As promised, it didn’t take long.

  The guy wasn’t ready for Jace’s hyperdash, much less for Jace to appear behind him. He only spun around in time to block Jace’s attempted sword thrust, but by the time he was ready to counter attack, Jace had already triggered [Lightvein] and jumped back. The Watchman’s sword ripped through the air and smashed toward the ground with such strength that the impact alone made cracks in the floor, regardless of the blade’s hot cutting power.

  Jace triggered [Questforger], but specifically, the hidden extra effect from reforging the card. He saw the man’s intentions, and he worked around them.

  The Watchman swung his blade in a broad arc, but Jace already knew where to duck. He developed a plan, looking as far into the future as he could, and simulated it in his own mind until he knew what to do.

  By then, [Hyperdash] had come off cooldown. He triggered the card immediately and flashed to the man’s side, expecting the man’s counter-attack. [Blackvein] still also increased the man’s Agility, allowing him to strike out at Jace quickly and respond to the dash that Jace had tried to telegraph as much as possible.

  Jace held his sword at just the right angle that, when the Watchman hit it, it flew straight up. The Watchman’s strength had been enough to fling it right out of Jace’s grasp. Jace leaned back to avoid the tip of the blade, and to prevent his own chin from being sliced right in half.

  “Lessa!” he called. “Now!”

  She blasted his shoulder, putting a smouldering hole in it and sending the Watchman staggering backward.

  And buying Jace time. He triggered [Cleanse], resetting his abilities, then flung himself up and caught the Whistling Blade midair. Before he fell, he used [Wanderer’s Banishment] to fling the sword down into the Watchman.

  He’d sort of been hoping that the blade would pierce through the top of the man’s head, but instead, the man leaned back, and it caught him through the chest instead. Without anything in the way, it would’ve gone straight through the metal floor, but the man’s enhanced body caught it at the crossguard, and it just pinned him to the ground.

  Jace landed and ripped the blade out, then slashed through the Watchman’s neck to give him a quick end.

  Immediately, the forged walls of shadow around them fell. He flicked the blade to burn off the blood, then tucked it back in its sheath and turned around to face Lessa. “We should run.”

  There were still the other two Watchmen, and though the [Level 43] instructor was probably more focussed on his apprentice, Jace didn’t want to know how long that would last. Readjusting his grip on the rescued kyborg, he turned and sprinted back across the market. “You still have the food?”

  “I’ve got it!” Lessa called. She slung her rifle back over her shoulder, then grabbed the takeout boxes in both hands and sprinted with Jace. “They might be a little squished, but it’s better than nothing!”

  They ran across the food court. Other patrons of the market were staring at them, but they darted out of the way quickly, sprinting to the edges of the food court, and leaving the stairway up open.

  “Where are we going?” Lessa asked.

  “I have an idea!” Jace called, pointing at a maintenance platform slightly higher up on the dome. Mortal workers had been using it to clean the inside of the glass dome, but they’d gone on lunch break, leaving it available and empty, and most importantly, nondescript and out of sight.

  As Jace ran, the kyborg wriggled in his arms. It had magnetic clamping feet, though that wouldn’t do it much good in its current state. They also, however, could grip normally. He almost dropped the little mechanical creature, but it scampered around, climbing up the side of his arm, then snaking up to his shoulder, where it perched more comfortably.

  “Do you have a name?” he asked it as he climbed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. “And don’t think I’m not going to ask you what you know. This isn’t a free escape, you know.”

  Oh, look at yourself, he thought. Acting like you’re one of them, trying to turn everything into a deal.

  In actuality, he probably would’ve done it anyway. At least, he would’ve destroyed whatever device the Watchman had been using to hurt the kyborg. But still, Jace wanted to know what that was all about.

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  The kyborg clanked and clicked, then let out a bit of a whistle. Jace raised his eyebrows, then said, “Lee-Kay-Seven?”

  The kyborg nodded its head furiously.

  “I’m still not great at Mekanik, so Lessa might have to translate,” he said. “But in a moment.”

  They’d arrived at a smaller landing, and Jace hopped up on the railing. Shocked marketgoers jumped back, but there were no police or soldiers around to do anything about it. Jace looked at Lessa and said, “Do you think you can make the jump to the crane?”

  “I’ll give it a shot,” she replied. “But you hold the food.”

  “Got it,” he replied. He took the takeout boxes from her, then said, “I’ll meet you on the window-washers’ platform.”

  With [Hyperdash], he crossed the distance easily, then spun around. The platform itself was only a few paces across, and it hung from the wall on mechanical clamps. It would scale the tarnished copper girders, moving around the inside of the dome as needed. But it had high railings, and they were solid. If he sat down, no one below would even see him.

  Lessa jumped to the hanging crane’s winch, then swung across to a rope ladder that the window washers had used to get down. Then, she climbed up and met Jace at the top. “Easy as honey.”

  “Haven’t heard that phrase before,” Jace remarked.

  “That’s ‘cause we don’t usually do easy things,” Lessa replied.

  “Fair enough.” He set down the two takeout boxes. “A little cold, probably, but we can eat in peace.” He sat down cross-legged, and the scamper kyborg jumped down off his shoulder. It turned in a circle, then folded down in front of Jace.

  He opened up his box and retrieved a pair of chopsticks from a pouch on its side, then began eating. It wasn’t perfect, and he was far from the most graceful chopstick-user, but he managed. It was salty, a little sweet, with gooey sauce over crispy meat and noodles. Not much more he could ask for.

  The closest thing to a taste of home that he’d ever get, really.

  He sighed and hung his head, then looked at the kyborg. “Alright, bud. What got you in trouble with the Watchmen.”

  The kyborg clicked.

  “I…uh, didn’t catch that,” he said.

  “He wants to know if you’re with the Watchmen,” Lessa provided. “You do have a Whistling Blade.”

  “Nope,” Jace replied. “Don’t like them any more than you do, though it’s not personal. I’m just not a fan of people who try to hunt me down for no good reason.” He shrugged. “Also, I’m pretty sure their working with some intergalactic dark lord, so that can’t be a point in their favour.”

  The kyborg rattled, almost like it was laughing. Then it sent out a fast stream of clicks and clanks, and finally, a sad, whining whistle.

  “They…hunted you and your master down?” Jace asked. “For ten years? And then they finally got him?”

  The kyborg nodded. It kept its head down.

  Lessa inched closer and patted its head. “It’s alright, little guy.”

  The kyborg shook its head, then opened a panel in the side of the wide circle and stuck out a holoprojector. It shone a light down onto the ground, projecting a pure white statuette of a man in Watchman attire. Though, from what Jace could tell from the monochrome projection, the attire was much lighter in tone than most of the other Watchmen ever would’ve worn. From what Jace could tell, as well, the Watchman was truly an elf. He had long hair, pointed ears, and ageless, ancient features.

  “I’m sorry, bud,” Jace whispered. “I—”

  The hologram spoke. “I am Kiril Rond, a former Watchman of the Wall, and a [Level 67] Nascent Heart stage Wielder. I am making these recordings with my kyborg in the case of my death, which I fear is drawing very near. To whoever finds this, know that you will find what you need on Sevencore.”

  Jace immediately pushed himself back, drawing away from the kyborg. “Sevencore? That’s…where we’re going.”

  “Awfully convenient,” Lessa added.

  The kyborg, Lee-Kay, poked two manipulator arms out the side of its head and raised them, a sign of surrender and innocence. At least, that was probably what it’d been programmed to do.

  Jace didn’t let his guard down, but he said, “Or, there’s a reason Lady Fairynor wants us to go, and it’s not just to get stronger. How much do you want to bet that in the heart of dark-wielder territory, there’s something bigger going on?”

  The kyborg shut off the hologram and hesitantly approached. It clicked and rattled, and said something in Mekanik that Jace just didn’t catch.

  “He says he approached you because he sensed that you were a light Wielder,” Lessa said. “He thought you could help him figure out why they killed his old master.”

  Jace sighed, then reached out. “Alright, truce for now, bud. But if you screw us over, or if there’s something—anything—off about you…” It didn’t feel right to threaten, especially not such an innocent looking creature, but he still finished, “...I’ll do something. I’ll be mad, that’s for sure.”

  The kyborg scampered back up his arm and clicked out another set of sounds.

  “What…was that?” Jace tilted his head. “Ugh, I think he’s right. The academy is going to want to test my aspect, or…it’s going to be pretty obvious pretty soon. No matter how hopeful Lady Fairynor is, I don’t think I can hide my aspect from everyone forever. Or, for that matter, pass the entrance exam without my abilities.”

  Lessa pursed her lips. “Well, we are in a market. I’m sure, if we venture deep, we might be able to find some of the more…illicit sellers. You could see if anyone has a Masker. It’ll be pricey, but we’ve got spare cash, still.”

  “I don’t know what that is,” Jace said. “But it sounds like what we need. And we’ve got time.”