Seeing that their initial incapacitating grenade did nothing to hamper the fugitives, Henry barely had the time to notice the squad leap away for cover, faces set while three more stunning grenades flew at him and the others. It didn’t escape his notice that one of the grenades was almost twice as large as the rest and in his mana sight, it shone much brighter than the rest.

  They were taking the situation a little more seriously, it seemed. And this time, if he’d let it detonate, he’d definitely feel it. So like the considerate kraken that he was, to prevent anyone getting hurt—either directly or by just being in proximity of such indiscriminate weapon—Henry extended one of his Arcane Arms and reached for the gift thrown at him. With a deft application of Maw of The Trickster through a little Skill Nexus he had attached to the tip of his ghostly arms, he plucked the grenades out of the air and sent them within his storage.

  He’d study them later. Maybe figure out how to disarm them, too. He was interested in potentially copying such an attack.

  The running squad—who’d been too busy gaining some distance away from the weapon they had deployed—slowed when the detonation never took place, glancing back just in time to see Henry looking up toward the assault coming at him from above. And while he wasn’t directly looking at them with his main body, he could still see their faces with the sight of his invisible Octominds. A smile tugged on his lips. It was the first glimpse of shock he saw on their features. And he hadn’t even gotten started yet.

  Above, three little krakens with stubby arms—barely larger than a mundane seagull—flashed into existence as the shed their invisibility, intercepting the camouflaged trio that would have made contact in a couple of seconds. One was blood-red, one was glowing with arcane blues and purples, and one looked more like an octopus-shaped void of rippling edges that stole the light around it. All three Octominds activated Dispelling Pulse at the same time, engulfing their targets and ripping away their invisibilities. The offense also destabilized whatever two of them had been using to fly, which turned their descent into a panicked fall.

  Shit, I thought they could fly, Henry cursed and near instantaneously, his storage opened up and he summoned a torrential amount of water which he, in concert with his remaining Octominds, he shaped into a towering cylinder with Control Water to catch the two before their fall could be accelerated further. Just in case they didn’t have a way of stopping themselves. A beat later, the two crashed into the water violently with enough of an impact Henry was pretty sure a regular human would have broken most of their bones, but these were B-ranks, so they should be fine.

  In fact, now that he thought about it, even if he had let them hit the ground they would probably have been alright. But that wasn’t worth the risk. As for the one who’d kept her flying under control, she swerved and rose back in the air, twirling with a curse as she dodged the dark Octomind that almost got a hand around her midsection. As for her companions, they were already immobilized, the other two Octominds having hog-tied them both after dragging them out of the water. A small dose of tranquilizing venom was administered while the duo drained their mana away. Turning his attention back to the one still above, Henry raised a brow as the dark-skinned woman reached for her belt. She tapped something—which he assumed was another alerting device—without ever looking away from him while the water tower collapsed down, creating a violent wave that flooded a large section of the street, pouring out into the properties that weren’t bordered by a wall.

  That should drain soon enough… I see plenty of storm drains, Henry mused as he finally glanced back to see Maurice and his fourth Octomind’s handiwork. At the same time, he ordered the shadowy Octomind to keep its attention on the flying B-rank. To just stand by and wait.

  The lieutenant and his squad were on their knees, hunched with their faces straining. His fourth Octomind was weighing them down against the ground with an application of Telekinesis, while Maurice crouched in front of the lieutenant and poked his cheek.

  Henry let out a slow breath. Then with a wave, he freed up the lieutenant first as he walked toward him, then his people, but he kept the B-ranks tied up, and they floated behind him, carried by his Predation and Thaumaturgy-infused Octominds while the shadowy one kept an eye out for the next wave of attackers.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Popping down in a squat next to the still kneeling man, Henry smiled. “So. Lieutenant. Wanna try talking now? I’m still willing to pay the fine, you know?”

  A vein throbbed on the side of the man’s closely shaved temple, but no words left his lips.

  Guess I’m meeting the A-rank soon, then, Henry thought as he stood back up and stretched his back. He wondered if the A-rank would listen to reason.

  ***

  Deep below ground, a head lolled forward before slamming on the schematics-layered table as a blinking crystal chimed its alarm. A groan escaped his throat, which quickly transformed into a whine as from the corner of his eye, he noted the level of the alert.

  “She’s been docked for barely an hour. How is it that there’s already an alarm going off? What is she doing?”

  An A4 meant that an A-rank was needed to get the situation under control, though most likely, no one was about to die. He still had to go, though, and he’d much rather not.

  “Nothing, sir,” floated the voice of Fiona. “Captain Velistraine is still waiting for you up at reception. This alert is something else. First Landing. Noble district.”

  Attal rose to his feet, leaning against the desk, and a smile pulled on his lips. The fact that she was still waiting did help his mood a little. But still.

  “I bet you ten silvers it’s linked to her, somehow,” he grumbled, grabbing his tool belt from behind him and clicking it in place before picking up his cape next from the hanger.

  “Do you need anyone to go with you?” his assistant asked, completely ignoring his bet while she continued signing the paperwork he should have looked into days ago.

  “Nah… I’m fine. I’ll do it myself. And tell Velistraine…. That I won’t be long. Fifteen more minutes,” he mused, grinning, and in a blur, he made it to his private elevator and let in a trickle of his mana to confirm his identity.

  A4 wasn’t worth breaking his security protocol, he thought as he eyed the receiver on his wrist. But if that changed… then he’d hurry. Not that his elevator needed more than a few seconds to cut through the fifteen floors that separated him from the roof, which he used to make sure his tools were armed. Eyeing the ring at his finger, he hummed.

  Maybe he’d be able to test his newest prototype as well. Not that he needed any of his tools to stamp out an A4 scuffle. But just in case.

  Seconds later, a gentle chime rang in the metallic tube, and the doors opened up to reveal the roof of the Enchanter’s Emporium. Attal stepped out, then pushing mana to his boots, he activated their anti-gravity enchantment and lifted off. But before he blasted away toward the noble district, he stole a look down at the busiest quadrant of First Landing.

  The guild district sprawled below—his district, really. The Enchanter's Emporium took up an entire block, and that wasn't even counting the twelve floors below the surface. Three floors of showrooms above ground where people bought household enchantments. Ten floors below where the real work happened: weapons development, tactical enchantments, prototype testing, and much more.

  His life's work. And he was being pulled away from his latest breakthrough because of an A4 alert in the noble district.

  “If this is another spat between those good-for-nothings, I’m exiling both of their asses,” he promised. “Not even Cedric would save their hides. ”

  Attal's boots flared and he launched toward the source, cape snapping behind him.

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