The Art Department was a modernist cube of glass and concrete on the edge of the campus lake. Unlike the chaos at the dorms or the science block, this building was silent.
Too silent.
"Stay low," Bhy Khay signaled.
He, Elara, and Zayn moved through the tall grass near the entrance. Zayn was breathing heavy, clutching his heavy iron crossbow, but his hands were steady. Elara had her staff raised, the tip glowing with faint blue frost.
"Something's wrong," Zayn whispered, adjusting his glasses. "There are no monsters here. The perimeter is... clean."
"That's because we're being watched," Bhy Khay pointed to the outer wall of the building.
Graffitied on the white concrete wasn't a gang sign or a random tag. It was a perfectly realistic, charcoal drawing of a human eye. It was ten feet wide.
As they moved, the pupil of the drawing shifted. It followed them.
"Creepy," Elara shuddered. "Is that a mob?"
"No," Bhy Khay smiled. "That's the doorbell. She knows we're here."
He walked up to the glass doors. They were locked, barricaded from the inside with easels and sculptures.
"Tomiwa!" Bhy Khay shouted at the painted eye. "Open up. I'm not Iron Fist. I'm the one who broke the server room."
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the paint on the wall seemed to bleed. Ink dripped down, forming words under the eye.
>> PRICE OF ADMISSION: ONE SECRET.
"She wants a password?" Zayn asked, confused.
"No," Bhy Khay said. "She's a broker. She trades information. If we want in, we have to tell her something she doesn't know."
Bhy Khay leaned close to the painted eye. He whispered so low only the wall could hear.
"The System isn't just a game. It's a filtration algorithm. And the Safe Zone timer is a lie."
The ink words dissolved. The barricade inside the glass doors shifted. A heavy sculpture was pulled aside by an unseen force.
CLICK.
The doors swung open.
The main studio was a mess of canvases, paint buckets, and half-finished sketches. But in the center of the room, sitting on a stool in front of a massive whiteboard, was a girl.
Tomiwa wore paint-splattered overalls and had pencils stuck in her braided hair. She didn't look up as they entered. She was frantically sketching a map of the campus.
"You're late," she said, her charcoal stick snapping as she drew a frantic line. "Viktor's goons are two minutes away. They're coming for me."
Bhy Khay walked over to look at her drawing. It wasn't just a map. It was alive.
The sketch showed the campus in real-time. Tiny, stick-figure drawings of students were moving. Monsters were represented by ink blobs. And a large group of heavy charcoal figures was marching toward the Art Department.
[PLAYER: TOMIWA]
[CLASS: INK WEAVER (Unique)]
[ABILITY: CLAIRVOYANT SKETCH - Can see remote locations by drawing them.]
[ABILITY: LIVING INK - Drawings can act as scouts.]
"You see everything," Elara whispered, looking at the map. "You knew we were coming."
"I saw a golden beam shoot out of the Science Block," Tomiwa rolled her eyes. "Hard to miss. You're the 'Eclipse' guy. The Admin."
She finally looked up. Her eyes were dark, rimmed with sleeplessness.
"Why are you here? To kill me for XP? Or to recruit me?"
"To hire you," Bhy Khay corrected. "I need eyes. You need protection."
"I have protection," Tomiwa gestured to the corner. A drawing of a tiger on a canvas peeled itself off the paper. It stood in 2D form, growling silently. [Ink Tiger - Lvl 2].
"Paper tigers burn," Bhy Khay said coldly. "Viktor has Fire Mages. Your ink won't stop them."
As if on cue, an explosion rocked the front of the building.
BOOM.
"OPEN UP, WITCH!" a voice roared from outside. "WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"
Tomiwa flinched. She looked at her map. The charcoal figures were surrounding the building.
"That's 'Torch'," she hissed. "Viktor's Lieutenant. He's a Pyromancer. He wants me to spy on the other groups for him. If I refuse, he burns the studio."
She looked at Bhy Khay. "Can you stop him?"
Bhy Khay looked at his team.
"Zayn," he pointed to the second-floor balcony overlooking the entrance. "Get high. You have clear lines of sight."
"Elara," he pointed to the back door. "Seal it. If they try to flank, freeze them."
"And you?" Tomiwa asked.
Bhy Khay pulled out his dagger, the [Broodmother's Fang]. The green venom on the blade sizzled.
"I'm going to paint," he said.
Outside, the Art Department lawn was scorching.
Torch, a hulking guy in a varsity jacket with sleeves ripped off, held a fireball in his hand. Around him were five other Iron Fist thugs.
"Come out, Tomiwa!" Torch yelled, throwing the fireball at the front door. The glass shattered, and flames licked the frame. "Viktor doesn't like waiting!"
"She's not coming out," a voice called from the smoke.
Bhy Khay stepped through the broken door. He walked calmly, his black trench coat (looted from the shop) absorbing the light.
"Who are you?" Torch laughed. "Another hero? Boys, melt him."
Two thugs charged.
TWANG.
A bolt flew from the balcony above. It hit the first thug in the knee. He screamed and fell.
TWANG.
The second bolt hit the other thug's weapon hand, pinning his axe to his thigh.
"SNIPER!" Torch screamed, looking up. "Cover!"
The thugs scrambled behind the concrete pillars.
"You brought friends?" Torch snarled, his hands glowing brighter orange. "Fine. I'll burn the whole building down with you inside!"
He began to channel a massive spell. A swirling vortex of fire formed between his hands. [Pyroblast].
"Elara!" Bhy Khay shouted into his comms (earpiece).
From the side window, a blast of cold air shot out. It didn't hit Torch—he was too far. It hit the ground beneath Bhy Khay.
[ICE PATH CREATED.]
Bhy Khay didn't run. He slid.
Using the ice like a skate ramp, he launched himself forward with supernatural speed.
Torch saw him coming. He threw the fireball.
Bhy Khay twisted in mid-slide.
[RING OF THE VOID WALKER: ACTIVATE.]
ZOOP.
The fireball exploded harmlessly against a tree. Bhy Khay vanished into black smoke.
He reappeared directly behind Torch.
"Too slow," Bhy Khay whispered.
He didn't stab. He grabbed Torch's wrist—the one holding the fire—and twisted it back toward Torch's own face.
[ADMIN INTERVENTION: FRIENDLY FIRE = ON.]
"ARGH!" Torch screamed as his own flames licked his face. He stumbled back, blinded.
Bhy Khay swept his legs. Torch hit the ground hard.
Bhy Khay placed his boot on Torch's chest and leveled the poisoned dagger at his eye.
"Surrender," Bhy Khay said. "Or I let the venom melt your optic nerve."
The other thugs, seeing their leader down and taking sniper fire from above, dropped their weapons.
"We surrender!" one cried out.
Bhy Khay looked up at the balcony. Zayn gave a thumbs up.
The battle was over in thirty seconds.
Back inside, Tomiwa stared at the monitor. She had watched the whole thing through her ink-eyes on the outer wall.
Bhy Khay walked back in, wiping soot off his coat.
"Torch is tied up outside," Bhy Khay said. "Zayn is watching him. Now, about that job offer."
Tomiwa looked at her map. The charcoal figures of Iron Fist were retreating. The threat was gone.
She looked at Bhy Khay, then at Elara, then at the map. She picked up her charcoal stick.
On the whiteboard, she drew a new symbol over the Science Block.
An Eclipse.
"I'm expensive," she said, a smirk returning to her face. "I need paper. I need ink. And I need coffee."
"Done," Bhy Khay said. "Welcome to Eclipse, Tomiwa."
[SYSTEM ALERT: GUILD MEMBER RECRUITED.]
[NAME: TOMIWA.]
[ROLE: SCOUT / INTEL.]
[MEMBERS: 4/10]
"So what now, Boss?" Tomiwa asked, sketching a new figure on the board—a massive, hulking shape lurking in the University Stadium.
"Now," Bhy Khay looked at the drawing. "We have 40 hours before the Regional Raid. And you just drew our next target."
He pointed to the Stadium.
"There's a Supply Drop coming there at dawn. Viktor knows about it. But he doesn't know what is inside."
"Do you?" Elara asked.
Bhy Khay grinned. His golden eyes flared.
"Yes. It's a Guild Flag. If we get it, we can claim the entire campus as our territory."
"But," Tomiwa added, sketching more figures around the stadium. "Viktor has fifty men there. We are four."
"Then we don't fight them," Bhy Khay said. "We let them open the box. And then... we steal the prize."
[QUEST UPDATED: THE HEIST.]
[OBJECTIVE: STEAL THE SUPPLY DROP.]
[DIFFICULTY: NIGHTMARE.]
Bhy Khay turned to his team.
"Get some sleep. At 0400 hours, we go to war."