"I knew something was strah the new janitor. Walking randomly around instead of on a set path as they should. Then one of the guards died, some nasty poison you got. I called for backup, but they didn't respond. How many did you get before ing here?" she says, stalking down the hall.

  The hallway cks any true cover; my only cover is my illusion, though the stupid stone around my neck still points to the general area I'm in. I didn't think they would be watg them this closely. Or did she only start after the uard was killed?

  Whatever, with the only uard here, my sve, I'll be good to kill her and finish the job.

  I don't know how exactly the stone is lettirack me, so I won't be able to use it to trick her. It 't be that accurate anyway, or she would have just attacked me where I was sitting already.

  The guard is takiime ing down the hallway, reag only a quarter of the way in now. Her eyes don't leave the door I'm sitting by. Did I sit for long enough for her to figure out the general area or just guess what I was after?

  "Not going to run? Maybe you sneak out the front door. The branches you've been attag don't e close to the skill we all have. You should've poisoned us all if you want to get out of here with your life," she taunts, swirls of water f in her hands. "If you don't want to run just e out already and py. I'll let this be just us two to start. But anuard will be ing this way soon. Oh, is that what you want? Have two guards here so you die with an excuse."

  With that she unches a ball of water just above my head, my hair swirling about after it passes and sms against the wall.

  "Are you short or just sitting down?" another ball f. Her left ha another loose, this time passing oher side of the door before smming into the wall. "Do you want me just to flood the entire hall? It's quite a terrifyih. Gulping dower, hoping for a bit of air."

  I echo fake footsteps running down the hallway, seeing how much she trusts the stone's location.

  She unches a few more bolts down the hallway, where the person would be to make the footsteps, the bolts eg off the far wall.

  "Oh, sound. Or are you just bending space so the balls go around you? I've never really seen a space mage work before. Heard they do some strahings." The tall woman stops about fiftee autting up a wall of water in front of her. "I kind of wish you were the space mage, but I think I'm lucky if you're a different mage. That was some spell she did in the warehouse. It got the higher-ups scrambling to figure out who did that one and how we pissed you off. Not that we're looking to give you anything. I'm just hoping to kill a few of your friends. o even out the blood between us."

  She doesn't make any more movements. Just her eyes move, sing for any hints of the intruder.

  fident she 't tell precisely where I am, I start crawling to her, pnning to get behind her wall.

  To keep her distracted, I bounce sounds around the hall, mixing in some illusions of random people. Eae gets a water ball passing through and smming into a wall, adding to the echoes. I move slowly, careful to check for any traps she may have pced around her.

  Her water wall expands, c her pletely now. If she starts to act like the stupid rock girl, I'll be in trouble.

  Fuck I should've moved sooner and faster.

  I sm the wall with sound, hoping the vibrations will bring it down. The wall of water ripples but holds, so I send a stant stream of sound to it. The ripples grow as I tinue my slow crawl. The guard ges her focus to keeping the wall up rather than finding me.

  The wall's waves start to stabilize, and the stant pitch lets it stand. So, I start rotating the pitches.

  I'm just a few feet from the wall when it burst. I lounge forward, pulling out my short sword and aiming the tip at her stomach.

  She twists to the side, my sword skinning off the side of her armor. Simple leather with a small strength entment helping it out.

  My sword did make a gash in it, but it'll take a few swings to make it through pletely.

  I don't let up on the assault, taking short swings at her to keep her moving. The sound keeps her disoriented enough I'm able to score hits. It's still only against her armor, but I'm likely bruising her as well. Adrenalin will carry her through the pain for a bit, but she'll succumb eventually.

  She bsts water in every dire, not enough to do damage but it buys her some space. She puts the wall up again and starts spraying water randomly as she tries to get her bearings. I see the blood dripping out of her ears.

  I do the same thing. A sound with a random pitch fills the hallway again. The wall es dowing my assault rehis time, her armives, letting my sword through. I'm not able to get in deep yet, but blood is flowing.

  Again, she bsts out the water, this time not g for the wall. Instead, she follows up with water bolts. They aren't as powerful as the o the start, but she makes up for that in quantity.

  I'm able to use a defensive wall this time, as they all e from one spot. Using the wall, I run at her, ready to end the fight.

  A dumb rock vibrates my arm as it stretches for the final blow. The sword ended up an inch to the right of my target. I just get a lung before a new guard es down the corridor.

  That damn bitch went into bor and called her wife back. I should've given her a potion to induce bor a few days ago. I'm being too o a sve.

  Well, the first guard is out of the fight, struggling to breathe. The newer is one I poisoned already. I just o buy myself a few minutes, and she'll fall over. The problem will be mana. I'm down to just a quarter left.

  "Did a number on that fident bitch. Well, unfortunate for you, I don't care about her fair fights. you kill two? How much mana have you used? The entire guild knows about you now, so be a good girl, and I'll let you be my dog instead of putting you in the dirt."

  Despite the offer, she es running in. The half-giant is obviously a strength mage. Her muscles rippled out under her tight clothing. My dance skills let me avoid her crushing blow and e up behind her.

  The new girl pnts her foot and turns faster than her mass should let her. Another punes my way, and I duder, sending a ssh at her calf. I hardly get a scratch against her—a true brawler. I scramble away. My poison will o kill her; I don't have a sword that pierce her skin before I run out of mana.

  "You poisoned me, too."

  "Yes, I got unlucky with the two here not being poisoned. But you just sed in for one."

  She lets out a scream and makes o attempt, her breathing ing hard as the poison starts to work. Maybe my luck hasn't run out here.

  I keep bag up, almost to the end of the hallway, before she falls over. Her breath es in shalled breaths as her body starts to shut down.

  Leaving the two dying guards alone, I jump to the door and start on the locks. I just have o before I open it. Then, I break the vault door down and steal everything. I'll have a few tails on the way out, but I easily lose them iy.

  "You're a naughty girl," whispers into my ear as a fist sms into my back, flinging me across the room. My breath was forced out of me. I skid to the end of the hall, bumping up against the far wall. Gasping for breath, I move my body to its feet and look at my attacker.

  A short elf, my height about, breast bigger than Nakuma's.

  Sorry, Alzi. You were right.

  "Look. I just want to know who attacked my friends. The branches didn't help, so I came here for it. Give it, and I'll leave."

  "Sorry. My tract doesn't let me do that."

  I get a wall up just as a vial of poison hits it. The spsh burns my clothing and skin. Just as I feel the burn, a fist sms into my stomach, and another hits my face, ung me down a new hallway. I scramble along the ground, trying to go invisible again. My magic failing me over and over. Shit, she has an artifact stopping me.

  I let out a scream with the dwindling supply of magid run for the employee entrance.

  The hallways are clear; likely, some lockdown is happening to let the old bitch py with me however she likes.

  Even with Nakuma, this was a dumb idea.

  A soft ugh es into my ear before I get smmed to the side, crumpling against the wall.

  "Your sounds are a bit annoying. Not very dylike," the elf says casually, walking and standing over me. "I hope you have better sounds as the light slowly fades from your eyes. You owe me that much, at least, for taking me from my research."

  She pulls out a short sword and swings it around a bit. All I do is watch, waiting for the swing that es for my neck.