As Drake fell through the sky she wanted to scream, but decided against it. For an entirely vain set of reasons.

  The building was exploding, the mountain troll was falling into the newly created ruins, and as the flames and winds blew wildly all around her, she smiled.

  If this is the moment I die, I will go out with nothing less than joy on my face!

  She felt something slice through the air below her, and slide underneath her feet, supporting her as she fell. Looking down caused her smile to widen.

  Thanks buddy!

  Drake bent her knees as her magical bond still in the form of a blade lifted her upward, allowing her to surf on air currents as easily as surfboards slid above the waves of the ocean.

  She tried lifting her foot, but the blade came up as if attached, tipping the nose of the weapon downward. She began to descend and quickly pushed her leg back down, leveling out in an instant.

  Magic, or magnetism? But what would… hmm could it be using the iron in my blood to stay connected to my feet?

  “How do I make you go forward buddy?”

  The words were enough to cause her to shoot off, and Drake whooped in celebration as she was lifted away from the burning debris below. Her spear shot through the sky, transforming back into a skeletal arm, reattaching itself to Zen’s mantle; Drake handing Havoc to the weapon to hold as she flew.

  “Fuck yeah baby,” yelled Drake, flying through the air around the building that she’d just leveled, watching the giant mountain troll thrash violently in the burning rubble below.

  “Come on just die!”

  She began to try and find Cortez, easily pinpointing his location from her new vantage. The young man climbing up the adjacent tower. She glanced around again, hearing her giant skeletal minion yelling his favorite word in her mind, catching sight of the skeleton jumping over the rear courtyard wall of the now demolished building. Flames surprisingly not effecting her bond in the slightest.

  Really thought he’d be weak to fire for some reason….? Maybe magical fire? Doesn’t matter now, I better get out of here before we attract more monsters.

  She was slow to turn at first, but after a few delicate lifts and dips of her toes and heels she was easily able to manage.

  “Cortez, over here!”

  She watched Cortez finish climbing up the side of the building, using his vine, confused by what she was seeing. She landed slowly onto the roof of the building he climbed, frowning at the vine dangling out of nothing but the shadow of the nearby doorway that lead down into the lower floors.

  “Yo, what the hell is going on with that, shouldn’t that have broken,” asked Drake, jutting her thumb over her shoulder toward the dangling vine. Cortez, nodded, sitting at the edge of the roof with a plop.

  “Yeah, I got a Broken Mechanics achievement for it, their rare, but a new way to use my skill has been unlocked.”

  “Oh yeah, what’s a broken Mechanic achievement,” asked Drake stepping off her minion’s bladed form to step down onto the roof. Her weapon rejoining its partner to hold Havoc at her back.

  “Their all unique to the user, I guess my vines are only allowed through my portals because they are also made from my mana, so now I can use the portals as anchors by breaking the portal loops and keeping one open, honestly unsure how it works, don’t know how exactly that is going to help me beyond what I just did with them, but I’ll play with that later.”

  Drake nodded, stepping to the edge of the building. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped the moment a beautiful woman’s voice entered her mind and her eyes went wide

  *Notification* Achievement Unlocked - Conquering Authority One - Mythic / Locked

  You have killed one of three of the zone bosses within an Adept instance before being ranked. This achievement is partially locked due to the incompletion of the Instance being undertaken. Finish the instance to unlock the full benefits of this Achievement!

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Achievement Unlocked - Killer of titans - Legendary

  You have killed a monster seven ranks higher than you. This puts you in a category that some will never find themselves able to join. Either through luck or incredible might, this accomplishment is yours to bare. Know that the grander realm primordials can now see you, as your soul will now shine for all to see as a killer of titans.

  All Attributes gained increased by 3 fold, even after ascension. Free Legendary Skill unlock gained. Cannot be accessed while in instanced zones.

  Warning - Primordial beings don’t take any creature, man or immortal, or even their own monstrous ilk, stepping into the garden of the first accomplishments lightly. These achievements are seen as a threat to those holding power given by the system for achievements obtained when time first began. Entering, The Ranks, will come with competition unlike any other, beware.

  You have been warned.*

  “Oh Fuck,” said Cortez.

  Drake looked down at him, hoping she hadn’t just helped him gain an achievement that would also put him in the crossfire of beings known as Primordials.

  “Please don’t, don’t tell me you just got that scary ass achievement?”

  “I have the eyes of the first hunter on me, what in the bloody maidens embers does that even mean?”

  Drake almost tried to respond before she got a series of Notifications.

  *Notification* Warning - The eyes of the first king, are on you.

  Warning - Eyes of the first Kin, are on you.

  Warning - Eyes of the first Bone Maker are on you.

  Warning - Eyes of the Soul Drinker, are on you.

  Warning - Eyes of the first Hero, are on you.

  Warning - Carter Omni watches!

  Warning - Promethia watches!*

  What the fuck does that mean, wait didn’t Lilith say I was related to Carter, does that mean that this isn’t all that bad?

  “We are going to die aren’t we,” asked Cortez. Drake couldn’t muster up the courage to speak in that moment, completely unable to respond.

  …

  Drake and Cortez took some time to calm their frantic minds before moving on. Both were completely rattled by their notifications, and the symbols that remained in the corners of their Overlays that indicated that they were still being watched.

  While Cortez described a white and black cat’s eye that symbolized the first Hunter; Drake’s Overlay was now being haunted by an eye with a tribal sun as an iris that housed a rotating hourglass at its center. Neither liked what this meant for them, completely unsure what these new presences would allude to.

  Before they left however, they took time to study the map found on the new roof, coming to the understanding that atop every building may have a piece of the overall map inscribed into the stone topped structures throughout the boss room of the instance, but made sure to remember as much as they could. Not sure that they could depend on the peculiar detail of the Instance zone no matter how frequent it already seemed to be.

  Both Drake and Cortez were glad to find that they weren’t being pursued by more squads of monsters for the moment, but didn’t know if that was because they’d defeated them all for the section of city they were in, or if they’d done something considerable enough to stop from being chased.

  “We can’t focus on it for too long, we need to get out of here, and unfortunately for us, I doubt that we will be able to do that without killing two more of the mountain trolls, and probably a bunch of ogres,” said Drake stepping onto her sword. Cortez nodded in agreement, lifting his bow into the air,, Drake’s storm bond grabbing the weapon and lifting him off the ground.

  “So what’s the move, hunt for more mountain trolls, or try and find the Instance’s core,” asked Cortez, obviously doing his best not to look down as they eased skyward.

  “Both, but I think we should at least locate the other two mountain trolls, and maybe figure out a better way to take them down, if you think about it, that thing didn’t die until it got cooked in the buildings remains…”

  “Yeah, your right, but I have no idea what we are going to be able to do but maybe try and recreate what we did here.”

  Drake agreed. The pair took off, flying low, not wanting to be seen before they discovered more monsters, and after a while, the area became dark as if night had encompassed the bowels of the Instance.

  They hadn’t flown quickly, allowing for her giant skeletal minion to run below them, traveling through the streets and alleys of the unnamed city they were in. The giant having what Drake assumed to be a bottomless stamina.

  Guess that is another boon of using the undead as bonds. I’d be worried about him down there if we weren’t connected as we are though. Man’s has no chill, I better count myself lucky that we haven’t run across anything yet… We better not continue to play with fire, and stop soon.

  “Should we stop here, we are getting close to where I saw a lot of movement when we first entered this place,” asked Cortez, and Drake nodded, making Drake wonder if she’d been wearing her stress on her face, or if Cortez had had enough of dangling hundreds of feet off the ground.

  “Yeah, this next roof will probably be a good location for us to take time to scout out the area.

  They landed, and Drake sighed, honestly wanting to fly more, wishing she was somewhere that she was free to let loose in the skies above.

  Calm down Drake, your time will come…

  Her magical minions returned to Zen’s mantle, Drake’s defensive bond handing the pair Havoc to hold.

  Even as Drake and Cortez settled onto the roof however, a familiar noise touched upon Drake’s ears, and both her and Cortez shared a strange look.

  “Hmm, you hear that,” asked Cortez.

  “Yeah, thought I was tripping but you know what that sounds like right?”

  “Oh yeah, sounds just like the Academy does at night when their’s a celebration.”

  “Yeah, I was definitely going to say a party, but aren’t we supposed to be inside and Instance, what kind of festivities could truly be going on down here?”

  “All we can do is look,” said Cortez, immediately turning himself invisible.

  “Hey wait, do me too.”

  “Oh yeah,” said Cortez, grabbing Drake by her elbow. The appearance of her body shifting to the consistency of fog, before she could once more see Cortez. His figure also taking on a hazy presence.

  Drake smiled and the pair strolled to the edge of the roof, and gasped at the sight below.

  There was indeed a celebration being held, not just by various types of monsters, but obvious Cultivators.

  Drake could see horned demons. Tanned Elves. Orcs, a race Drake assumed were angelic in nature, and many more she couldn’t describe nor name.

  Her and Cortez shared a look, and Drake wondered if she was imagining the sight below.

  There were vendor stalls selling various foods Drake had never seen before. Wares being offered up by obvious merchants riddled with jewelry and expensive looking garments tailored to perfection. Even dancing and a skillful band playing on a stage that floated gracefully through the air around the growing crowd below.

  The expanse between buildings was expertly decorated. The people all seemed to be having an incredible time, and Drake began to wonder if she wasn’t missing out by staying up on the roof to hide.

  “You seeing this?”

  “Yup…”

  “You believing this?”

  “Nope….?”

  “We are in an Instance right?”

  “Yup…”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Not, at, all…”

  “Really, I thought you were supposed to know about this kind of stuff aren’t you like a bastard prince or something!” Cortez scoffed, shaking his head before giving Drake a side eye, breathing deeply before he looked back at the spectacle below them.

  “I’ve been around you for about two, maybe three days, and at this point, I’m pretty sure I don’t know a damn thing about anything at all anymore…”