Time passed and the snow started to melt.The first wing of the building, along with the boiler room, was now operational. The six other wings would take more time to complete. In the end, we opted for a design resembling a star fortress, boilers at the center and placed on top of a steep hill. This building needed to be as secure as possible—technology that would change the world would be made here, and we couldn’t allow the place to be a soft target. Security was handled by the Inquisition, who would also be the first issued with the new gear.

  Our first brass-casing machine was a success. After many trials and errors, we finally achieved consistent results of satisfying quality, allowing us to produce the first batch of brass ammunition and start stockpilling. Since our machining capabilities were still in development, we decided to go with a rimmed cartridge inspired by the infamous 7.62x54R. With the help of a dreamancer who also worked as an engineer, we pulled fragments of my memory about different rifles. The simple, rugged design of the Mosin-Nagant became the foundation for our first prototype. By now, we had delivered the first 10,000 rifles. They were making a difference against terror attacks in town but hadn’t yet been used in major field engagements.

  We were still working on machining out our prototype Maxims, but we were hopeful they would help take the pressure off the front lines in a month or two with the first batch of garbage rods. We were also secretly working on self-propelled howitzers powered by a small steamcore engine, propelled by two treaded metal tracks to allow travel in the worst conditions. The vehicle was equipped with a mount that would eventually be paired with a Maxim once it was ready. The 200mm shells were fitted with high-explosive heads and impact fuses. We hadn’t yet figured out a way to implement proximity fuses, but it was on the list. For now, the mobile artillery piece was painfully slow.

  The first train engine was set to make its debut in a few months, with a section of rail connecting the capital to a mining town. A team of around a hundred workers was building the tracks at a ridiculous speed—earth magic proved to be a great boon, allowing for work speeds I wouldn’t have imagined possible.

  The Pontifex had agreed to wait a bit longer for better guns instead of ordering one million rifles immediately. She wasn’t entirely convinced about my shock-and-awe strategy, but since I had proven to be a formidable tool so far, she allowed me to try it my way—to the dismay of her entourage.

  The last three months had been a blast. I spent my time shooting new guns and giving input here and there. The work atmosphere was fantastic—while I admired the geniuses and experts in their respective domains, they looked at me like I was the real genius wich I found quite funny to say the least. I saw the girls pretty often, especially since Victoria had accepted a factory supervisor role while she couldn’t go back to Valakia. The students from the other nations had gone home, but the Valakians were allowed to stay, while citizens of the Empire remained detained. By now terror attack by the Cult and the Empire were happening almost every week but they were mostly contained and the death toll never passed the a dozen per attack.

  Today was my last day at the shop, and they threw me a goodbye party since I would be joining the Inquisition officially in a few hours. I was about to take a drink, but Hope shut that down before I could start.

  "Maybe not on your first day, rookie," she said smugly.

  "Quit breaking my balls—at least let me say goodbye properly. I don’t know when I’ll be able to set foot back here again. And Lilith, you better not forget you owe me an arm," I said with a grin, pointing at her.

  "I might forget it, so make sure to come check every now and then to remind me." She answered with a smille that thugged at my heart.

  We ate and laughed while we could, and as the bell signaling the end of the lunch break rang, I shook everyone’s hand, gave hugs to the girls, and departed toward the Pontifex's Basilica to get my first posting. I hoped I’d get one of the good departments, though I still didn’t know what any of them were.

  The city felt calmer, quieter than before. Even though the large military campaign hadn't started yet, its effects on people's lives already had. St. Gabriel Basilica was under careful monitoring at all times. Templars, Paladins, and Inquisitor squads patrolled day and night. The attack at the Academy had definitely been the most devastating, but many smaller raids also chipped away at the morale and logistics of the army. Thousands were dead and this was just the start.

  We got a quick ID check at the entry and made our way to the same stairwell I used previously, but instead of going up, we went down. The building must have been at least a hundred meters deep if not more and becoming colder as we descended. Eventually, we reached a doorway at the bottom where a salt-and-pepper middle-aged man, who looked like he could tear me apart with just a glance, was standing behind a desk.

  "Purpose?" he asked nonchalantly.

  "I bring the new member, Samael, to his trials," Hope replied in the same monotone note.

  "Who refers him?"

  "Grand Inquisitor Perezo, Father Mathias, Father Kladius Crane, Count Guimond and the Pontifex Maximus," she answered.

  "What is his purpose?" He asked while looking me straight in the eyes. Hope turned to me with expectant eyes like I had been prepping for this day for months.

  "Purging devils from these lands in the God-King's name," was the answer I came up with.

  "Do you accept your purpose?" he asked, his gaze sharp like he could see right through any lie.

  "I do," I answered firmly. The memory of the Academy's massacre was all the convincing I needed for this life and the next.

  "Please proceed to the next station."

  As we started to walk inside the open door, I turned to ask the clerk if he could tell me anything about the test, but when I turned—gone was the desk, and the clerk. Hope still walked next to me.

  "Are you okay, Sam? You look like you've seen a ghost," she asked.

  "Yeah, yeah, just my mind doing bumblefuckery, I guess."

  "If you say so."

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  At the next desk, a clerk that looked just like the previous one was waiting. He passed me a white robe and a rope to dress myself in. I went behind the blind in the corner and quickly changed into the new clothes. I re-equipped my pistols and weapon belt, throwing everything else into the coat's pocket. I stepped out with the coat draped over my arm.

  The man gestured toward the doorway. Hope was gone, yet I hadn't heard her move. I reached out to where she had been standing, but she was really gone.

  "Hope?" I called, but no answer came. The man simply continued to point patiently at the doorway.

  "Do you know where she went?" I asked, but he only shook his head.

  "Please leave your coat here. You will have it back later. Take only what you deem necessary and leave the rest," he instructed.

  I pulled my reloading kit, a few coins, a wooden cup, my IFAK, and a couple of snacks, shoving everything into a small satchel.

  "Well, I guess I gotta go. It was a pleasure, see you later, bud."

  As I walked through the doorway, the corridor grew tighter and tighter, narrowing until I had to crawl through, leading me into a circular room with a ceiling that towered at least seventy-five feet above. Eight tall sculptures loomed in the center of the chamber, all facing a small altar. My footsteps echoed off the hard, gray stone floor. The room was empty, eerily silent, and my eyes immediately fixed on the altar.

  It was a solid gold box with ornate glass panels on its sides, revealing its contents—coins, cores, and jewelry piled high. I didn't really know what the test was supposed to be. For a moment, the thought of swiping a few coins flitted through my mind, but I quickly tamed that shameless greed. Not knowing what else to do, I added a large gold coin to the box and continued to look around. The doorway I had come through was gone. I felt a shiver run down my spine, a foreboding feeling gnawing at my sanity. I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong, but something definitely was and I was trapped.

  I tapped the stone wall with my foot where the doorway had been—solid rock. This was probably more than just an illusion. I really didn't like escape rooms. Being captured by enemy forces after a heli crash had been more than enough 'captured time' for two lifetimes.

  I could feel something tugging at my mind. I decided to examine the statues—maybe they held the answer to the test. This was the Inquisition, after all. What better way to inquisition than to poke around? I started from left to right.

  The first statue was a marble and bronze depiction of a blindfolded human woman holding a balance in her left hand and a sword in her right. If my memory served me right, she resembled Lady Justice from Earth.

  The second statue was a muscular dwarf holding a massive bowl over his head. Inside the bowl was a lush garden.

  The third statue was carved from dark onyx stone—an elven woman with a kind smile, pouring wine from one jug to another. How did I know it was wine? Simple. It was literally, continuously pouring. Her almond shaped eyes carved out of rubys thes size of my fist.

  For a fraction of a second, I thought I saw something move at the corner of my eye, but when I turned around, everything was as it had been. Statues unmoved, the room just as empty.

  I decided to check the perimeter again to see if anything had changed. I looked inside the box—the coin hadn't moved. Nothing seemed to have changed so I continued my museum visit.

  The next statue was of a woman praying, sculpted entirely from pure gold, with a crystal halo enveloping her in a pale white light. Her face was hidden beneath a veil, every thread of fabric finely carved with such precision that it looked almost real. The next was of an orc man sleeping in a pile of hay. His clothes were ragged like he had just stumbled out of a bar fight, but a big grin stretched across his lips. I guess he won.

  The following statue was carved out of pale jade, depicting a skin-and-bones goblin girl handing a small copper coin to a human woman holding a baby. Despite her tattered clothes, the goblin's eyes shone with pure cheerfulness, while the woman receiving the coin had tears brimming in her eyes. That one hit me in the feels. It wasn’t some obscure theme with hidden messages—it was charity, plain and simple. I contemplated the scene for a few moments.

  The last statue was of an angel, pieced together from fragments of glass, holding a sword carved from a massive yellow topaz. It gripped the sword as if about to plunge it into the ground. I leaned in to look closer, peering into one of the glass fragments. I could’ve sworn I saw something move within.

  As I leaned in, the hair on my arm stood on end—a foreboding sense of anguish, the kind you get right before an ambush. Deciding to trust my instincts, I took a step back, keeping out of the angel’s reach. I pulled out the Triplet. It was loaded with buckshot in one barrel; the other two had slugs. I decided to keep the heavy punch of the slugs in case something serious went down and fired buckshot straight at the statue's head.

  The head shattered into a thousand pieces, but the glass fragments remained suspended in place, as if gravity had forgotten about them. I guess I was wrong this wasnt some monster or something.

  I moved in closer. The fifteen-foot-tall angel statue still had its ethereal shine, its shards floating ominously. Something tugged at my mind, sharp and insistent. I scanned the room to see if anything else had shifted, but everything remained still. I leaned in again, eyes locked onto the angel, and saw it—the shadow of the statue moved, slow and deliberate.

  As I twitched, the sword launched at an inhuman speed.

  Swoosh!

  I tried to dodge, leaping forward out of the downstrike that would probably slice me in half from head to toe if I didn't move. It grazed my back and I felt a trickle of blood hit my foot.

  BANG! BANG!

  Two new shattered spots bloomed in its chest. I dropped the Triplet and pulled Handy out, trying to make distance as quickly as I could.

  The angel lunged forward, faster than an arrow, aiming straight for my heart.

  I shot at the sword, thinking it might shatter. It didn't. Instead, the lead projectile was sliced into two perfect halves that hit both of its shoulders. But the missing pieces floating around the angel didn’t seem to need to physically interact.

  I dropped the pistol and tried to weave my way out of the blow. Not good enough. A deep gash ran down my left side, making itself painfully known. I pulled the saber out as I tried to dodge a flurry of blows coming at me. The creature was too fast for me to do anything but defend. It struck with the power of a maul.

  I blocked a blow aimed at my neck with the saber. I was outmatched. I tried my best to hold, but every second, I felt myself getting pushed back further and further. I blocked another strike—this one came so strong it made my arm go numb, and the saber launched into the air before planting itself into the wall.

  I needed something—and quick. I looked at my hand. The fingers were twisted and mangled. The time it took me to realize that was the same it took for the angel to kick me in the gut, launching me through the air and knocking the wind out of me. I felt a couple of my ribs crack.

  I landed on the floor with a loud thud. My vision blurred as I felt my limits closing in. I rolled just in time to save myself from a lethal stab.

  "You piece of shit! Face me like a man, fist to face! Or are you scared of a one-armed man? I'll light myself a smoke while you decide okay?"

  I saw the thing tilt its head, the shattered pieces of glass forming the shape of a smile too large for its face. It sat still, analyzing me.

  I pulled a smoke out of my bag with difficulty, placed it at the corner of my mouth, lit it with my finger, and puffed out a big lump of smoke. I cracked my neck.

  It dropped its sword.

  "Let's dance, fuckface!"

  I dodged a few good punches and dove under a kick. Magic! Worth a shot.

  I maneuvered myself closer to its sword, just in case things didn't turn out the way I expected.

  "Rule number one: Cheat all the time, win all the time." I yelled.

  I launched my satchel at it and released a fireball as it hit the thing's chest.

  Boom!

  The reload kit was gone, along with my lunch and my pack of smokes. I moved backward with the explosion. The thing was a mess, but still held together.

  "Tabarnak!" I cursed, punching the sword with my fist brimming with wrathful runa.

  The sword shattered into a thousand pieces. As my fist connected, the angel crumbled to dust.

  I took a big puff, the medicinal herb putting a bit of life back in me.