That night, with the second floor now open, many people were likely heading there to explore and understand this new world. The second floor was a capital, and the main draw was to acquire weapons, armor, and grimoires.
As I entered the warehouse, it felt desolate and abandoned. The dim light filtering through the high, broken windows cast long shadows across the expansive, dusty floor. Stacks of containers and boxes lined the walls, creating narrow aisles that stretched into the darkness. The warehouse had three floors. The first and second were filled with storage, but the third floor was shrouded in darkness
The air was heavy with the smell of aged wood and rusted metal. A deep silence filled the space, interrupted only by the faint creaks of the structure shifting. I scanned the area, ensuring there was no one in sight, before deciding to pry open one of the crates.
I pried open the lid of the nearest crate, the wood splintering slightly under the pressure. Inside, it was filled to the brim with small healing potions, their faint glow providing a bit of light in the gloom. I checked another crate nearby, and this one contained mana potions. As I continued opening crates, I realized each was packed with identical potions, stacked neatly and seemingly untouched for a long time.
Although these potions wouldn't heal much, it was impossible for them to have accumulated this many naturally. There was something wrong about it—perhaps they were transmuting.
I filled my bag with them. A bag I had gotten from an NPC in town. Taking 500 of each. they wouldn't be missed. The crates that didn't contain potions held copies of fur armor—an item of rare value. There were almost no wolves on this floor; they'd either been killed off by slimes or NPCs.
The fur armor, made from the pelts of wolves, was usually a dark gray but often dyed in various colors. The pieces were carefully stored, indicating their value and rarity..
POP!
A piercing pain shot through my chest.
I stumbled forward, trying to catch my balance. My health rapidly depleted. Grabbing one of the healing potions, I quickly restored my health to full, but the blood still dripped from the wound, and a sharp, aching pain radiates through my chest. I swiftly scanned the area, searching for the source of the attack.
My eyes flicked up to the third floor, where a striking figure stood. A woman, draped in a flowing white fur cape that seemed made for winter, her white armor dyed a vivid viridian green, stood with an air of quiet authority. Beneath her fur-lined hood, a thin green cloak covered her snowy white hair. Her mossy green eyes locked onto mine. On her back a white spear.
I channeled mana into my eyes, sharpening my vision to get a better look in the dim light. She wore a solemn smile, a sad expression that didn't seem fitting for her. In her hand, she held a sniper rifle, its sleek, menacing form gleaming in the low light.
Emblazoned on the front of her cape was a logo for G2: two pistols crossed in an X. Beneath it, her name—Seraphina—was etched into her armor.
She looked at me with sadness, as if she was disheartened that we would have to fight. It seemed like she didn't want to do this.
Luckily, my party mask covered my face, and I had set an anchor, so I could emergency teleport.
"Teleport_to_Anchor," I said softly.
Nothing happened. Since I was only rank 2, I wasn't able to set a distance, and I only had one kunai and a rusted dagger on me. The other was out of range.
I continued looking at her for a few seconds before she spoke.
"Return what you stole," she said, her voice trembling. I didn't respond. After a few tense moments of silence, she drew her sniper rifle and began firing at me.
I took cover behind the crates, hearing a swift movement.
WHOOSH.
In an instant, she dashed toward me. I barely managed to react in time, deflecting her dagger with my own before she leapt back up to the second floor. She began muttering something under her breath, though I couldn't make out the words. I knew I had to act fast. Drawing on every ounce of my mana, I sent a surge of energy toward the front of the warehouse, collapsing part of the structure to create a distraction. I threw my remaining kunai as far as I could, glancing back as I ran.
Just as I was about to get some distance, I heard her shout.
"Freeze him, Ice_Dragon_Hydrax!"
A dragon-shaped projectile of ice shot toward me, its translucent form gleaming in the dim light. The eyes of the ice dragon glowed eerily blue as it streaked toward me with deadly accuracy. In a desperate attempt to block it, I threw my kunai into its path. But the ice dragon struck with immense force, encasing me in a block of ice. In seconds, I was frozen, my body locked in place with only my head and one hand exposed. The biting cold seeped into my skin, paralyzing me.
She approached, her expression filled with sorrow. I glared at her, anger boiling inside me. Before she could speak, I summoned a burst of mana from my exposed arm, pushing her back with a powerful arc. She staggered, coughing up blood, clearly affected by the blast.
I knew I had to end this before she got the upper hand. I threw the kunai once more that had landed beside me. This time it landed on a nearby roof.
"Dagger_Arc," I whispered, pulling my dagger.
My dagger extended forward with pinpoint accuracy, an arc of energy trailing behind it like a blade of lightning. The speed was enough to catch her off guard—she barely managed to bring up her spear to block. The force of the strike sent her staggering back, and I wasted no time, closing the distance.
She spun, her body moving with deadly precision as she sent a stream of icy shards at me, but I was faster. I ducked under the shards, using the momentum of my movement to slash forward with a precise strike. My dagger found its mark, catching her across the arm. The ice daggers in her hands shattered with the impact, and she gasped, pain flickering in her eyes.
She didn't retreat.
"Ice_Fangs," she hissed, and from her outstretched hand, a series of sharp ice spikes shot toward me, aiming for my legs.
I jumped backward, but one of the spikes grazed my calf, sending a shock of cold shooting through me.
Without hesitation, I teleported to the kunai I had thrown earlier, landing on a nearby rooftop. I gasped for air, my eyes still fixed on her as she lay motionless on the ground below.
I began charging a bolt of lightning.
The energy surged through me, but as I pushed further.
Pain surged through me as my health dropped to a critical level, but the javelin grew brighter. More potent. Seraphina's eyes widened.
"No..." she whispered, a tear escaping her eye. "Please, don't."
I threw the javelin with all my might, the weapon arcing through the air like a bolt of retribution. Before I could see the results of the attack, I teleported just outside the city to my other kunai, leaving the first one behind.
As I looked back, the javelin struck true, and a blinding explosion of blue and yellow light engulfed the warehouse, the shockwave destroying the outer wall.
I couldn't tell if she had dodge the attack
Limping, I used more healing potion. I looked back at the city, now partially in ruins, and felt a strange mix of triumph and regret.