“What? What is it?” Fowl asked.


    Tan started to move past Max, and he held a hand out to stop her.


    “Let me search first.”


    He could see the tears that had formed, and her eyes were fixated on the vials on a shelf across the room.


    Arge stone X was in the center of the room, stained with blood that had also marred the floor. Near the ce he assumed the head would go was a small crystal shard. Along the stone floor was a circle of crystal that surrounded the entire room. Nine lines converged in the middle where the stone X and crystal were.


    Bob? What am I seeing?


    Everything hit him at once as his skill used his eyes and Sonar.


    Tubes were hanging on pegs, red liquid still dripping from a few. Jars filled with what he knew had to be blood were lining multiple shelves near them.


    On the opposite side of the room, Tan’s eyes were transfixed by vials that looked familiar. After a moment, he realized why she was reacting that way.A slight hint of magic and power came from them.


    “No one move. Give me just a moment to sweep the room.”


    Leaving them there, Max circled the round room, dodging the sections on the floor he knew were bodily fluids or something else. No warning came, and no traps were detected. Stopping near the crystal shard that hummed with energy, he could feel Bob almost vibrating.


    “It’s safe, just don’t touch anything,” he warned.


    “We need to burn this all down!” Tan eximed as she hurried to the shelves behind him.


    “Why? What is it?” Batrire asked, following her friend.


    As the pair moved to the vials, Max studied the shard the length of his arm. Its color was off. All the ones he could remember were clear, unless someone was engaged with it.


    Bob?


    This… Someone is using this to ess the system. What they are doing is… highly unlikely… impossible, most would say but knowing what I know… it’s not. It’s just very costly and challenging. To have that knowledge and ability…


    “Max! We need to destroy these!”


    Turning to see Tan, who was pointing at the vials, her whole arm was trembling.


    Moving to where she was, he already knew what he was looking at.


    “Are those really red skill elixirs?” he asked.


    Gasps came from everyone but Tan, who nodded.


    “I… I had read stories and heard tales but thought it was foolishness. Stories of this… in a book, long ago… Someone from Thuyja hase here.”


    Her voice sounded scared, and for the first time, Max felt the pressure of everything around him.


    What would it mean if someone was here, brought by the elven goddess?


    That we are in trouble. I have no way of knowing their true power but for them to be here, working with humans, draining life and skills, and creating things like this… we need to— ??????Ё?


    Bob’s words were cut off as cries came from the hallway they had used to enter here.


    He moved toward the door, getting between it and his friends, shield and weapon out as a figure moved past the cell doors and toward them.


    His eyes couldn’t believe what his Sonar told him.


    An elf, almost eight feet tall, strode with a power that he could sense from here. She moved with a grace andmand that rivaled many of the powerful beings he had encountered on the other world.


    Gold eyes and hair radiated along the hallway, sending out light that announced her presence.


    “Who is that?” Fowl asked.


    Max could feel Tan moving her hand, reaching for her wrist.


    Cordellia was grabbing her chest, struggling to breathe.


    “Toys? What kind of toys have entered my domain?”


    Her voice was like a siren, pleasant to the ear, begging Max to surrender his will.


    Every battle he ever fought for his will was nothingpared to this moment as it mmed into him harder than any blow Igarra had ever hit him with.


    A roar inside his head pushed back, and Max felt Bob surge with power, holding the overwhelming force from taking over.


    [ Consume has Resisted a Skill ]


    He could sense the change in Tan, the power that began to flow from her as the bracelet was dismissed and her true presence was revealed.


    As her hair and eyes must have been turning gold to match the woman walking toward them, he could finally detect the others behind her, each one an elf outfitted in armor and weapons.


    “Royal blood? Sister, why have you invaded my ce?! Do you not know the—”


    She stopped, eyes moving from Tan and back to him.


    Max could sense her tensing, seeing that he was the only one besides Tan still standing, his friends having fallen to the ground, struggling to breathe.


    “Who are you? One who can resist my force?”


    “I was about to ask who you were,” Max replied, watching as she stood a few feet into the room, allowing the three elves who moved from behind her, nking her slightly, ornate swords pointed toward him.


    A frown appeared, and once more, the force of whatever skill she tried to use mmed into him.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    [ Consume has Resisted a Skill ]


    [ Intimidation ]


    “Enough!”


    His own power swept out across the room, and the three with her buckled, dropping to the ground as his shout finished.


    Only the slightest flinch came, and then a smile formed that looked evil. More white teeth showed as it grewrger andrger by the second.


    “You are strong… I am going to have so much fun draining you of whatever you possess. Now tell me, who are you and why are you here? I won’t ask again.”


    “Who are you?!” Tan shouted, the struggle in her voice apparent by how it wavered.


    “Foolish child, you are nothing… to think you would—”


    “She asked you a question. Answer it, and I will answer yours,” Max growled, cutting off the elf.


    A snarl appeared, recing the twisted smile, and those golden eyes narrowed, focusing on him.


    Bob… tell me what we’re up against! What should I do?


    He could sense the way his skill was acting like a caged animal. Something was wrong.


    You need to get away. Take her from here. Do not fight in here !


    Without needing to be told, Max felt the skill that needed to be used.


    “Forgive me,” he whispered, not hesitating as he raced forward.


    A wall of power began to form before him, but Max didn’t care.


    His time as a prisoner had taught him more about fighting than the tower ever did.


    Even though a smirk had started to form, a second spell of magic brewing above her own barrier, Max showed nothing but the grim determination of someone who fought for a different reason.


    [ Demonic Teleportation ]


    His sudden appearance against her wasn’t a strike. A green glow covered her as his arms wrapped around her.@@novelbin@@


    [ System Travel -ary ]


    The scream that came from the elf he had grabbed caused him to smile, allowing him to ignore the pain of the blow shended on his back before the purple portal snatched them away.


    ***


    Rolling along the sand, Max stood in a moment, facing the elf who had dashed backward dozens of yards, trying to recover from the spell, a sword now in each hand.


    “What?! Where are we?!”


    [ Regeneration ]


    A bone popped back into ce as Max knew exactly where he was.


    His own weapon appeared. Even though he could shape it to whatever he wanted, he stuck with the halberd he had been using for so long. It providedfort, especially knowing he had just used a skill he didn’t want to waste.


    Whates next is going to take a lot of work to gauge. Be careful. This one could be simr in power to Igarra.


    But we defeated Igarra. Surely we—


    I had a well of power to draw upon for that fight. My limits are low, but you were wise enough to let me choose the battleground.


    Max grinned, knowing exactly what Bob was talking about, already sensing the worms moving around in the sand.


    Using his Sand Mastery skill, he created a barrier of sand under his feet, sensing when a few worms mmed into it, unable to get through from underneath.


    The elf didn’t have the same luxury, yet she moved at a speed that left him wondering about her true stats.


    It appeared that a surprise attack hadn’t been a problem for her, both swords bisecting the worm.


    When she went to kick the piece quivering near her, she stopped just a few inches away and backed up.


    Scowling, she shed at the others that came at her, and Max didn’t waste time, knowing that he needed every element of surprise he had.


    [ Fire Familiar ]


    As the glowing ball of mes grew near him, Bob summoned a real fireball and let it grow in size and power.


    He dashed forward, weapon ready, ready to take any advantage he had, using his own ability with sand to create distractions and mess with his opponent.


    The very ground beneath her began to suck her under for a half second, and that was all he needed, his weapon shing toward the elf.


    Both swords came up, parrying the strike, sending her flying backward about fifty yards, sliding through the sand.


    Max had often thought that Tan’s golden eyes were beautiful and was often sad that she didn’t let him gaze into them more often.


    If it had been possible, the pair staring at him right now would have shot beams of pure magic. Nothing but his death would satiate their hunger.


    A pair of air des came rushing toward him, sensed by the sandstorm he was creating, cutting through distance with a speed he knew far too well.


    His ball of fire sped toward the elf, a wall of air stopping one wind de, his weapon deflecting the second.


    Each point of contact let out a thunderous boom as the power of those spells connected.


    She dodged his fireball, feet moving rapidly across the sand that he tried to use as a quagmire to slow her down, not in one ce long enough to do anything.


    As Bob worked on summoning other spells, he turned the sand into daggers, sending them like a rain of arrows at his opponent. He watched as she hacked and deflected them, the few that made it past her defenses not appearing to cause anysting damage at all.


    Each cut healed on its own, and Max sensed a growing powering from her.


    Like an arrow, she shot toward him, no longer on the defensive, and he met her head-on, his weapon in one hand and gorgon shield in the other.


    In less than a second, each of them had rained down multiple blows upon the other, only to have them deflected or parried,bos broken by each other.


    The worms were foolish, trying to capitalize upon the fighting pair, yet none could catch them as they danced around the hot sand, sending up a spray of dust and flying fragments, all controlled by Max and sent back at his opponent’s face.


    Bob unleashed a bolt of lightning, but a shield of air stopped it. The magical energy struck the sand around them, turning it into ss.


    It crunched under their feet as both of them worked to get a sense of the other’s abilities, each strike able to cut down an average person with ease, yet neither using a skill.


    Legendary… weapon… Dual Wield is high, too…


    She has some detection field like yours… and wind or mastery of some kind. Different but simr.


    Each of them shared thoughts between the hundreds of attacks and strikes that came, creatingrge divots in the sand as they took turns getting knocked back through it from the impact of each blow.


    With death so close and the potential of never seeing his friends again, Max couldn’t help himself.


    He smiled.


    And then he started tough, ignoring the slight nicks he took when her de managed to get past his guard andnd a shallow gash.


    Staring at his opponent, Max could see the expression on her face change as well.


    Her smile was back.


    Both knew this was a battle like none had faced in a while, and the only way it would end was when one of them died.


    ?