The Old Foundry was a wound in the city.
Its smokestacks bled red light into the night sky, belching soot and sparks that clung to the air like ash snow. Metal shrieked on metal inside the cavernous halls. Rusted girders loomed like ribs, and furnaces glowed with dull hate.
Evan Sharp stood at the edge of the yard, boots crunching slag. The Domain threads of Hook Street and the Docks tugged faintly behind him, but here there was nothing. Only the weight of heat and iron, and the gang that ruled it.
The Forgemen.
They stepped from the shadows one by one—men in leather aprons, their arms scarred with burns, their hands gripping hammers and chains blackened from years of furnace smoke. Their leader, a man with shoulders like an anvil, stepped forward. His left arm gleamed in the firelight—steel welded to flesh; a gauntlet fused from molten slag.
"Ghost," he rumbled. His voice was iron on stone. "You've run through streets and docks. But this is the Foundry. Metal doesn't bend for speed."
Evan said nothing. He flexed his fists once, feeling Speed Sense prickling with arcs of danger in every shadow.
The system pulsed.
Quest: Claim the Old Foundry.Objective: Defeat the Forgemen in their domain.Reward: +30 Speed, Domain Bond (Minor), Title Evolution.Failure: Death or capture.
The Forgemen roared, a sound like anvils dropped into water, and charged.
The first hammer swung at his skull. Quickstep blurred Evan aside; the weapon slammed sparks from the cobbles. He pivoted, Burst Step carrying him into a strike that shattered a jaw.
Another chain lashed. Echo Step smeared a ghost to catch it. The real Evan slipped inside, Momentum Shift twisting the chain's pull into propulsion—his kick sent the wielder flying into a furnace wall.
Three more came at once. Velocity Veil+ burst outward, ten Evans scattering like sparks. Hammers crashed into ghosts, fists smacked illusions, but half-strength blows landed real—ribs cracked, teeth broke. The Veil turned confusion into chaos.
The leader didn't flinch. He raised his metal arm and slammed it into the ground.
The floor shuddered.
A wave of magnetic force pulsed through the Foundry. Hammers and chains whipped unnaturally, pulled by his will. Sparks spun into spirals. The afterimages flickered as iron filings bent light.
Hazard Identified: Forgemaster's Arm.Effect: Magnetism surge. Metal objects within 20m distort.
A hammer ripped out of a thug's hands and spun toward Evan's skull. He triggered Vector Break—
The hammer froze midair, motionless for a heartbeat. Evan slid past it, fist snapping into another thug's throat.
Vector Break progress: 2/3.
The Forgemaster grinned, teeth black with soot. "You can't stop iron. Not here."
He swung his arm. The air howled. Scrap metal ripped from walls, nails and bolts flying like a storm. Dockhands would've died. Street thugs would've fled. But Evan wasn't them.
Speed Sense lit every path—hundreds of arcs through the storm. He picked the ones nobody sane would. Quickstep, Burst Step, roll, pivot, slide—Acceleration stacked until his body was a machine of inevitability. Bolts missed by hairs. Nails shredded ghosts instead of skin.
He reached the Forgemaster.
His fist hammered the steel arm. Pain sang up his knuckles. The man laughed, swinging again.
Evan ducked under, Momentum Shift catching the pull. He twisted, drove a knee into the Forgemaster's ribs. The giant grunted, stumbling, then roared and smashed his arm down.
The floor cracked. A furnace door burst, spewing flame.
Evan's system pulsed.
Micro-Objective: Neutralize Forgemaster's Arm.Reward: +20 Speed, Technique Synergy.
He blurred into Velocity Veil+, ten shadows striking at once. Half-strength blows rained on the metal arm, distracting, confusing. The real Evan triggered Vector Break directly on the gauntlet's swing.
For two seconds, the magnetism vanished. The arm moved like dead weight.
Evan's true fist slammed into the man's jaw with the strength of Acceleration stacked to breaking.
The Forgemaster toppled, crashing into the cobbles. Silence followed, broken only by the hiss of furnaces.
The Forgemen stared. Their leader groaned but did not rise. One by one, they dropped their hammers and chains.
Evan straightened. His voice was calm. "The Foundry doesn't belong to you anymore."
The panel flared.
Quest complete: Claim the Old Foundry.+30 Speed.Speed: 492 → 522.Domain Bond — Old Foundry (Minor) acquired.Title Evolved: [Swift Claimant] → [Domain Strider I].Effect: Domain influence strengthens. Domain threads no longer conflict—multiple bonds harmonize.
The ground thrummed beneath his feet. Hook Street, the Docks, the Foundry—they pulsed together now, threads weaving into a net that carried his steps further, faster. The city wasn't separate pieces anymore. It was a track, and he was running it.
The Forgemen slunk back into shadows. Merchants at the edge whispered in awe. Somewhere across the city, Registry slates screamed warnings.
Evan exhaled slowly, blood singing in his ears. Three domains. Over five hundred Speed. A title reborn.
He looked up at the furnaces' glow and smiled faintly. "Faster."
And he vanished into the smoke.