Time continued to march on as Rory spent his days working on expanding his volcanic base or hunting monsters. It was a routine that Rory fell into without push back, rarely exploring far beyond the volcano he had claimed. Much like he had in Ehkorrus, infrastructure was built to streamline his expansion through the mountain, modern equipment that relied on his most up-to-date understanding and abilities compared to when he had constructed similar devices or machines within Ehkorrus. Nearly all of it was powered through the latent Pneuma or lava flows, or in some cases, both, allowing Rory to make constant progress.

Nothing could halt his progress.

Or so he thought.

It was after a rather intense marathon's worth of effort that Rory had finally decided he needed some fresh air, leaving the tunnels and workshops behind as he exited his volcanic lair.

Had he been more refreshed, he would have noticed something amiss, a sense of tension in the air as if the world itself were holding its breath.

But he wasn't, thus he began his ascent, intending to search for Eia. Knowing which rung she often preferred to linger around, Rory quickly shot up the mountain, not quite sprinting but not intending to dawdle either.

After some time had passed and Rory was close enough to the mid-level rung, Rory frowned. As attuned to one another as he and Eia were, it should have been easy to track her aura signature.

Except he could barely feel it, as if it were subdued.

Odd.

A sense of worry slowly gnawing at his gut, Rory began to pick up the pace. Eia was smart enough to avoid confrontations that didn't look favorable, so the thought of her having been cornered struck Rory as unlikely.

But.

But not impossible, and it would explain the weakened aura.

Maybe I should move a little faster.

With each step, Rory's worries began to redouble as, instead of growing, Eia's energy that he could sense began to flicker and waver like a dying candle.

Alright, nope, fuck, that's not good!

Other than Apostolos, there was no one Rory had spent more time with than Eia. Perhaps it was blasphemous of him to say as the founder of Ehkorrus, but if Rory were forced to pick between the snake and any other citizen, aside from Apostolos, Rory would pick Eia.

Fuck!

It was undeniable now, he could sense from her direction that not just was her aura rapidly waning, but there was another force clashing with her, overpowering it. It didn't have the overpowering feel of a high-tier-seven, but Rory couldn't afford to waste time understanding the implication.

All he knew was that Eia was in trouble.

Activating every Float Gem within every piece of his armor, Rory raced forward as little more than a blur, a streaking comet on a mission.

Racing past a few low or mid-tier seven monsters, Rory paid them no attention. It was almost poetic that the rung was shaped like an oversized racetrack as Rory raced to make it to Eia in time. Rounding the backside of the volcano, an area Rory hadn't spent much time in, a sight was presented to him that he had no time to process.

A woman, decked out in an odd mishmash of armor, was preparing to strike Eia with a heavy-looking shield, who lay on the ground, unable to move, her crystal scales shattered and bloody.

"No, the fuck you don't!" Rory yelled, not slowing for an instant, as the woman, taken by surprise, was met with a fist colliding with her face at sonic speeds.

Instantly, the woman was launched. Hit with so much force, her body crashed into the ground before bouncing and crashing again, over a hundred meters before she managed to get her feet underneath her. With as much speed as Rory had behind his fist, he half expected the assailant to be banged up, but aside from the wild look of surprise in her eyes, she was no worse for wear.

Whatever words they might have exchanged in a more cool-headed environment were lost to Rory, nothing but a red haze in front of him at the thought that Eia had nearly been murdered. It was one thing for a monster to come along that was the danger of their world, but some bitch appearing and attacking her?

There were no words, only righteous fury.

Banner in hand, Rory twirled it once before he raced forward, on the offensive as his spear flowed like a part of himself. Whoever the woman may have been, she was no slouch as each thrust and strike from his flag-spear was countered or deflected by her oversized shield. While the shield itself left something to be desired in Rory's mind, it somehow managed to withstand the imposing Night Copper spearhead, which should have been carving grooves through the comparatively flimsy material.

Combat skills.

Some external energy reinforced the shield, with no inscriptions, gems, or other adornments, which left only one possibility.

Not that it mattered to Rory. For several exchanges, the only sound was the collision of shield and spear; the woman was like a damn mountain, unmovable and unshakable.

Jumping back, Rory raised his hand, barraging her with a blast of projection bullets as the woman walked through them, each pinging harmlessly off her skin that was tough as steel.

Tougher.

"Fucking Terminator here," Rory growled.

"Air Shield!" The woman responded, an odd response unless it wasn't a response and-

Fuck.

A wispy outline of a shield shot forward from her tower shield, slamming into Rory and tossing him back as Rory hacked out a cough.

"Cheap shot," Rory grumbled, planning to repay the favor. Utilizing his favorite combo, chains shot upward, ensnaring the woman's feet as he held a bow a second later, arrow drawn back. As it flew through the air, the woman seemed to glow for a moment before the arrow cracked against her, shattering as if she were as hard as a planetary core.

Which, considering each arrow hit with the force of cannon fire, was saying something.

New plan.

His spear appeared once more as he rushed the woman, slashing and swiping with reckless abandon. Unlike his arrow, she seemed far more hesitant to take a direct hit from the spear on her flesh.

Missile nullification? Is that a thing?

Testing her capabilities, it quickly became apparent to Rory that the woman before him was dangerous. As the red haze faded somewhat, it finally clicked with Rory that if he were engaged in combat against a human opponent, there was a solid implication of just who they were.

She's another Founder.

Banner vanishing, Rory switched to an open-hand style. He wasn't some shaolin monk, but he had spent enough time sparring with Apostolos that he had some confidence in his ability.

I need to deal with that shield.

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His spear wasn't getting through, so rather than slamming his head against a brick wall, he would attempt to circle it instead.

The woman seemed surprised as his weapon vanished; Rory swapped styles on the fly, as if he were a jack of all trades. Throwing a dozen strikes and jabs in the blink of an eye, Rory pulled back as the shield swung to block each one, only for Rory to take advantage and launch a high kick, connecting with the woman's chin. He had planned to do precisely that, then take advantage of the momentary disorientation to grapple the shield away from her.

Except, the only one who was hurt by his kick was himself, a tremor passing through his body as if he had kicked a steel girder.

What the fuck is she made of?

From a technical aspect, Rory felt confident he was the better fighter.

But.

But she was a god damn mountain that he couldn't shake.

Alright, new, new plan.

Light on his feet, Rory put space between them as he peppered her with arrows, ignoring the fact that she didn't even bother to defend herself from the arrows.

It can't be a total nullification; there must be a limit.

While each arrow seemed to shatter against her skin harmlessly, Rory held back, waiting until he was sure that her confidence was at its max.

Now!

The woman charged him, reminding Rory of a rampaging rhino so decked out in her mish-mashed armor as she was. As another arrow streaked through the air straight toward her, the woman didn't even blink an eye.

So when it shot straight through a gap in her shoulder armor and out the back, she reeled back, surprised.

"How's that, you bitch?" Rory snorted. Seams Unseen and a barrier gem for punching through magical defenses was precisely the sort of combination for striking through the nullification effect she seemed to carry.

While Rory felt the tide had shifted in his favor with that arrow, a chill went down his spine as his instincts blasted warning signals.

"Even Shields Must Take Up Arms!" The woman suddenly yelled as Rory felt a reversal in her energies.

Oh no.

Rory didn't have boosting skills.

That didn't mean others didn't.

Her aura spiking and stabilizing, she shot forward, several times faster than before, as Rory was taken off guard as her fist connected with his sternum.

Crack.

Not understanding what had happened, Rory was shot backward like a cannonball, before slamming into the volcanic ascent.

What the fuck?

Now was not the time for deep inquiry, thus Rory instantly spooled up every mental thread he had to attempt to keep pace with the woman, and it was barely in time as her fist slammed through the rock he had been launched into, a roll to the side barely saving him from another titanic hit.

Not good.

The effect of her boost was massive. Rory had felt like, with the use of his float gems, he was the faster of the two of them. Now, it wasn't even close; it took everything Rory had to avoid being splattered by her fists, each one felt like it carried an overwhelming presence and pressure.

Empowering the barrier gem within his cuirass, it was just in time as her fist once more connected with his chest. Even with the momentary defensive empowerment, her fist felt as if it had shaken his entire body to the core.

Fuck it, time for an emergency exit.

Shelving the pain of the attacks he had taken in a neat little compartment in a separate mental thread, Rory dashed away like a scared rabbit hounded by a hungry fox. Using everything that he had available to him, Rory threw every ensnaring chain, entanglement, or unstable gem he had available at her. Interestingly, she no longer charged through attacks without a care in the world.

An attribute inversion?

Whatever the effect of the boost, it didn't matter. His spear had appeared once more, occasionally stabbing outward to create space, but it otherwise seemed to trail behind him as he continued to avoid the rampaging woman.

"Damn Spear, hold still!" The woman finally shouted as Rory frowned.

"First off, not my name," Rory countered, slowly backing up as the woman seemed to stop chasing for a moment.

"Then why the hell are you using a spear?" The woman asked.

"What says I can't use a spear, just because someone has some weird ass title or vocation?"

"I guess that's fair," The woman frowned at him. "So, who are you then?"

"The name is Rory," Rory said, huffing as his eye flickered to the ground, taking another step back, the woman taking a step forward as he did.

One more step.

"And I'm no Spear."

"Again, who are you then?"

"The Architect," Rory finally answered, knowing full well what she had been asking from the beginning. "And also, one other thing."

"What?"

"You should probably watch your step."

"Yeah, nice try, tough guy but-"

Her words cut off, as suddenly three circles lit up. Since his very first time using the attack, Rory hadn't gotten more discrete and faster with its conjuration, paying off in spades as the woman suddenly snapped her head upward.

Only to see a dragon's head crashing down.

Her head snapping back down to search for Rory, the source of the magic, she found that not only was he gone, but everything was gone; she was suddenly in a world of grey mist and nothing else.

That illusion will only hold for a split second.

Sprinting with all his speed, Rory snatched Eia from where she had been strewn, unmoving, as he jumped off the mountain, an explosion nearby adding extra momentum to his descent through the air.

Enjoy the taste of rock, asshole!

Zoey was annoyed, baffled, and hurt.

What the fuck just happened?

Exploring her floating prison, she had traveled to perhaps the most distant mountain of the entire floating region. Ascending the rungs, the volcanic presence barely affected her with all her durability, she had encountered a rather interesting monster. It was a serpent, entirely at odds with the rest of the volcanic-themed monsters, lacking any earthen or fire elements.

Tracking the monster for several days straight, Zoey had finally decided to attack; at the very least, it would likely be a more interesting battle than with any other low-tier-seven monsters.

And it had been, with crystal scales and a biting aura, the serpent was deceptively powerful for a base tier seven monster. When finally cornered, it had transformed into a form of pure energy.

It was just a bad matchup for the serpent, as its aura, which attempted to attack her directly, was unable to find purchase; her aura was akin to steel, after all, her aura carried an affinity for immutability.

Once its energy form had exhausted, all that Zoey had to do was finish off the monster and see what sort of goodies she could salvage from its body.

So, of course, that was when, out of nowhere, she was punched straight across the face, launched like a baseball off a bat.

What ensued was a battle against the one she had thought was the Spear, given that they seemed to use a spear predominantly. If Zoey was correct, he was angry that she must have swooped in and stolen some prey that he was after.

It was a stupid thing to get so pissy about, but Zoey would play his game, confident in her defense. The way he swapped between his spear, bow, hand-to-hand combat, and even magic was startling, but Zoey chose not to overthink it, her defense holding up through it without fail. After some time, he swapped back to bow and arrows, an odd choice given she had shown her missile resistance already, but she wasn't going to correct him.

Maybe he's just an idiot?

She wasn't going to question it. Once she forced him to submit, she would ask him further, not like there would be a problem. After all, Aelia had told them all long ago that they were effectively rivals.

Already considering what she would do after she won, Zoey was stunned when not just did one of the arrows managed to scratch her, but it flew through her shoulder.

Oh. I need to get serious.

If one arrow could wound her, others might be able to as well. Her durability meant nothing if that was the case.

So, she did what she often did against foes that were taking too long to beat down: She activated her boosting skill.

Retaining only enough durability to withstand the force of her own enhanced physical attributes, Zoey once more felt in control of the situation as the Spear was forced to continuously run away, avoiding the power behind her augmented strikes.

"Damn Spear, hold still!" Zoey finally shouted, annoyed. This wasn't a fight he could win so why was he being so squirrely?

"First off, not my name," The Spear, or whoever he was, countered, taking a step back as he did, still futilely trying to put space between the two of them.

"Then why the hell are you using a spear?" Zoey asked, unable to help asking the question that had been bothering her for some time.

"What says I can't use a spear, just because someone has some weird ass title or vocation?"

"I guess that's fair," Zoey said with a frown. When she thought about it in that way, it made sense. "So, who are you then?"

"The name is Rory," The man said, not answering the question she had really been asking.

The man took another step forward, and Zoey followed, unwilling to give him space to flee.

"And I'm no Spear."

"Again, who are you then?" Zoey asked, frustrated with why he was being so coy.

"The Architect," The man, The Architect, said, as Zoey instantly recognized the name as the one who had been behind the creation of E.O.N. in the first place. "And also, one other thing."

"What?" Zoey asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"You should probably watch your step." The man said, feeding her the tritest ploy in the book.

Or maybe I was giving him too much credit.

"Yeah, nice try, tough guy but-" Zoey suddenly cut off mid-sentence, feeling as power suddenly gathered. Eyes widening, three rings had instantly begun to glow around her as she felt a swell of volcanic concepts above her. Her head snapped upward, and her mouth instantly dried.

Not volcanic. Draconic.

A giant fuck off sized meteor in the shape of a dragon's head had popped into existence.

Knowing the best option to counter such magic was to disable the source, she instantly sought the Architect, only to find herself momentarily lost in a world of grey mist.

What the hell?

Even while her attributes were inverted, one of the passive benefits of durability investment was that she was highly resistant to mental style attacks; thus, the illusion was shattered in a brief instant.

But that brief instant was enough for the descending rock to close the distance, leaving no time to flee.

Ah, Fuck.

Slamming the metaphorical door closed on her boosting skill, her durability was restored just in time to be crushed by the impact of a meteor that could have wiped out the dinosaurs.

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