The holographic projector in the Sinclair courtyard cast a pale blue light over the cracked stone. The news anchor’s voice was grim echoing softly in the cool night air.

"Tragedy in Sector Seven today, as The Ironclad one of the most decorated A Rank teams in the Valor Guild was completely eradicated inside a C Rank gate. The sole survivor Elena Rostova was recovered by Association police..."

Glen Mcdonald ignored the broadcast. He was standing in the center of the courtyard his chest heaving with exhaustion his black combat jacket discarded on the ground. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He gripped his heavy black longsword with both hands.

"Again" Glen grunted sweat dripping from his chin.

Sitting on the edge of the stone fountain Caleb Sterling sighed and tapped his wooden staff against the ground. "Glen you have been swinging that thing for three hours. Your muscles are going to tear."

"I said again Sterling" Glen snapped his dark eyes burning with intense frustration.

Caleb shook his head and channeled his magic. "Gravity times twenty."

The air around Glen instantly warped. The invisible crushing weight slammed down on his shoulders forcing him to his knees. The black longsword felt like it was forged from a dying star. Glen gritted his teeth activating Obsidian Skin to reinforce his bones. He forced himself to stand his muscles screaming in agony as he slowly lifted the blade and swung it through the heavy air.

He was too weak.

The image of The Wanderer standing in the Necropolis the sheer effortless power the monster radiated played on a loop in Glen’s mind. If he had fought that thing he would have ended up just like The Ironclad. A pile of gray ash.

"Drop the gravity Caleb" a calm voice called out from the porch.

Isla Sinclair walked down the stone steps. She had taken off her signature black duster wearing only a fitted black combat shirt and tactical pants. She did not have her runic pistols holstered at her hips.

Caleb immediately dropped the spell. The crushing weight vanished and Glen stumbled forward catching himself with his sword.

"What are you doing Sinclair?" Glen panted wiping sweat from his eyes. "I was not finished."

"Swinging a heavy piece of metal at the air is not going to help you beat a monster that has slaughtered so many elite hunters" Isla said walking into the center of the courtyard. Her green eyes were sharp calculating. "You rely too much on your stolen skills Mcdonald. Lightning Movement. Shadow Step. You use them as crutches to overwhelm weaker opponents. But what happens when you fight someone who is faster than you?"

Glen stood up his pride stinging slightly. "Are you offering to show me?"

Isla smirked a dangerous confident smile that made Glen’s heart skip a beat. "I am offering to beat some sense into you. No heavy gravity. Just you and me."

Glen looked at her empty hips. "You do not have your guns."

"I do not need them" Isla said raising her hands.

The temperature in the courtyard plummeted instantly. The moisture in the air began to crystallize forming a thick swirling mist around her boots. She did not draw a weapon. She simply reached out and the ambient mana in the air condensed into her palm forming a sleek razor sharp short sword made of absolute zero ice.

Glen stared at the weapon his analytical mind racing. The density of the ice the sheer speed of the manifestation it was flawless.

"The pistols are limiters" Isla explained spinning the ice blade effortlessly in her hand. "They help me control my output so I do not accidentally freeze a city block or burn it to the ground. But in here behind these walls I do not need to hide. And to top It off i will only use a single element."

Glen felt a rush of adrenaline. He gripped his heavy black sword a dark smirk spreading across his face. "Show me what a person of your caliber can really do Sinclair."

Glen vanished.

He activated Lightning Movement and Shadow Step simultaneously blurring into a streak of blue electricity and black mist. He reappeared directly behind Isla bringing his heavy sword down in a devastating vertical cleave.

Isla did not even turn around.

She simply sidestepped the massive blade moving with a terrifying elegant grace. The black sword slammed into the stone floor shattering the marble. Before Glen could pull the weapon free Isla pivoted on her heel and drove the pommel of her ice sword directly into his ribs.

The impact knocked the breath from his lungs.

"What the hell," Isla criticized her voice calm. "You broadcast your teleportation with a massive spike of mana. A veteran Hunter will feel you coming a mile away."

Glen gritted his teeth activating Obsidian Skin. He abandoned the heavy sword letting it drop to the floor. He lunged forward throwing a rapid combination of punches infused with Savage Strike.

Isla met him blow for blow. She did not use her ice magic to attack. She used it to enhance her physical combat. Every time Glen threw a punch she deflected it with a localized burst of frost numbing his arms and slowing his momentum.

They moved across the courtyard in a blur of motion. Glen was aggressive relentless pushing his Level 15 stats to the absolute limit. But Isla was a dancer. She flowed around his strikes her green eyes locked onto his dark ones reading his every intention before he even moved his muscles.

Glen feinted a left hook and dropped low sweeping his leg to knock her off balance.

Isla jumped flipping backward through the air. She landed lightly on the edge of the stone fountain.

"Better" Isla smiled her chest rising and falling with her breaths. "But you are still thinking like a brawler."

Glen did not reply. He channeled the dark fragment in his core activating Void Touch. His left hand began to leak dead gray energy. He charged forward aiming directly for the ice blade in her hand. If he could touch it he could rot her magic.

Isla saw the gray energy and her eyes narrowed.

As Glen reached for her weapon she did not pull back. She stepped directly into his guard. She dropped her ice blade letting it shatter on the ground. She grabbed his left wrist with both hands channeling a massive surge of absolute zero mana directly into his arm.

The ice spread instantly freezing Glen’s arm solid and completely neutralizing the Void Touch before it could activate.

Using his forward momentum against him Isla twisted her hips and threw Glen over her shoulder.

Glen crashed hard onto the stone floor the breath exploding from his lungs. Before he could recover Isla was straddling his chest her knees pinning his arms to the ground. She manifested a new dagger of pure ice and pressed the freezing tip directly against his throat.

Glen froze staring up at her.

Isla was breathing heavily a thin sheen of sweat glistening on her collarbone. Her bright green eyes were locked onto his her face just inches away. The cold air radiating from her body mixed with the intense heat of his own exertion.

"Dead" Isla whispered a triumphant smirk playing on her lips.

Glen swallowed hard acutely aware of the freezing blade at his throat and the soft weight of her body pressing him into the stone.

"Only if you pull the trigger Sinclair" Glen replied his voice dropping an octave a dark challenging smile matching hers.

For a long moment neither of them moved. The courtyard was completely silent save for the sound of their heavy breathing. The tension in the air was thick electric and entirely different from the adrenaline of combat.

"Ahem" Caleb coughed loudly from the porch. "If you two are done flirting I think the news broadcast just mentioned something important."