Viviana decided that she hated centipedes. Especially the one chasing after her.

  They’ve been running for hours at this point. Everyone ended up putting in points into END, just to keep their stamina up. Humans naturally could run for hours, and being soulbound significantly enhanced human abilities, but this was too much running.

  Thomas is going to die, Viviana thought. He got winded from light jogs. It was simply miraculous that he was still moving. Then again, ‘avoiding being eaten by a giant centipede’ was a big motivator. Even if it couldn’t kill you.

  Actually, that might be a worse thing. Imagine dying and reviving over and over again in some monster’s stomach, unable to break free until someone killed the centipede.

  At some point, Bena woke up and immediately screamed. From her position draped over Lucian’s shoulder, she had a front row view of giant snapping mandibles and a thousand-ish legs. Lucian told her to activate her scout skill. Eventually she did, and started pointing out paths that were optimal for them. They were going to make it.

  At least, that’s what they thought until the frost walkers came back.

  “We’ll try losing the centipede in the mob!” Viviana yelled.

  Bena just started pointing out directions with more and more frost walkers. Viviana activated her [flash step] over and over again, plowing through the mob and carving a path.

  [You have slain a level 1 frost walker.]

  [+0 exp]

  [You have slain a level 1 frost walker.]

  [+0 exp]

  [You have slain a level 1 frost walker.]

  [+0 exp]

  Her mana was getting drained fast. Her head hurt, but it didn't slow down her running. Mana fatigue was different from bodily fatigue. They acted on different parts of a person.

  It didn’t mean that the combination wasn’t awful, though.

  Viviana groaned, forcing herself through the pain. The even worse news was that the centipede did not care about the frost walkers, despite crashing through an entire colony of them like bowling pins.

  So they kept running. Bena pointed out more and more directions. Left and right, up and down. The bright, eerie glow of the dungeon got dimmer and dimmer, and then started to be replaced by the glow of daylight.

  They broke out into the surface. Then a building sized centipede broke out of the ice, roaring bloody murder all the while.

  A couple of students were close by. They scrambled away in shock. “Get out of the way!” Viviana yelled, charging through a group of students.

  Actually, wait. I can use this.

  She picked up a Ferric Meridian girl and activated [flash step], increasing her momentum instantly. Then she tossed her at the centipede. “Adler-Stern! My name is Fortuna Feuerwache, and I’ll kill you if it's the last thing I dooooooooooo! ” the girl yelled.

  Viviana ignored her as she kept on running. A fiery explosion rang out over the frozen lake as students screamed all around them.

  Viviana racked her brain, trying to think of ways to get out of this predicament. Not even the 'random person sacrifice' worked.

  Then an idea came to her. “Thomas, Lucian, follow!”

  She didn’t look back as she sprinted directly for the closest guild controlled territory.

  Fuji Hoshino was having a good day.

  After being humiliated during orientation, ranking lower than his own body guards, and being killed by Viviana's team after confidently running into a two versus one, good days were hard to come by. He failed to secure a guild sponsorship at orientation. He had to struggle to make money and rank up, all while bleeding coffers from his person account.

  But today, he was having a good day. He won three duels in a row today, increasing his ranking from 40941 to 40900 flat.

  What truly boosted his mood, though, was that he got a guild sponsorship. Ophidian Pact. He could hardly believe his luck. His contract was good, too. Normally even if you got a contract, you would hold out for better ones and make counter offers, thereby raising your value in the eyes of the guild, but this one was just too good not to accept.

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  Oscar and Jayce said the contract was suspicious. I thought too, but maybe the terms are so good because of my family name? Well, whatever.

  Fuji stood in front of the mirror at his academy dorm. Once they started charging rent, Fuji was beginning to run out of money, but the guild contract would change everything. Credits for days.

  He was giddy just looking at the green pin, shiny brightly in the reflection of his mirror.

  Even better is that Jayce and Oscar are coming, too!

  Jayce and Oscar, Fuji’s two bodyguards, weren’t official members of the pact, but Fuji was allowed to keep them as ‘servants’. Fuji didn’t think of them that way, but bringing his men into the guild could only be a good thing. Associating with the guild would elevate their stations much higher. Even Fuji, who was already the heir to a once-prominent family within Central, just had his future secured.

  His first mission was to head to the guild controlled territory in terrarium one. Something about frostburst organs. The Pact was attempting to obtain a lot of them for unknown reasons. They even bought out the stock on the academy market. Fuji didn't care about what job he was assigned too. Sure, his first job made him nervous, but also excited. His first job for the Pact. He had to succeed.

  It didn’t take long for him to arrive at the location– having to trudge through the snow of terrarium one and climb on its frozen lake. It was cold, yes, but the guild offered a special combat jumpsuit that regulated temperature far better than the academy provided one. It was free in the sense that they took it out of his salary. A bit of a bummer, but Fuji was willing to pay to look the part.

  In fact, he was so committed to the bit that he bought some guild merchandise. A sweater with a big logo on the front.

  Fuji glanced at the building in front of him. It was a massive log structure reminiscent of a roman battle camp. Rustic, yes, but efficient temporary shelter that could be taken down and put up quickly.

  And make no mistake– the logs were harvested from terrarium four. They were incredibly tough, lightweight materials that made perfect defensible walls.

  Fuji proudly showed his green pin to the gate. The guard performed a retinal scan, confirmed he was a part of the guild, and let him in. The same happened to Jayce and Oscar.

  “Jayce, remind me of our objective,” Fuji said.

  “We’re to report to building three, section a,” Jayce said.

  They looked around, spotting signage that pointed them in the right direction. Soon, they found themselves in front of a well constructed building. It was a command center, tried and true. Just how did they make this here? The power of the guilds.

  They all stepped inside. Fuji was greeted by a receptionist. HE was shocked to find out that she was a higher level than he was. Was this just the place the guilds were? Where even receptionists could kill you in a blink of an eye?

  A brief talk occurred; then the three of them were led down a hallway into a briefing room. They stepped inside, where a holo projection was already running. There were a bunch of people already there. They were late, but no one payed them any attention. They found empty seats, and with a shrug, claimed them.

  “Guild scouts have also reported potential locations for the stash here and here. So, you’ll be checking points a, b, and c for the frostburst organs.”

  The person, who was clearly in charge, continued as Fuji looked around the room. Jayce was fervently paying attention. Oscar looked bored as ever.

  Fuji noted the ranks of the people around him. Rank 632. A tier 6. A girl, sitting over there, tier 5. Another tier 5. They were so much stronger than him.

  The briefing wrapped up. “Any questions?” The man at the front asked, addressing the room.

  The tier 5 girl raised her hand.

  “Jackson.”

  “Are there any threats we should look out for in particular, in addition to the ones you mentioned?”

  “Well, aside from the ones I went over, there is also a rumour that a massive centipede-”

  Then the room exploded. A thousand legs tore through the building as guild members, new and old alike, screamed.

  Adam was having a terrible day. Not only were war preparations going terribly, but Mizuki Okimoto, that bastard, was missing. And whenever he was missing something huge was going to happen.

  It was terrible, and then the giant centipede smashed through one of his only two bases in terrarium one. The base he needed the most right now.

  He slammed his desk, running his hands through his hair in exasperation. “Just how is this happening?!”

  The girl lounging on one of his couches spoke. “You know, for someone called The Adapter, you’re not doing much adapting.”

  He sighed, looking at the girl across from him. She had her feet on the table again. “I cannot mobilize personally. I need to prepare some things for the war. I don’t have troops, because my stupid boss took half of them to raid terrarium three. There’s nothing I can do about this but send the troops waiting in terrarium four, but if I do, Ferric Meridian will seize the chance to attack.”

  The girl picked at her black painted nails, flicking the dirt onto his table. She noticed his gaze and stopped, brushing a strand of dark hair behind her ear, revealing a collection of silver piercings.

  She’d be pretty if not for her attitude.

  “I’ll deal with it,” she said.

  He sighed. Overconfidence– the great killer in newly minted soulbound. “Can you? It’s level thirty. You don’t command many people, either.”

  She didn’t respond, only tilting her head. A brief silence stretched between them.

  “Fine. Get out of here, Selenne.”

  The girl grinned as Adam turned back to his holoscreen for a quick second. When he looked back up she was already gone.

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