The Orc tried to make him die, like it said it would—it charged and then tried to body-check Colt with a shoulder. A simple phantom step brought him right through the monster as it did. The Orc crashed through some rubble. It didn’t trip over the litter of rocks as one would expect, but rather, it tore right into them and broke the small boulders and pieces of the wall into even smaller pieces of wall.

  Colt turned and pulled on his edict, coating his knife with cut as he went in on the Orc—stabbing right into the spine where its most vital spot should be.

  The knife tip sunk in, coated with the ultra-sharpness of an edict.

  But it was like pushing the weapon through heavy-duty steel, about an inch deep, with as much force as he could muster. Then the Orc was turning, making Colt pull back.

  He stared down at the phantom knife and the orange blood coating it.

  Yeah, this guy was going to be tough to take down.

  The Orc slammed a fist against its chest, nostrils flared. Prepared for yet another charge—when an arrow made out of light slammed into its chest, making it reel back and fall onto its backside.

  “Get it!” Yelled a stranger.

  Colt didn’t waste the chance, diving in and doubling down on his cut edict, focusing on the sharpness of the blade. This close to the spectral steel, he felt the resonant hum of his thread. He wrapped the edict around the weapon, layering it, and then struck at the Orc’s knife.

  It cleaved through the skin, spilling blood, but it stopped there. A war of will between the steel flesh of this monster and his Soul. There wasn’t a doubt in Colt’s mind that he would win and slice this Orc into itty-bitty pieces, but the limiter on that was time. It was too resistant for one clean and decisive strike. And he felt something there, a shadow of some other Edict, pushing against him and resisting his ability to cut. His soul felt it counteracting the influence of his blade, a minor Edict, maybe? Enough when combined with the skill to present a challenge.

  Colt was forced to pull away as the Orc pawed at his arm, almost catching his wrist. If this thing got a hold on him… he’d be gone.

  Another arrow of light slammed into the monster’s hand, yanking it away. The force was enough to knock the appendage but not enough to get through its skin. There wasn’t a hole in the chest from the other arrow, either. Unfortunately, the most those arrows could do was knock it around like a ball.

  “Finish it already!” the voice called.

  Colt doubled down on his blade once more—the whole of his focus on weaving a network of the Cut thread, infusing the weapon’s blade with the essence of cleaving, of division, of slicing—as the strain of his soul wrapped over it, he came to an annoying conclusion.

  Even being able to layer this weapon with a finer edge than ever before wasn’t substantial enough to finish the Orc.

  The edict was just too untrained, and the level difference was too great. He’d get a deeper cut, but it wouldn’t end the fight.

  Colt processed this. It took a single moment; then, he took the next second moment to form a better plan.

  That arrow had the force to knock the Orc back but not the penetrating power to go through the skin. Cutting… Well, there was a component to cutting his edict that didn’t cover it. It sharpened and carried the weight of cleaving things, but it seemed some materials were more sewn together by both the system and other opposing Edicts.

  But there was another part to a cut. A part that his Edict didn’t have domain over.

  A very simple principle to cutting; anything moving fast enough could cut through another thing. There was a connection between Movement and Cut. One that made Cut far more effective.

  Jet-powered water could cut through steel—a piece of straw moving fast enough could split a skull. If his knife moved quick enough, just what might it slice?

  Colt adapted his plan. He’d wanted to test his new abilities, and what better way than this?

  With one half of his will, Colt held onto the layers of cut wrapped around his knife; with the other half of his will, Colt tugged at his other Edict. Movement.

  But it resisted. Touching the thing was like waking a giant, and the split focus didn’t help as the Edict began to wake up and lumber around in his mind. Trying to direct it was easier but more complicated then he’d expected. Colt could grasp at it better than the new Skill, but…

  Focus.

  Another arrow streaked forward at the Orc. Time slowed. Colt could see Sarah rushing across the street toward him, Nate at her heels.

  Colt’s attention narrowed on the speed of the arrow. The way it tore through the air like a bullet. That kind of speed, combined with the sharpness on the edge of his blade. Colt felt how the world moved; watched as the arrow inched forward and then beneath it at the laws that allowed its movement.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Then, he took that energy, stole the arrow’s momentum, and jacked that same energy straight into his arm and hand.

  The Edict tore at him, the energies ran rampant, his fingers broke, and the skin flayed. Instantly, the law of movement was transferred sloppily into his own limb and weapon.

  In the blink of an eye, his knife and hand tore forward at the same speed as the arrow of light.

  When it stopped, the knife had made a clean hole in the Orc’s head, leaving it twitching and dead below him.

  There was a second of silence, and then the backlash of his soul hit—a soreness that radiated deep within. Colt set a hand to his chest and heaved a deep breath, sweat starting to pour from his forehead. He’d done it. Both Edicts, at the same time, wrapped around and complimented one another. Turning his cut into a weapon that moved at such speeds that nothing he’d seen would’ve been able to stop it.

  ———

  You have defeated Orc Peon - Level 47

  You have leveled up!

  You have leveled up!

  You have 6 Stat points to spend. You have gained 2 points of Dexterity and 2 points of Soul!

  You have gained 1 point of Endurance!

  *Soul And Mind Fortitude* has gained a level!

  *Soul And Mind Fortitude* has gained a level!

  ———

  Colt’s hand shook, the pain of it radiating outward. He looked down at the broken thing—the knife vanished away into his soul once more.

  His fingers were at all sorts of odd angles. The skin broke apart and curled like a hot dog splitting under too much heat.

  That had maybe been a bit too much.

  “Whoa.” The voice came from behind; Colt turned as Sarah and Nate arrived. Jimmy must still be behind the building. All of them turned toward the stranger, who was now atop the rubble of the collapsed house they’d been fighting on. “That was… Really damn fast. What is that skill? Bullet Fist—or—“

  “No, it’s not a Skill,” Colt said, his body starting to shake from the pain. He suppressed it, and Sarah leaned closer, giving him a shoulder to lean on.

  “Who are you?” Nate asked. Thankfully taking charge of the situation so Colt could just focus on reining himself in. Even with the new skill and perk, wielding Movement was a challenge. Easier. Next time, he’d try to use movement if he could get away with it. That part of stealing the momentum of the arrow. It’d come to him in the moment, but he hadn’t thought it possible.

  There was a lot to learn about that Edict, even at a minor level. And there was a synergy between it and Cut.

  Something to meditate on, when he got the chance to.

  “Oh. Yeah. You lot look new; I think I’d remember someone who can stab like that and everything. Crazy, man, to throw yourself at an Orc for a stranger. Appreciate it.” The man jumped off the rubble, getting a little closer. He had thick sideburns… And a damn guitar on his back.

  Colt got a grip enough of himself to fire off an Inspect and figure out what they were dealing with.

  ———

  Name: Nicholas Fox | Race: Basic Human

  Icon: [None] | Class: Light Archer (II) [Rare]

  Level: 36

  This is a basic human who hasn’t found a distinct path to tread but has taken steps down the route of a Light Archer. This long-ranged class harnesses light as a source of ammunition in order to attack with a magical bow. At higher levels, this class can also provide support. This human has a history as a failed country musician, a dime a dozen in Nashville, but appears to be doing better now that there’s less competition around.

  Noteworthy Skills:

  Light Magic [Uncommon] - Level 13

  Bow Manifestation [Uncommon] - Level 15

  Solar Flare [Rare] - Level 8

  Edicts:

  Refract (minor)

  ———

  “Level 36?” Colt found himself saying out loud.

  Nicholas gave a wide smile, “Yessir. Though the last level was on account of our fight right here. Thought I’d try me one of those Orcs since this one was a straggler, just maybe they just might be a little out of my league. Least for now. Scouts keep saying there’s somethin’ right over there but never can get close enough. You walk towards the Cafe, and more Orcs start popping out.” Nicholas pointed over at the place. “Best we can tell is they’re coming from it. And coming more often.”

  “We?” Nate asked.

  “Ah. Yeah.” Nicholas scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile, “Sorry, y’all. Maybe we take it back from step one, yeah? Name’s Nick. See, I think ya can tell that things went a bit haywire, and our city aint no city anymore y’know? Well, I popped out of my ‘first dungeon’ after the first couple of days. Others too. Well’n, we got together… And thought, hey, this place is going to the gutter, and we’re gonna need to band together—well… Anyway, shoot, not too good with the explanations… Y’know, how about you lot just follow me back to New Nashville, and ya can talk to some folk who are a bit better with words? We got a couple of healers who can patch up his hand.”

  Nate raised an eyebrow and turned toward the rest of the group. Jimmy had appeared from behind the building and was rushing over to Colt…

  Colt raised and lowered his shoulders.

  New Nashville, huh?

  Considering he’d expected a warzone of survivors like one of those zombie movies, people being reasonable and coming together to form a community was the last thing Colt would’ve expected. Jimmy reached him and started to heal him.

  Colt’s instinct was to stop him… But then, Jimmy didn’t have hide status. And even if he did, it wasn’t advanced enough to hide something like his class.

  “Or I guess not.” Nick raised an eyebrow as he watched Colt’s hand start to Knit together. “I have a feeling you folk might be popular in our new little town if ya wanna stick with us.”

  “We will think about it,” Nate said, folding his arms.

  “No pressure. But sticking together has saved a few of our hides. Saved mine. I don’t even wanna go over the nightmare my dungeon was; you’ll find that it’s different for different folk. That thing aint have any consistency… But yeah. You can ask’em. Once you’re done with the hand, should we get on getting on?”

  The group was generally in agreement. Colt let Nate take the lead as an interface between them and these new people. Once they got a sense of this ‘New Nashville,’ they could decide what to do—all of them, he supposed.

  It felt like a spark of hope, one that he didn’t dare keep in his mind.

  Nick went on talking to them as Jimmy worked, going over some of the issues they’d been facing. Food was doable. With the levels and skills people got coming out of their dungeons, hunting down wildlife was easy. The real issue was the monsters. They were appearing more frequently, and the scouts were trying to figure out why. Their community hadn’t been directly attacked by anything yet, but there was the fear there.

  If these things were increasing in frequency, it was a matter of time before the monsters tried to attack their ‘little’ community.

  Nick didn’t give exact numbers, or rather, he tried but didn’t have them in his head. Just kept repeating, ‘Well, you’ll see it all soon enough,’ and Colt found himself eager to by the time Jimmy finished his work.

  Colt tightened and closed his fist at the end, marveling at the reformation of the flayed muscles and fingers. Jimmy’s skill with healing had improved.

  God, what would that Skill look like in the future? Being a healer seemed overpowered, all things considered.

  With him patched up, the four of them followed after Nick headed to “New Nashville”.