The night air over Lowwater was heavy with smoke and the reek of the river. Evan Sharp ran across the rooftops anyway, his feet whispering on slate and tar, his breath steady as a clock. Every stride was another push forward. Every push forward was another spark in the furnace of his body.
Overflow (7%) → (8%).+1 Speed.Speed: 183 → 184.
He slowed on a rooftop overlooking Hook Street and crouched. Lanterns burned below, merchants drinking late and laughing louder than usual. The Dogs were gone, limping into whatever alley would hide their shame. Pike hadn't shown his face again. The market was breathing freely. For once, Evan let himself breathe with it.
But peace never lasted. Not in Lowwater.
The first sign was a shift in the air, a ripple of unease threading through the crowd. Merchants lowered their voices. Faces tightened. Heads bowed without meaning to.
Evan followed their eyes.
A group was moving down the street. Not wardens in blue coats, not Pike's Dogs. These men walked like predators, shoulders loose, steps sure, blades visible on their hips. Their coats were black, trimmed in green scales. A snake fang emblem gleamed at their collars.
Rust Vipers.
Evan's jaw clenched. He had heard the name before. Syndicate enforcers. People whispered about them the way children whispered about monsters. The Dogs were gnats buzzing around garbage; the Vipers were wolves with blood already on their teeth.
And Pike was walking at their head, face twisted in triumph and desperation. His lip was still swollen, his jaw purple where Evan's fist had landed, but his grin was wide.
"There he is!" Pike shouted, pointing upward. His voice cracked but carried anyway. "The ghost! The brat who thinks speed makes him king!"
The Vipers stopped as one. The leader, a tall man with a shaved head and eyes like pits, tilted his head to study Evan crouched on the roof.
"So this is the boy." His voice was calm, almost lazy. "Fast, they say."
Pike spat. "Fast, but weak. I want him broken. Bleeding. Make him beg."
The Viper leader didn't look at Pike. He didn't need to. His hand flicked, and two of his men stepped forward, pulling curved blades from their belts.
Evan rose slowly, muscles coiled, system already humming.
[DING] Quest: Survive the Rust Vipers.Objective: Defeat or escape all attackers.Reward: +30 Speed, +1 Level, Technique Progress.Failure: Death.
The two Vipers leapt onto the rooftop with practiced ease, boots crunching tile. Their movements were sharp, disciplined—nothing like the clumsy Dogs.
The first lunged low, blade flashing for Evan's legs. The second slashed high, aiming for his throat. Perfect coordination, a trap from above and below.
Evan's vision painted ghost-lines across the night air. He stepped sideways, Quickstep sliding him past the low strike. The high slash cut through an Echo Step smear that hung where his head had been a heartbeat ago.
He flowed forward, fist snapping out. The first Viper grunted as Evan's knuckles hammered his ribs, but he twisted with the blow and came back with a slash of steel. Evan Burst Stepped backward, momentum snapping him out of reach.
The second came in from the side. Evan ducked, Momentum Shift catching the swing and turning it into a shove that pushed him faster. He slid along the roof's edge, spun, and snapped a kick into the man's chest.
Both staggered but didn't fall. They grinned, teeth white in the lantern glow.
"Not bad," one hissed. "Not enough."
They came again, blades weaving a web. Evan's heart pounded, not with fear but with clarity. They were fast. But he was faster.
He chained Quickstep into Quickstep, his body blurring, each afterimage confusing their eyes. Echo Step smeared ghosts across the rooftop until it looked like three Evans were moving at once. A blade cut through one ghost, then another, and in the space of their confusion his real self darted inside. His fist cracked against one jaw, his elbow smashed into the other's shoulder.
Both men hit the tiles hard.
[DING] Two enemies down. +10 Speed. Speed: 184 → 194.
The leader clapped once, slow and deliberate. "Better than I thought." He gestured. Another man stepped forward. This one was bigger, his coat sleeveless, arms thick with scarred muscle. His weapon wasn't a blade—it was a chain ending in a spiked weight.
He swung it once, and the air hummed. The merchants below flinched.
Evan's system pulsed.
Micro-Objective: Survive three consecutive attacks from the chain. Reward: +5 Speed.
The man swung. The chain blurred, weight shrieking through the air. Evan sidestepped, the spiked ball smashing into roof tiles where he'd been. Shards flew.
The second swing came low, sweeping for his legs. Evan Burst Stepped upward, legs coiling and pushing off the roof. He flipped over the arc, landing light on the chain itself for a fraction of a second before springing off again. The crowd below gasped.
The third swing came overhead, straight down like a hammer. Evan Momentum Shifted, stealing the motion, letting the force shove him sideways faster than any dodge could. The chain smashed the rooftop, cracking beams.
[DING] Objective complete. +5 Speed. Speed: 194 → 199.
Evan blurred forward, Quickstep carrying him inside the man's guard. His wrapped fist drove into the Viper's gut once, twice, three times. The big man staggered, spat blood, and collapsed to his knees.
The leader's smile thinned. He raised one hand, and the last two Vipers stepped forward together.
"Enough playing," the leader said softly. "End it."
They moved in unison, faster than the others. Their blades cut patterns, weaving a net of steel. Evan ducked, twisted, slid between arcs. One blade scraped his shoulder, cloth tearing, heat flaring across skin.
The system flashed.
Warning: Injury sustained.Requirement triggered: Velocity Path — Tier 1.Condition: Execute ten Burst Steps in a single session without failure.Progress: 0/10.
Evan's breath hitched. Ten Burst Steps. In a fight. His body thrummed with energy, the bond with Hook Street humming like a drum. If he could chain them, he could break the net.
He grinned, eyes sharp. "Let's see if you can keep up."
The first Burst Step cracked the roof beneath his feet. He vanished, reappearing behind one Viper, fist slamming into his spine. The second Burst Step carried him past the other, elbow smashing his jaw.
Two.
The third ricocheted him off the chimney, momentum folding into a kick that sent one man sprawling. The fourth and fifth chained together, weaving him through their strikes like a ghost.
Six.
The seventh shattered a tile as he launched sideways, striking ribs. The eighth blurred him forward, his shoulder crashing into the second man's chest.
Eight.
Nine came in a heartbeat, a snap-step that carried him past the first man's desperate swing. His fist dropped him cold.
Ten.
The rooftop cracked under the force of his tenth Burst Step, wood groaning, tiles splitting. Evan landed lightly as the last Viper collapsed at his feet. His system roared.
[DING] Path Progression Achieved. Velocity Path — Tier 1 Unlocked.Perk: Acceleration (Passive). Effect: Consecutive movements compound. Each chained action increases Speed temporarily.
His Speed surged like fire in his blood.
+30 Speed.Level Up: 5 → 6.Speed: 199 → 229.
The crowd below exploded into cheers. Merchants who had been silent now shouted, fists pumping, voices breaking in disbelief.
The leader of the Vipers didn't cheer. His eyes narrowed. His smile was gone.
"Tier One already," he muttered. "You'll be trouble."
He stepped forward himself, blade hissing free. His aura was heavier than the others combined. Evan's system pulsed again, bright and insistent.
Quest Update: Survive the Rust Viper Captain.Reward: +50 Speed, Skill: Velocity Veil.
Evan dropped into a stance, fists raised, Echo Step smearing ghosts across the rooftop. His blood thrummed. His lungs burned. His body wanted to move.
The Viper captain pointed his blade at him. "Let's see how fast you are when the fangs come out."
The rooftop groaned between them, Hook Street holding its breath.
Evan smiled. "Fast enough."
And then they moved.