shined brightly until the light dimmed. You could see that a weapon was assembling itself in their presence very fast and smoothly. The weapon finished assembling in a matter of two seconds as the oncoming light grew closer.

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  Vii grabbed the weapon from the air, and a moment of silence passed. Assassin was surprised that this was an ability—he had never seen something like this before. But he had faith in her; this was their way out. He knew this was likely very suitable for their current situation and paid no attention to the oddity. Instead, he thought of ways that it would be advantageous in the upcoming fight.

  As the light grew closer, you heard a wind-up amidst the silence—it came from Vii’s weapon. Suddenly, she pressed the trigger, and a bright beam of light shot from the weapon as if it fired lasers. You could feel the vibrations on the wall as the laser ripped through the air in the narrow tunnel and collided with the incoming light, destroying it.

  Valentine felt the vibrations through the wall as she and Deniz entered the entrance next to Vii and Assassin.

  “They must have started fighting. That means people are in these tunnels, so stay on guard,” said Valentine.

  The laser shot forward and lit up the path in front of them, giving them a small view of what lay ahead. The light only traveled a few hundred feet until it reached what seemed to be an open area. Assassin fixed his eyes and suddenly vanished—he teleported the moment he was able to see a glimpse of the open area.

  When he appeared, he was in a dark open area. Suddenly, torches lit up one by one. These torches were scattered across the wall and lit up with an orange flame, giving light to the room. The room seemed to be a circular area in a tunnel of rocks. It was surrounded by walls of rock with only torches and a door in the room. The torches gave light, and the door was likely the exit—to whoever they considered the “boss.”

  “I commend you for making it this far. I didn’t think they would be bold enough to send kids after us. Those sly foxes must underestimate our power,” said a voice that echoed in the room. Assassin was good at sensory and was able to detect where the manly voice was coming from and looked in that direction.

  “Not only are you a kid, but you’re also only in the first awakening—and at a lower stage than me at that. I should feel disrespected,” said the man.

  Assassin locked eyes with the man. He was bald and tall and looked to be in his early twenties. He had a youthful look, which made him look slightly younger than his actual age. He had a lean physique, was slightly dark-skinned, and had brown eyes. He wore a long black robe that covered his entire body.

  “A lower stage? What do you mean?” said Assassin. He knew there were multiple awakenings from the information his master gave him, but he didn’t know about stages. Just as he asked the question, Vii came rushing into the room, locked eyes with the bald man, and rushed to Assassin’s side, still holding her weapon.

  “So it was you that sent that ray of light? That’s a pretty nice weapon you have there. I didn’t think someone in a lower stage would be able to conjure something of that nature—but I guess it makes sense. As for your answer, young boy, each awakening has stages. There’s an early stage, middle stage, and late stage. When you first enter a realm, you’re in the early stage. As you get stronger, you can enter the middle stage, and the late stage is typically when people are about to break through to the next awakening. Although these stages aren’t inherently real, people use them to categorize your power. Both of you give off the power of the early stage,” chuckled the man.

  “Enough about stages. This is the end of the road for the two of you. I would prefer if there isn’t a fight and you both run back. This matter has nothing to do with kids. The goal we’re trying to reach is much bigger than you both know. Please understand that and leave.”

  Vii and Assassin paid attention to the words the man said. There was indeed a deeper meaning behind his words that they couldn’t yet understand—but they weren’t here to talk. They had one job, and that was to eliminate the people in the hideout. Nothing more, nothing less.

  “As much as we would want to, we have a mission to complete—so I’m afraid that’s off the table. It seems we’re going to have to let our fighting do the talking,” said Assassin.

  “I’ll fight him close-range and you stay afar and provide ranged support. I think that’s the best plan based on what I’ve seen of your abilities. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll change the approach,” whispered Assassin.

  Vii grinned and nodded in agreement. She threw her weapon up into the air, which glowed and shined a bright light, changing shape as it fell back into her arms. The glowing light gradually disappeared, and the weapon was in the form of a sniper.

  Assassin took notice and came to the conclusion that she could change her weapons into whatever she wanted. He wouldn’t be wrong with a conclusion like that. The ability was very useful for certain situations, and this seemed to be one of them.

  “If that’s how this will go, then I understand. Just know—I tried to warn you. There’s a difference in power between stages,” said the man as he grinned. Suddenly, he vanished and appeared between Vii and Assassin. They couldn’t react in time. The moment they looked up and saw the man between them, he grabbed their heads with his hands.

  With his right hand, he held Vii and threw her as she crashed into the wall in the distance. With his left hand, he lifted Assassin in the air and slammed him into the ground, which shattered on impact, sending rocks flying. The man let out a laugh as he dragged Assassin across the ground, breaking it even more until he launched him into the wall next to Vii.

  Assassin grunted from the damage he took, and under his bandages, he let out a slight smile. Things were getting interesting. This guy was immensely stronger than anyone they had faced before. There was a clear difference in power, and he understood why this man was one of the guards at the entrances. That meant the boss was close—likely through that door. If this was the strength of a guard, then the boss’s strength must tower over even this bald man.

  “Stick to the plan, Vii. Our lives are truly on the line with this battle,” grinned Assassin. His eyes widened as he unleashed a big and intense green aura. A green flame appeared at his side, which he took hold of—and a green flaming sword formed. His eyes glowed bright green as his unleashed aura made his long black hair flow through the air.

  The bald man grinned and unleashed his orange aura, which gave off an intense feeling—and its size was bigger than Assassin’s. This showed the difference between their power.

  Assassin slowly walked forward, his green sword in hand. His eyes were glowing green, and he wore a wide grin under the bandages covering half of his face.

  The bald man walked forward as well, radiating his intense orange aura.

  Instantly, they both dashed forward. The bald man swung his right arm, throwing a heavy punch. Assassin leaned his right arm back and swung it forward, connecting his sword with the man’s fist—and they clashed…

  Assassin and the man clashed!! The real battle is about to begin!!