As the word blurred around him, and as the alarmed face of his opponent grew closer, voice in Ethan's mind told him to slow down. To calm down. He was being too emotional. Too hot headed.

Ethan didn't even deign listening to that voice. Instead, he focused on the man ahead of him as Edwin shouted at his subordinates, a milk-white dagger in his hand as they all tried and failed to stop him.

The cold, still confident gaze was like gasoline doused over his flames. There were no bullets this time. No goons to intimidate and outnumber Ethan. No inadequate laws or corrupt systems to abuse and exploit. Only Arcanums, stats, and levels. Spells and forms.

Ethan leaped at Edwin, his clawed hand pulled back, and at the last second, a smile stretched on his target's lips, a moment before the trap was sprung. When Ethan was only ten feet away, the area around Ethan him up, crisscrossed with gray straight lines.

Edwin jumped back, creating more distance between him and Ethan right as the first line touched the [Sapping Scales]. Ethan expected to be cut or electrocuted but instead, his momentum continued carrying him forward, and the line stretched along with him for an beat before it snapped. But while that one dissipated into nothing, dozens, hundreds more shone and stuck to Ethan, and his steps grew more arduous, even with the horn's boost

His charge had come to a halt, and while he did tear and burn most if not all of the web that had killed his momentum, the cautioning voice grew louder in his ears. More audible.

He might be underestimating his opponent. Which he hated to hear.

Ethan looked down at the lines that hung limply across his shoulder and chest, and the grating voice reached his ears. "How about we calm down and talk about this like adults? Who are you? And why are you attacking us?"

Ethan looked up and his face immediately twisted under his flames. Edwin had stepped away, stance low with his dagger out. He seemed to be as shocked by his webs being torn as Ethan was about his charge being halted.

Right. He can't see my face.

Ethan took a step forward and felt a drag. He wrenched his right hand away from a clump of threads that were still unbroken, and watched as the material stretched for a second before it snapped. His expression pulled away in disgust. "You want to talk, huh?"

Ethan dismissed the scales covering his face. He was going to burn this spider's plan to the ground, but he would really like to drive in the fact that it was him who'd done it.

Once more. Just like old times.

Edwin stared perplexed for a second, then recognition lit up in his eyes as a toothy, animated grin stretched across his thin lips.

"Ethan Fischer. Been a while," the man said as his eyes flicked between his followers. Ethan noted his fingers were sharp, ending in thin claws that glistened white. The same white of the threads that had slowed the juggernaut's charge.

A smile pulled in his lips as he looked at the remaining threads still hanging in the air. He supposed that trap was supposed to completely stop him. To ensnare him so he was completely at the caster's mercy and it might have worked for a moment if Ethan's charge had been any slower, but that wasn't all he could do.

Still meeting the leader's eyes, Ethan flexed his will and with a nice helping of mana, he bolstered the flames licking up his hand so they turned into a bonfire that he next wrapped around his full body, burning the trash sticking to his form.

The fire retreated to reveal a spotless set of scales, and Ethan returned Edwin's smile, and forced down the impulse he had to rush forward, then took a quick look around as the lackeys surrounded him.

[Human (I) - Level 48]

The one who shot the jagged purple spells. A man in his late-twenties, head buzzed. He seemed relaxed, and his eyes were set on Ethan. He wore a once black t-shirt that was barely holding on to his large frame, had charcoal cargo pants and thick military boots. He had a wooden wand tipped in a glowing purple crystal, and a purple, fleshy tail swished behind him.

[Human (I) - Level 46]

The second was a middle-aged man wearing the remains of a suit. His eyes were flicking between Ethan and Edwin, and Ethan couldn't read his expression. It almost looked like impatience. In one hand, he had a short, metallic wand and on the other's forearm, a simple, small buckler shield. This was the one that cast the sharp metallic projectiles.

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[Human (I) - Level 51]

The third was a woman draped in shadows. Literally. Just like Ethan's scales covered him from his sole to his neck, shadows clung to her thin form and to her hair. It was hard to see where her body began and where the darkness ended, and it was as if the black shadows were pulling the dim light of the clearing to them.

Two black daggers were in her hands, dripping with what looked like manifested darkness. She was leaning against a mushroom tree, barely visible in the blue light of the mushroom tree, and a small smile played on her lips as she tapped the right dagger's flat against the side of her thigh.

Focusing on the thread he could feel from his pact, Ethan spoke in his mind. "[Ember. Can you hear me? Are you around?]"

"[Yes.]"

Ethan felt some relief at hearing the cat. "[The woman in the shadows. Keep her off of me while I deal with the rest. Watch for the webs, and leave him for last.]"

"[Got it.]"

Ethan turned his attention back to Edwin, and let the scales cover his face once more until only his eyes were still visible.

[Human (I) - Level 56]

Edwin raised his clawed hands, palms facing Ethan. "We really don't need to resort to violence. We could let bygones be bygones and create something new. Nothing like what had happened before. What do you say?"

Edwin spoke as he smoothed out the miraculously clean flannel shirt he was wearing. He rolled up his sleeves, slowly and methodically, and when he was done, the black and white tips materialized once more on his hand, and a glass, delicate rod dropped in his outstretched hand. As soon as it touched his skin, the glass turned milky-white.

The leader of this little gang. Edwin Davis, with his white-tipped claws, and a smarmy smile on his lips. The teenager who'd blackmailed, coerced, framed, and assaulted his way to the top of a local gang-scene before he disappeared and was never found again. The man who had exploited vulnerable kids to do his dirty deeds. The man who never had to pay for any of his crimes, and who, from looking at his face, did not seem to feel any regret or remorse for what he'd done.

Ethan tilted his head and made sure the horns and wands were ready as he looked around at Edwin's allies. Edwin would not walk away from this encounter. No way in hell he would live through the day. But the rest, were they blameless?

Seeing their expressions, they didn't seem to mind what was happening. They didn't mind using other people as fodder to the monster they could all still hear in the distance.

Ethan exhaled, but the rage in his chest kept burning. No, they were not as bad as Edwin, maybe, but they were as rotten as that archer had been. They didn't mind stepping over the bodies of others just so they could climb a little higher. And it hadn't even been worth it. Their levels were still pretty low.

No. Ethan was going for the kill. They associated and benefitted from the work of Edwin, so they could pay the same price as he would. But before that, he wanted to know. He had to ask.

"You managed to scurry away, five years ago. Which hole did you end up hiding in?"

Something cold flicked in the man's eyes, but the revoltingly genuine smile appeared again. "Giving back to the community, believe it or not. I had to stay hidden, but I turned a new page."

Behind him, the goons tensed, and Ethan readied himself to burst into flames and start flinging fireballs as he gave Edwin an appreciative nod, just as fake as he was. "Really? A new page? Is that why you're using shoving people at a tier-2 monster? To soften it up for you? I see you're still as averse to risk as before."

The corner of Edwin's lips curved higher, but that in itself was enough of a response and interestingly, it was a signal as well.

The shadows under Ethan's feet rippled and a black dagger stabbed upward right as Ethan jumped and summoned his wings. A jagged bolt of purple lightning crackled through the air in an instant, slamming against Ethan's wing just as he pointed at the man in suit and sent out [Small Fireball] before turning his attention back to Edwin, right as his scaled soles hit the ground again.

To the side, he heard a cry of surprise from the shadow-woman, a half-second before the area lit up with fire, signalling Ember was on the job.

"At least you came prepared this time," Edwin said as he pointed milky-white wand. A spray of white shot out, and Ethan barely had time to counter with a wide jet of fire out of his outstretched hand. Still, a few threads managed to get through and made contact.

They felt cold and slimy, and instantly, he felt his mana be drawn into them. With a flex, Ethan burned the threads and feinted a lunge forward. He saw Edwin brace, but instead, Ethan twisted and surged to the left, toward the man in black cargo pants right as a new bolt of purple flew at him.

Get rid of the goons, then Edwin.

Ethan ate the bolt on his scaly chest and grit his teeth as the crackling electricity danced across his scales. It tingled. It was definitely uncomfortable, but it was nowhere near enough to stop him.

The man's eyes widened as Ethan's snarling face came up at him, and the Harvester's dagger flashed at the man's stomach. After all, he did want something with electricity. He just hoped the dagger would deliver.

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