**[System Alert]: Defeated [Forest Spider]. +50 XP.**
**[System Alert]: Defeated [Forest Spider]. +50 XP.**
**[System Alert]: Defeated [Forest Spider]. +50 XP.**
The notifications scroll down Vex's vision like a cascading waterfall of blue text. It was satisfying for the first hour. Now, eight hours into their journey toward the Capital, it's just visual noise.
"Behind you!" Kael roars, swinging his shield.
A loud *CRUNCH* follows. Wet and decisive.
Vex doesn't turn around. She's busy picking burs off her wool cloak.
"How many is that?" she asks, examining a loose thread.
"Forty... two," Kael pants. He kicks the twitching carcass of a spider away from his boots. "Just in the last mile. This forest shouldn't have this kind of density, Vex. It's unnatural."
"It's the debuff," Vex reminds him. She points to the blinking red eye icon on her HUD. "We're walking monster bait. I told you."
She finally turns. A wolf—Level 8, Dire variant—bursts from the brush, jaws snapping. It ignores Kael. It ignores the horse. It wants Vex.
She sighs.
She lifts a pinky finger. *Water* element.
She envisions a high-pressure jet cutter. Industrial grade.
A sapphire bead, microscopic, floats on her nail. She flicks it.
*Thwip.*
A sound like a whip crack.
The wolf's head separates from its body. Cleanly. Cauterized by the friction of the water velocity. The body slides three feet before realizing it's dead.
Kael winces as the head lands near his foot. "Precision casting. No wasted mana. Efficient."
He sounds tired. He looks worse.
The knight of Crimson Dawn is coated in monster gore. Green ichor, red blood, black sludge. His armor is dented. He's leveled up twice today according to her scanner—he's Level 14 now—but humans have stamina bars that don't regenerate instantly out of combat.
"We need to camp," Vex decides.
"We cannot stop," Kael argues, leaning heavily on his sword. "The sun is setting. Night brings worse things than wolves."
"If we don't stop, you're going to collapse, and I'm not carrying you." Vex scans the area. A small clearing ahead. Good enough. "Besides, I'm out of inventory snacks. I need real food."
She walks into the clearing.
"Keep watch while I set up," she commands.
Kael nods wearily, taking a defensive stance at the perimeter. He expects her to pull out a tent roll. Maybe start a fire with flint and steel.
Vex looks at the ground. It's uneven. Damp. Not sleeping on that.
*Earth Magic.* *Structure generation.*
She holds out her palm. A brown sphere, rough like unpolished clay, hovers there.
She pictures the schematic. *Module: Cottage_Small_01. Quality: Superior.*
She drops the sphere into the dirt.
For a second, nothing happens. Kael glances over his shoulder. "Vex, the ground is too wet for a bedroll..."
The ground rumbles.
Vines shoot out of the soil, weaving themselves instantly into walls. Stone erupts from the earth to form a foundation. Wood grows, warps, and interlocks to form a roof. In five seconds, a fully formed, cozy timber cottage stands in the middle of the clearing. It even has a chimney with smoke already curling out.
Kael drops his shield. *Clang.*
He stares. His mouth opens, closes, then opens again.
"What..." He points at the house. "That... takes a team of master druids a month to grow. You did it in... a breath."
"Standard housing module," Vex says, opening the front door. "Come on inside. It has auto-heating."
Kael walks up to the structure slowly. He touches the wood. It's warm.
"You warp reality," he whispers. "Not just destroy it. You create it."
"I build assets, Kael. It's my job." She waves him inside. "Wipe your feet. I don't want spider guts on the rug."
***
Inside, it's comfortable. A fire crackles in a hearth that shouldn't logically work since Vex didn't put wood in it. A table with two chairs. Two beds.
Vex sits at the table, finally dropping the itchy cloak. She feels the phantom weight of the day pressing on her shoulders. Even if she physically has infinite mana, the mental strain of constantly checking for threats is exhausting.
Kael stands by the door, refusing to sit. He looks at the cottage like it's a trap.
"Sit down, Kael. It's safe."
He slowly lowers himself onto a wooden chair. It creaks under his armor.
"Admin," he says. The word feels heavy in his mouth. "You called yourself that earlier. Administrator."
Vex rubs her temples. "Yeah."
"In the texts... there is no mention of Administrators. There are Archmages. Sages. Gods. But no Administrators."
"We work backend," Vex says drily. "Behind the scenes. If you see us, something has gone terribly wrong."
"Like the Void invasion."
"Like that. Yes."
She waves a hand, casting *Create Food and Water*. A plate of roasted chicken and fresh bread appears in front of him. It's high-quality polygon rendering, creating perfect comfort food.
Kael stares at the chicken appearing from thin air.
"Eat," Vex orders. "You need the protein."
He tears off a piece of bread. Eats it tentatively. Then ravenously.
"Is the Emperor an Administrator?" he asks with his mouth full.
Vex laughs. Short. Bark-like. "Valorian? No. He's a user. A very high-level, privileged user with a fancy hat. But he plays by the rules."
"And you don't."
"I wrote the rules, Kael. And right now, I'm rewriting them because someone else is trying to delete the file."
She leans back, crossing her legs on the table. Her boots leave a smudge on the pristine wood.
"Listen. You're thinking about this like a religion. 'Gods and mortals.' Stop it. Think of it like... architecture. Someone built this house, right?" She gestures around. "The world is just a bigger house. I know where the plumbing is. I know where the support beams are. That's all."
Kael watches her. The firelight dances in his grey eyes.
"You speak of the world as if it is made of math and wood," he says softly. "But to us... to me... the pain is real. The blood is real."
"I know," Vex says. And for a second, the sarcasm slips.
She thinks of Vargas dying. The wet sound of the wolf's head coming off.
"I know it's real to you," she adds, quieter. "That's the problem."
"Why is it a problem?"
"Because," Vex says, staring at the ceiling beams. "If it's real, then I can't just hit reset when I screw up."
Silence stretches between them. Comfortable? No. But understood.
Kael finishes the bread. He looks stronger. The red flush of exertion has faded from his face.
"You defend us," he says suddenly. "You call yourself a detached builder, yet you stepped between my men and the Void. You are walking to the Capital to save a world you claim is just 'architecture'."
"I'm going to the Capital to fix a virus."
"Call it what you will," Kael stands up. He bows his head slightly. "I judge a warrior by their deeds, not their strange words. You are good, Vex. Terrifying. Confusing. But good."
Vex feels heat rise up her neck. She hates compliments. Especially sincere ones from handsome paladins.
"Go to sleep, Kael. First watch is mine. The cottage has perimeter alarms."
"Alarms?"
"Just sleep."
He moves to the bed. He takes off his breastplate, revealing a sweat-soaked tunic and arms thick with muscle. Vex pointedly looks at the fire.
*Don't ogle the NPCs,* she scolds herself. *He's lines of code. Very defined, attractive lines of code.*
"Goodnight, Vex," he murmurs.
Within minutes, his breathing deepens.
Vex stays awake. She pulls the *Fragment of the Void* out of her subspace pocket.
The shard hovers over the table, oozing black cold.
She inspects the code etched into the metal. It's not just random scratches. It's binary.
**01010110 01001111 01001001 01000100**
*VOID.*
Simple. Crude.
But below that... faint, barely visible text.
**Project: Eschaton.**
**Lead Developer: [Redacted]**
Vex's blood runs cold.
Project Eschaton. She remembers that name. It was a canceled expansion pack proposal from three years ago. Rejected because it was too dark. Too unstable.
The concept was simple: A dimension that eats other dimensions.
Someone didn't just summon a monster. Someone initialized the canceled DLC.
And if Malachar is the boss of that DLC...
"He's level 100," Vex whispers. "Raid tier. Hard mode."
She's level infinity (conceptually), but her body is human-ish. If she gets hit... does she have HP? Or does she just crash?
She puts the shard away.
"Level up fast, Kael," she whispers to the sleeping knight. "I might actually need a tank."
***
Morning comes with rain. Cold, miserable, grey rain.
Vex dismisses the cottage with a wave. It collapses back into the earth as if it never existed, leaving only dry ground where they slept.
Kael is already suited up, shield polished (how does he do that?), looking alert.
"The Crossroads of Silt is three hours north," Kael reports. "We can resupply there. Maybe get fresh horses. Yours is looking... skittish."
Her horse is currently trying to hide behind a tree. It senses the "Void's Gaze" aura on her. Animals hate it.
"Let's move," Vex says.
The journey is quiet for about an hour. Surprisingly quiet. No mobs.
"Where are the monsters?" Kael asks, hand on his hilt. "Yesterday was a slaughter."
"Spawn rates fluctuate," Vex lies. In reality, the System Log says: **[Regional Spawn Limit Reached. Spawning Elite Encounter.]**
She doesn't tell him that. No need to spoil the surprise.
They round a bend in the road where the forest thins into a canyon. High rocky walls on either side. Prime ambush spot. Level Design 101.
"Hold," Vex says, pulling her horse's reins.
"I see them," Kael murmurs.
Men. Not monsters.
Twelve of them blocking the road. Leather armor, dirty cloaks, mismatched weapons. But they aren't ragtag bandits. They stand with discipline. Their weapons are clean.
A man in the center steps forward. He's huge—nearly seven feet tall—with a scar running through one milky-white eye. He wields a war hammer that looks like it weighs as much as Vex.
"Toll road," the man grunts. His voice is deep, vibrating against the canyon walls.
"This is the King's Road," Kael shouts, projecting authority. "It is free to all under the protection of the Crown."
"King's far away," the man smirks. He spits. "We are the Bloody Hand. This is our road."
Vex sighs. *Bandit encounter. Generic script A.*
"How much?" she asks. "I have gold. I don't have time."
She reaches for her purse. Just pay the fee, bypass the combat. Speedrun strats.
The bandit leader looks at her. He looks at her purple robes. He looks at her pale hands.
Then he looks at a parchment nailed to a tree next to him.
He grins. It's not a nice grin.
"Gold isn't enough, sweetheart," he leers. "We have a work order. 'Small woman, silver hair, attitude problem.' The pay for your head is fifty times what you have in that purse."
Vex freezes.
A bounty? Already?
"Who hired you?" Kael demands, stepping his horse in front of Vex.
"Woman in a red veil," the leader says. "Paid upfront. Said you'd be trouble. Said to bring the girl alive if possible. Dead if necessary. But the knight?" He hefts the hammer. "The knight is just scrap metal."
*Red veil.*
Vex's memory ticks. *Vivienne Darkrose.* The Court Sorceress. The rival she heard Kael mention once in backstory chatter. Why does a Court Sorceress want a "Developer" dead?
"Vex," Kael says quietly. "There are archers on the ridges. Six of them."
"I see them," Vex says.
"This isn't a brawl. It's an execution." Kael draws his sword. "Ride back. I will hold the pass."
"You'll die," Vex points out. "That guy is a Level 25 Barbarian. You're Level 14."
"I am a Knight of—"
"Crimson Dawn, yeah, I got the memo."
Vex dismounts.
She hates killing humans. Monsters are data. Code. They respawn.
But humans in this world? They bleed. They have names. They have backstories. Killing them feels... dirty.
But she also hates being threatened. And she really, really hates wasting time.
"Last chance," Vex calls out. She walks past Kael's horse. "Walk away. Take the gold I offered. Go buy a farm. Live a long life."
The leader laughs. The other bandits join in.
"Feisty one!" a man with dual daggers jeers. "I like feisty. Making them break is the fun part."
Vex stops.
"Okay," she says. "That one. That comment right there? That decided it."
She doesn't raise a hand this time. She doesn't flick a wrist.
She just looks at the dagger guy.
She thinks about *Gravity*. The fundamental force that holds the universe together. The force that, if tweaked just slightly, turns a human body into a pancake.
She focuses on a point in the center of the dagger guy's chest.
*Collapse.*
A grey distortion—tiny, the size of a marble—appears inside him.
There is no sound at first.
Then, wet crunching.
The bandit screams—for a fraction of a second—as his ribcage folds inward. His armor crumples like tin foil. His arms snap and are sucked into his chest. His head slams down into his shoulders.
In less than a second, a grown man is compressed into a sphere of meat and iron the size of a basketball.
It drops to the ground with a wet *thud*.
Silence.
Absolute, terrified silence.
The leader stares at the ball of flesh that used to be his lieutenant.
Vex looks up at the ridges. "The archers can go next if they loose an arrow."
"Monster!" the leader roars. Panic overrides logic. "Kill her! Kill the witch!"
He charges. The massive war hammer swings down, aiming to smash Vex into paste.
Kael screams her name.
Vex doesn't move. She doesn't cast a shield.
She thinks of *Space*. Vector manipulation.
She creates a tiny, localized portal—a black dot—right above her head, and the exit portal right above the leader's head.
The hammer crashes down... enters the black dot...
And shoots out of the exit dot at full velocity, slamming directly into the back of the leader's own skull.
*CRACK.*
The leader's face hits the dirt. His head is... unrecognizable. The hammer sits embedded in the earth, dripping.
"Stop hitting yourself," Vex mutters.
The remaining bandits on the road freeze. Their leader is dead. Their second-in-command is a meatball.
Vex yawns. She taps her wrist where a watch would be.
"Five seconds," she announces. "Before I start practicing Area of Effect spells. Gravity Wells are messy. Ask your friend." She points to the meat-sphere.
Clatter.
Weapons drop.
"Run!" one screams. "She's a Demon!"
They scramble. Falling over each other. The archers on the ridge abandon their posts, sliding down scree slopes to escape.
In ten seconds, the canyon is empty. Save for two corpses and a traumatized knight.
Kael dismounts slowly. He walks over to the sphere of crushed armor and flesh. He looks like he's going to be sick.
"What..." Kael chokes out. "What spell...?"
"Gravity Sink," Vex says. She summons water to wash her hands, though they aren't dirty. It's psychological. "High-tier physics magic. Nasty stuff. I tried to warn them."
She walks over to the leader's body. Rummages through his pouch. Finds a scroll.
It's an official bounty warrant.
**Wanted: The Silver-Haired anomaly.**
**Reward: 5,000 Gold.**
**Issued by: House Darkrose.**
"Vivienne," Vex confirms. "She knows I'm coming. And she has the funds to hire the Bloody Hand."
Kael turns away from the carnage. He sheathes his sword, but his hands are shaking.
"You killed them like insects," he says.
"They were going to rape and kill us, Kael. Don't waste sympathy on trash mobs."
"It's the ease of it, Vex." Kael looks at her. "You don't struggle. You don't fear. You just... delete."
"Is that a complaint?"
"It is a fear," he admits. "I fear that one day, I will be the bug you decide to delete."
Vex stops.
She walks over to him. She has to crane her neck to look up into his eyes.
"Kael," she says firmly. "I don't delete allies. You're in my party. That means you have immunity. Okay?"
It's a gamer term again. But the sentiment lands.
He looks at her searching eyes. He sighs.
"You are impossible."
"I know. Get on the horse."
***
They ride hard. The encounter puts a chill in the air that has nothing to do with the weather.
By mid-afternoon, they reach the Crossroads.
Normally, this is a bustling trade hub. Wagons, merchants, travelers.
Today, it's a fortress.
Barricades block the road. Not makeshift bandit logs, but military *cheval de frise*—spiked wooden anti-cavalry measures. Soldiers in polished silver armor with blue tabards man the line.
"The Royal Guard," Kael identifies. "Or... wait. No. The crest is a Crow."
"The Silver Crows," Vex recites from her mental lore database. "Mercenary Company. High elite. They usually work for foreign powers, or..."
"Or noble houses," Kael finishes.
They approach the blockade.
A man rides out to meet them. He sits on a white destrier. His armor is enamelled with silver filigree. He has long blond hair and a face that would be angelic if not for the sneer.
"Halt!" he commands. "By order of Lady Darkrose, this road is closed to unauthorized traffic due to 'Magical Contamination'."
He looks at Vex. His eyes linger on her face. Recognition flashes.
"You must be the anomaly," he says smoothly. He draws a rapier—a thin, elegant blade that glows with enchantments.
"Captain Sterling," Kael growls. "I didn't know the Silver Crows had become private dogs for House Darkrose."
"Ah, Sir Thornridge," Sterling mocks. "Still playing the noble hero in your rusted armor? Times have changed. Gold rules the realm now, not chivalry."
Sterling points his blade at Vex.
"Surrender the girl, Thornridge. We have twenty mages on the ridge behind us ready to unleash a bombardment. Even she can't stop a volley of that magnitude."
Vex looks past him. He's right. The ridge is lined with robed figures holding staves. Fire and Ice magic swirls in the air, charged and ready.
Twenty mages. Sync-casting. That's... actually dangerous.
A bombardment could level a grid square. Vex could tank it, probably, but Kael would be vaporized. And her horse.
"She's innocent," Kael argues, moving his horse to block the line of sight.
"She's a threat to national security," Sterling laughs. "And she's worth a fortune. Hand her over, and you walk away."
Vex calculates.
Option A: Fight.
Result: Kael dies. She wipes out a mercenary company. Reputation drops to 'Hostile' with the Kingdom.
Option B: Run.
Result: Backs to the canyon. Bombardment catches them. High risk.
Option C: ?
Vex smiles. It's a wicked, sharp smile.
"Sterling, is it?" she calls out.
"Captain Sterling to you, witch."
"Okay, Captain. You say you have twenty mages?"
"The best war-casters gold can buy."
"Cute," Vex says. She slides off her horse. "Here's the thing about paid mercenaries, Captain. They only fight if they think they're going to live to spend the money."
She steps forward.
"System," she whispers. "Disengage Safety Protocols: Elemental Limiter."
**[Warning: Unrestricted Mana Flow authorized. Environment damage imminent.]**
Vex raises both hands.
Not for a spell.
She creates twelve orbs. One for each element.
Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Lightning, Ice, Light, Dark...
They spin around her head like a halo. Tiny, multicolored marbles.
The air pressure drops instantly. The hair on Sterling's arms stands up. The horses scream.
"You have twenty mages," Vex says, her voice amplified by *Wind* magic to boom across the valley. "I have twelve nukes. Let's play chicken."
She steps forward.
The ground cracks under her boots.
"Your move, Captain."
Sterling's confident sneer falters. He looks at the halo of micro-singularities buzzing around this small, terrifying woman. He sees the distortion in the air.
And for the first time, he looks unsure if his paycheck is high enough.
"Fire!" Sterling screams, panicked.
The mages on the ridge light up.
"Shield!" Kael roars, trying to cover her.
"No," Vex says calmly. "Offense."
She snaps her fingers.
And the world turns white again.