Jax's heart raced as a growl echoed through the lab. Shadows flickered, revealing glowing red eyes—three or four pairs drawing nearer. His glowstone sputtered, casting jagged silhouettes on the dusty walls. He scrambled to his feet, the cold concrete biting through his worn boots. Whatever was lurking wasn't friendly.
"Survive, or perish," the voice in his head sliced through the tension. The Endgame Construct. This wasn't a dream. Something had shifted within him, but what? As he backed away, his hands trembled while he frantically searched the lab for a weapon. All he found were shattered glass and rusted tools.
Suddenly, the eyes lunged. Jax ducked behind a broken table, his heart pounding. Claws scratched the stone where he had just stood, and a low, eager snarl filled the air. Taking a cautious peek, he saw four wolf-like figures—only, something was off. Their matted fur reeked of decay, and their jaws dripped with black ooze. They were Undead. Pets of the necromancers.
"Perfect," Jax muttered under his breath. "First a creepy voice, now undeads. Just my luck."
The voice returned, calm yet urgent. "Threat detected. Activate Construct? Yes/No."
Jax hesitated. Activate? What did that entail? The wolves approached, claws clicking on the floor. No time to think. "Yes!" he hissed, hoping he wasn't sealing his fate.
A jolt surged through him, like lightning racing through his veins. His vision sharpened, a strange glow—blue, red, gold, black—flashed beneath his skin. Words crowded into his mind, clear as day.
"Endgame Construct activated. Level 0. Energy reserves: 100%. Choose Mage Energy: Elemental, Arcane, Divine, Shadow."
The wolves charged. Jax gasped. "Elemental!" he shouted instinctively, recalling that his parents had been Elemental Mages—fire and earth.
Heat roared in his chest. His hands moved as if driven by a force beyond him, thrusting forward. A blast of flame erupted from his palms, illuminating the lab. The lead wolf yelped, its fur sizzling as it careened backward, while the others scattered, eyes flashing with rage.
Jax stared at his hands, smoke rising from his fingertips. "Whoa." He'd actually done that. Him, the powerless scavenger.
"Energy reserves: 90%. Focus, or die," warned the Construct.
Right. Focus. The wolves regrouped, circling him. Jax's pulse raced, but a smile crept onto his face. For the first time, he wasn't just fleeing; he could fight.
He raised his hands again, targeting the nearest wolf. "Let's try that again." Another burst of fire shot forth, but it missed, scorching a shelf. The wolf evaded, lunging at him. Jax rolled, narrowly escaping its jaws. Pain flared as claws grazed his arm, leaving a shallow cut.
"Ow! Okay, bad aim," he gasped, scrambling behind a pillar. The Construct's silence felt like judgment. "A little help here?"
"Skill requires practice. Energy reserves: 80%."
"Practice? Now?" Jax ducked as a wolf leaped, claws scraping the pillar. Dust showered down, stinging his eyes. He needed a plan. Fire was powerful, but he was no mage—not yet. Spotting a rusted pipe on the floor, he dove for it, fingers wrapping around the cold metal. A wolf charged, and he swung hard, cracking its skull. It staggered but didn't fall. Undead didn't go down easily.
"Combine energies for greater effect," the Construct instructed. "Suggestion: Elemental + Arcane."
"Combine? How?" Jax kept swinging the pipe, keeping the wolves at bay. His arm throbbed, blood dripping. The Construct was unhelpful. He was on his own.
Another wolf lunged. Jax dropped the pipe and thrust his hands out, shouting, "Arcane!" A faint shimmer rippled from his palms, like a heatwave. The wolf slowed, caught in a weak force field. Jax's eyes widened. "Okay, that's new."
He focused, imagining fire meshing with force. The shimmer brightened, and a blazing whip of energy erupted, striking the wolf. It howled, collapsing into ash.
"Yes!" Jax pumped a fist, but weakness washed over him. His legs wobbled, chest tightening as if he'd sprinted a mile. "Energy reserves: 60%. Warning: Overuse risks collapse."
"Collapse? You mean pass out?" Jax winced. Three wolves remained, and he was already exhausted. This needed to end fast.
The wolves spread out, now wiser. One veered left, another right, the third charged straight at him. Jax backed up, tripping over a broken crate. His glowstone rolled away, casting the lab into near-darkness. Only the wolves' eyes and his faint glow illuminated the space.
"Jane, you'd love this mess," he half-laughed, half-panicked. If only she were here with her gadgets. But it was just him and this bizarre system.
Focusing again, he called for Elemental energy. Fire wouldn't suffice—too erratic. "Earth," he whispered, recalling his dad's tales of stone shields. The ground shook, and a stone slab shot up, blocking the charging wolf. It collided with the barrier, snarling.
"Ha! Take that!" But Jax's grin faded as the other two wolves flanked him. He was cornered, energy swiftly draining. "Reserves: 50%."
Footsteps echoed outside the lab. Human footsteps. Jax's heart raced—help? But the wolves froze, ears perked. A voice resonated through the rusted door. "Find the intruder. The master wants him alive."
Necromancers. Jax's blood ran cold. The wolves were scouts, and now their masters had arrived.
He crouched behind the rock slab, mind racing. If he fought the wolves, the necromancers would hear. If he ran, he'd become prey. The Construct buzzed in his mind, waiting for his decision.
"Screw it," Jax whispered. He'd come this far. He wasn't dying today.
Peeking over the slab, he noticed the wolves distracted, sniffing toward the door. Gripping the pipe again, heart pounding, he needed a grand move. The Construct had mentioned combining energies. Maybe…
"Shadow," he murmured, feeling a chill seep into his bones. The air darkened as his hands tingled, almost like freezing. He didn't fully understand what Shadow did, but it felt dangerous and powerful.
He concentrated on mixing fire and the icy pull of Shadow. His hands glowed black-red, and a wave of dark flame erupted—silent yet lethal. It tore through the lab, engulfing the wolves, who crumbled to ash without a sound.
Jax sank to his knees, gasping. Exhaustion overwhelmed him, and his arms felt heavy. "Energy reserves: 20%. Critical. Rest required."
"Rest? Now?" he croaked, but his body agreed. Movement felt impossible.
The door creaked open. Torchlight flooded in, revealing a tall figure in a black cloak, face obscured by a hood. Red runes glimmered on his gloves, emanating death.
"Well, well," the man drawled, his voice smooth yet chilling. "What do we have here?"
Jax fumbled to stand, but his legs buckled. The pipe slipped from his fingers, crashing to the floor. The necromancer's footsteps clicked closer, and dark figures with glowing eyes materialized behind him.
"You've got something special, boy," the necromancer said, crouching to meet Jax's gaze. One eye flickered in the light, revealing a scar running down his cheek. "Something my master wants."
Jax's heart raced. He had no clue what the Construct was, but it meant trouble. Serious trouble.
"Warning: Hostile intent detected," the Construct warned. "Emergency protocol available. Activate?"
Jax's vision blurred. The necromancer reached for him, runes glowing dangerously. He had no choice.
"Yes," Jax breathed.
An explosion of light radiated from his chest, blinding and searing. The necromancer staggered back, cursing. Energy surged through Jax, but pain racked his body, as if his bones were shattering. He screamed, the world tilting.
When the light dimmed, he was still on the floor, but the necromancer was gone. So were his shadows. The lab fell into silence, except for the faint hum in Jax's chest.
"Emergency protocol complete. Energy reserves: 0%. Host unconscious in 10… 9…"
Jax's eyelids fluttered. "No… not now…" He fought to move, but darkness engulfed him. His last thought was of Jane—her smile, her voice urging him to fight.
Then, nothing.
Outside the lab, a cloaked figure watched from the shadows, red eyes narrowing. "The Construct," they murmured. "It's begun."