My footsteps echo in the hallway and the flickering yellow lights above mask the grime that covers the grey walls, ceiling, and floor.
There are metal doors every 10 to 15 meters that lead into similar-sized rooms, but the long curved hallway seems to go on forever as I make my way forward. My enemy detection skill only shows one other person on this floor and they are still rather far away at the end of the hall.
It's a level 202 with a swordsmanship skill as well as that same High-Grade shielding artifact activated. It must be something their boss hands out to each of them. However, a defense item of this class can't be cheap...
As my footsteps echo further and further down the hall, a raspy middle-aged man's voice eventually calls out.
"Number 5, back so soon? Did the kid finally talk?"
I don't respond, but pick up my pace slightly to see who made this remark. My appearance may resemble the short-haired blond woman, but my voice is still the same. Responding would not be the best idea.
I turn the final bend of the long narrow corridor to see a mean-looking man whose appearance is exactly what I'd pictured. Dark eyebrows and a buzzcut with poorly inked tattoos on his visible skin. Three bottles of alcohol are all half empty on a small table next to him along with a few piles of paper and a pen.
He crosses his arms and raises his head as we make eye contact.
"Come on, it was that bad again? You were hardly gone a few minutes. The boss is getting restless you know. We have another job to tend to 3 days from now so you better hurry it up."
I tighten my gaze and keep walking toward him. The rough-looking man has a silver pin on his shirt too, labeled "009". I get within 3 meters and see a stairway leading up to the next floor on my left side. He speaks again.
"What's with you today, you're acting differ-"
Before he can finish speaking, I get close enough to the man that he starts eying me up and down with lust-filled eyes. Reaching out my right hand I activate my newest ice magic skill and freeze him solid before he even knows what hit him.
I let out a sigh while manipulating the mana within my ice to phish out the labeled pin. I shatter him to pieces without a second thought and stare down at the small silver item using appraisal.
High-Grade B-Class Shielding Artifact [64/100][IC]
It's exactly the same as the one this woman was wearing. I throw it into my item storage and begin walking up the industrial-grade stairs without another thought. They're split into 2 sections of 12 steps, sturdy enough for dozens of people to walk on at the same time.
This place must have been built and used by a large organization a few decades ago but seems to have been forgotten by time. All the rooms are empty or filled with old tables and chairs. They've been stripped of their valuable items multiple times over.
The next two floors turn out almost exactly the same as the first one I just left. Each of them consisted of a long narrow corridor, abandoned rooms, and a guard watching the stairs leading up to the next floor.
Number 8 and number 7 are levels 245 and 269 respectively. They each have mediocre combat skills and the same enchantment shielding artifact linked to their numbered pins, I put each of these items into my storage after leaving them on the ground in pieces.
I move up to the next floor, this is where my enemy detection skills start to act up. I sense 8 people on this floor, but only 3 of them show their status. The first one I meet is level 286, number 6 at the top of the stairs.
Unlike the floors below, it seems this one has heightened security.
The skinny red-haired man with a stealth skill doesn't stand a chance and is taken care of before he can say a word or even realize what's going on. I take his pin and walk down the hall slowly toward the 7 people remaining on this floor.
One status holder stands at the far end of the hall, while another is in one of the rooms about halfway down the long passage. They're only level 337 with a body hardening skill so I open the heavy metal door without a moment of hesitation.
A short brown-haired man with freckles and a scar across his cheek shows me a smug look as I walk in and close the door behind me. He sits at the back of the room on a wooden stool reading a newspaper while jingling a ring full of silver keys. A pin labeled "004" glimmers on his black combat suit.
To my left and right side, there are thick metal bars blocking off the sides of the room into two separate cells. It only leaves a 10-meter by 2-meter-wide walking space in the middle of the dimly lit room.
My eyes widen as I see exactly what I've been looking for on my left side.
It's very dark at the back of the cells, but I can see a faint outline of green hair on a short woman sitting against the wall. As my eyes adjust even more a blond is sat next to her and the tall archer lies flat on his back in the same cell. Another faint outline of the blue-haired mage rocks back and forth a few meters beside them.
It's my team.
I quickly turn to the right side, as there is one more presence in that cell too. I assume it must be Lydia, but the man speaks before I get a closer look. I turn my head back to him to hear what he has to say.
"Finally. Did that brat finally talk? You killed him so we can go home and get some rest, right?"
I clench my jaw and don't respond. My eyes dart back and forth as I slowly walk forward. They meet both Abby's and Maria's. Each of them looks angry enough to kill me on the spot if they had the chance. With sharp eyes and gritted teeth, they haven't lost their will to live one bit.
Both of them wear the same black metal cuffs as I had on earlier. This explains why I can't appraise or sense their magic at all.
I'm happy to see them alive and well, but I can't celebrate just yet.
I bring my eyes back to the short man and nod slowly a few times. He smirks, responding immediately.
"Excellent, Excellent. Wait. In that case, why are you here? Why not just go directly to the boss-"
Raising my hand in the air, I activate my earth magic and shoot a stone bullet through the man's forehead before he can finish his final question.
His time is up as well. I've killed a lot of people today, but they all know too much and have hurt my teammates unprovoked. They deserve worse. I'm doing them a favor by making it quick and painless.
His eyes go blank as he stops mid-sentence and the ring full of silver keys falls to the floor with a series of clangs.
I hear gasps from my left side while I lean down to grab the pin and keys before turning to the cell. I walk over still in full disguise.
The sight before my eyes is horrendous once it comes into full view. It makes me want to look away immediately.
Each of them looks like they went through similar, if not worse torture than me. They're all covered in burns, gashes, and clothes stained with blood.
In the cell, Maria, Abby, and Arie are sat together with Fisher shaking and looking at the floor a few meters away. He's alive, but in the worst condition out of any of them, pale as snow from blood loss and shock.
The women both stare at me with the same angered expressions while Arie looks up at the ceiling calm and deep in thought.
I take another step closer. Then, speak in my undistored deeper-toned voice while deactivating my conceal skill and tossing the keys through the metal bars.
"Sorry for the wait. Let's get out of here."
My appearance shifts back to my original form, minus the white eyes and black arm tattoos.
I smirk while watching both Abby and Maria shift their expressions from anger to joy, even Arie sits up realizing what's going on. His indifferent gaze turns to curiosity, but still, something seems very off.
Fisher doesn't budge. He continues to stare at the floor, murmuring something to himself.
I turn to the other cell, expecting to find Lydia behind bars once the yellow light illuminates the back of the room. Unfortunately, I'm mistaken.
An old man with a long grey beard stares back at me with cold and tired eyes. He doesn't say a word, just lifts his cuffed wrists up toward me.
There isn't anyone else in his cell. The white-haired mage is nowhere to be found...
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Author's Note:
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