The warehouse erupted into chaos.
"GET HER!"
The scarred man—Gustav—pointed dramatically.
Jamie pointed back.
"NO, GET HIM!"
Nobody knew what that meant. Least of all Jamie. She ducked beneath a flying chair and slid across the floor.
Honestly?
She wasn't entirely sure why she was doing this anymore. Five minutes ago she had been following Elias. Now she was fighting six suspicious people inside a warehouse.
Life was strange.
The sharp-eyed woman, Mira, circled left. The large man with the scar, Gustav, stayed near the door. The wiry woman with nervous hands, Sasha, kept touching a blade at her belt. The two remaining men—lean, silent, moving together—were Kalex and Cole, their steps perfectly synchronized. Bram, the sixth man was already behind her.
Jamie had fought them before.
She had lost and been beaten.
She did not intend for history to repeat itself.
The communication artifact continued glowing. The woman on the other end remained silent.
Observing.
The first attack came from Mira not Gustav, the obvious threat. A small metallic spike shot from her fingers. Jamie twisted sideways to avoid it. The projectile embedded itself in a wall. Immediately three more followed. Jamie ducked and rolled, the fourth clipped a strand of indigo hair.
"Rude!"
Mira ignored her manipulating vectors with her trait to get Jamie.
While Jamie was occupied, Bram charged and the floor shook under his steps. Jamie diminished temperature and he stone beneath Bram instantly frosted over.
CRACK.
The man's foot slipped. His momentum carried him forward and he smashed through a table. The communication artifact bounced as the woman on the other end laughed.
Meanwhile Kalex and Cole moved together. One low, one high. One from the left and the other one right. Jamie immediately understood their plan. They were attempting to control her movement and lure her into position.
Unfortunately for them—
She had already fought them once. Well, technically they had beaten her unconscious. But she was a hunter. Yes they hadn't fully applied themselves in the alley that night but she was a hunter nonetheless, it was part of her gimmick to predict the moves of her prey.
That counted.
Jamie leaped backward as a knife flashed past her face.
Sasha.
Before Jamie could fully regain her balance however Sasha was already upon her again. Jamie created an ice wall between the two of them and barely moved out of the way as the woman effortlessly broke through the ice. Cole and Kalex moved in closer one, infusing a whip with Flow while the other simply equipped an knuckleduster. Jamie created Ice walsand projectiles of ice tothrow them off but they simpoly broke through them and attacked her, her prediction being the only thing keeping her from getting caught.
The thing was, despite her ability to predict their moves bassed on thier earlier encounter and using her synesthasia to see the intent of thier actions, that could not make up for the power gap between a An Acolyte and a Vortary. She could keep evading them for a few more seconds after which she would be caught again and from the looks of things these people, whoever they were, wouldn't be so forgiving so as to allow her to go.
Luckily, Jamie came prepared. Just as Gustav entered the fray in an attempt to knock her out, space distorted around her hand as the Nulbrand Collar manifested from the storage of her Copper Ring. At the same time, she had anticipated this and frosted the ground. With no way to control his momentum the moment the friction of the ground disappeared, Gustav slid right into a wall of ice Jamie had prepared. Ice grew around his wrists and ankles to lock him in place. That would buy Jamie a few seconds and buy the time those seconds had elapsed, the collar was comfortably around his neck.
CLICK.
The runes on the collar activated as his trait, 'The Strenght' left him. The other tried to activate their traits but they stumbled, suddenly weakened. During the initial exchange, Jamie had already planted Talismans with Binding Arrays on them. As for the Talisman on Sasha's butt, she had hijacked it using her own Anti-flow. It wasn't difficult since she and Elias learned from the same master and she knew how he thought.
'He placed this on her so he could follow later. And he didn't tell me about it.'
She was annoyed by the fact that Elias had planned an escapade without telling her.
'I want in on it too.' She pouted.
She was in the middle of a fight and so she shouldnt have allowedherself to be distracted but all around her, the six individuals were still confused as to why they felt so weak. That and the fact that Due to what Jamie ad done they were now on the level of Acolytes with no Traits as a result of the collars supression. Its not like she was stupid enough to believe she could face these people a second time without creating a condition to exploit. Even though they were weakened, the six people were still stronger than her. Stronger in a way that adults were stronger than children and they still had thier experience using their Flow to thier advantage. But Jamie could use her Trait so...
"What have you done?'' Gustav demanded after several failed attempts to take the collar off.
Jamie grinned.
"I made us even."
Gustav lunged.
His fist slammed toward Jamie's face. She ducked. Ice exploded beneath his feet, sending him skidding sideways.
"You—"
Mira tried to circle left, but without her vectors, her movements were clumsy. Jamie raised her hand. Heat bloomed between them—not to burn, to blind. Mira recoiled, eyes watering.
Bram charged.
Jamie planted her feet and met him with a wall of ice. The impact cracked the barrier, but it held. Bram bounced back, shaking his head, dazed.
Sasha threw a knife.
Jamie twisted. The blade passed inches from her ear. She raised her hand, and a spike of ice erupted from the floor, forcing Sasha to leap back.
Kalex and Cole came together.
Jamie had been watching them. They moved in perfect synchronization—but without their Flow, they were just two men who happened to be related.
One lunged left. The other right.
Jamie stepped between them.
Ice exploded outward in a ring, catching both their ankles. They crashed to the ground.
Jamie laughed.
"You guys aren't very coordinated."
"We usually have our Traits!"
"Skill issue!"
"Who even are you?!" Gustav roared.
Jamie ducked his punch, slid between his legs while freezing his hands together, and kicked his knee from behind. He stumbled.
Jamie vaulted over him and sent a crescent of ice at the others.
"My name is Jamie!"
She ducked under a swing from Mira and kicked her in the shoulder.
"Jamie Thorne!"
The voice from the artifact paused. Then repeated the name.
"Thorne..."
Jamie blinked. The woman sounded surprised.
"That brings back memories."
Jamie slid closer to the table with the artifact on it. For a moment she forgot they were fighting, curious.
"What kind of memories?"
Sasha immediately lunged toward her.
"Don't talk to the Boss!"
She slammed her reinforced palm forward. Jamie responded by tripping the woman right into an uppercut from Cole.
BOOM!
The impact sent her through thr roof. Fragments exploded everywhere. The Boss laughed.
"This is so entertaining."
"What's so entertaining? She's attacking us!" Gustav yelled.
"Technically you're attacking me." Jamie replied sidestepping as Sasha crashed back down.
"You started this!"
"YOU WERE SPYING ON US!"
Jamie paused.
"...Fair."
The Boss sounded amused.
"Jamie right?"
"Yeah?"
"I like you. How would you feel about joining our organization?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Gustav screamed trying to grab Jamie who formed two fists of ice and boxed him.
"Nobody asked you."
Jamie slid beneath another attack. She created a spear of ice, used it as a pole and vaulted across the room.
A table exploded behind her.
The Boss chuckled.
"You remind me of someone."
Jamie tilted her head.
"Who?"
"An old friend."
A pause.
Then—
"Roric.."
Jamie froze.
The world seemed to stop.
The name hit like a hammer.
"Papa?"
The word escaped before she could stop it. Silence followed.After a while the Boss chuckled.
"Trying to get friendly with me won't—"
"Roric Thorne is my papa."
Another pause.
A much longer one.
Jamie continued.
"If you don't believe me you can ask Alaric and Elara."
The artifact went completely silent. Even the six operatives paused and exchanged glances.
The Boss finally spoke.
"What?"
Jamie blinked.
"What?"
"..Come closer."
Everyone stared.
Jamie cautiously approached the artifact. The Boss hummed then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Well I'll be damned."
More laughter.
"You actually are his daughter."
Mira looked between Jamie and the artifact.
"Boss?"
"I'm serious."
"YOU KNOW HER?"
The Boss ignored her.
Outside there was a commotion. Bram looked at the others and cautiously moved towards a window to see what was happening.
He looked outside and immediately swore.
"Knights."
The room froze.
"What?"
"Lots of them."
The fight had apparently attracted attention, most especially someone being launched through the roof. The Boss sighed.
"Wonderful."
She sounded completely unconcerned.
"Switch positions."
"What?"
"Leave."
The command carried authority. The six straightened as the Boss continued.
"Bring Jamie with you."
Everyone blinked.
"What?"
"And give her the artifact."
Everyone blinked again.
"What?!"
"And treat her like she's my daughter."
Gustav looked physically injured.
"Boss."
"Yes?"
"I think you've gone insane."
"I think I'll make deductions to your salary."
The communication artifact dimmed as the connection ended.
Silence lingered.
Then everyone slowly looked at Jamie. Jamie looked back.
"Uh..hi." she said nervously.
Nobody knew how to respond. The linked Nullbrand network remained active. Gustav pointed at his collar.
"Take it off."
"No."
"..."
"Please."
"No."
"We can't use our Traits."
"That's the point."
Sasha groaned.
"You should have considered this before eavesdropping."
Jamie crossed her arms.
"You should have considered that before being suspicious."
"You came to us!" Bram yelled.
"How do expect us to escape in this weakened state?"
"I'unno, figure something out."
They all stared at her.
Jamie suddenly brightened.
"I have an idea."
Those words terrified everyone. She smiled and raised her hand.
Ice erupted from the floor—not a wall, but a tree. A massive structure of frozen crystal that branched upward, its roots spreading across the floor, its branches pressing against the ceiling, blocking the windows, sealing the exits.
The room darkened.
The knights outside shouted in alarm.
Everyone stared.
"What is that?"
"My distraction."
Space rippled as Jamie reached into her copper ring. She pulled out a strange artifact—black metal spike wrapped in silver wires. Faint blue energy pulsed across its surface. She drove it into the trunk of the ice tree and the tree pulsed as the artifact activated. Electricity immediately surged through the frozen tree. Blue light danced across every branch.
Jamie then scattered talismans.
The papers transformed.
Spectral creatures emerged.
Foxes.
Birds.
Wolves.
Shadowy shapes darted through the ice.
"What are those?"
"More distractions."
Jamie then produced a sheet of paper andwrote a note.
They stared.
"What are you writing?" Kalex asked.
"A message."
"Why?"
Jamie proudly held it up.
The note read:
COngRATulATIoNs.
yOu HavE BEEn cHosEN FoR thE ANnUaL AeThELBerg PrActiCAL jOkE FestIVaL.
pLEAsE ENjoy thE IcE.
~LOvE, ThE ShaDOw CreW
"Who even are the shadow crew?"
"Beats me." Jamie replied witha shrug.
"..."
"..."
"That might actually work." Cole said.
"I know right?"
"How do we get out?" Mira asked.
Jamie pointed at a narrow gap between the ice tree's roots—barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through.
"You'll fit."
Gustav looked like he had swallowed a lemon. The six moved and outside they split up.
"We'll meet again in five hours."
Jamie blinked.
"Where?"
Nobody answered.
They were already running.
"HEY!"
They had vanished. Jamie sighed and circled back, blending into the crowd. People gathered around the frozen tree.
The knights outside were still shouting. The ice tree pulsed with trapped energy. Electricity arced between its branches. One unfortunate knight touched it and immediately regretted the decision.
Jamie laughed. Then remembered something.
"Oh right i was following Elias."
She sniffed around and gagged at the scent off some people in the crowd.Elias scent was gone too. She groaned rubbing her nose.
"Great."
Fortunately—she had six new scents to follow.
Elias watched the knights rush past. Quinlan sighed dramatically.
"What's happening?" He stopped one of the knights, frowning. The knight didn't seem pleased being stopped by a teenager but recognised the crest on his chest.
"Someone pulled a prank."
"What?"
The knight pointed vaguely toward the city.
"Several squads have gotten involved to save the knights caught up in it." Then he hurried away.
Quinlan stared then pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Why are some people incapable of taking life seriously?"
"Because life is too short to be taken seriously." Maria answered. Quinlan glared at her while she just chuckled.
Elias remained silent. His gaze shifted to the row of warehouses ahead—the Rustmark storehouses, stretching along the waterfront.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Twenty.
Entire streets filled with storage buildings. They were enormous. Well-maintained. Guarded.
He finally looked at Quinlan.
"Are all of these yours?"
The question hit harder than expected.
Quinlan immediately puffed up.
"Why yes, these do belong to the Rustmark Family."
His posture somehow gained three inches.
"As a matter of fact—"
Elias instantly regretted asking.
"—the Rustmark family maintains trade routes across multiple kingdoms. These warehouses represent only a fraction of our assets. If one were properly educated on economics—"
The lecture continued.
And continued.
And continued.
Elias quietly stopped listening. His attention shifted toward the goods instead as Quinlan's voice faded into background noise. Like a particularly arrogant pigeon.
Somewhere inside one of those warehouses might be exactly what Elias needed.
And for the first time since arriving—he found himself genuinely interested.