Hessien, Vacinay, and Ghomas were taken aback by the size of the fireball.

  "You weren’t kidding about being level 21?!" Vacinay exclaimed.

  Ignoring her, I hurled the fireball, draining almost all of my energy points.

  The guards, who had been running their mouths just moments ago, stood frozen, eyes widening in horror as their impending doom took the form of a massive inferno.

  "Wha—" was the last thing I heard before the fireball exploded, engulfing them completely. Some managed to flee, their screams piercing through the crackling flames, but their agony didn’t faze me. Hessien nudged my shoulder, and I turned to him, visibly drained.

  He hesitated before asking, "So… fire…"

  "Yeah," I replied. "I was fighting some spider woman and threw a fire stone—or maybe it was an explosion—at her. Either way, I figured I might as well get a skill to weaponize the flames that were already there."

  He nodded slowly. "How did you get so strong so fast?"

  "I, uh… might've accidentally burned part of the forest. There were some half-men living there."

  "Semi-genocide. Nice."

  Vacinay sighed. "How much of a level-up did you get this time?"

  "Surprisingly? None."

  Ghomas's eyes widened. "They were around level 12 to 14. And even after killing over 40 of them, you didn’t level up?"

  "Welp!" Vacinay shrugged and started walking toward the flames.

  I frowned. "You got fire immunity?"

  "Nope!"

  Then, without warning, she broke into a full sprint.

  What the…?

  Upon reaching the fire, she transformed into a red-furred monkey, made an impressive leap, and landed in the middle of the inferno.

  What is wrong with her?!

  I turned to Hessien in a panic. "Why did she do that?!"

  "She’s fine."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Because… I just do. But can you put out the fire?"

  "Yeah." I sat down, rubbing my temples. "Once I recover enough energy points…"

  Maybe not taking the fire suppression skill was a mistake.

  I glanced at Hessien again. "You're absolutely sure she’s okay?"

  He nodded. "She’s probably relying on her self-repair skill."

  Ghomas muttered, "That’s a bit insane." He looked at Hesien. "Can’t you just put out the flames?"

  Oh? Did he get water?

  Hessien nodded, his hand glowing as he stepped forward, sweat trickling down his face.

  He touched the fire, grunted, then pressed his hand against the ground. Suddenly, I felt heat rising beneath my feet.

  He yanked back his now-burnt hand and grunted, "Done. Let’s go!"

  Ghomas, clinging to a tree that was quickly going up in flames, shouted, “You couldn’t come up with anything else?!”

  I watched Hessien walk straight into the flames, baffled.

  Did he just exchange the temperature? That made no sense.

  I had a theory, but I was too stunned to put it into words.

  Ghomas hopped off the tree and sprinted toward the fire. I glanced around, watching the blaze spread through the trees. It was kind of mesmerizing.

  I also like that we weren't overlapping in skills. Made me feel unique, even if fire control was far from original.

  I joined them. When I stepped into the flames I felt… nothing. No heat. Instead, it was like walking through soil.

  After making our way through, we reached a hollowed-out section of the mountain. Vacinay lay on the ground, limbs sprawled, half of her body covered in burns.

  She stared blankly at the ceiling. "I have a skill that lets me turn into a big rat. It can burrow underground."

  I frowned. "So… why didn’t you just do that to escape the fire?"

  "Well…" She let out a strained laugh. "The plan was to rely on self-repair, but once I got inside the flames… yeah, that shit hurt way more than I expected."

  I called her an idiot.

  She groaned. "Shut up…" forcing herself to sit up.

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  Then she grinned. "By the way… I got my second skill card too."

  "Oh? What is it? Sword combat?"

  "Oh, that? That’s actually my third one."

  "You got another one that fast?"

  "Yessss."

  Just as I was about to ask what it was, a strange sound echoed from the tunnel ahead—deep, guttural, and unmistakably inhuman.

  Vacinay drew her sword, but not before tracing a circle in the air. A small, glowing firefly emerged from it.

  The room lit up with a soft blue glow, buzzing faintly. Not that I needed it—my senses were already enhanced.

  Vacinay smirked. "So… are we doing a rescue mission?"

  Ghomas nodded. "Like actual Defenders?"

  Hessien grinned. "This is some real hero shit."

  I stepped forward. "I’ll take the role of the tank."

  The three of them exchanged glances.

  Then Ghomas asked, "Uh… can you make a fire barrier?"

  I smirked. "No. But I can do this."

  In an instant, flames exploded across my forearms and legs. "Fire skin. I can control which parts of my body are affected."

  "Whoa…" Hessien muttered, clearly impressed.

  "By the way, Hessien, what does your skill card actually do?" I asked.

  "Oh, it's called Effect Exchange. It lets me swap properties of different 'objects'. I can make fire wet and water burn."

  "How the hell did you even come up with—"

  Before I could finish, Vacinay suddenly dashed in front of me.

  A spear tore through her chest like a bullet.

  "Shit…" She fell backwards, blood spilling into the air.

  What…?

  Hessien reacted instantly, releasing a thick mist that swallowed the entire area. I stood frozen.

  A system message popped up from Hessien: "Your flames. Turn them off."

  Oh… right. I quickly extinguished them.

  Heavy footsteps echoed from deep within the tunnel. A rough voice sneered, "One down. Three more to—"

  "One down?! Which one?!"

  Vacinay, her wound already sealing, shot forward toward the voice.

  Hessien, able to see through the mist, fired off rapid beams of energy bullets.

  Meanwhile, I was still blind as a bat.

  I dashed out of the fog, and what I saw made me seriously consider turning back.

  A massive green-skinned man stood before us, his arms thicker than tree trunks.

  Vacinay, now seeing the threat in full view, slowed her charge. "Uhh… You wouldn’t happen to be open to negotiations, would you?"

  He grinned at her. "You wouldn’t like it. Too much blood."

  Vacinay grunted.

  With a crackle of light, a bolt of lightning struck the man square in the face. He let out a scream, clutching at his smoldering skin.

  Vacinay and I didn’t waste the opportunity—we charged forward. Naturally, I was faster. With Future Sight active, my vision felt like it was tracking a path that shouldn’t have existed.

  A translucent blue version of the half-man screamed, planting his right foot deep into the ground. The moment he did, cracks spidered out beneath him, and his two-meter-long axe swung straight for my head.

  "Shit!" I blurted.

  The real half-man mirrored the movement perfectly, his foot slamming down in the exact same spot.

  "His axe has a range of about two meters!" I shouted.

  The second I spoke, I threw myself to the ground, dodging the lethal arc. Scrambling to my feet, I resumed my rush.

  Future Sight gave me a glimpse of two seconds ahead.

  I could push it further. But the EP drain—

  I jumped to the side. The half-man had moved so fast that without Future Sight, I would’ve been diced.

  While he was fixated on me, an explosive mist pellet smacked him right in the face. The blast only encapsulated his head. Meanwhile, Ghomas conjured two clones. These weren’t his usual perfect copies—no, these looked like they had been force-fed steroids for years.

  Both sprinted forward and latched onto the half-man’s legs.

  "Let go of me!" the half-man roared.

  Vacinay leapt, jabbing her sword into his back—only for the blade to barely sink in.

  "Damn it!" she hissed.

  Future Sight flashed again—a vision of the half-man launching backward, his sheer force shattering Vacinay’s body.

  "Get off him. Now!" I shouted.

  The half-man hesitated, his eyes narrowing. He must’ve figured out that I could predict his moves. Without hesitation, he activated a skill—spiky needles erupted from his skin.

  Time Freeze!

  Everything snapped into stillness.

  I moved instantly, leaping onto his back, grabbing Vacinay, and landing a safe distance away.

  Time unfroze.

  I was out of energy points.

  Like something out of a video game, the skin needles extended a full meter outward—at least they didn’t blast off.

  "Thanks," Vacinay muttered as she attempted to heal herself—or at least tried to.

  "Oh… I’m out of energy points." Her little firefly winked out.

  The half-man chuckled as his spikes retracted. He turned toward us.

  "I’m still here, you know," Hessien called.

  Ghomas looked just about spent.

  The half-man turned to Hessien. "Does it matter?"

  Hessien let his spear-gun clatter to the ground.

  "Dunno. Let’s find out." A dense mist seeped from his fingertips.

  Is he trying to get himself killed?

  I moved to stand, but the half-man kicked me square in the chest. I was sent flying, and a sickening crack echoed as I slammed into the wall.

  It... HURT.

  A scream tore from my throat as I collapsed onto the ground.

  Dragging his axe behind him, the half-man stalked toward Hessien. "You know, I’ve killed plenty of bold kids like you. You and the blonde girl smell similar—siblings? Cousins?"

  Ghomas was sweating bullets, but Hessien answered calmly, "First Cousins. But I’m basically her big brother."

  "Oh. Don’t worry—when we use them in the next ritual batch, I’ll make sure to tell her you fought hard."

  Hessien smirked. "Damn, how considerate of you."

  They stood barely a meter apart.

  "I had siblings, too," the half-man mused. "Once, I wanted power to protect them. And then, well… I became this."

  "That’s rough. Don’t care." Hessien’s mist thickened around him.

  "I see..."

  The half-man blurred forward, axe poised for a lethal swing—

  —but it never completed the arc. Mid-swing, it jerked to a stop, as if an invisible force had locked it in place.

  The half-man frowned, straining against the unseen hold. When had Hessien—?

  "Well, I didn’t expect to see an ex-knight here," a very familiar voice remarked from within the mist.

  Vacinay’s head snapped up. "Miss Yamanda?!"

  Out of nowhere, Yamanda materialized mid-air near the half-man’s face. With a single kick, his skull practically caved in, sending him hurtling across the tunnel. He bounced and rolled for meters before finally skidding to a stop.

  She hovered there. Floating.

  Insane.

  I turned back to the half-man. Blood poured from his face.

  Hessien jogged over, mist trailing behind him. He grinned. "You two still in one piece?"

  I attempted a smile. "Mostly."

  Vacinay nodded. "Kinda."

  Hessien extended a hand. "You can stand?"

  "Of course," I said, moving to get up—

  Nothing happened.

  I stared at my legs. "Move."

  Nothing.

  No. No, no, no.

  "You can’t move?" Hessien asked.

  "I-I… It’s probably just exhaustion." I avoided his gaze.

  Vacinay poked my arm. "My self-repair skill should work on others somehow. Once I recover enough EP, I’ll fix you up."

  Oh, right. She had that skill.

  I half smiled. "Thanks."

  Then, the half-man teleported right in front of Yamanda. When he finally got a proper look at her, she let him drop to the ground.

  His breath hitched. "Why… are you here?"

  Yamanda appeared behind him in a blink. "Why not? We were close, right? You tried to kill me plenty of times."

  "No… No!" His skin spikes exploded outward, extending to ridiculous lengths—

  —but Yamanda didn’t flinch. She didn’t even need to. The spikes didn’t pierce her armor.

  She plucked a needle between her fingers. "To tell the truth, I’m here because I’m these kids’ teacher."

  His eyes widened—

  And then, suddenly, he was meat confetti.

  A hundred bloody chunks splattered to the ground, pooling into a crimson mess.