The strike was fast and precise, aimed straight at the dummy's head. When Lux's powerful punch hit its face, the dummy shook slightly. After a few seconds, the movement stopped.
Then multiple strikes followed.
The once talkative dummy fell silent and endured the blows without a sound. Lux really got into it, throwing one punch after another.
"I wonder if you can do shooting practice here too?"
After a few more punches, Lux had enough and raised his hand. His knuckles were sore from the impact. He gently grabbed them with his other hand and rubbed them.
"Hm. I am really not that strong if I am already injured after a few punches. That is bad," Lux muttered.
Then he thought again.
"Alright. Steal and Like a Shadow. What could that mean? Steal is probably something like taking objects. Should I just concentrate?"
Lux looked around the hall, searching for his first target. After a while, he spotted a Fireslicer wearing a red training suit. A yellow towel was hanging around his neck, and he was lifting weights.
"Let us see what it is… and whether it works from here."
Lux stood a bit farther away and raised one hand. He repeatedly said the words in his mind.
"Steal. Steal."
After a moment of deep concentration, Lux felt something. His palm twitched strangely.
Suddenly, the yellow towel appeared in Lux's hand.
The Fireslicer dropped the weights and shouted, "What the hell?"
Lux quickly let the towel fall and took a few steps back.
"What an ability. I love it!" Lux beamed.
He grinned widely.
He could actually steal objects directly from his targets just by looking at them. That was incredibly useful. If this worked on the Bottle of Form, Lux would not even have to get close, just close enough to see it.
Perfect.
Well… still difficult to even get near it in the first place.
Lux shook his head, pushing thoughts of the mission aside.
"Okay. First ability discovered. I have an ability that steals things. That is awesome!"
Lux continued to smile, genuinely excited.
But now Lux had no idea what awaited him next. Steal had been easy to understand, but what could Like a Shadow mean?
Lux thought about it but could not figure it out.
So he slowly walked into a corner of the hall, moving casually and checking if anyone was watching him.
"Good."
When no one was looking, Lux closed his eyes and did the same thing he had done earlier to activate his ability. This time, he opened his eyes and focused lightly.
"Like a Shadow."
It worked.
Lux immediately felt the change, starting with his arms. They turned black, as if soaked in shadow. At once, the weight of his arms disappeared. He could no longer feel them. Then the rest of his body followed, sinking into weightlessness and darkness.
"W what? The hell?"
Lux was fairly certain that no one could see him anymore. Not even he himself could perceive his own body.
"T this is perfect. I can become a shadow."
But after about five seconds, a sudden force pulled him back. The shadows withdrew from his body, and his form returned. Lux landed on his knees with a jolt, fully visible again.
Yet the grin never left his face.
"This is absolutely perfect."
Lux stood still for a while, simply grinning. These were the two perfect abilities for a thief, and a thought crossed his mind.
"Maybe it will not be that difficult after all."
Everything pointed to Lux being perfectly suited to steal the Bottle of Form. He had the two most important abilities, information, and a group to support him. He also had experience. Well… more or less.
Time passed, and evening arrived, just before nightfall. Lux had spent the day warming up. Of course, he could not get into perfect shape in three days, but maybe he did not need to. The hall was now empty. No people remained. Only faint light illuminated the space. The sky above was black, with a bright moon casting pale light, and stars glittered across the endless sky.
Lux sighed. He was exhausted.
He returned to his workroom. The digital board glowed white and was the only light in the room, which was fine. Lux wanted to sleep. He lay down in the warm bed and let his thoughts wander for a bit. Just before falling asleep, his eyes grew heavy, and one last thought passed through his mind.
"What if I wake up back in my world… well, hopefully."
Then darkness embraced him, and his eyes closed.
After a few restful hours of sleep, Lux suddenly opened his eyes.
Immediately, something felt wrong.
He was not in his room.
The sky above him was open. It was daytime. The sun stood at its peak, warming the air with its rays. Lux instantly noticed that he was holding a weapon in one hand. It was his black handgun with the red bullet engraved into it.
In front of him lay two dead guards. They wore blue vests and white fox masks. Their bodies were covered in blood. Ahead of Lux stood three white vehicles. They were large, each one capable of carrying at least five people.
Lux realized it at once.
He was surrounded.
More fox masked figures stepped out of the vehicles and formed a circle around him. They did not say a word. They only aimed white assault rifles at him.
Lux wanted to raise his hands.
Then something happened.
A mysterious language appeared before him. He had seen these symbols before, at the very beginning, when he first arrived in this world. These were the same letters that had revealed his abilities.
Lux narrowed his eyes.
Time seemed to stop. The fox masked enemies froze in place. But Lux realized he could not move either.
Black letters began forming in front of him.
(You are surrounded by enemies. This is not good. No, it is terrible.)
The letters paused.
Lux tried to sigh and thought, "Really? I had no idea."
He was stressed. He had just wanted to sleep, and now he was in this situation. How had this even happened?
The black letters shattered and reformed into new words.
[You have unlocked the third ability: Surrounded.]
A short pause followed, then the letters continued, expanding downward.
(Use it when you are surrounded. Be careful. This ability consumes a lot of energy. Refill your energy by sleeping. Now, try it.)
Lux stayed silent and read everything carefully.
The moment he finished reading, time resumed.
The fox masks moved again, all weapons aimed at Lux.
Lux focused.
A few seconds later, his arm moved on its own. His skin was covered in shadow as the weapon fired. Black, sharp bullets shot out. Lux's arm moved at lightning speed from one fox mask to the next.
One by one, they fell.
"So fast… what the hell?" Lux said as the last one collapsed.
The shadow withdrew from his arm. Immediately, Lux dropped his red handgun and fell to his knees.
"Argh… energy loss?"
Suddenly, Lux jolted upright.
He opened his eyes, drenched in cold sweat.
He was back in his office.
Lux immediately went over everything that had happened in the last ten minutes. He really had obtained a third perfect ability. Still, it was far more brutal than the others. Lux hoped he would never have to use it. He did not want to hurt anyone, and it consumed a huge amount of energy.
He let out a sigh.
His gaze shifted to the glowing digital board in the room. One thing was clear. Lux could not sleep anymore. He looked at the time displayed in the upper right corner.
(5:43)
If he went back to bed now, he would lose valuable time. So Lux suddenly stood up and placed his feet on the floor. Only then did he realize how hungry he was. Surely this base had a cafeteria. Lux did not know whether he was even allowed to move around freely.
But he had an ability for that.
He wanted to test it again.
"Like a Shadow."
Lux focused, and immediately his body was swallowed by shadow. A warm feeling wrapped around him, and in an instant, there was no one left in the room. Lux moved across the floor. When he started to walk faster, he broke into a run. He ran in circles, loudly stomping against the ground.
Yet it was true.
Lux grinned.
"I am not making a single sound. Haha. I really am like a shadow."
But the moment he finished speaking, a force yanked him down. He was thrown onto the floor as the shadows peeled away from his skin and vanished into nothing.
This time, he had lasted twenty seconds.
Last time, it had only been five.
He had improved by fifteen seconds.
Still, there was one thing he could not do yet.
Explore the base unnoticed.
"Why can I not use it longer?" Lux asked himself.
Then he focused again.
Once more, shadows crawled over his skin, swallowing him completely. Lux vanished again. No part of his body was visible. There was no sound of breathing, no voice, no footsteps.
He was practically gone.
Lux clenched his fist and punched the wall with moderate force. Nothing happened. His fist made contact, but it felt like hitting a soft cloud.
After about another ten seconds, the shadows shot away from his body. Lux collapsed again, hitting the floor with a loud crash. Strength drained from him, and he breathed heavily.
This time, he had managed forty seconds.
But as Lux lay on the floor, a loud bang at the door made him flinch.
Two voices spoke at the same time.
"Hey!""What is going on in there?"
Lux had no time to react. The door burst open, and two Fireslicers stormed inside. They immediately aimed their assault rifles at Lux, who was still on the floor.
They laughed.
"Look at him, kneeling there. Haha. You trash."
The other Fireslicer laughed as well and slapped his partner on the back.
Lux did not care about the insults. But when he recognized one of them, something inside him shifted. It was the Fireslicer who had made that stupid comment earlier when Lux received the information folders.
Lux tried to ignore it.
But then the Fireslicer stepped closer and kicked Lux while he was on the ground.
"You bastard.""Scum.""Disgusting. Haha. Look at him curling up."
Lux groaned in pain.
"Argh!"
Driven by panic and pain, Lux acted without thinking. He raised one hand to activate Steal, while the other tried to protect his body. The Fireslicer who had laughed earlier turned away, while the other kept kicking him.
In an instant, Lux used Steal and took the assault rifle from the Fireslicer attacking him.
Without thinking, Lux fired.
No.
He did not want this.
But they forced him.
Rage flooded his mind. They had come into his workroom, beaten him, and laughed.
They deserved it.
Bad people. Bad people.
He told himself that again and again.
Then power was released.
Bullets tore through the Fireslicer's chest. Blood splattered across Lux's face and the floor. Four shots lit up the room in harsh flashes of light.
The body collapsed heavily.
Lux was shaking with adrenaline.
It was the first time he had consciously killed someone.
Panic washed over him as he turned toward the other Fireslicer. Lux raised the rifle and aimed at him.
Then suddenly, a slash cut through the air.
It ignited into fire.
The slash struck Lux's weapon and split it cleanly in half.
Only one being could use an attack like that.