He cleaved through the three Brutes within three seconds in an instant.
Marcus dispersed Dagon back into the air before the last construct finished dissolving.
Liz looked at the empty chamber floor with utmost disdain .
"Had to steal mine to," she said with a puffed look on her face.
"Don’t worry just wanted to let loose abit won’t go overboard next round" he said as the pop up notification came in view.
[WAVE 1: COMPLETE]
[WAVE 2: INITIATING]
The second wave came as a flood. Twenty Tier 1 constructs pouring from the floor simultaneously, no formation, pure volume, the assessment trying chaos after organized had failed. Soul Reading pulsated and created the best possible approach to engage, stacking the signals in layers, and Marcus sorted them in two seconds and moved.
Marcus moved through the cluster without stopping, each strike placed and done before the previous target finished dropping. Liz carved through the right side simultaneously, her blade blazing full, clearing groups rather than individuals with the efficiency of someone who had done this enough times to stop thinking about it.
The Tier 1 constructs thinned.
Three Brutes and a Sentinel stepped through from the back.
Marcus read the Sentinel a full second before it committed to anything and was already at the right angle when it moved. Three exchanges. Down. Liz finished the last Brute at the same moment from the opposite side.
[WAVE 2: COMPLETE]
[WAVE 3: INITIATING]
Two Sentinels materialized already moving toward each other, merging into a coordinated pair, each one covering what the other left open. Seamless.
The assessment’s hardest configuration.
Marcus looked at Liz. Her eyes were already faintly luminescent, A state she enters when threadreading was running at full focus.
They split without a word.
Two minutes of the most demanding work in the assessment. The constructs adapted in real time, each one learning from what the other experienced, covering angles before Marcus could fully exploit them. He pushed harder and kept pace.
Third minute. The seam appeared. Both constructs committed to the same focal point at the same time, leaving the center completely open.
Marcus went through it at full speed. Liz came from the outside on the same beat.
Both dissolved.
[WAVE 3: COMPLETE]
[ASSESSMENT CEILING REACHED]
[GUILD TIER UPGRADE: F → D]
Then the exit opened.
A guild worker was already waiting outside the chamber with two Tier D tags prepared. Marcus took his without slowing down.
He waved he’s hands as a gesture for appreciation while Liz took hers and followed accordingly.
The hall was still running at full capacity, other guilds cycling through rooms, conversations everywhere about performance and results.
Marcus and Liz walked through it toward the exit.
Outside was considerably more crowded than any morning that week. The assessment had pulled spectators, people gathering at the entrance watching results come through with the invested energy of people who had nothing personally at stake and plenty of opinions anyway.
"This event sure attracted a handful," Marcus muttered.
Renn materialized from the crowd with his usual timing.
His eyes landed on the Tier D tag immediately.
"Not bad for the newbiesss". He said in some kind of cheerful manner.
Renn looked at Liz. She waved with a mild expression .
He shook his head slowly with the expression of someone who had been right about something for a week and found it only mildly satisfying now that it was confirmed.
"Knew you had it." He extended a hand. "Congrats. Both of you."
Marcus shook it once. "Don’t make it a thing."
"As a small gesture . Respectfully." Renn fell into step beside them. "Dinner tonight. My treat."
"Fine," Liz said before Marcus could respond who looked at her in a straightforward expression .
They moved away from the guild hall and the crowd thinned and the street settled back into its afternoon rhythm. Marcus walked with his hands in his coat pockets. Renn talked about his own assessment from somewhere behind them. Liz walked beside Marcus close enough that their arms occasionally touched without either of them adjusting.
Then Marcus noticed the figure.
Not through any particular awareness. His eyes just found them the way eyes sometimes found things before the brain explained why. A man sitting alone beneath an umbrella stand twenty meters ahead, long dark coat, wide brimmed cap pulled low.
Something about him felt familiar in a way that made no sense. Marcus had never seen this person before. Had no reason to know them. But the feeling sat there anyway, quiet and specific, like recognizing a song without knowing its name.
An umbrella stand twenty meters ahead. A wooden chair beneath it. A man sitting alone with a steaming cup in one hand, long dark coat, wide brimmed cap pulled low over his face.
And across his face, half hidden by the cap’s shadow, a mask shaped like a skull.
Marcus clocked it and kept walking.
"The City has lots of unusual stuffs not surprised with the scale of events occurring". He swept the concern away.
He was mid pass the figures position when Soul Reading pulsated hard.
Whoosh!
A staff swung in a tight horizontal arc, the fastest thing Marcus had seen move since arriving in this world, crossing the distance between them before his eyes finished registering that the figure had left the chair.
His body moved before the thought finished.
He dropped under the arc. Felt the air where his face had been close behind the weapon’s edge. Felt the tip catch his cheek anyway as he came under it, a clean sharp line of pain from temple to jaw.
He Hit the ground,Rolled and Came up three meters back.
Dagon materialized in his grip.
The figure stood in the middle of the street completely unhurried, staff loose at its side, head tilted beneath the cap. The crowd around them had gone very still in the specific way crowds did when something dangerous had already started and running felt as risky as staying.
Marcus pressed two fingers to his cheek. Looked at the blood.
"What the hell?." He exclaimed in a confused manner.