James crashed through the front wall of the lounge before slamming into the pavement outside.

**CRASH!**

Glass exploded outward in a shower of glittering shards while broken tables and chairs scattered across the street. Dust and smoke billowed through the hole where the wall used to be. Pieces of brick and plaster rained down around James’s body.

People screamed.

"OH SHIT!"

"He went through the fucking wall!"

"JAMES!"

The crowd that had been watching from outside stumbled backward while phones shook in trembling hands. Someone dropped their drink. Another person fell while trying to back up faster.

The influencer’s livestream tilted sideways before steadying on James’s body sprawled across broken glass and concrete. StreamKing_IE’s voice came through shaky and breathless. "Holy shit, holy shit, he just—did everyone see that?"

For several seconds, James didn’t move.

His chest burned from the fire-charged punch while his ribs felt cracked or broken beneath his skin. Smoke rose from his shirt where Adrian’s fist had connected and scorched through fabric to burn the flesh underneath. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth before dripping onto the pavement.

His vision blurred.

His ears rang.

Every breath hurt.

The crowd went silent while waiting to see if he’d get up or if Adrian had just ended the fight with one punch.

Amelia stood outside with Mia while the burned handprint around her neck remained red and blistered. She trembled while watching James lie motionless among the debris.

Ethan and Mark stared with wide eyes because they’d spent the gathering trying to get close to the famous Necromancer from Floor 9, but now that same person had just been punched through a building by someone they used to fear in school.

The livestream chat exploded.

**[LIVE STREAM: 91,443 VIEWERS]**

**@TowerGlobal:** HE PUNCHED HIM THROUGH THE WALL

**@DublinNews:** Adrian is insane

**@FloorWatch:** James got hit clean

**@IrishChallenger:** This is outside the Tower

**@LegalWatch:** Is this even legal???

**@TRB_Monitor:** Someone call TRB

**@WitnessAccount:** He burned that girl’s neck first

**@TeamZeroFan:** James get up

-----

Adrian walked out through the broken entrance while fire still burned around one fist.

He didn’t look rushed or worried. He looked like a man who expected James to stay down because that’s what the old James would have done when faced with real pain.

The crowd backed away even more while giving Adrian space.

Adrian looked down at James on the ground before smiling. "The world calls you the Necromancer now." His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "They act like one Floor 9 clear makes you special. But I still remember the boy who used to lower his head whenever I walked past."

James heard him through the ringing in his ears.

For a moment, his mind wasn’t fully in the present while the punch had dragged old memories back up. He remembered being younger, weaker, and unable to fight back when Adrian and Derek’s circle pushed him around. He remembered fear that had nothing to do with monsters or death floors but came from knowing he was powerless against people who could hurt him without consequences.

Adrian circled closer. "Get up if Floor 9 really made you strong."

James coughed while his body hurt from the impact and the fire that had seared through his shirt. But then he pushed one hand against the broken pavement before slowly rising to his knees.

The crowd reacted immediately.

"He’s moving!"

"Bro he’s getting up!"

James forced himself to stand while breathing hard. Glass fell from his clothes. Blood dripped from his chin. His stomach throbbed where the punch had landed.

But he stood.

**[LIVE STREAM: 127,892 VIEWERS]**

**@ChallengerFeed:** He’s standing

**@GlobalWatch:** Bro he got up

**@MVP_Tracker:** Floor 9 MVP is not done

**@DublinLocal:** This is personal

**@IrishGuild:** Adrian looks pissed

-----

James stood while breathing hard. His stomach burned from the punch, and smoke rose faintly from his clothes where the fire had scorched fabric and skin.

He looked at Adrian.

Adrian noticed something different in his eyes.

James didn’t shout. He didn’t make a speech.

He only said something calm while his voice cut through the crowd’s murmurs. "You should have stayed in my memories."

The crowd went quiet again.

Adrian’s smile faded while his eyes narrowed.

-----

Adrian attacked again while sending a stream of fire toward James.

But the flames spread wider than they should have, roaring outward toward the nearby crowd and the people still too close to the broken building. The heat hit them first before anyone realized the fire was coming their way.

Someone screamed, "Move!"

James reacted before thinking.

He raised his hand while channeling mana through his body. The familiar chill of necromancy spread from his core to his fingertips.

```

[SUMMON UNDEAD SKELETON ACTIVATED]

[MANA COST: 45]

[SUMMONED UNDEAD SKELETONS: 5/5]

```

Five skeletons rose from the pavement between Adrian’s fire and the civilians.

Their bones clattered as they formed while dirt and concrete cracked beneath them. Empty eye sockets glowed with faint green light. They positioned themselves as a rough barrier before the flames washed over their bodies and forced the crowd to move back safely without getting burned.

The skeletons held their ground while fire scorched their bones black.

The public already knew James was a Necromancer from the Floor 9 stream that had gone viral worldwide, but seeing skeletons appear in the real world outside the Tower was different because knowing something and seeing it were never the same thing.

People screamed at first.

"What the fuck!"

"Skeletons!"

"OH MY GOD!"

"They’re RIGHT THERE!"

Then someone shouted, "They’re blocking the fire!"

Another voice yelled, "They’re protecting us!"

The crowd realized the skeletons weren’t attacking them but standing between Adrian’s reckless flames and the civilians who couldn’t protect themselves from fire that hot.

Mia pulled Amelia farther back while staring at the skeletons with wide eyes. "He’s actually controlling them."

Ryan’s voice shook. "This is insane."

Chloe whispered, "They’re real."

The influencer’s livestream caught everything while his viewer count spiked and comments flooded in faster than anyone could read.

**[LIVE STREAM: 183,776 VIEWERS]**

**@TowerNews:** He summoned them outside the Tower

**@SystemWatch:** Wait they’re blocking the fire

**@ChallengerDB:** He’s protecting the crowd

**@IrishNews:** Adrian is the one throwing flames everywhere

**@LegalFeed:** This is not a fight anymore this is assault

**@FloorClear:** James is controlling them

James kept his eyes on Adrian while giving the skeletons a simple mental command to block flames and keep civilians back.

Adrian’s expression shifted from amusement to irritation because James had just turned his attack into evidence that Adrian was the one endangering bystanders.

-----

The fight began properly in the street.

Adrian moved first while closing the distance with fire wrapped around both fists. He was fast and experienced because this wasn’t his first real fight outside controlled guild sparring.

His punches came sharp, heavy, and backed by heat that distorted the air around his hands while flames licked outward with every strike.

James blocked and dodged while using footwork from his swordsmanship training even though he had no sword drawn. His Shield Instinct passive helped him read incoming attacks while his body moved on muscle memory built from Floor 5’s combat.

But Adrian’s attacks weren’t easy to handle because this wasn’t a goblin following predictable patterns or a monster with obvious tells that James could exploit after watching long enough.

Adrian was a trained pyro user raised with combat resources and guild training that most challengers never received. His family had paid for private instructors since he was twelve. He’d fought in Tower floors James hadn’t reached yet. He knew how to pressure opponents and exploit hesitation.

James used his skeletons as moving shields and distractions while directing two of them to flank Adrian’s sides. The skeletons moved on his mental commands without needing spoken orders.

Adrian saw them coming before pivoting and burning through one skeleton quickly with a concentrated burst of fire. He laughed while bone blackened and collapsed into ash that scattered across the pavement.

```

[SUMMONED SKELETON DESTROYED]

[SUMMONED UNDEAD SKELETONS: 4/5]

```

James didn’t panic because losing skeletons was expected in any real fight.

He used the opening Adrian created by focusing on the skeleton to circle around his right side. Adrian’s attention was split for half a second.

James fired a Necro Blast toward his exposed shoulder.

```

[NECRO BLAST ACTIVATED]

[MANA COST: 10]

```

The dark energy bolt screamed through the air with a sound like tearing fabric.

Adrian twisted away at the last second, but the blast clipped his shoulder hard enough to spin him slightly off-balance while smoke rose from where the energy had grazed him and burned through his jacket.

The crowd gasped.

Adrian stopped laughing while his expression turned serious because he’d just realized James wasn’t only surviving anymore.

He was starting to fight.

-----

Adrian noticed James adapting, so he became more aggressive while pressing forward with combination attacks.

He threw a punch wreathed in fire toward James’s face before following with a low kick aimed at his legs. James blocked the punch with his forearm while stepping back to avoid the kick, but the heat from Adrian’s fist burned his skin even through the block.

Adrian rushed in while landing another hit to James’s ribs.

**THUD!**

The impact wasn’t as clean as the first punch, but it was enough to force James back several steps while he gasped for air.

The crowd reacted loudly.

"He got him again!"

"James is hurt!"

Adrian pressed forward. "No matter how many floors you clear, you’re still the same."

James’s skeletons moved to cover him, but Adrian burned through another one with a concentrated burst of fire.

```

[SUMMONED SKELETON DESTROYED]

[SUMMONED UNDEAD SKELETONS: 3/5]

```

James steadied himself while his ribs throbbed.

He didn’t deny the fear because denying it would only give it more power.

He accepted it instead.

Then he moved anyway.

-----

James began to understand Adrian’s rhythm.

Adrian’s fire punches were powerful, but he put too much confidence in forcing James to react like his younger self. He expected James to flinch and back away whenever flames came close. He expected fear to do half the work for him.

James stopped giving him that.

He used his remaining skeletons to cut Adrian’s angles while forcing him away from the civilians and toward the wider street. He used Necro Blast not to overpower Adrian but to interrupt his timing and throw off his combinations.

```

[NECRO BLAST ACTIVATED]

[MANA COST: 10]

```

The bolt flew toward Adrian’s left side.

Adrian blocked with fire, but the impact forced his arm slightly off-line while giving James the opening he needed.

James used his swordsmanship footwork to close the distance before stepping inside Adrian’s reach. He slipped to the side as Adrian’s next punch sailed past his shoulder, then James drove his fist into Adrian’s ribs with everything he had.

**CRACK!**

The hit was clean.

For the first time, Adrian was hit.

The crowd erupted.

"JAMES HIT HIM!"

"OH SHIT!"

"He got through!"

The livestream comments exploded while the viewer count climbed higher.

**[LIVE STREAM: 241,553 VIEWERS]**

**@TowerGlobal:** JAMES HIT HIM

**@IrishNews:** Adrian got touched

**@ChallengerFeed:** Clean hit to the ribs

**@GlobalTower:** Bro this is crazy

Adrian stumbled back while his hand went to his ribs where James’s punch had landed.

The reaction mattered more than the damage itself because until this moment, Adrian had been treating James like a bullied boy who’d gained a little fame but remained fundamentally weak inside.

Now he was forced to acknowledge that James could hurt him.

-----

Adrian wiped his hand across his mouth before checking his ribs where James had struck him. His expression changed while the arrogance that had carried him through the entire fight cracked for the first time.

James stood across from him while breathing hard but steady. His skeletons remained positioned between the crowd and the fight. Broken glass and smoke surrounded them while everyone outside watched with phones raised.

The livestream continued climbing.

Adrian’s fire burned hotter around his fists, but his confidence had taken a hit that fire couldn’t repair.

James said nothing while letting the silence speak for him.

That quiet was stronger than any taunt because it meant James didn’t need to prove anything with words anymore.

Adrian stepped forward again, but this time he didn’t rush blindly with the same cocky aggression. His stance was tighter. His eyes were focused. He moved like someone who’d just realized his opponent was dangerous.

For the first time since they were children, Adrian Ganner took a step back from James.