"They found me." Mary pushed herself upright, wincing as the wound pulled at her side.
The footsteps stopped. Right outside.
[LEWD LEVELING SYSTEM]
[Multiple hostile ability users detected. Three. Levels: 8, 6, 5.]
[Shadow walking at level 7 may escape. Host may not.]
Well, I thought. That's specific.
Mary's shadows thickened around her arms, darker and more deliberate than before. Level seven. Whatever she'd been running on when I'd walked through the door was already a different thing now.
"Can you fight?" I asked, pulling on my pants.
She looked at the door. "I can run." A pause. "You?"
The handle turned. The door opened.
Blonde hair. A mask shaped like a face, covering everything. He moved with the easy authority of someone who had done this many times and had stopped finding it interesting. Behind him, a woman. Blonde braided hair falling at her back. A sword in its sheath. Also masked.
The third stayed outside. Two in the room. One on the door.
