《The Eurani Logs: Chaos and War.》


 {Chapter - 1} What a cliche death. Conglomerate of Cliches!

    Feyre

    A loud cheer erupted from the crowd as she stepped up to the podium. It was a nice feeling, being the center of attention, no matter how brief it ended up being. Feyre was, for all intents and purposes, the lead developer of this release. She, of course, was aware that, in actuality, it was Mikael who was the actual Lead Developer but, alas, he was not actually competent enough to string together a basic print command let alone lead the development of the game. And by God what a game it was going to be. These new graphics were near impeccable, and not only that but a billionaire had gained interest and decided to just empty his pockets for the company. The budget had grown so exponentially that they''d basically been working overtime for 3 hours a day 6 days a week just to get the game ready for beta testing.

    The day was finally here, she was basically hopping from one foot to another for hours before going up onto the podium to give a speech to the new testers. She was just as excited as them, if not more so, since she was the one making big bucks if it all went well. Standing in front of them was intimidating but she was the center of attention for almost 500 guys, some of which actually had a major following on one streaming service or another. She waited for the cheering to die down, quelling any nerves she had and beaming at the men who would become her main source of income in the future.

    "Gentlemen, and any of the rare ladies, that are sat before me. It is my greatest honour as a Developer to be able to present to you..." A slight pause for effect as always "Araska Online: The Remnants of Eurani!"

    The crowd lost it. Eurani was perhaps the most played game in the world when it came out and still nothing has beaten it''s record for the most players online at once during the first worldwide event. She smiled, a rare and genuine type of smile. She stepped back and raised her arms as banners fell on either side of her and the screen, once hidden from view by the darkness lights up. The cheers somehow grow even louder, the crowd was positively thrilled as far as she was concerned.

    "And now the slightly more boring bits such as our TOS and the other things that are mere obstacles before you join us in Araska..."

    Feyre left through a side door. The Beta Testers had been left in the massive hall to play a customised tutorial and she was, quite frankly, exhausted. Her cheeks were aching like never before. She had never had to smile so long and wide in... well in forever. She pulls out a little box and lit a cigarette as she walked towards the main road. It was late and her head was throbbing in her skull like her heart in her chest.

    "Phew... I needed that..."

    She looked around before starting to cross the road. She didn''t see the man give a thumbs up. She didn''t hear the truck hurtling down the street on the wrong side of the road, not until it was too late anyway. She tried to run but her legs gave out. Falling to the tarmac she screamed in fear. Then she screamed in agony as a 10 ton metal monstrosity slammed into her, instantly shattering her left arm and leg like a hammer on china. Her torso and head were next, slamming into it and causing extreme pain comparable to how someone might feel if they''d inhaled a bullet ant and it bit them over and over and over. It was either by some miracle or some cruel trick of fate that she didn''t die instantly. Her screaming gave out quite quickly as all wind was ripped from her and all thought torn from her as her head slammed against the road with a splat.

    She couldn''t tell what was going on. Distantly, or closely, Feyre heard a woman''s voice cry out but she ignored it. The overwhelming sensation of pain was too much to care about some traumatised witness. She couldn''t tell if what happened next was said out loud or in her head and she didn''t really care either.

    Damnit... It was all going so well... God it hurts... why does death hurt so much? Wasn''t i suffering enough with all these overtime hours? Oh... what''s going to happen to the game? I miss Eurani... Araska was going to be my masterpiece... my magnum opus... the best of the best... and now Mikael will ruin it...

    There wasn''t any drifting off to peace for Feyre. Nope. Not for her. She was aware that maybe in her final moments she should have thought about her family but... wait... she was aware? How was she aware? What did this mean? Was she in some sort of afterlife? Was she going to be sent to hell for not accepting Jesus Christ as her saviour? She didn''t know and at this point it was obviously too late to convert. So she waited.

    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.And waited.

    And waited...

    pop

    The first thing she realised was the inky blackness, that she''d assumed to be her afterlife, was gone. Now she was surrounded by empty chairs and little round tables. No living being in sight, Feyre tried looking around and realised she was in her favourite cafe. Well, a poor mock up of it at least. Looking out the window she saw the inky blackness from before but before her train of thought could piece anything together she was tugged by something immaterial and forced to sit down.

    "Greetings to whomever it may concern."

    A neon green cat was sitting in front of her. How hadn''t she seen it before? Hang on if she was dead shouldn''t she be meeting a hot guy or girl that will offer to send her to the afterlife after a ni8ce cup of tea? She''d read enough manga to at least realise how cliche her death was. Shouldn''t she get compensated for that?

    "You met all the requirements so you are going to Eurani in order to fight in The Great Massacre and change the tides or something anyway-"

    She ignored the cat''s monotonous voice kind of tuning it out. Until she realised what it was saying.

    Wait... what if I need the information this Neon Cat was important?

    Then Feyre started paying full attention, albeit far too late.

    "- So that''s it. No questions please. Okay goodbye."

    *pop*

    Feyre was asleep. No pain. No clothes. No dead weightless feeling. She jolts awake.

    "What the hell!? Where''s my stuff!?"

    A little note flutters from the breeze and lands perfectly on her lap. It read.

    "Greetings Worthy traveler. You have been especially chosen to fulfill the greatest Quest of all. Slay the Demon King. Enjoy your stay in Eurani!"

    Feyre was... well unhappy. She kind of wished she''d listened to the neon green cat now. Also, did that thing say she was in Eurani? She hated her past self for tuning out the cat. That was when she got a proper surprise. A light grey screen with a crude drawing of her appeared floating in front of her.

    [CHARACTER]

    [Name: Feyre Agrifiti]

    [Level: 0]

    [Class: D????e?????v?????e??????l????o?????p?????e?????r???]

    [Abilities: Acting {0}, Coding {0}, Swordplay{0}]

    [STATS]

    [Strength: 0]

    [Athletics: 0]

    [Flexibility: 0]

    [Mana Potential: O?????v?????e???????r???????f????l??????o???w??? ???E??????r?????r??????o?????r???????]

    [Mana: 0]

    [Perception: 0]

    [ACHIEVEMENTS]

    [OtherWorld Hero: 0% bonus to D??????e????v?????e?????l???????o?????p?????m??????e???????n?????t?????? ????a??????b???i????l????i????t??????i??????e??????s????]

    [QUESTS]

    [Defeat Demon King: 0/1]

    [Survive]

    Feyre looked at the screen for what felt like eons.

    Developer? That''s not a class in Eurani... At least it wasn''t when I played.

    Then she looked around.

    Should probably have done this sooner... damnit I''m completely vulnerable to the elements right now...

    She scowled at the surroundings until she saw something under a bush. She stalked closer until the unmistakable glint of light reflecting off metal spooked her and she lunged forwards. Just in case it wasn''t friendly. She wasn''t entirely sure but she certainly didn''t think she''d be somewhere nice even if she was a hero... especially if she was a hero. Feyre looked long and hard at what she saw. It looked like some Larp clothing. Nothing any woman with dignity would wear unless going to a convention or Faire. But Feyre was desperate. She picked up the old fashioned tunic and leggings and tried to get into them. They were perfect. Suspiciously so. She hated not knowing what was going on.

    "Stupid!"

    Feyre jumps. That wassn''t her voice. It could not be her voice. She had left that voice changer behind when she stopped streaming herself playing Eurani. Suddenly it all clicked, she was not stupid. She works out what''s going on. She was in the game now.

    "Eurani huh? Wonder if any other players are here... and what time period it is... maybe i should try surviving first. What''s the first rule of survival? I think it''s water but it could be shelter. Oh well! No point dwelling on it!"

    Suddenly a system message assaulted her eyes again.

    [SYSTEM]

    [Congratulations Hero! The Demon King is Slain! Experience Gained!]

    Feyre stared. She was reaching for whatever the metal she saw could''ve been but she didn''t care to know. She just stared at the System message.

 {Chapter - 2} Metal and Monsters. Magical Beasts Aint Got Nothing One ME!

    Feyre

    Feyre stared long and hard... How had she managed to complete her quest if she hadn''t even acquired Tutorial items yet? To be honest she didn''t really care all that much since Experience Points had apparently been added. She thought many thoughts all at once and therefore nothing of use really came of them. The metal she was reaching for turned out to be a half buried sack, filled with some sort of armour and coif along with a gambeson. She pulled it out and frowned.

    "What next? A sword exactly fit for my hand?"

    She sighs and looks at the armour. She doubted it fit and even if it did it looked very shiny and out of place.

    DING

    A splitting headache comparable to thunder or lightning struck her instantaneously. She looked up as the noise reverberated in her skull, her mind blank momentarily.

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 1.]

    It was a bit late for that wasn''t it? She''d been told almost a minute ago now about her experience gain.

    "Now hold on just a second, I don''t think that this is a good time to incapacitate me with-"

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 2.]

    The Ding was just as painful and loud as before.

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 3.]

    She just wished for the agony to stop.

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 4.]

    Feyre hated every second of this torture.

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 5.]

    She thought maybe it would be best if she stopped focusing.

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 6.]

    It wasn''t. The noises kept coming like waves.

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 7.]

    Cruel, cruel and evil waves.

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 8.]

    She had given up and curled into a ball willing the pain being inflicted to stop. Every ding brought her back to her death. Visions flew and whirled like a leaf in the wind, forcing her to see without eyes and feel without thoughts.

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 9.]

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 10.]

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 11.]

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 12.]

    DING

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 13.]

    The lack of a follow-up Ding made Feyre open her eyes slightly as the reverberations no longer lay siege to her mind and sanity.

    "I don''t ever do that again."

    [System: Acknowledged.]

    Feyre paused. The system had answered her for the first time. Or maybe she was going mad. She didn''t really know at that point but it was something. She tried getting its attention again after realising the level ups might actually improve something.

    "System? Can you show me my Status please?"

    [CHARACTER]

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.[Name: Feyre Agrifiti]

    [Level: 13]

    [Class: D????e?????v?????e??????l????o?????p?????e?????r???]

    [Abilities: Acting {0}, Coding {0}, Swordplay{0}]

    [STATS]

    [Strength: 0]

    [Athletics: 0]

    [Flexibility: 0]

    [Mana Potential: O?????v?????e???????r???????f????l??????o???w??? ???E??????r?????r??????o?????r???????]

    [Mana: 0]

    [Perception: 0]

    [ACHIEVEMENTS]

    [OtherWorld Hero: 0% bonus to D??????e????v?????e?????l???????o?????p?????m??????e???????n?????t?????? ????a??????b???i????l????i????t??????i??????e??????s????]

    [Completer Of Quests: 0% bonus to D??????e????v?????e?????l???????o?????p?????m??????e???????n?????t?????? ????a??????b???i????l????i????t??????i??????e??????s????

    [QUESTS]

    [Defeat Demon King: 1/1]

    [Survive]

    Nothing. Zilch. Nada, Zero. Whatever word is to be used that''s what happened. Feyre was angry. Angry at the world, angry at the Neon Cat, most importantly angry at herself. Why had she assumed that this would follow game logic? Half the system is broken anyway. She did, however see that her quests had been altered by this. Her Defeat Demon King quest had been marked as done so at least her status screen wasn''t completely useless. Only mostly.

    "Now... What to do with this armour?"

    She looked at the massive bag filled to the brim with, what she assumed, was a full set of plate like seen in those old knight exhibits in Germany and England. Feyre was slightly worried about the armour. She didn''t know if it would fit and while she''d watched many videos on putting armour on she wasn''t an expert by any means. She also distinctly remembered something about needing a squire for lots of parts of it.

    "I wish i could just magic this armour onto myself. That would be so-"

    Suddenly the contents of the bag disappeared and Feyre''s vision was significantly lessened by darkness as well as a new weight added to her... basically all over. She turned her head down and realised what had happened.

    "Oh... that''s... useful."

    She just stared at what parts of herself she could see and tried stretching and testing mobility. Feyre wasn''t a complete novice to this sort of thing but once her shock wore off she panicked. She panicked a lot.

    She tried taking off her helmet but her eyes were affronted, again, by a system message which thankfully didn''t have an accompanying Ding.

    [System: Helmet cannot be removed in Tutorial.]

    [System: Congratulations on completing Hidden Quest: Armour Yourself. Tutorial difficulty exponentially increased.]

    "Uh... Exponentially increased? Hang on what is that supposed to mea-"

    Feyre was cut off by a roar. To call it a roar doesn''t do it justice. It was more than just a roar but in all the languages Feyre knew, not a single one could adequately describe it. Then she saw it. Whatever it was called if it didn''t have titan in it then it was wrong. Feyre didn''t really care anymore. Its mere presence threw her adrenaline glands into overdrive of the overdrive. Feyre froze at it''s sight. The beast, if she could even call it that. Was glowing with... something. She had seen enough boss monsters to know she was vastly underleveled for this encounter. It was akin to a scripted event where, no matter how hard a player tried, it would be impossible to win. And this pissed Feyre off. She hated being helpless. She hated this blasted system. And most of all? She hated this thing that dared to scare her. Why should she be scared? She was terrified... but why? She had died once already and, while not keen to try that again, she wasn''t going to go down without a fight. For now though? For now she ran.

    And ran she did. Her armour eventually didn''t feel heavy. In fact, Feyre''s armour made her feel light. Made her feel fast. Made her feel free. And then the abomination followed her. It steps were loud. Its hulking body towered above her and its eyes were cruel and filled with hunger. The system decided now was a good time to blind her with its light grey screen with text.

    [System: "Tutorial started. Dificulty: Hell World. Waves Complete 0/5. Objective: Kill Tronius Minoris 0/1"]

    Feyre tripped. The perpetrator in question for said tripping was a vine. A vine she couldn''t see due to the screen assaulting her vision. As it popped out of existence in front of her she saw the beast again. Its hulking form led her to wonder how she didn''t see it before. Or hear it for that matter, but she didn''t really care about that now. She was less than 50 meters away from this supposedly ''small'' version of the Tronius now and was, admittedly, not really sure what to do. On closer inspection as she sat there on the ground the Tronius Minoris had a glaring weak spot.

    "No matter how bad it is... I guess it is still the Tutorial..."

    So instead of running away she sighed and got up.

    40 feet away. It was taking its sweet time.

    She prepared her stupid plan and resigned herself to it. Feyre wasn''t usually very stubborn but today had been a really really bad day.

    25 feet away. The brute looked down at its prey. For that''s what Feyre was. Prey. Mana filled Prey.

    She started sprinting towards it, faster than she''d ever ran before. Feyre let her instincts guide her. She let her body control this and her mind internally scream at her terrible idea.

    5 feet away. The Tronius Minoris reared its head back and opened its maw.

    Feyre jumped. Reached out to grab onto one of its thick matted furs which now that she was close enough held a repugnant stench on them that Feyre could only describe as eye watering.

    Feyre gritted her teeth and climbed. It was horrible. It was slimy. It stank like nothing she''d ever smelt. It was difficult. But it was possible. She climbed up its massive limb as she would have done a tree back as a child. Except this tree was trying to shake her off.

    These things are this gigantic... and they''re smart... this cannot be fair for a tutorial...

    She grumbled in her mind, not really wanting to find out what it would taste like if she opened her mouth. Eventually after the arduous task of climbing the monstosity she reached the top.

    Now i just have to work out how to get to its eyes.

 {Chapter - 3} A titanical problem. Thought out solutions are overrated.

    Tronius Minoris

    It watched the prey scramble up its arm in confusion. Prey is meant to run away. Prey is not meant to climb it. Of course it had never met a human before so didn''t realise this sort of prey wasn''t worth the effort, as many other predators do after a while of coexistence with humanity. No, it had decided upon seeing this new prey that it would show the prey just how strong it was. Now that prey was on its back like some common mount. The Tronius Minoris roared and shook its whole body vigorously. Somehow the prey stuck to it. Somehow the prey was not following the natural order. It felt wrong. All it knew was being disproved by some meagre morsel of sustenance in the form of prey. So it roared. Roared loud. Roared powerfully. Roared in rage. And then its vision went dark momentarily as it saw its prey hang from its eye brow. The prey was shining still yet it could now see through the slits it had mistaken as eyes to see the true eye of its prey. What it saw made disillusioned it. This was a predator and prey. Everything is always predator and prey. The Tonius Minoris, for the first time in its pitiful existance realised what a true predator was. The small shiny thing pulled back its hand as a terrifying glint was in its eyes behind the slits.

    <hr>

    Feyre

    The eye went squelch. Goop went all over her arm all the way up to her elbow and she admitted it was a sickening sound. What happened next was something Feyre wasn''t keen to ever witness or feel again. The hulking brute let out a roar that was more screech than anything she had ever heard. The stench that came out as it screeched was horrific. To be honest with herself she almost felt bad for the thing, it wasn''t its fault that it was a tutorial monster, but she then reminded herself of the look of cruelty in its eyes. That wasn''t a predator by circumstance. That was a cruel creature that just so happened to be in the right place at the wrong time. Feyre pulled back to punch again but suddenly the creature''s screeching mixed with its violent head jerks launched her off.

    The wind was knocked out of her as soon as she hit the ground from that 3 story drop from its head to the quickly dying grass that the monstrosity was killing with its mere presence. Feyre was surprised that she didn''t feel anything broken until she got another system message pop up. She ignored it for now as she was trying very hard to not be killed at the moment, an endeavour she was quite invested in at the moment. She wished the level up notifications would stop. She scrambled backwards and to her feet, grabbing a stray rock in her hand. She doubted it was that easy to kill such a massive creature as to punch its eye no matter how strong she is or whether she has metal covering ever bit of her self. Frankly Feyre was preparing to throw the rock as hard as she could at the beast''s other eye.

    One good shot and I might distract it enough to get its other eye. If I''m right. Which is a fifty fifty chance right now.

    She watched as it crouched down a bit and opened its mouth as if to try to bite her in half. Which it definitely could have done, if it had gotten to her before she threw the rock. She didn''t really understand what happened next but what she did understand is that whatever happened was not meant to be possible for a normal woman like her. The rock she threw seemed to defy all laws of physics she had ever known and accelerated at insane speeds in insane times. Feyre shook her head as she looked at the clean, perfectly rock shaped hole right through the beasts eye and out the other side. She thought she saw surprise on its face before yet another system notification appeared in front of her.

    [System: Congratulations you defeated the Tronius Minoris, the youngest and weakest of its species.]

    [System: Tutorial Waves Completed: 1/5. Mini-Bosses Defeated: 1/1.]

    Feyre sighed. She didn''t know what had happened but whatever it was it wasn''t right and she didn''t like the new feeling she had. She felt a cold brush up her spine jolting her as she felt as if she was being watched.

    [CHARACTER]

    [Name: Feyre Agrifiti]

    [Level: 20]

    [Class: D????e?????v?????e??????l????o?????p?????e?????r???]

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.[Abilities: Acting {0}, Coding {0}, Swordplay{0}]

    [STATS]

    [Strength: 0]

    [Athletics: 0]

    [Flexibility: 0]

    [Mana Potential: O?????v?????e???????r???????f????l??????o???w??? ???E??????r?????r??????o?????r???????]

    [Mana: 0]

    [Perception: 0]

    [ACHIEVEMENTS]

    [OtherWorld Hero: 0% bonus to D??????e????v?????e?????l???????o?????p?????m??????e???????n?????t?????? ????a??????b???i????l????i????t??????i??????e??????s????]

    [Completer Of Quests: 0% bonus to D??????e????v?????e?????l???????o?????p?????m??????e???????n?????t?????? ????a??????b???i????l????i????t??????i??????e??????s????

    [QUESTS]

    [Defeat Demon King: 1/1]

    [Survive]

    [System: Warning, Character: Feyre Agrifiti would have died if not for system tutorial intervention. P.S Don''t ruin our entertainment!]

    Feyre stared. Why was the system so inconsistent? Either it should be emotionless or it should be weird. Why did it constantly have to be switching. Also why didn''t the 7 level ups not flood her vision? She hadn''t even said it out loud when she''d wished for the level up messages to stop. She willed for them to appear again. Nothing happened so she tried again.

    "Hmm... Wonder why sometimes it works and other times it doesn''t..."

    She well and truly wished for her notifications to pop up again yet nothing worked so she just sighed.

    "I want to see my notifications again..."

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 14.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 15.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 16.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 17.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 18.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 19.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 20.]

    [System: Stats have not changed due to E???R?????R????O??????R???? due to E???R?????R????O??????R????]

    Feyre frowned. She didn''t like the look of those error messages but that wasn''t important right now. What mattered was that she still had that unsettling feeling of being watched. Then she heard the birds chirping. This was the first time she''d heard any animals except the Tronius Minoris so instantly she was on high alert, unfortunately she no longer had a weapon like her rock since it decided to disobey the laws of physics when she threw it. She readied herself. Until she heard a thud and looked up from her screens. Somehow the corpse disappeared and where it was a single sword. She smiled under her helmet and walked forwards before pausing. She realised the bird chirping was getting closer now. It wasn''t natural. It wasn''t right. It wasn''t even in the trees. Thats when she saw the glowing eyes staring at her from in the shadows just far enough away that if she hadn''t been on high alert she''d have never seen them. She dived for the sword and picked it up, prompting another system notification.

    [System: Tutorial Wave 2 Triggered: Survive until midnight. Feyre''s alive at midnight 0/1.]

    She blanched. It didn''t look very late. Barely noon if the sun was anything to go by. She wished she had a clock on the system notifications.

    [System; Currently 11:47.]

    She frowned again. She didn''t like how it read her mind but only when she didn''t want it to. It was annoying and kind of creepy. Was someone watching her in the sky or something? Maybe that weird Neon Cat?

    [System: We aren''t watching you!]

    Feyre laughed, a borderline hysterical laugh. This was all too much. Some sort of Godlike being was controlling the system and it had the temperament of a toddler on High on Haribo. This was stupid and she hated it. But as she gripped her newfound weapon that she decided deserved a name, Claire, she realised she was automatically adjusting her grip and stance. She knew about as much about swords as most people did, hit things with the sharp bit and it does damage. She wasn''t the one who did all the research during the game making process in her past life. She didn''t like calling it that since she still felt alive, even when she was laying on the ground bleeding all over the tarmac road.

    A soft chattering reached her ears and she looked up. Across from her was a grotesque amalgamation of Ape and insect stared back. And then another joined it.

    And another...

    And another...

    And another...

    Eventually there was a small army of these weird and hideous creatures surrounding her. She doubted her sword would be enough but resigned herself to her fate.

    "Come at me you ugly freaks! Not even a mother could love those faces!"

    That garnered a whole wave of angered screeches. One of them, far bigger than the others, screeched and then all hell broke loose as they all ran forwards. Feyre smiled a small, malicious smile. This had just become interesting for her.

    She ran at them at full pelt and leapt with as much power she could muster at the biggest one, swinging her sword down in a perfect vertical as she did so.

 {Chapter - 4} Useless system. A horde is attacking!

    Feyre

    Steel met steel. Feyre pushed back and landed on one of the smaller things, making a splattering sound as her armoured boot went through its skull with a crunch and squelch. A deafening scream attacked her ears fro all sides and the big one grinned. She hadn''t seen it before but it was holding some crude malformed thing slightly akin to a Kopesh which it had used to deflect her assault. She cursed and Went for a low blow against the nearest small one. She decided then that names should be given for her easier differentiation. Antapelings would be the small ones while the larger ones. if there were more than one, would be Antapes. She snickered to herself at her lack of creativity and tried to ignore the mass amounts of filth covering her from head to toe now.

    As if on queue rain started lightly and pitifully pattering down. She made a horizontal slash to her left, ripping through flesh, muscle and bone to tear through the Antapeling that had approached her. She doubted she''d survive very long if they attacked as one but, as far as she could tell, They were only going to attack in pairs at most no matter how many she killed. She ran forwards again, ignoring a couple system messages that had, thankfully, only taken up a corner of her vision before she dismissed them with a thought. Her sword was death and she was a disaster. The cries of outrage from the Antapelings soon turned to agony or just cut off as she tore through their numbers one by one, painstakingly slow.

    She kept at it for hours. Hours and hours were spent hacking and slashing, one attack usually meaning one kill and yet she could never find respite enough to go for the Antape. Feyre was confused about many things as she let her instincts guide her and her blade into the super soft flesh of the Antapes. She had assumed, when realising they were part insect, that they''d be some sort of coordinated hive mind. Fortunately that was not the case and so, she was stuck in place not making any progress despite her attempts to reach the Antape and maybe put a stop to this madness. She was still confused even after pondering for a while. Were these things weak or was she strong? She wasn''t particularly fast with her sword movements, nor particularly skilled if the nagging feeling in her brain was anything to go by. Every now and again she''d try to think about her swordsmanship and not just solely rely on instinct and it never worked, she always ended up failing to block or dodge or something and then be wrenched back into her head by her skill.

    This useless system... How are my stats 0 if I''m cleaving through this horde like that "1000 degree knife through butter" video? Honestly that stupid Neon Cat... why if i ever see it again i oughtta...

    Feyre was taken from her inner monologue by a sudden shift in the Horde''s mentality. Instead of one at a time she was now facing a few of them at once and sometimes even a quintuplet worth of enemies lunged at her shrieking in their creepy and livid sounding rasps and chitters. She hacked and slashed nonetheless, the gore and guts splattered on her and the ground as their bodies fell around her almost creating a mound. She was still confused about how easy it was to just cut them in twain but she didn''t want it to stop so didn''t think on it too hard. Now that she was fighting a few at a time she saw she was making progress towards the Antape. Wading through the small sea of blood coagulating at her feet Feyre moved with the purpose and speed of a mantis, striking and then moving forwards. Sometimes she slew a multitude of Antapelings in one swing and other times only one.

    Eventually she reached the Antape. Now that she got a closer look that makeshift blade was definitely some malformed Kopesh. Feyre didn''t know much about Ancient Egypt but she thought she remembered something on the best way to bypass a Kopesh. She raised her sword and breathed. All other things such as pain and morality became obsolete, inconsequential, irrelevant...

    <hr>

    Antape

    It looked at its adversary. It didn''t know how this flesh-metal-thing was tearing through its children like leaves but it knew that the Great One wanted the flesh-metal-thing dead. After seeing that nothing its babies were doing was effective it had decided to do this itself. At least now the Great One might give it a mate to make more of its babies with if it wins. It stalked forwards and clicked its mandibles together in joy, also tasting the air. The flesh-metal-thing was good but she wasn''t as experienced in combat. Just as the Great One had informed it. It screeched to intimidate the flesh-metal-thing and rushed forwards going for some simple but fast attacks in order to test the flesh-metal-thing''s guard. The flesh-metal-thing barely moved as she easily blocked everything. It was surprised, the flesh-metal-thing shouldn''t have been capable of that level of skill. It looked its murder-prey, the flesh-metal-thing, in the eye sockets and its eyes widened. Why had the flesh-metal-thing''s eyes changed? This wasn''t right. The flesh-metal-thing had eyes akin to the Great One. The flesh-metal-thing was not meant to have cruel eyes. The Great One had said it should be inexperienced and inept and that this should be an easy win for it. Had the Great One been wrong? No. The Great One was never wrong, the flesh-metal-thing truly was inexperienced and inept... but the Great One had not mentioned it made up for this in other ways. The malicious gaze the flesh-metal-thing gave it shook it to its core. Why was it scared? Not even Tronius Minoris'' went after it, after all why would they risk the ire of the Great One? It screeched again, ear splitting and terrifying. The flesh-metal-thing stepped back. This was good. The flesh-metal-thing had realised its place. Then it saw itself shiver.

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    Then it saw itself freeze.

    Then it saw the flesh-metal-thing running.

    Then it saw no more...

    <hr>

    Feyre

    Feyre shook her head and looked around. The Antapelings were all very quiet now. They just stared at her before running off in all directions, leaving her alone once more in the clearing. She frowned at the corpse. The Antape hadn''t even tried to fight back. It had a few slow attacks earlier but otherwise it just jumped back and accepted its fate. Feyre didn''t understand but also didn''t really care anymore. She allowed her system notifications through again.

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 21.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 22.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 23.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 24.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 25.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 26.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 27.]

    [System: You have leveled up! You are now Level 28.]

    [System: Tutorial Hidden Quest Completed Kill the Chimera Ape Brood Progenitor 1/1. Tutorial Quest 2/5. P.S Good Job scary lady... Urgh i can never remember the right system messages.]

    [CHARACTER]

    [Name: Feyre Agrifiti]

    [Level: 28]

    [Class: D????e?????v?????e??????l????o?????p?????e?????r???]

    [Abilities: Acting {0}, Coding {0}, Swordplay{0}]

    [STATS]

    [Strength: 0]

    [Athletics: 0]

    [Flexibility: 0]

    [Mana Potential: O?????v?????e???????r???????f????l??????o???w??? ???E??????r?????r??????o?????r???????]

    [Mana: 0]

    [Perception: 0]

    [ACHIEVEMENTS]

    [OtherWorld Hero: 0% bonus to D??????e????v?????e?????l???????o?????p?????m??????e???????n?????t?????? ????a??????b???i????l????i????t??????i??????e??????s???]

    [Completer Of Quests: 0% bonus to D??????e????v?????e?????l???????o?????p?????m??????e???????n?????t?????? ????a??????b???i????l????i????t??????i??????e??????s???]

    [Secret Finder: 0% bonus to XP gained]

    [QUESTS]

    [Defeat Demon King: 1/1]

    [Survive (The Tutorial)]

    Feyre groaned. What sort of incompetence was the system made with? How come it was so inconsistent? She frowned and glared at her staus screen. Why was everything zeroes was yet another thing she was asking herself over and over in her mind as she sat. She scanned her status screen again and sighed.

    "So I''m missing not only some sort of HP but also any levels on my stats? Incompetent system manager AI... The devs should just quit..."

    She reaches the end of her status and growls. It had changed her quests. Survive now had the addendum of (The Tutorial) so she guessed she''d done something deserving a hint. She stared for what felt like hours trying to work out what the glitches or errors or whatever they were actually said. Her eyes seemed to try and automatically avert when she tried looking at them so she eventually gave up. Her breaths were deep and slow and it took her a while before realising all the bodies and guts strewn across the grass was gone. Instead there lay a shield where the mound of corpses lay and a bow where the Antape was slain. She barked out a harsh laugh as she looked at them.

    "So... if i pick these up will the next stage of the tutorial begin? Hey System! I want to skip to the final boss! I''m bored!"

    She picked up the shield first, just in case and then the bow which she instantly unstrung and put in her belt like a very bad sheath.

    pop

    Feyre was in a cave. It was dark but she saw it for what it was. If anyone had seen her face at that moment they might have wished they were wearing their brown pants. Her grin stretched wide and she raised her shield arm and sword ready for whatever was attempting to hide in the darkness.

 {Chapter - 5} Slicing Shadows. Whispers that attempt to stay hidden.

    Stalking Huntsman

    The Huntsman was happy. Very very happy. The Great One had promised him a Strong-Thing to devour later but now it was here early. The Great One was always so considerate of the Huntsman. The Great One was truly the only being the Huntsman accepted was better than him. The Strong-Thing had appeared and instantly landed in range for the Huntsman''s favourite skill. The [Madness] Had already been used so soon enough the Strong-Thing would be raving mad and an easy morsel. The metal looked tough to chew but the Huntsman was certain it would be worth it after just a brief look through [Mana Eyes]. It grinned and used [Whisper] to talk into the Strong-Thing''s mind.

    "Welcome to... the darkness Strong-Thing..."

    It grinned as the Strong-Thing stepped back and said something. Unfortunately for the Strong-Thing whatever language it was speaking was completely irrelevant. The Huntsman''s so called ''speech'' is the System''s crude portrayal of its more obvious thoughts. It had no concept of language and the Great One had always used images to communicate telepathically. The Huntsman stalked to to wall to the left of the Strong-Thing, awaiting the usual noises that made its heart warm. Those high pitched, often times long and desperate, noises were the cause of the nice feeling the Huntsman got all over itself.

    The Strong-Thing however, didn''t make that sweet, sweet melody. It made short and loud sounds in a burst before sucking in a breath and doing it again. It must''ve been a skill since the temperature around the Huntsman dropped without seeming to drop. The Huntsman''s hairs were standing on end, its hair follicles rising slightly along with it. It had an unknown feeling in its stomach that it had never felt before. It would have to ask the Great One after it has snacked on this morsel. It stalked closer to the Strong-Thing and prepared to strike at the softest bit it could see, just under the Strong-Thing''s shoulder and above the metal bits on the torso all the way around.

    The Strong-Thing turned. The Strong-Thing wasn''t hurried, not at all. The Strong-Thing lazily raised its shield and managed to block its attack.

    That wasn''t right.

    That was one of the quickest attacks in the Huntsman''s arsenal. The Strong-Thing had been calm and yet so fast that the Huntsman hadn''t even registered that it was doing something until after the fact by using [Hunter''s Memory]. The Huntsman growled and leapt back before dashing to the right and lunging.

    <hr>

    Feyre

    She scowled at the beast. It was messing with her. Why was it deliberately slowing itself down so much? It''s going at a snails pace so she is trying to match it as best she can. She even disabled her weird sword play ability to deal with it hoping it''d be a challenge but again the System lied to her. It seems to think she''s some child or whatever because everything it sent at her thusfar hasn''t really been up to standard. She''d enjoyed the Antape fight while it lasted but the Antape gave up after a few attacks so she barely got anything from it. She sighed and raised her sword slowly to face the beast.

    She shook her head. It was disgusting to look at; matted fur with all manner of disgusting things staining it in places, and horrible to smell as well; the lingering smell of wet dog and excrement followed it like a plague. Feyre wondered if it even knew it smelled so bad and whether its whole sneak thing ever actually worked because her nose felt molested by the stench. It went in for another attack, and went almost miserably slow again. Feyre raised her shield and held her breath as it drew close. She almost felt bad for it.

    She raised her sword and slashed. The thing attacking her managed to barely dodge even though it moved stupidly slow. Feyre was getting fed up but even a cursory glance around the place revealed at least 40 magical looking insignia on the stone floor. She wasn''t keen to find out what these things did and so didn''t move at all except to block the sloppy attacks of the thing attacking her.

    When she''d entered the arena through the system teleport thing she''d been excited to fight it. It had looked ferocious and dangerous. Instead it was... slow. Slow and sloppy. Its attacks were lack lustre and while she could feel intent behind them they were weak. She sighed and casually swiped her sword at it.

    <hr>

    Stalking Huntsman

    The Huntsman was becoming desperate. It was going as fast as the [Dash Attack] skill could take it and yet the Strong-Thing was easily predicting and blocking what it used to think were impossible to dodge attacks. It would have words with the Great One later. So many things were weird about this Strong=Thing and it was no longer 100% sure that fighting the Strong-Thing was worth the effort, The vast amounts of mana it held wasn''t much more than the Huntsman had used on skills trying to defeat it. It rushed in and attacked with all its might.

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    That proved almost fatal.

    A sliver of steel flashed before the Huntsman and then its arm exploded in pain. the screech it let out was one it didn''t know it had in its repertoire. It was a screech of such agonising pain that the Strong-Thing stepped back. The Strong-Thing looked down at the Huntsman and it saw the Strong-Thing''s eyes beneath the metal carapace it seemed to have. Those eyes were cruel. Those eyes were not one of a prey, they were eyes of something like the Huntsman.

    One who fights

    One who kills.

    One who enjoys.

    The Huntsman stepped back and the Strong-Thing stepped forwards.

    The Strong-Thing raised its arm.

    The Huntsman cursed the Great One for its lies. Why hadn''t it warned the Huntsman of the danger?

    The Strong-Thing made a couple noises from its mouth.

    <hr>

    Feyre

    "I am sorry it ended like this for you... pitiful thing..."

    She wrenched her arm down and the thing cowering in front of her fell back. Feyre was annoyed at how easy these supposedly hard trials were. She then had an epiphony as she felt her movements restrict slghtly as the bow got in the way. She looked at her unstrung bow at her waist and shook her head. She realised all too late that she was meant to use that to kill the thing or something.

    [System: Congratulations! You not only found the hidden skip option but won against a foe almost 30 levels above you without using the weapon meant to be used against it!]

    [System: Tutorial Ended. 3/3 trials completed. Since you completed the Hidden Quest ''Kill the Stalking Huntsman without your bow'' 1/1 you will be rewarded.]

    [System: P.S: What was that? How were you so much faster than the thing? You''re not a [Hacker] are you? No... the system wouldn''t be nice to a [Hacker]...]

    Feyre looked at the messages and laughed for the second time since she had died. The ridiculousness of it all was certainly unexpected. First of all, she was painfully aware these fights should have been a lot longer than they were, taking almost 12 hours in terms of the Antape and Antapelings quest. Secondly, she was thoroughly bemused by whoever or whatever was behind the system. Their incompetence truly knew no bounds and she almost felt bad for anyone who had to clean up their mistakes. If he was an admin or something he was definitely an intern or extremely new to the field.

    "I assure you no ''hacking'' went on as far as I''m aware System."

    She tried appeasing it by talking but when no reply came she sighed. She was left in the arena just standing there for a while before a System Message finally popped up in front of her again.

    [System: Levels being applied in one fell swoop. You level too efficiently so I had to edit the entire system, lots of work but at least you haven''t abused the mistakes. Also I reworked your status screen because it obviously hit a [Glitch] or [Error]. Please bare in mind this isn''t actually your stats or skills and just my rough estimation since your whole being is just a walking [Error] if the System Logs are to be believed. Thank you for your understanding Miss Feyre. Administrator #138]

    Feyre recoiled slightly at this obviously different person behind the system. She wanted to say voice but she didn''t necessarily hear the, now 2, people so she just stuck with people. She was glad that Incompetent Voice at least had a partner to work with when it came to their mistakes. She was wondering how her new status screen would appear when she was barraged with a few sperate screens which she admittedly preferred now.

    [System: You have leveled up to Level 42! Congratulations.]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Feyre]

    [User Level: 41

    [User Health Points: ~1.5k/~1.5k]

    [User Mana Points: ~10k/~10k]

    Feyre smiled at the estimates. She didn''t know the global average but she bet it wasn''t as high as hers. Especially if this was Eurani as the Neon Cat had said

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: ~40]

    [Speed: ~20 ]

    [Intuition: ~40]

    [Charisma: ~35]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Sword Instinct: Lvl 5 (Max)]

    [Acting: Lvl 12]

    [Mana Manipulation (Through Writing): Lvl 5]

    [Archery: Lvl 1]

    [Skills]

    [Strong-armed Throw]

    [Devastating Slash]

    [Impenetrable Defense]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Titan Slayer: Unknown Effect]

    [OtherWorld Hero: Unknown Effect]

    [Completer Of Quests - 1: 20% increase to Quest related level progress]

    [Shooting Star: Unknown Effect]

    [System: Current Quests]

    [N/A]

    [System: Completed Quests]

    [Defeat Demon King]

    [Survive Tutorial]

    All of this was obviously very valuable to Feyre. She now had numbers to go by and might be able to track rough estimates of progress. She was still a bit sad that the tutorial wasn''t as cliched as she had hoped, taking her a very long time to complete. None of her battles had been very long in the end and she felt bad for the Administrators who she now knew had to rework the entire system just because of her. Then the feeling bad went away as it dawned on her that the Neon Cat might be one, in which case she hoped it was as difficult as possible.

 {Chapter - 6} Better look at the Gear. What a clich茅d forest.

    Feyre

    She read through all her system messages and smiled at the new level. It was a large jump in levels. She did wonder why everything had to be approximated but decided against judging the Administrator and to look around the arena.

    She had barely moved a couple feet when she noticed her most recent victim, something the system had called Stalking Huntsman, glow slightly before disappearing into a cloud of shining dust. Feyre thought it was quite pretty as she watched it flow upwards and through the ceiling of the arena, which she only just realised was a cavern. Everything was so bright and the air so fresh, except for when the Huntsman got close, that she''d assumed it was daytime and she was outside. She frowned at the ceiling and then looked back down to where the body used to be. Like with every other ''major'' enemy she''d fought after it disappeared it left something behind. It was a small scroll tightly bound with string.

    Feyre walked towards it and picked it up. It felt warm in her hand. Not unlike how a filament bulb would feel after a few minutes of being on. The fact she could feel it through the gauntlet meant she instantly assumed it was something of magical origin, which if she was being honest she kind of assumed everything she had on her right now was as well at this point.

    She carefully unwrapped the string holding the scroll closed and unfurled it. The warmth grew to an almost unbearable level but Feyre persisted Perhaps out of stubbornness or perhaps out of curiosity, she wasn''t sure why. Yet still she unfurled it until the heat felt like it might burn off her hands... and then it stopped.

    No pain.

    No heat.

    Just a scroll unfurled in her hands.

    She looked at its contents and before her mind could comprehend what was on it the system affronted her eyes yet again.

    [System: You have learnt the skill [Indentify] at max level from [Accursed Scroll of the Great One].]

    Feyre jumped back, throwing the scroll as it burst into flames and disappeared into ash. She scowled at where she was holding it earlier.

    Damn Scroll... What does Identify even mea-

    [System: Skill: [Identify] used on [Iftani Gauntlet].]

    [Iftani Gauntlet: A gauntlet used by the Iftani Theocracy''s Inquisitors. They''re as rare as a diamond in a homeless man''s house ever since the Great Purge of 367.]

    Feyre read it and then sighed. She hoped this wouldn''t make her a target for anyone who sees her but at the same time she was happy to learn there''s civilisation somewhere in the world.

    "Wish the system gave me a prompt rather than just identifying... Oh! I bet I can identify living things too now!"

    She looked around for anything living but couldn''t find a single being. She sighed and looked at her sword.

    [System: Request Acknowledged: Identify Item? Y/N]

    After nodding her head and pressing the Y with her finger the screen fizzled out and the identify screen popped up.

    [System: Skill: [Identify] used on [Iftani Bastard Sword].]

    [Iftani Bastard Sword: A sword oftentimes used by Iftani Theocracy Inquisition rank of Lieutenants before the Great Purge of 367. As sharp as a max level Bard''s tongue and often used to cut those off]

    Feyre laughed again at the description. It wasn''t very useful but knowing that she probably looks like a fully kitted out Iftani Inquisitor was simultaneously amusing and frightening. Looking at her armour again she pays more attention to the details such as the blue dragon on her right pauldron''s fabric covering and on a small shield shaped piece of hardened leather attached to her belt. It was cool to look at but probably gave her away far more than she would have liked. She didn''t know if it was seen as heresy to remove these symbols however so left them there just in case so that she wasn''t attacked by any potential Iftanians she meets. She focuses on other bits of her armour.

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    [System: Identify Items? Y/N]

    Feyre pressed Y again and waited for the next few popups.

    [System: Skill: [Identify] used on [Iftani Helm], [Iftani Cowl], [Iftani Greaves], [Iftani Pauldrons], [Iftani Symbol], [Iftani Chestplate], [Iftani Vambraces].]

    [Iftani Helm: A full face helm used by Iftani Inquisitor Lieutenants and higher. Usually covered by the purple [Iftani Cowl].]

    [Iftani Cowl: A purple cowl and Tabard combo signifying an Iftani Inquisitor who specialises in Heretical Monsters. Very cool looking, many inquisitors like it for that.]

    [Iftani Greaves: They''re Greaves used by Iftani Inquisitors. Many weapons and limbs have been broken from hitting them too hard.]

    [Iftani Pauldrons: Classic shoulder protection used by Iftani Inquisitors that deal with Heresy Outside of the Temples. Some have spikes added for more effective shoulder bashes.]

    [Iftani Symbol: A Blue dragon head, believed to be what The System looks like if it ever comes down to Eurani. An inquisitor is legally required to have 2 of these on them at all times while on duty.]

    [Iftani Chestplate: Full body chestplate only Iftani Inquisitors above Acolyte rank are allowed to wear. An Inquisitor who gets honourably discharged is permitted to keep them.]

    [Iftani vambraces: Vambraces that can be connected to [Iftani Gauntlets] to get even more arm protection. Used the most by Iftani Inquisitors who use a sword.]

    Feyre read through the descriptions of her different pieces of her armour. She was kind of hoping for some sort of status screen for them but decided she could probably tell how they were doing without stats. She looked over all the descriptions and made some guesses. She''s wearing a Lieutenants Armour from the Iftani Inquisition and has the sword to match. It seems this Theocracy worships ''The System'' as a God and is quite brutal. She doesn''t know what year it is currently but at some point there was a Great Purge of some kind that resulted in the Inquisition being rarer. Perhaps some sort of civil war or internal conflict. Although it could also be that a bunch of [Heretics] formed a really powerful group that killed a lot of Inquisitors. Then again it might be that the Purge was just the Church demoting a bunch of inactive inquisitors so there''s significantly less of them now. Feyre shook her head, that was a problem for the future and right now she needed to get out of the Cavern Arena.

    A bright light flooded her vision.

    She scrunched her eyes shut.

    When they opened again she was in a Forest, sitting against a tree right next to a path in the middle of a dense forest. She heard things she hadn''t heard since before she died. She heard crickets, birds and other small fauna. It was quite serene where she sat, so she sat for a while. Feyre closed her eyes and sleep took her like a plague.

    She awoke and instantly something was off. There was no light anymore so it was obviously night. The crickets had stopped and the birds too, this was less weird as she hadn''t expected many nocturnal birds anyway. Then she heard the howl and sighed. She got to her feet and picked up her bow and strung it. She pulled back on the string once to test that the string was taught enough and then almost dropped the bow as an arrow formed right before her eyes, a faint glowing blue hue surrounding it. She quickly got over her shock as the first wolf appeared before her on the path. It was giant as far as wolves went, far above her waist and almost at her Solar Plexus at its highest point. Something was dripping from its mouth but Feyre didn''t care to check if it was spittle or blood.

    She raised her bow and loosed the arrow she''d created. It struck true and made a small cylindrical hole right through the wolf''s gargantuan foreleg just like the rock had when she''d fought the Tronius Minoris only a day or two ago. It growled and glowed slightly red and Feyre watched in shock as it healed itself at rapid speeds. She scowled and tried using Identify.

    [System: Identify Creature? Y/N]

    Feyre punched where the Y was and waited with bated breath.

    [System: Skill: [Identify] used on [Dire Wolf Tank].]

    [Dire Wolf Tank: A Beast ranging from 1 meter to 1 and a half meters in height it is often the Apex Predator. The Dire Wolf is known for its [Obsidian Hide] that shatters normal swords and its regeneration is lesser only than a [Troll] or a [Flesh Mancer].]

    "Flesh Mancer? Sounds ominous..."

    Feyre snorted and pulled back the string again, another arrow appearing nocked and ready to be loosed into the growling behemoth. As she steadied her breath the Dire Wolf tensed its hulking frame readying itself for a pounce. Feyre saw this and loosed an arrow as it launched itself at her, rolling to the side. She silently cursed whatever part of The System that decided she would fight the Apex of Apex predators as soon as she exited the Tutorial. Luckily for her it didn''t seem quite fast enough to catch her unless she made a mistake so she hopped backwards, nocking yet another arrow even as the previous one''s wound closed itself.

    The Dire Wolf turned and howled. Its already slightly glowing red eyes brightened and Feyre swore that its muscled doubled. She looked at her sword at her side and gritted her teeth, quickly slinging her bow over her torso and drawing it and sinking into her stance. She breathed slowly and focused on the dire Wolf''s tells before it pounced, its claws the size of her hand swiping at her and its maw wide open and headed straight for her head.

    Feyre brought her sword down with as much force as she could muster.

 {Chapter - 7} Time to get serious. A wild Merchant Caravan appears.

    Feyre

    The sword struck the Dire Wolf as she screamed in rage, vaguely aware the force of her strike would be what The System called [Devastating Slash]. It lived up to its name, at leas for Feyre. The Dire Wolf''s jaw basically disappeared in a cloud of red mist and droplets that splattered over her helmet and chest plate. Its legs were eviscerated as well, mangled stumps all that remained before the healing factor kicked in and both things, jaw and legs, regrew at record pace. She grunted in surprise as she looked at the ground below where she''d hit the Dire Wolf. The ground was completely shattered and an idea began to formulate.

    The Dire Wolf had backed up as far as it feasibly could as it regenerated. Feyre thought she saw it slightly less rippling and powerful when it came to the muscles as she looked. Thousands of ideas went through her head and she silently scolded herself for not realising something like that level of regeneration definitely has drawbacks. It likely uses up stored energy to regenerate, all Feyre had to do was damage it over and over until it runs out of energy. She nodded and hastily raised her shield as the Dire Wolf had lunged while she was doing an internal monologue.

    No respect nowadays. Usually things let others monologue in a fight... guess this isn''t only cliches even if there''s way too many.

    Feyre was forced back a couple feet as the mass of the massive Dire Wolf slammed into her shield. She had no delusions that if that got her directly it might be the end. She was quite worried about her lack of awareness just now. She couldn''t afford to be caught off guard. Unlike the Dire Wolf she didn''t have a healing factor. She quickly slashed at it as soon as she regained her footing but it leapt out of the way deftly landing on its feet about 20 feet away. Feyre''s lips curled downwards and she readied her sword again preparing for another lunge attack as the Dire Wolf had proven its appreciation of through continuous use. She didn''t believe for a second it didn''t have the capabilities to do more than just swipe at her, flailing about like a toddler throwing a tantrum, but also didn''t want to complain too much. This was by far the most fun she''d had since her death and probably before.

    The battle between the Dire Wolf and her went on for a while longer. She hacked and slashed at every opportunity. More often than not scoring deep gashes or even dismemberments which the Dire Wolf just instantly recovered from. She could''ve sworn it was smaller now. That healing factor definitely had a downside and if it meant that its attacks were weaker she would not be complaining about it any time soon. She wanted a fun challenge, not to court death. She decided to take the initiative again, dashing in as fast as she can and getting a clean, sweeping arc of her sword rising at an angle to cut through as many necessary organs as possible in the Dire Wolf. It was a clean cut, as all of her cuts had been, it obliterated most of the body it touched but still it was recovered from almost immediately.

    Feyre thought that, perhaps, the regeneration had slowed slightly but without proof she just continued with her dance of evade, dodge, block, counter and repeat. It worked exceedingly well. The Dire Wolf seemed almost pitiable to her. It was not through lack of trying that it hadn''t landed a single direct hit on her. She quickly tried to go for a beheading and that was when she noticed something strange. For the first time the Dire Wolf actually attempted to dodge and failed. Well sort of failed. The sword bit deep into it''s jugular but the Dire Wolf had moved enough for it to lose all momentum against it and become trapped.

    She tried wrenching it out but the Dire Wolf''s regeneration speed meant it was constantly restricted in movement and its thrashing about meant she couldn''t get a good grip and base in order to pull it out. Feyre scowled and let go of her sword, and put her shield up again as the Dire Wolf''s clawed monstrosity of a paw slammed into her, knocking her away.

    She landed on her feet although only barely. This Dire Wolf truly was the first thing that gave her a real struggle and she shook her head trying to control her face to erase her joyful grin. It wasn''t proper to do this to her enemies. They deserve some respect.They might be unthinking monsters but they had feelings too. At least before she killed them. She shook her head and slammed her shield into the Dire Wolf for a change. It was sent careening off into a tree and she heard a crunch. Feyre looked at her shield and saw no scratches even after the beating it must''ve taken in the fight.

    The Dire Wolf got up, already healed. Feyre was getting worn out but the Dire Wolf also seemed pretty tired so she pushed through it. A well placed punch landed straight on its snout and it body slammed her in retaliation, knocking her off her feet and into a vulnerable position to be in against many enemy let alone one such as this. She whipped a leg out, the sheer force of blunt impact sending the Dire Wolf flying backwards and into the ground. It whimpered for the first time and the damage dealt took significantly longer to heal.

    Feyre saw this and nodded to herself. She assumed her hypothesis on the energy taken to regenerate being able to wear it down as more of a fact now. She glanced at the sword still poking out of its throat tantalisingly. It begged her to pull it out but she knew it''d be a futile effort. She struggled to her knees and propped herself against a tree, seeing the wolf also slowly getting up. She distantly heard an irregular sound akin to a carriage from some Jane Austen adaptation. She chuckled and shook her head at the absurdity. No one would willingly drive a carriage anywhere near this thing. Unless they were so powerful that this sort of strength was pitiful. In which case she really didn''t want to get too involved in case the member of inquisition she was meant to be a playing the part of while wearing this armour is meant to be more powerful than she is currently. That was a scary thought to have and somehow distracted her from the hulking Dire Wolf in front of her long enough for it to recover it''s footing and prepare another attack.

    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    Feyre did a once over of the beast and shook her head again for what felt like the 30th time today. Her vision was slightly blurry but she paid no heed to her leaking eyes. Any dust that was kicked up from the altercations had settled, either on the ground or on one of the combatants. There was a tensing of muscles from both sides as one planned to make a move and the other attempted to anticipate it. Then Feyre heard the rolling wheels of the carriage she had dismissed earlier as not real getting ever closer and decided she''d try to end this as quickly as possible. No point getting innocents wrapped up in this even if it might be a breeze for them.

    She tried identifying the Dire Wolf again.

    [System: Identify Creature? Y/N]

    She jabbed her finger into the Y and willed it to show stats instead of a description.

    [System: Stats: Dire Wolf HP: 1943/2100.]

    [System: Stats: Dire Wolf Mana: 2/589.]

    [System: Status: Dire Wolf Alignment: Monsters.]

    [System: Through ingenious use of the skill [Identify] a new skill has been unlocked. You are now able to use [Universal Status] on any creature with a [Status] from [The System].]

    Feyre''s eyes widened in surprise at the fact she could now do this. It wasn''t as in depth as her own status screen but it was certainly worth it for quick checks. Also the new skill offered by the system is the first time she reckons she got something not from the Administrators directly and the System wasn''t just being broken and buggy. Not so useless after all. She smiled knowingly at the Dire Wolf, it was not unreasonable to her to assume it healed through using Mana and was therefore not going to be healing nearly as much, if at all, now.

    Seems like I won this War of Attrition...

    Feyre smirks as she dashes forwards and drives her shield down into it before it has any reasonable time to react. It wasn''t a kill but Feyre saw it only partially healed itself from this and quickly strafed to the side to get a better grip on the handle of her sword still just poking out of its throat.

    With a strong heave she finally yanks it out and jumps backwards a few feet as the Dire Wolf flails around, its blood splattering out and onto the ground in what could only be described as a small torrent. She sighed and for the second time today went for an overhead swing that the system obviously thought was [Devastating Slash]. The Dire Wolf stopped flailing and instead fell sideways. Sideways both ways as it was cut vertically down the line by Feyre''s sword. As Feyre dealt the final blow she heard the unmistakable sound of shouting from behind her and saw the Carriage that had just crested a small peak in the nearby road. Said road carried on for a bit until where Feyre and the Dire Wolf had fought which was shattered and decimated like some sort of small explosive ordinance was dropped there.

    "Oi! What in [The System] happened to the road!?"

    A burly looking man in semi plate and a helmet covering his face was walking a bit ahead of the carriage along with a smaller man in leathers and cloak also covering the majority of his feature. Fianlly a woman in some sort of amalgamation of mail and leather was a bit further behind and closer to the Carriage. The man wielded in his hands an ornate looking Great Axe almost the size of Feyre, the smaller man had a Japanese looking short sword/dagger that Feyre recalled was called a Tanto as well as a more European looking dagger in his other hand. Meanwhile the woman held a Long bow and had a quiver of arrows at her waist. The three saw Feyre and her weapons, tensing and calling for the carriage to stop gruffly. As it did so they raised their weapons a bit more and started approaching.

    Suddenly a rotund, wealthy looking man with mousy brown hair and a pleasant smile on his face opened a door to the carriage and popped out.

    <hr>

    Tyrril

    He heard a gruff order for his carriage to stop from Karrlund and Emrik. This was not usual so he decided to investigate for himself. He trusted the three Gold Plate Adventurers he''d hired to not make any rash decisions but was still slightly cynical about adventurer guild adventurers'' knowledge of threats in this part of the region so decided to see what the hold up was. What he saw shocked him and also made him curse his choice in guards, if only briefly. An Inquisitor. Not just any Inquisitor either, but a lieutenant and his guards must not have seen the symbols through all the blood and were acting in a threatening manner towards her. Looking past her he blanched. Behind her was what could be called nothing short of a natural disaster. Well it would be called that if it still lived. Borderline immortal, Dire Wolf Tanks are things that it may take entire adventurer groups where all 10 members are at the Diamond rank minimum.

    "Inquisitor! It is an honour for one as humble as myself to meet one of your esteemed holiness..."

    His voice carried true and obviously his guards paused at this. Even the Inquisitor seemed minorly surprised that he recognised her, which was fair since they were as rare as snow in the Agathi Desert nowadays and especially this far east of the Iftani Theocracy.

    The Inquisitor seemed to be in a good mood however as she didn''t immediately attack the guards who had borne such unadulterated offense towards her. Tyrril was pleased, they were idiots but he had grown fond of this small band consisting of Karrlund, Emrik and Pavolia. Then she did something he didn''t expect.

    "Ah, none of the formalities please. I tire of such drivel."

    The Inquisitor waved her hand dismissively and turned back to her kill, walking over to it and inspecting it.

    "Where are you lot headed then?"

    Tyrril frowned. Inquisitors only asked that if they were about to commandeer a carriage...

 {Chapter - 8} Catching a Ride. No one expected the Iftani Inquisition.

    Feyre

    She stood, slightly bewildered at the hostility almost palpable from the three armed and armoured people in contrast to the nervousness and boot-licking reaction from the small rotund guy that stepped out of the carriage when it stopped. She was further surprised when he''d recognised her as an Inquisitor but maybe The System was outdated. It could be she''s in the Iftani Theocracy right now but from the lack of reaction that the 3 guards the carriage gave it seemed it wasn''t the case. She had dismissed him when he was all formal with her automatically, realising afterwards she might not have been supposed to do that as he looked surprised.

    She shook her head slightly and walked over to her kill, the Dire Wolf still lay perfectly still but she didn''t want to take chances incase it can revive itself from the dead or some other overused clich��. Feyre wasn''t really bothered by the carriage but realised she didn''t know where they''re going. If it was to a small town or village she could hitch a ride or at least hop on for a bit if they were to head towards a city. Feyre realised it was probably pointless trying to avoid large cities and also might be counter intuitive if she wished to live a good life since she assumed that if Inquisitors had to fight things like that Dire Wolf that they''d get paid a really good wage. As she pondered this she asked the merchant where he''s headed to in a slightly deeper voice than usual, just in case she ever has to ditch the armour it''d be so they can''t find her out by her voice.

    "So... You alive over there?"

    She asked after about 30 seconds of silence. That seemed to snap the rotund one out of his stupour and he quickly nodded.

    "Yes yes... Alive and well... I was trying to work out where we''ll be heading since the road is blocked by a crater... N-Not that I fault you for anything of course!"

    "Of course... Anyway are your guards relatively strong?"

    Feyre looks at the guards and tries the new [Skill] she unlocked on the burliest.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Karrlund ]

    [User Level: 27]

    [User Health Points: 574/600]

    [User Mana Points: 50/50]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 27]

    [Speed: 15 ]

    [Intuition: 34]

    [Charisma: 8]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Swordplay: Lvl 8]

    [Greatsword Wielding: Lvl 11]

    [Archery: Lvl 3]

    [Skills]

    [Strengthen Self]

    [Unwavering Resolve]

    [Minor Identify]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Gold Rank Adventurer: 20% bonus to XP]

    Feyre cocked her head to the side looking at him. His strength was good for his level, as far as she could tell. She was wondering why they looked so afraid of the Dire Wolf, if they had worked together she thought they could probably do it. Feyre was of course not going to antagonise them or bring it up in case Inquisitors aren''t meant to be very talkative. She didn''t know if perhaps they were shocked because she had spoken. Whatever the case she walked over to him and pointed at one side of the carriage.

    "Lift when I say."

    <hr>

    Karrlund

    He was shaking slightly. The Inquisitor had seemingly forgiven his preparing to attack her and now wanted him to do something as she approached. She looked up at him after asking if there was anyone strong. Didn''t that mean she thought he was strong? He knew that he couldn''t compare to an Inquisitor but even just her inferred acknowledgement was enough to make him beam, internally of course, he couldn''t show his weaknesses to one as lofty as the Inquisitor. He refused to let her down, he would lift with everything he got to even get an offhand comment''s worth of praise. He decided to activate his best skill for the job.

    [System: Skill: [Strengthen Self] used. Strength attribute risen by 4.]

    The skill made his muscles bulge slightly, while many increased their strength stat through stat points he had done it the better way, he had trained so much that they increased by themselves. It meant that on average his stats per level were better than most, unless it was a scholar. He thought scholars were awesome, ranking up through finding out the secrets of the universe, while all hi friends had gone out into the wider world to become adventurers he had always wanted to be a scholar. It wasn''t to be however since he wasn''t overly gifted or intelligent. He decided to only spend stat points on Intelligence so he could one day be a [Battle Scholar], training every other stat so much that they rose on their own.

    He reached the carriage and bent into a good deadlift position in order to start lifting when she said. He heard her voice clearly even though it should definitely have been muffled by the carriage.

    "Alright, Karrlund, Lift on my command."

    He nodded and prepared himself and then stopped. How did she know his name? Don''t Inquisitors only know the name of potential allies or potential heretics? He hadn''t commit heresy to the System, well he didn''t think he had, and he didn''t think he was strong enough to be an Inquisitor. Maybe she''d heard his name from one of the others? He pondered for a second or two until her voice reached him again.

    "Alright, lift!"

    <hr>

    Pavolia

    She froze almost as soon as she heard the Inquisitor say Karrlund''s name. Had she accidentally dragged these poor souls into her heresy? She started shaking but the Inquisitor had either made a slip up or... Was she considering Karrlund for Inquisitor status? That would be wonderful! If only it didn''t mean he''d be someone hunting her down for Heresy as soon as he finished training, or whatever it was Inquisitors undergo. She hated herself for it now. Why Pavolia had ever joined the cult she knew not but eventually it was hunted down by the Inquisition and she saw firsthand what the Inquisition was capable of. It terrified her to her core. The Inquisitors that day had been unstoppable and they weren''t Lieutenants like the one near her now was. How much more powerful must a Lieutenant be? She had seemingly single-handedly obliterated a nigh unkillable beast. And whats more, she seemed completely unscathed. Pavolia was shaking still until Emrik patted her shoulder comfortingly.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings."Don''t worry Pavolia. Tyrril told me that if an Inquisitor dismisses a transgression it''s the equivalent to a Bishop''s pardon. Although... how did she know Karrlund''s name? Do you reckon he..."

    Emrik didn''t finish but Pavolia knew what he wanted to say. Was Karrlund a cultist? Or was it as Pavolia feared and he was only under suspicion because of her?

    <hr>

    Emrik

    He had noticed earlier how terrified Pavolia was of the Inquisitor, which was fair enough since even he realised she was a Lieutenant and therefore only did things the Archbishops ordered her to do and only if two Archbishops were in agreement. If one such as her knew Karrlund''s name it was either his greatest boon or his greatest detriment. He went over to her and offered her his sincerest hopes in order to raise her spirits, watching Karrlund struggle to lift the carriage and the Inquisitor doing it one handed. He gulped but put on a brave face and patted Pavolia''s shoulder.

    "Don''t worry Pavolia. Tyrril told me that if an Inquisitor dismisses a transgression it''s the equivalent to a Bishop''s pardon. Although... how did she know Karrlund''s name? Do you reckon he..."

    He shook his head dispelling even the idea of Karrlund being a heretic. The man was as devout as a [Confessor] and as scholarly as a [Professor] he wouldn''t be stupid enough to commit heresy just to become a [Battle Scholar].

    Emrik had once, long ago, stolen from the church. It was back then that he''d met his first Inquisitor. He had been caught almost instantly even after raising his [Speed] to 30. The Inquisitor hadn''t flinched at all except to suddenly grab him by the scruff of his neck and carry him to a [Confessor] who in turn seemed almost... kind in his questioning. After pleading guilty and repenting for a couple days he was allowed free but he knew his name was written down somewhere. He knew that the Theocracy knew of him and his skillset.

    He worried then, that the Inquisitor currently carrying the carriage might know Karrlund because he met Karrlund only days after his run in with the [Inquisition] and maybe suspected him as an accomplice. If so he would have to apologise to Karrlund later. It was a horrible thing to be shadowing you, the Theocracy''s ire.

    <hr>

    Tyrril

    He thought his day couldn''t get worse. The Inquisitor who had just proceeded to carry a carriage basically by herself, even if Karrlund was helping her, knew Karrlund''s name. That meant one of two things, neither good for Tyrril. Either he or one of his [Hired Guards] were under investigation for a crime worthy of sending an [Iftani Pre-Purge Inquisitor Lieutenant] (judging by her armour and sword combo along with her profound strength and Presence) or one of his guards were going to be snatched away from him to join the Inquisition and he''d lose out on some of the protection he''d paid for. Not that he''d be allowed to complain since the [Hired Guards] could not have possibly known of this judging by their almost fatal transgression only a ten or so minutes ago. He would be proud to have met someone so talented that they were scouted by an Inquisitor Lieutenant anyway but frankly he was more worried about the former possibility. If one of these [Hired Guards] to whom he''d grown quite fond of turned out to be a heretic then he was surely going to be interrogated severely.

    Tyrril just hoped that maybe, just maybe, it was neither options and the Lieutenant just had a way of seeing people''s names. A rare skill but not unheard of, and also an invaluable asset to the Inquisition if it truly does exist. He was of course hoping for nothing less that a blessing from [The System] itself, the type of which his luck wouldn''t usually allow to happen.

    <hr>

    Feyre

    She knew she''d made a mistake when she said Karrlund''s name. None of them had introduced themselves and she could imagine an Inquisitor knowing their name would be... bad. For good measure, once she''d gently placed the carriage down on the other side of the shattered remnants of a path she appraised everyone else.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Pavolia]

    [User Level: 25]

    [User Health Points: 300/300]

    [User Mana Points: 570/600]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 14]

    [Speed: 10]

    [Intuition: 37]

    [Charisma: 28]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Instinctual Mana Control: Lvl 1]

    [Acting: Lvl 9]

    [Mana Manipulation (Through Chant): Lvl 3]

    [Skills]

    [Adept Flight]

    [Firebolt - Weak]

    [Wall of Fire - Moderate]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Ex-Cultist]

    [Ex-Heretic]

    [Gold Rank Adventurer: 20% bonus to XP]

    Pavolia, the one she now realised was a mage, being an Ex-Cultist was interesting but not currently important to Feyre, She looked at the other man.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Emrik]

    [User Level: 29]

    [User Health Points: 400/400]

    [User Mana Points: 100/100]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 21]

    [Speed: 39]

    [Intuition: 30]

    [Charisma: 16]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Adept Pickpocket: Lvl 14]

    [Acting: Lvl 16]

    [Knife Wielding: Lvl 7]

    [Skills]

    [Fleet Foot]

    [One With Shadows]

    [Hidden In Plain Sight]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Ex-Thief]

    [Gold Rank Adventurer: 20% bonus to XP]

    A thief. The man in leathers was some sort of Thief. Though if Feyre truly was in The Game: Eurani... Then he was a Rogue. This was a balanced party it seemed. She turned to the Noble or Merchant a bit behind them. Probably hired them as guards. Wonder who he is.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Tyrril]

    [User Level: 62]

    [User Health Points: 500/500]

    [User Mana Points: ~10k/~10k]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 8]

    [Speed: 5]

    [Intuition: 30]

    [Charisma: 68]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Instinctual Mana Control: Lvl 1]

    [Acting: Lvl 30]

    [Below Average Mana Manipulation : Lvl 1 (Max)]

    [Skills]

    [Eye For Business]

    [Profiteer]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Expert Merchant: 15% bonus to XP]

    Feyre almost laughed. She couldn''t see his class but if it wasn''t merchant she''d eat her own sword.

    She looked at everyone''s faces and sighed. She would probably have a lot of explaining to do later.

    "I''m joining you on your journey. Treat me as you would anyone else, I''m tired so I''ll be resting on the back on the carriage until I deem myself fit to carry out [The System]''s will."

    Feyre had played enough Clerics and Inquisitors when Eurani was up and running to be pretty good at the role play aspect of them, different gods same spiel. She smiled under her helmet, if that wasn''t the epitome of devout follower then she didn''t know what was.

    On that note she wondered if she was currently one of her actual characters in the game. If that was the case her stats and levels must be comletely wrong as all of her characters were level 999 which was the max before she stopped playing them. She was pretty famous in the Forums for her ungodly leveling speed. She missed those days.

 {Chapter - 9} The Caravan is attacked! Scumbags and Idiots, The lot of em.

    Feyre

    Thankfully, the other four left her alone for the most part. She did have one she liked more. She didn''t know why she liked them, she just did. They seemed quite honest and likable. They''d been happy to help her although how much they actually helped is another thing. Feyre thought it was the thought that counts and rested for the better half of a day. By the time she was fully rested and no longer tired from her time without sleep since death she was quite happy to answer questions. The first one she got was of no surprise to her but she avoided it as she had planned in her head ever since she had met them.

    "So where are you heading Miss Inquisitor?"

    That was Karrlund''s first question. It seemed the other two weren''t happy with him for that and glared before Feyre answered.

    "Oh you know, I was just in the area. I much prefer travelling with others than alone. Dire Wolf caught me off guard as I was about to stop waiting for a friend, they didn''t turn up however thought I might as well travel with some fellow... Devotees."

    Feyre smiled at them from beneath her helmet. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable excuse to her. Looking around her smile dropped. If anything they seemed even more nervous around her now.

    "Miss Inquisitor? If I may be so bold as to ask... How did you know Karrlund''s name?"

    That was Tyrril, The merchant one who was quite rotund. He certainly hadn''t missed a meal recently. Although Feyre wondered if it might be something deliberate to make people see him as less cunning than his [Intuition] stat implied. She chuckled to herself and everyone blanched. She quickly realised why and spoke up.

    "Ah, no no. I wasn''t laughing at you Mister Tyrril I assure you."

    The whole groups faces were as white as snow and Feyre cursed herself silently as she watched what little colour remained on the faces drop. She felt a sudden need to explain but doubted they''d believe her so she just started spouting some random spiel about [The System]''s blessings. It wasn''t technically a lie so she saw no harm in it.

    "Lighten up. All so tense. [The System] has granted me the greatest ability I could have been given I have a skill I cannot say yet I assure you, none of you are under suspicion... from me specifically."

    She looked at Pavolia unintentionally. The effect was a bonus to all but her. Of course when saying that final line she should obviously have not looked directly at the [Ex-Heretic] but bygones be bygones and it was irreversible now. A look of recognition passed over Tyrril''s face as she mentioned her [Skill] so obviously there was at least one or two who could at minimum see the names of others.

    Feyre didn''t really know if this information was good news or bad news. What if it is seen as heresy to check other people''s status''. She shook her head and smiled at the group beneath her helmet again. None of them saw it of course but it was an instinctual thing Feyre did when with people nervous towards her. Poor Pavolia however was shaking like a leaf and wringing her hands. She looked like she wanted to say something but couldn''t with the others around. Feyre paid her no heed for now but decided she''d corner her alone if and when the group made camp.

    "Miss Inquisitor? May I also ask a question?"

    It was Emrik this time. The Ex-Thief. She nodded and cocked her head to the side. He continued.

    "Would you say we could''ve beaten the Dire Wolf?"

    Feyre laughed but quickly stopped herself. That was rude and she knew it.

    "Sorry, that was unbecoming of me and completely uncalled for. Unfortunately, I do not think your efforts could have quelled the beast. Although perhaps you could hold it off while Mister Tyrril got help from nearby. Emrik right? Don''t look so down. It''s part of my job to be this untouchable. That Dire Wolf isn''t made to be killed by normal people. If [The System] even made it to be killable... System damned mutt took forever to put down."

    She patted his head but realised something she should probably do around an Ex-Thief, just in case he went back to his old ways. She decided to lean down to his height, since she was quite tall, and whisper as to not embarrass him in front of his group.

    "Keep your hands away from my pockets though, are we clear?"

    She leant back and watched him nod quickly. He looked perturbed but not as bad as he did a few seconds ago when she revealed she knew everyone''s names.

    <hr>

    Karrlund

    He watched as the Inquisitor leaned in and whispered something to Emrik which made him pale. Karrlund usually didn''t pry into fellow Guildmates'' backgrounds, everyone joined the guild to flee from something, but this could end bad. The Inquisitor said she specifically wasn''t after any of them but Pavolia''s face and now Emrik''s made him wonder if they''d somehow managed to anger the Inquisition and this Lieutenant just couldn''t be bothered. She''d said she was waiting for a friend and had given up on waiting when she was attacked by the Dire Wolf, but he had no idea who an Inquisitor Lieutenant would call a friend. Perhaps it was another Inquisitor she didn''t wish to expose to them. Perhaps there was already an Inquisitor nearby and she was meant to either report to him or System forbid, they were reporting to her.

    He struggled with his emotions for a while before sighing. He knew Inquisitors were described as eccentric at the best of times but he doubted he or the [Adventurer''s Guild] could stop the Inquisition. Only one Inquisitor was ever known for taking bribes, and he used those bribes to hire assassins to do what he was going to do anyway. All of them are fanatics of [The System] at the minimum, which Karrlund could understand. He himself prayed to the system quite often. Almost as if reading his thoughts the Inquisitor spoke again.

    "So... What time do you lot usually stop for rest and... pray?"

    Karrlund flinched. He knew some Inquisitors enforced praying stops on Carriages they commandeered and he didn''t know why he had hoped this one would be different. After all the Inquisitor had a super rare [Skill] gifted by the System and was a [Lieutenant] rank in the Inquisition. If she wasn''t a complete zealot he''d probably wonder what sort of craziness was going on inside the Theocracy.

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    <hr>

    Emrik

    Emrik saw Karrlund look at him and Pavolia before going into his deep thought state like he sometimes did. He saw the Inquisitor noticed this too and when she asked that loaded crossbow of a question he felt a need to speak up.

    "We usually pray just before bed Miss Inquisitor..."

    He hoped that was enough to placate her and that the others would catch on to this and make it look like they usually prayed before bed.

    His thoughts were cut off by the Inquisitor reaching for her sword. Moments later he heard a horn and the carriage stopped. Tyrril''s eyes widened but Karrlund picked him up and put him in the Carriage. Emrik saw them then. Tens of bandits all just inside the treeline. This was bad. The Inquisitor might suspect them of doing this, especially if she knew of his days back when he was a [Thief].

    <hr>

    Feyre

    She growled as she saw the bandits. She''d been practicing on having her Inspect show only names but then she realised she couldn''t see classes, not even her own. So she had edited her status through sheer force of will. Now everything displayed a class when she inspected it, which was useless on plants but slightly amusing nonetheless. She had then focused on her skill only giving her the important information on things and even tried discerning hostility levels from the system. Which was what had lead to this.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Mikel]

    [User Level: 17]

    [User Class: Bandit Leader]

    [User HP: 450/450]

    [User MP: 10/10]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Gerl]

    [User Level: 10]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Yatte]

    [User Level: 12]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Rena]

    [User Level: 13]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Wilhelm]

    [User Level: 13]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Bert]

    [User Level: 12]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Perfi]

    [User Level: 14]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Zigor]

    [User Level: 16]

    [User Class: Bandit Captain]

    [User HP: 300/300]

    [User MP: 5/5]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Lima]

    [User Level: 11]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Charlie]

    [User Level: 14]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Julliette]

    [User Level: 10]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Name: Romeo]

    [User Level: 9]

    [User Class: Bandit]

    [User HP: 200/200]

    [User MP: 0/0]

    ...

    ...

    ...

    Feyre counted around thirty, thirty-three to be precise. That was a lot of bad guys. She didn''t think that Eurani the game would allow this amount of bad guys even if the strongest one was almost half the level of the weakest one here. She didn''t know how rare mages were but the fact none of the bandits even flagged up on her [Skill] as having a dangerous skill, something she''d managed to work out by herself and no thanks to [The System], was a good omen.

    <hr>

    Mikel

    He had decided to attack the carriage as soon as he saw it. Only four guards, none of them looked like they could do AOE attacks so he was safe. Two of the guards had noticed his group before the Horns went off and the Carriage stopped moving. It was definitely a magical carriage due to its lack of horses or drivers. This was a One in a Million chance for his crew of misfits. A predatory smile grew on his face. That fat merchant looked absolutely minted. He blew the second horn and slid down the slope with a few others including Zigor, his [Captain] and right hand man.

    "Greetings travellers! I am Mikel! I humbly ask you hand over any and all goods on you as well as..."

    He looks at the two women, one of them has armour so covered in blood he assumes they got swallowed whole and cut out of some beast of the woods. Poor girl, getting out of a beasts stomach only to be attacked by his crew and end up with a different kind of beast.

    "Your fine damsels there, if you don''t mind..."

    The women of the group, well woman since he can''t see the bloody one''s face, grimaced and glared at him with disdain. The two men looked at the women and back at Mikel. He instantly saw that one of them, the smaller one, had the hots for the unbloodied woman while the burlier one looked to the bloody one as if asking for guidance. Was the armoured woman the boss? Even more unfortunate for the group. Mikel was level 17 and Zigor was level 16. That meant they were already in the Iron Ranks. Or would be if they were Adventurers. These adventureres didn''t have their badges showing so he assumed they might even be mercenaries. That or they''re below level ten and not even a proper rank yet.

    Mikel grinned. The one in armour''s body was completely covered by it but that didn''t hide the fact she was definitely going to be his personal one at the start. He didn''t care as much for the Mage looking one, [Mages] were no fun to break, but warriors were a delight. Always so self assured.

    That was when he was surprised. The Armoured chick walked forwards.

    "Move Bandit. We you have no business with us."

    Zigor was about to step forwards when he stopped. He was about to say somehing but Mikel stopped him.

    "Zigor you can''t call dibs on this one. She''s mine."

    "Vile things... why [The System] lets you live is beyond me... though then again it did lead you to me so it must not like you much..."

    That''s when Mikel saw it. The symbol was covered in blood but if he looked closely, which he had been trying to do with her thighs, he could make it out.

    The symbol of the Inquisition.

    The symbol meaning he would never be leaving this forest.

    The symbol that meant he had signed this whole group''s death warrant.

    He silently apologised to the crew for this. At the same time the Inquisitor drew her sword.

 {Chapter - 10}Massacre of Bandits! Free the victims! Loot the Gold! For [The System]!

    Feyre

    She had originally hoped that she wouldn''t actually ever have to kill something she knew was sentient. She knew she was supposedly in a game but so far everything was just so... real. She didn''t feel particularly bad for the bandits but she didn''t feel good about killing them either. Her sword snaked out at inhuman speeds and found the soft, unarmoured flesh of the one who had called himself Mikel the leader. She had already known that fact before, but it was good to get confirmation from people about things like that. [The System] was pretty useless when it came to actually doing things unprompted, unless it annoyed her. Mikel screamed and the one next to him, Zigor, tried begging for mercy as Feyre pulled her sword from Mikel''s neck and turned to him.

    "I am sorry... May [The System] in all its benevolence make you a better person in your next life..."

    She didn''t stab this one, instead opting for a clean slice, halving him vertically from the crown of his head to his abdomen. She was quite pleased with that spiel. She hoped the Iftani Theocracy believed in reincarnation.

    She looked up and saw Pavolia shooting fire at some bandits that had attacked her. She smiled and when Pavolia looked at her she gave a thumbs up. Pavolia renewed her efforts with vigor. Karrlund was fighting a few bandits as well, his weapon swinging in wide, cleaving arcs. The bandits had seemingly only realised their mistake after engaging Karrlund, assuming he''d be slow. Karrlund''s attacks were effective and brutal, bandits attacking him fell like a sapling in a hurricane. Then she looked to Emrik. She kicked a bandit, caving in his face and paid attention. She thought he was a rogue but hadn''t looked at his status since she managed to get it to show class. She couldn''t look at it now since it covers the entirety of her vision. She''d wait until afterwards. Emrik was fast. Insanely fast. Some bandits had obviously thought he''d be an easier target since he was quite scrawny but those daggers he wielded rarely didn''t strike true. Even then, the poison dealt with the ones he didn''t kill instantly very, very quickly.

    She saw some bandits trying to run, ones she''d identified as Lima and Romeo earlier. She decided keeping one captive in order to raid the bandit hideout wouldn''t be a bad idea but she doubted she could keep them alive.

    "Karrlund! Keep one of them alive for me! I have some questioning to do!"

    She raced off and caught up with the fleeing bandits in seconds.

    The bandits screamed

    And my sword gleamed.

    Then they made sound no more,

    Their heads gently rolling across the floor.

    She smiled to herself. Not the best bit of poetry she''d ever made but it wasn''t the worst either. She giggled and rushed at another pair of bandits, willing herself not to dwell on anything she was doing. Feyre knew that she should be feeling guilt. Knew that she should be feeling remorse. Alas, the feelings never came. Maybe that was the bonus to her subconscious thinking she was in a game. Or maybe it was all going to come crashing down on her like a tsunami when she has some alone time. Feyre didn''t know. At the moment, she didn''t overly care either. She looked around and saw Karrlund had captured one. Albeit a very bloodied one who, in her not very experienced medical eyes, had both legs twisted at the extremely wrong angles. Emrik and Pavolia had finished up by the time she walked back and they all nodded at each other.

    <hr>

    Karrlund

    He saw the carnage that the Inquisitor had left. of the maybe thirty enemies the Inquisitor had killed at least half. In the few times he''d looked over it didn''t even seem like she was taking it seriously, her movements were almost lazy and yet never missed her target and killed them all in one shot. Admittedly him, Emrik and Pavolia were also killing bandits as weak as this in one hit but that wasn''t really the point. When she''d yelled for him to capture on he decided that the best way to keep them from running was to break the legs. So he did that. His shin flew out and the bandits leg bent the wrong way as he fell to the ground screaming. Just in case Karrlund had done the same to his other leg. He really didn''t want to fail the Inquisitor. Especially after what he had seen after she''d yelled.

    Two Bandits had been fleeing. They were almost 100 feet away so Pavolia couldn''t have got them with spells. He saw that the Inquisitor had a bow but no arrows so that was out of the question too. Instead he saw the Inquisitor just launch herself at such a speed that to him it was just a blur. She reached the two fleeing bandits and before she''d even stopped moving their heads were rolling on the floor. They''d screamed, obviously, many bandits had screamed this day but it wasn''t long lived because well... their heads weren''t attacked to their bodies. Every slice the Inquisitor had made was almost perfect. That sword she had should have been covered in blood but the sheer speeds she ran at meant the blood never stuck. Her armour on the other hand... that was completely and utterly covered. Even more so than when they first met her and she had just killed the Dire Wolf.

    As she walked back over he couldn''t help but feel slightly afraid. This was what [The System]''s devotees would become. He wondered at her level. The highest level he''d ever seen proven was a level 249 who was on a [Dragon] hunting quest. He didn''t think that this Inquisitor was that much weaker than the man but maybe he was being silly. Barabaros was said to be one of the strongest in the whole kingdom.

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    He was cut off from his train of thought when Tyrril poked his head out of the carriage and then walked over once he saw it was safe.

    "Karrlund... You''re keeping one alive?"

    He nodded at Tyrril''s question and then pointed at the Inquisitor. He was dying to know their name but he knew it would be seen as rude to ask.

    <hr>

    Feyre

    Karrlund nodded at Tyrril''s question and pointed at her. She wondered what the question was. Was he asking who killed the most? Was he asking why a [Bandit] was kept alive? Feyre didn''t know. But she assumed she''d find out if she cocked her head to the side at Karrlund once she was closer.

    She did just that and waited for his response once he''d definitely seen it. She was surprised it took him so long to answer at first. Then she wasn''t quite as surprised since maybe he assumed she had super hearing. Once he did realise he spoke however.

    "Oh... Tyrril asked if we''re keeping one alive and since you wanted it I thought he should ask you."

    Feyre liked Karrlund. His honesty would get him places. Well she hoped it would at least.

    She walked over to the bandit and growled.

    "Where''s your hideout?"

    The bandit looked at her and relieved himself. She stepped back, disgusted, and looked at him with disdain. Pavolia''s nose scrunched up and she walked off with Emrik. The latter of which would loot the bodies and the former would burn them afterwards. Eventually the [Bandit] managed to blubber out a few sentences.

    "N-Norf o'' ''ere dere''s a cave..."

    She pulled out her bow, pulled back the string and willed her magic arrow into it and loosed it at his skull once he''d said that. She then walked away as quickly as she could.

    She walked North for some time, only Karrlund was with her since Tyrril still needed protection. She could feel Karrlund''s eyes watching her closely as she walked. She knew he wanted to ask her something. She also didn''t really care at the moment. She was searching for the cave.

    When she found it she sighed.

    "Karrlund. You wish to ask something. Do it."

    He froze and looked at her briefly before sighing and shaking his head. He looked quite distressed about something but he steeled his face and walked into the cave, silently gesturing for her to do so as well. Feyre resolved to get the information out of him later and entered the Cave. She was prepared for many untold horrors to be shown before her but luckily it seemed the [Bandit Leader] was softer than he had claimed.

    The women captured weren''t in the best of conditions but they also didn''t have any signs of someone forcing themselves. Feyre walked around the cave for a while as Karrlund freed all the captive women. They were minorly traumatised, Feyre suspected, but that wasn''t her problem right now. What was her current problem was this massive stone double door with a crude ''Treasury'' written on it in some language she didn''t know she knew. It wasn''t hers and it certainly wasn''t from Earth but nonetheless it was quite beautiful looking even when her mind instinctively knew it was crude and also misspelled. She had the feeling earlier it was too easy, and too quick of a progression. Now she knew why. This was meant to be the main challenge of the bandits, not the bandits themselves. She''d used her [Skill] [Identify] but all that came up was an error message.

    [System: Skill: Identify: Error #001 Object blocked from Identification.]

    "Useless... What''s the point if people can just... block it. At least I know it wasn''t Mikel''s group who made it. Scumbag weaklings."

    Feyre scowled at this and proceeded to push against the door with everything she had. It didn''t budge. She then decide maybe trying to break it could work. She pulled out her bow and drew it, the thing she had designated as a Magical Arrow nocked itself and she loosed it only to be forced to throw herself to the floor as it rebounded and almost hit her square in the face. She grunted in annoyance and picked herself up off of the floor before stalking off to where she assumed the sleeping chambers were.

    <hr>

    Karrlund

    He opened all of the cages through just breaking the locks. They weren''t particularly sturdy make even when they weren''t rusted through and through. The women he saved were all quite quiet and shy, which he understood. Emrik and Pavolia were the people persons in the group, his hulking frame scared off the more normal of people in most places. He smiled reassuringly at them as some of them uttered thanks. He didn''t know where the Inquisitor had gone but she was probably doing important Inquisitor business. Slavery was one of the Major Sins of the Iftani Theocracy and all [Slavers] or anything of the sort were purged. He felt bad for these victims but also thankful because the bandit group had obviously not done anything that couldn''t be fixed to any of them yet. He pitied some of the more scared looking ones, they''ll have to pay through the nose for a good [Therapist] in any nation but especially so in the Theocracy in which most wrongly believed a [Priest] was a viable alternative. Although maybe since they were involved in a Heresy Investigation they''d get a [Therapist] assigned by the [Bishop]. He was a nice man.

    He saw the Inquisitor walk over to the area that looks like bedchambers and so did the women he had freed.

    "Is that... Is that an Inquisitor, Mister Saviour Sir?"

    The one that asked him that had a [Cleric]''s robe on, albeit a ripped one. He nodded and spoke quietly.

    "She''s a Lieutenant..."

    The crowd freezes and looks at the Inquisitor with interest. She looks over to them and nods towards the exit. She obviously wants him and the newly freed captives to leave the cave while she does her investigation.

 {Chapter - 11}Okay. Last time there wasnt any gold. This time Ill get it!

    Feyre

    Feyre watched Karrlund get the victims out of the cave. She was quite content with how this turned out as she searched through the sleeping area of the bandits. The place was messy but all Feyre wanted to find was a key or something she could use to open the door another way. She ended up searching for quite some time, thoroughly checking from the smallest crack in the wall or ceiling to the largest pile of random stuff she found in a drawer.

    Eventually her peripheral vision saw something glowing. That was usually a good sign in the old Fetch Quests she used to do when she played Eurani so she walked over. What she saw was unimpressive at first. A simple metal cube sat on top of a tiny pedestal, it took a little while to notice the actual glowing element as it only glowed enough to barely see it in the dark. More like those kids toys on Earth that absorbed the light over the day and then glowed at night but didn''t really give off much light. She smiled to herself at the stupid comparison and reached to pick it up.

    She faltered halfway as she snapped her hand back and instead used [Identify] on it to check for traps or the like.

    [System: Skill: [Identify]: A [Cube]. Specifically a [Magic Metal Cube].]

    Magic metal wasn''t something she had encountered yet and try as she might she didn''t remember it in Eurani either, maybe it was one of the made up metals renamed or maybe it was completely different. Whatever it was Feyre decided she''d pick it up now. So she did. A slight warmth seeped into her bones as she touched it, not a bad feeling but it was also not a good feeling to have while holding something magical in Feyre''s opinion. She sighed and started heading towards the massive doors again. even if it didn''t work as a key Feyre bet there was something cool hidden in its magical properties. Even if there wasn''t anything cool, it would be a good weapon for bashing someone''s head in or it might fetch her a nice price at a Smithy or a research institution.

    She headed towards the stone doors again and started looking at them intensely. There wasn''t a hole for the cube to enter into but Feyre didn''t care about that. No way would a magical door have an obvious way of opening it. She tried pushing the cube into its center but that did nothing so she tried looking around the room for a slot, nothing. Eventually she thought of the idea of channeling magic through the cube and that lead to the warmth of the cube increasing exponentially. She almost dropped it due to the heat but gritted her teeth and tried putting it in the door again.

    This time Feyre''s attempts were answered with a whirring sound. The cube was seemingly sucked into the door and Feyre was left watching as nothing happened for a few minutes. Eventually something did happen. The great doors slid into the cave walls with a screech that betrayed their years. Feyre unslung her shield and readied it, preparing for traps and other things that may lay behind such a contraption as this. Her efforts were not in vain as a roar struck her moments before she saw a beastial shadow in the corridor beyond. Feyre grinned and unsheathed her sword quickly, readying it for a fight.

    She was not disappointed. Whatever was being kept in there had one heck of a guardian. It sped out towards her like a ballista bolt, equally as dangerous as one too if the distance she slid back after blocking it was anything to go by. She distantly heard shouting and maybe even a scream but ignored them for now as she used her skill [Universal Status] to see just what she was fighting.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Korot]

    [User Level: 123]

    [User Health Points: 15k/15k]

    [User Mana Points: 10k/10k]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 60]

    [Speed: 72 ]

    [Intuition: 10]

    [Charisma: 5]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Primal Instinct: Lvl 5 (Max)]

    [Beastial Form: Lvl 10]

    [Mana Manipulation (Through Growling): Lvl 5]

    [Aura of Strength: Lvl 1]

    [Skills]

    [Survival Through Anger]

    [Devourer Of Hope]

    [Unbreakable Hide]

    [System: Achievements]

    [The Trapped One: When freed go on a murderous rampage.]

    [King of Nothing: As long as no one is Subservient to you [Strength] gets 200% boost]

    [Completer Of Quests - 4: 80% increase to Quest related level progress]

    [Fallen Hero: Unknown Effect]

    Feyre looked at it for a while. She hurriedly backed up trying not to laugh. This was absurd, apparently she''s meant to be super strong for defeating the [Dire Wolf Tank] but this guy was simply insane, [Fallen Hero] indeed... She felt the goosebumps on her arm. She felt the slight nervousness that got her heart beating and adrenaline pumping. She didn''t have a chance to enjoy the Tronius Minoris since she wasn''t ready for it but afterwards she wished she had been able to fight it more.

    She lifted her shield and was pushed back almost 10 feet, sliding across the stone as his clawed hand paw thing struck it. The thing had the speed of a ballista and the hitting force of a catapult, her hand ached for a while but she gritted her teeth and readied her sword again, hoping to gauge how much damage she could do in one slash.

    <hr>

    Korot

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    Freedom was a wonderful thing for Korot. His bloodthirst had gotten him licked away as some sort of crypt guard but some poor unsuspecting traveller would eventually free him, as happens to most sealed monstrosities in the world. He almost felt bad when the door opened and only a lone woman in, admittedly very good quality, full plate armour opened it. He was pleasantly surprised to see she expected a trap or monster of some kind so she probably knew what was in the vault or had at least been told of some sort of treasure. He tried gauging her strength but in all her armour he couldn''t get a good grasp. He knew she was at least over half his stats in most if not all, a shame for the world to lose such a promising candidate for [Hero]. He grinned and decided to attempt to make her death as painless as possible. He was once a [Hero] himself after all. Being chivalrous to your own was something he had kept even when he succumbed to the rage.

    What happened next shook him. As soon as the woman saw him in the shadows he saw with his draconic eyes that she squinted and seemed to read something. If she had just read his status this might be a harder fight than he initially thought. She was rather weak for an [Administrator] but then again maybe she was new and this was her initiation mission. He''d never tasted [Administrator] flesh before but he''d heard from others that they were a lot more nourishing mana wise than most. Even at half his level she''d have equally as much mana at least and maybe more if she was a high rank.

    Korot rushed forwards as fast as he could and attacked but the woman only leant to the side to dodge. Her speed was not insanely high but she seemed to dodge at the exact right time to have no possibility of him hitting her. That was either insanely good instincts or she''s got one of the highest intuition stats he''d ever seen. Korot growled and channeled mana into his claws and dashed in again. He wouldn''t lose no matter how high up in [The System]''s ranking structure she was. Again he swiped and the woman obviously decided that dodging this attack wasn''t possible and tried blocking with her shield instead.

    Such a battle smart woman...

    He watched as she slid quite a ways back, maybe a few meters or so. He heard her heart beating fast but it wasn''t how he usually heard the heart. It was beating fast so adrenaline was definitely pumping through her but not a hint of fear was able to be smelt. For a second he could''ve sworn he smelt regret in her scent before that too was overpowered by something he''d only smelt a few times in this sort of situation. He smelt utter excitement. Suddenly everything made sense to Korot. This woman in front of him enjoyed battles. She was what he would''ve called a [Battle Junkie] back in the [Pre-Iftani Purge Era]. He always hated fighting this type. They refused to die no matter how much they should be obliterated. He remembered one man who attacked him with only his fists but had set up a revivification circle so kept challenging him until Korot destroyed it and the man in one swing.

    He looked back at the woman and saw her preparing her sword. He grimaced. If she went for a trade off kill he doubted he''d come out of it in good shape, if he came out of it at all.

    I will have to use my [Skills] and [Abilities] to beat her i reckon.

    He activated [Unbreakable Hide] and circled slowly and with purpose. She followed his circling with her shield raised. He could smell the tension in the air. She looked reluctant to attack first so this temporary stalemate lasted for a tense few seconds. Dragging on for what felt like minutes. Eventually her blade snaked out as she sprinted past him, if he had not used his [Skill] that would''ve been it. The attack was right at his Achilles Tendon and it hurt. Even with such a powerful [Skill] as [Unbreakable Hide] she had hurt him.  Not for the first time he was surprised by the woman. She was undoubtedly very powerful no matter what his senses told him her stats were. If she could mask the scent of her strength she may even be on a much higher footing that his. Korot growled and channeled mana into his claws again. His legs tensed and he prepared to return the favour to her own Achilles Tendon.

    As he flew forwards at his highest possible speed he activated [Aura of Strength] and, just in case, the [Skill] [Survival Through Anger].

    He flew right behind her and sliced all the way through her soft skin, her piercing shriek of pain filled the air and she let go of her weapons.

    That was what was supposed to happen. Instead Korot found himself with a shield slammed into his face and a sword raised above him. His [Primal Instincts] screamed danger so much so that it hurt, so he turned them off. Then Korot was calm. Calmer than he had been in a long while. And so he relaxed as his life flashed before him. Death wasn''t such a bad end, especially not if it was to someone as powerful as her.

    It wasn''t often that Korot wished he had chosen a different path in life. Most of the time, even at near death experiences he was glad that he abandoned the world after slaying the [Demon King]. After all, they hadn''t helped him at all when he completed his quest. The only one he''d ever loved ended up burnt at the stake for heresy by fanatics of [The System] due to an offhand comment about feeling bad about killing all the [Demons]. His best friend ended up being the [Demon Lord]''s right hand. And everyone else he''d saved seemed to forget he was the one who saved them. Some called him a monster for what he did to the village that burnt his love to death. Some called him a King when he overthrew the kingdom that had ordered his execution. Not for long did they call him these things however, as not for long were they alive after uttering the foolish words.

    Korot looked at the woman in front of him now. Time seemed to have slowed as his life since abandoning most of his morals flashed before him. He had been free for a lot of it. Only the last five or six years had been in that vault with nothing but The Treasure that refused him. He regretted lots in life. But never would he regret his vengeance upon those who wronged him. Never would he regret being Korot the Destroyer or Korot the King of Nothing, Lord of No One and he would especially never regret his title as the Guardian of Love. He adored that title even after she had died. Even after he had forsworn it he still loved. Loved differently, sure, but he loved nonetheless.

    Korot was at peace as he heard the woman in front of him utter the first [Skill] he''d seen her use. He had already accepted death but hearing her skill name he wanted to laugh. It was the same one he had witnessed the one who locked him here use to cut the very sky in half when it missed him. He had never stood a chance.

    And so the [Skill] was said. Quiet and calm. Serene as the moonlight glow on an ocean. As powerful as said Ocean when it crashes against the shore. And as beautiful a death as Korot could have ever hoped for.

    "[Devastating Slash]"

 {Chapter - 12} Woah, mercy? Why youre very welcome :]

    Feyre

    She watched his cold corpse twitch slightly before sighing and walking past him. There were a few system notifications but she treated them like popup ads and ignored them. For the first time Feyre kind of felt bad for killing someone in this new world. She''d read enough manga and manhwa to know what the ''Betrayed Hero'' clich�� looked like. As she respectfully avoided stepping in his -now exposed- entrails littered across the floor from her [Devastating Slash], she peered into the darkness of the tunnel. This was the first time darkness had affected her so instantly she was on her guard again, magic had proven itself on multiple occasions and she knew from her time as a top 100 player that [Mage] builds were some of the strongest builds in Eurani. Obviously Feyre had played as a twisted version of it and made a [Spellsword] build more popular through her streams but the [Mage] build never quite left the Meta.

    "You fought well Korot... I pray for [The System] to grant you a peaceful afterlife, if it exists..."

    She laughed at herself. This was her problem with solo play. She often got far too into her characters when no one was around to stop her. She shook her head and gingerly walked into the darkness.

    Whatever she was expecting it wasn''t what she saw. The cavern she entered was vast. Impossibly so. The Darkness that had surrounded her dissipated and once more she could see. This cavern was full of life, foliage the ground creating some sort of faux forest. She saw many small animals that didn''t look quite right... the rabbits looked too symmetrical, the bird song repeated every now and then, in the exact same pitch and frequency. This entire forest was just the embodiment of Uncanny Valley and, frankly, Feyre hated it.

    "If this is an illusion I suggest dropping it before I start randomly swinging..."

    She didn''t expect a response but thought she might as well. So actually getting a response no matter how automated surprised her, if only briefly. Feyre paused in her steps as the voice rang out through the forest from seemingly all sides.

    "Greetings intruder, it seems you have bested Korot. Well done. The next test in order to reach my treasury is an illusory forest. Not only is it filled with normal things to find but also 5 orbs. If you find all five orbs the illusion will shut itself down. Be warned, each orb is guarded by something as strong as Korot or stronger. Good luck..."

    Feyre doubted that very much, Korot was a being who most would have been unlikely to match, but perhaps something stronger than him did truly exist. She suddenly had an idea and went back to Korot''s body. She was not disappointed, finding 4 glowing coloured orbs.

    "Ha! I knew it. Korot you were not just a good opponent but a useful one too. I shall bury you properly once I am out."

    Feyre placed them in the bag she originally got the armour from and strolled back to the illusory forest and picked up a rock. She had decided long ago that [Strong-armed Throw]''s power was basically a bug. But what is a bug if not an unintended feature? Gently she threw the rock up and down as she walked further into the forest and listened out for a discrepancy between the sounds. Sometimes she wondered if she couldn''t use something like [Strong-armed Throw] with her bow, not that she needed it since her bow was also overpowered to the point of nonsense. Not that

    Eventually she heard it. A slightly ethereal snickering echoed around her. The surroundings got darker and Feyre felt wrong. Everything felt wrong. Her eyes narrowed and she slowed her breathing. The wrong feeling wasn''t hers. It surrounded her like a miasma. She glared at where her instincts told her the laughter was coming from and wound her arm back with the rock nestled firmly. She whispered to herself mostly just for role play, why not keep up her act for any potential [Sages] or [Mages] keeping an eye on her?

    "[Strong-armed Throw]..."

    She launched the rock and it zipped off. The laughter stopped, Feyre looked at the remnants of what used to be a small green thing with linen clothing and a bone necklace. She assumed it was quite hard to laugh without a quarter of your torso and face. She slowly walked to its corpse and knelt down. If she didn''t know any better and was any other fantasy game player she''d have said it was a [Goblin] perhaps a [Goblin Shaman]. Unfortunately for what was trying to trick her, she knew goblins in Eurani were not green, they were purple. Green things in Eurani were clones, often the weaker versions as well.

    "Nice trick... So, what are you then? Reveal all that tries to hide, may the system provide me with the truth... [Universal Status]!"

    She smiles to herself. Flavour text never hurt anyone, especially not in a fantasy world.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Yannma Kickholler]

    [User True Name: Yammna Holkicker (Clone)]

    [User Level: 178]

    [User Health Points: 0/8k]

    [User Mana Points: ~734k/800k]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 17]

    [Speed: 23 ]

    [Intuition: 63]

    [Charisma: 105]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Survival Instincts: Lvl 5 (Max)]

    [Superior Acting: Lvl 50]

    [Mana Manipulation (Through Hand Gestures): Lvl 13]

    [Hidden Strikes: Lvl 10 (Max)]

    [Skills]

    [Ultimate Stealth]

    [Yammna''s Multi-Clone of Magic]

    [Grand Command.]

    [System: Achievements]

    [The One that Hides smartly: 500% better stealth if your enemy is stronger]

    [Creator of Skills - 1: All skills get a 100% increase to efficacy]

    [Founder of Self Sentience: All clones have 200% of your stats]

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.[Anti-Hero: 50% more damage to anyone with the Keyword Hero in their achievements]

    Feyre froze. A charisma of 105 was simply stupid. If that stat was for any other stat she''d be having second thoughts about her plan. Unfortunately for Yammna and whatever other clones he has she wasn''t in the mood to talk stuff out right now. Illusions were annoying and Feyre wanted out as soon as possible. If that meant slaughtering some extremely charismatic [Monstrum Parvum] and its [Clones] then that''s what would happen.

    <hr>

    Yammna

    Yammna was enjoying a snack of roasted [Illusory Rabbit] when his clone died. Instantly a sharp fear struck him. If Korot had learnt how to see through his stealth he was in serious trouble. He started making some frantic hand gestures and activated his [Mana Manipulation] in order to cast a wide range search for Korot. What he saw chilled his tiny body to the core. Korot''s corpse was not something he expected to see today... or ever... and yet, and yet there it was. The urge to scream rose instantaneously and only his overwhelming desire to not be found by whatever killed Korot made him suppress it. Another clone''s life ended. Yammna looked at the orb that this murderer was obviously after.

    "Stupid [Great One]... He said I''d become unbeatable... Now I am going to die because he locked me away..."

    Yammna looked at his remaining 8 clones and silently willed them to all go find the threat and slow it down as much as possible. They all disappeared and Yammna sighs. He gets to his feet and walks to his armour and staff. He had no illusions that he could win this but his oath to the traitorous [Great One] meant he had to at least try to fight with his all.

    He had barely armoured himself when all 8 clones connections cut off at once. He had expected this but it was unfortunate nonetheless. He felt it had been such a wasted life. A [Monstrum Parvum] of his skill could have been the king but he had wanted more... And that had led him to be indebted to the [Great One] and then that led to him getting this orb that Korot and probably the new threat wanted.

    Not long after he had finished suiting up he jumped to the side and where he was standing less than a second ago was gone. All that remained was a hole. Yammna''s head snapped towards the source of the threat and saw a humanoid in full enchanted metal armour. He tried using [Inspect] but was rebuked. The very System itself couldn''t see what was going on with this metal monster.

    "My my... You are a fresh face... may I ask what reason you have decided to come here?"

    He asked but he half expected the threat to be some mindless automaton. Wasn''t he surprised when he heard a woman''s voice from under all that metal. Soft spoken and frankly a fanatic if he had anything to go by, definitely Iftani.

    "Greetings heretic. You''re currently in my way and unfortunately this is [Inquisition] business. Go quietly and be absolved of sins for your troubles."

    Yammna didn''t think that was a bad deal. With either option ending in death he''d much prefer going to whatever heaven this supposed [Inquisitor] believed in. She was definitely Iftani yet when he had last heard of them they were barely keeping hold in their small village, barely two [Inquisitors] at any time. He now wanted to find out what it was like out there. So he asked, hoping for a response, this time he wasn''t disappointed, garnering a zealous and probably hyperbolic one.

    "The [Iftani Inquisition] and the governing body are as widespread as the air! We have converted everyone in the empire to [The System] and we shall convert many more! unfortunately you are not one of us... too bad... death is your only salvation you pitiful soul..."

    Yammna sighed. This one was as crazy as the Iftani he knew, so it probably hadn''t changed it''s views on [Monsters] and [Heretics] considering his [Anti-Hero] achievement that automatically made him an enemy of all sentient beings not subservient to the [Great One]. He readied his hands and started making a multitude of gestures. Without hesitation the [Inquisitor] attacked. Not fast enough though. Yammna got a notification from the system saying that he''d inflicted some curses on the [Inquisitor]. Then he got a [System Notification] which made him want to weep.

    [System: Achievement [Anti-Hero] activated.]

    <hr>

    Feyre

    She was quite proud of her acting as a zealot. It was almost perfect, all she needed now was to find out the actual beliefs and phrases. She felt a slight pain in her chest as whatever the [Monstrum Parvum] known as Yammna finished. The pain was irritating and not all that agonising so Feyre just played it off, doing that slow intimidating walk that the villains sometimes do in media. She felt quite exhilarated, grinning under helmet at poor Yammna who frantically struggled to cast spells which either glanced off of her or she just tanked because they did almost no damage.

    "Pitiful soul... you could have been at one with [The System] if you''d just surrendered..."

    Feyre raised her blade and decided to have some fun while role-playing.

    "May [The System] grant me strength... May it grant this pitiful [Monster] a better body in the next life... The one who cleanses all, The one which cures the world, [Devastating Slash]!"

    As she spoke she watched Yammna freeze up, it looked so small and insignificant as she stood on the boulder looking down at it. The sword she held high above her head fell down and Yammna was no more than a red mist. Feyre sighed, she needed to learn whether real [Inquisitors] ever took their armour off. If they did then she could clean her armour but until then she would just deal with the mess that seems to stick to her whenever she ends up in a fight.

    "I knew it... trying to say an orb holder would be stronger than Korot was just to scare someone who only won through a great sacrifice or something."

    Feyre knelt next to where the chunks of Yammna''s remains lay. She looked for the Orb she knew he''d have had, eventually finding it under a piece of metal that probably used to be his breastplate. She picked it up and took out the other orbs from the bag. They all lifted out of her hands and started flying in a circle above her head, getting progressively faster and faster until they were one continuous blur. Then they all shattered, and so did the world around Feyre.

 {Chapter - 13} I hope RNGesus gives me a [Bag of Holding] (hint hint System). Oh hey... Im scary?

    Feyre

    The world fell apart in front of her. The false animals shattered ans dispersed into the air, the forest shrinking around her until she was stood at the entrance again and just looking at the final pieces dissipate. Feyre looked around again once the forest was gone and instantly her mouth fell agape. The sheer magnitude of gold and treasure could probably have made Mansa Musa jealous back on her world. She understood now what it must''ve been like for Bilbo when he first saw Smaug''s treasury. The sheer quantity of gold made her eyes want to pop out of her head. After a few stunned seconds of silence she let out a whoop and fist pumped the air. Almost in sync with that she heard the voice again.

    "Congratulations. You have bested all my defenses. This vault is now under your control. Good luck on your future adventures traveler!"

    [System: Ownership: You have gained Ownership of [Cave of the Great One]. Rejoice for you are now one of the richest in the world!]

    Feyre laughed. If she wasn''t the richest in the world then she couldn''t even fathom how rich the richest was. She thought it was probably a [Dragon] or a [Lich]. She walked forwards into the supposed [Cave] which she would have probably named a cavern. As she looked around her inner Loot Goblin slowly died inside as she realised she couldn''t carry all this with her. So she did the only reasonable thing for someone who is meant to be a fanatic of [The System] to do. She prayed to it.

    <hr>

    Administrator #0

    He was playing poker when the world around him stopped. This used to be a common occurrence, back when he was one of the lowest ranked [Administrators] and it freaked him out the first few times he received a prayer. That was almost 300 years ago now. The last prayer that had directly reached him without another [Administrator]''s interference was 20 years ago when the new [Iftani Saint] was announced. Eden was not overjoyed per-say to be receiving a prayer now, since it meant that there was already a new [Saint] or all 16 [Archbishops] and the [Saint] were praying for a divine miracle from [The System] because there''s a catastrophic threat. Eden sighed and checked his notifications, prepared for the worst. What he wasn''t prepared for was what he got.

    [System: Developer Message: Prayer: "Oh great and omnipotent system... hear my plea... I beg of you who watches over us all to grant this humble servant a singular request. Please grant this humble servant with the ability to turn this [Cave] into a [Pocket Dimension]. This humble one thanks you in advance.]

    Eden''s blood chilled. A [Developer] and they were asking him of all people for help with something? He quickly pulled up the [True Character Sheet] of the sender of the prayer, hoping for just a minor glitch in the system.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [True Name: O??????n????e???? ????a?????b???????o??????v????e??? ???????A????l???l??????,?????? ??????O?????n???e??????? ????W????h????o??? ??????S????u????p?????e??????r?????s?????e?????d???????e??????s??????? ???D????e???a?????t?????h????]

    [User Level: E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [User Health Points: E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????/E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [User Mana Points: E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????/E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [Speed: E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [Intuition: E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [Charisma: E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????: Lvl E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [Skills]

    [S??????o?????u???r????c???????e???? ?????C?????o?????d?????e??????]

    [E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [System: Achievements]

    [E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [E??????r?????r?????o??????r?????]

    [System: Status: Error: Administrator #0 - Eden Does not have permission to view this status screen.]

    Eden heaved a great sigh and started doing as asked in the prayer, he refused to be fired just because of a [Developer] making a joke.

    <hr>

    Feyre

    Feyre knelt for a while, praying and also just meditating and going over her adventure thus far. Eventually she sorted everything in her memory he got up from her prayer and was assaulted by three notifications.

    [System: Prayer: Your prayer has been noticed and answered. [Cave of The Great One] is now accessible from the [Inventory].]

    [System: Message: Administrator #0: I dunno why you asked me for this... Either way I gave you an Inventory since for some reason you didn''t have one...]

    [System: Information: To open [Inventory] just will it to open, It will appear in the same way as your status.]

    Feyre smiled. This was a massive upgrade for basically nothing. She made a note to herself to pray more often, maybe to someone that seemed less lazy though. That Administrator #0 guy seemed unhappy with his job through the notification she received. She got up from her prayer position and sighed. She''s glad there wasn''t a stipulation about being watched by Inter-dimensional Gods or something, everything happened so fast that they''d complain about terrible pacing.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Feyre walked over to Korot''s body and a thought suddenly struck her. She didn''t know how burials were done in this new world. In Eurani the player had a short cut-scene where they were buried and their weapon shoved into the ground to mark their death but those disappeared once the player got back to that point and collected their inventory. Feyre sighed and knelt down, gently putting his guts back into his body and making sure that she could carry him without him being completely in half. Feyre sighed and picked him up, exerting little to no effort moving his immense frame.

    "Come on Korot... lets bury you outside eh?"

    Feyre carried him in her arms, his limp body dangling and slightly swaying as she walked. The cold air of the outside world greeted her coolly and the light at the end of the tunnel was like the respite she deserved after everything being in a cave for so long.

    <hr>

    Karrlund

    The first thing he heard was her footsteps. Loud, echoing footsteps that reverberated through his very being. The pressure her presence brought with her was the second thing he felt. Almost instinctively he reached for his sword, what little good that would do him. Luckily for him his rational took over and he decided against drawing his sword on the innumerably strong Inquisitor Captain that showed herself in the cave entrance. She was holding a beastial man''s body, Not quite a Wolfman but not quite a Tigerman either. Whatever it was it had been cleaved almost in two, but had multiple wounds all over it. That meant that whatever had killed it likely had to use it''s trump card... And if the blood on the Inquisitor''s blade held any significance... She''d had to use her trump card...

    That terrified Karrlund right to his core. If there was something in there that she''d struggled with and gotten injured, not that he could tell because her armour was completely covered in blood, then that corpse she''s holding was stronger than the Dire Wolf he had seen when he first met her. Karrlund tried to stay natural, attempting a slight wave and to keep his face from blanching, futilely. He watched silently as the Inquisitor placed the beastial man on the ground and walked over to a patch of dirt, away from him and the women that were all sitting in a circle, chatting and happy to be free. Silently the Inquisitor raised a single rock.

    "May [The System] smite... May it guide my aim true... [Strong-armed Throw]..."

    The Inquisitor''s arm blurred and the rock slammed into the ground. Instantly there was a 6 foot wide, unknown how deep, hole where the ground used to be. All the women froze and stared in wonder and Karrlund tried his hardest not to join them, ultimately failing this as well. He watched as calmly as possible as the Inquisitor gently rolled the Beastial man''s body into the pit and then the pit just collapsed in on itself at a kick that looked deceptively soft if not for the miniature earthquake. Karrlund smiled and walked over to her, sensing that he was needed.

    "Do you need a weapon to mark the grave, Inquisitor? I know that usually you''d use his weapon but he looked like he used his hands..."

    When the Inquisitor nodded silently and took the [Dagger] Karrlund unsheathed, he wondered what had made her so silent. Perhaps struggling against a foe had shocked her a bit and now she was contemplating life, he knew he did that sometimes. He walked over to her and looked for confirmation before dropping to his knees and praying to [The System] for this man to be blessed with a happy life next incarnation. He felt the ground shake as the Inquisitor slammed the dagger into the ground and then again when she too fell to her knees to pray. That just showed her respect for both the slain beastial man and him, lowering herself to the level of a common devotee. Karrlund instantly felt his body relax as she started praying, a prayer in a language he didn''t know and yet it resonated so deeply he had no doubts it was a true and rightful prayer to [The System].

    "Gratias agimus tibi pro vita sua, de caritate communicata nobiscum et oramus ut nunc apud te sint, aeternae reincarnationis plenitudine perfruentes. Consolare nos in tristitia, Tua nos confirma spe, Donec cum illis iterum In amore rationis Nos coniungamur, Tecum et dilectum Nostrum per omnia saecula. Vivat ibi Iftani."

    Karrlund felt a great need to repeat the final phrase, an almost necessity, yet for some reason that was the only bit. He was glad when every single other person there also repeated it.

    "Vivat ibi Iftani."

    <hr>

    Lilia Homehallow

    Lilia blanched at the casual shows of firepower and strength from the bloodied warrior. She had exited the cave with Korot dead, which was terrifying in of itself, then she had casually created a 30 foot deep hole before filling it by causing a minor earthquake. At first she was thinking of joining the caravan or group that these two adventurers were from and then betraying them, turning them into very powerful [Death Knights] or at least a minorly powerful [Dread Draugr]. Now however? Lillia decided she''d be fine just going with the group until they reached safety and maybe even just living out her days, never touching the dark arts of [Necromancy Magicks] ever again. She''d heard whispers from the other women about the Bloodied Warrior being an [Iftani Inquisitor], something reinforced by the prayer, and frankly didn''t want to get on her bad side if she could kill something like [Korot the Fallen Hero].

    Lillia then watched as she said a prayer against her will. This Bloodied Warrior spoke with such zeal that even her, a non-believer was brought over, if only for a few seconds. She watched closely as the man rose and walked over to the supposed [Iftani Inquisitor], and proved everyone right and more.

    "Inquisitor... Or do i call you your rank as Lieutenant? Sorry I''m not caught up on all this... What do we do now? Our caravan cannot support this many refugees..."

    Lillia almost fainted. A Captain... An [Iftani Lieutenant]... This was a moment in time that many of these women would pass on to their children and their children''s children... meeting a [Lieutenant] in the flesh and joining a prayer with them is seen as almost joining a prayer with [The System] itself. All current [Lieutenants] of the [Iftani Inquisition] and higher were people who had gone through trials that even [Daemons] and [Dragons] would tremble at. And Lillia had been thinking of not only betraying her, but killing her? Folly. Absolute folly. One does not simply kill an [Inquisition Lieutenant]. Their bodies are guarded by more than just armour. There is holiness there that does not sleep, and [The System] is ever watchful. An attempt would result in a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe would a poisonous fume.

    The [Lieutenant] got up and seemingly scanned our faces. Then she looked me dead in the eyes and shook her head.

    "Miss Homehallow... I trust you''ll keep your [Magicks] to yourself while I''m assisting you? I hate the paperwork associated with eradication of your sort, and not all of you are necessarily evil so I''d prefer it if you just got cleansed at a temple and re-picked your class..."

    That was the final straw. Lillia nodded quickly and then proceeded to faint on the spot.

 Sorry!!

    I didn''t realise this at the time, somehow. But I don''t have the free time in life to upload 3 times a week! (Who woulda thunk it!? ;]) So anyways I''ll change the times I release from next week, yes I''ll upload Christmas week, to Monday and Thursday. Or maybe Tuesday and Friday. I''m not sure. Anyways I have to get to like a few more words so uhm... I guess I''ll just spout some lore?This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    LORE: Eurani: A world, it has godlike beings called Administrators, the ones you''ve met so far are all actual people! In one dimension or another. Not technically Feyre''s original dimension... Hmm... Should I send her back at some point?

 {Chapter - 14} A chill walk. Lots of discussion. Hey! My POV doesnt even feature this chapter!!??

    Lilia

    She dreamed. Lilia often ended up dreaming. Dreaming of better times; dreaming of simpler times; dreaming of peaceful times. Not that Lilia had ever had times like of what she dreamed about, but she''d seen others live them and had to suppress her envy. Today''s dream was a bit different. All she could see was that Inquisitor. All she could do was re-watch the moment of their eyes meeting. All she could do was listen to the words she said echo in her skull. Lilia started awake after the tenth repeat and saw wood, and a slightly pudgy man. The man looked well off, far more well off than anyone that would''ve let Lilia get this close to them before. Lilia instantly assumed she was a prisoner, then after looking around she realised she was in a carriage. A carriage with a wealthy man. She remembered the stories her mother used to tell her of wealthy men. She had always only nodded politely in answer to the old bat whenever she went on her random rambles but that didn''t mean she didn''t listen. Lilia sat there, staring at the pudgy man as he stared at her, albeit with a much kinda look in his eye compared to Lilia''s guarded and suspicious look. Luckily, after some inspection, her clothes hadn''t been changed or moved more than Lilia thought they would''ve been from being carried so this rich man wasn''t a perv at least. Then again, Even if he was, he''s traveling with an [Iftani Inquisitor] so he couldn''t act on it.

    <hr>

    Tyrril

    The poor woman awoke and almost instantly Tyrril could see the fear in her eyes. It was understandable, after the predicament that she and her fellow recently freed women were in, that she''d panic at seeing a man as the first thing once she woke up. She wouldn''t look dissimilar to some of his fellow [Merchants] or even a [Noble] if she was cleaned up a bit and given good clothing, it made him wonder if she was a silver spoon. He smiled warmly as she started awake and stared at him. Her expression was extremely guarded and suspicious, which was fair enough to Tyrril.

    "Do you feel alright? You''ve been unconscious for longer than she thought you would be..."

    Her, in this context, being Miss Inquisitor.

    The woman spoke, respectfully and carefully pronouncing her words as to make herself understood. It made Tyrril laugh slightly.

    "I am... Adequate..."

    Her face flushed at his laugh and he held up a hand, apologising between wheezes. He felt bad for this but also completely didn''t, her trying to not insult him was almost adorable. It reminded him of his niece back when she was a very young child, trying to use big words at every opportunity to sound smart.

    She shuffled to a corner and looked out into space, looking at her [Status] so Tyrril decided to check his own [Status], as is customary on long trips.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Tyrril]

    [User Level: 63]

    [User Health Points: 515/515]

    [User Mana Points: 10.02k/10.02k]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 8]

    [Speed: 5]

    [Intuition: 30]

    [Charisma: 68]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Instinctual Mana Control: Lvl 1]

    [Acting: Lvl 30]

    [Below Average Mana Manipulation : Lvl 1 (Max)]

    [Skills]

    [Eye For Business]

    [Profiteer]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Expert Merchant: 15% bonus to XP]

    [System: Quests]

    [Figure out The Inquisitor''s Mission: 13 days left]

    Tyrril sighed. That quest would probably be one of those high risk high reward types that he made an effort to always avoid. Tyrril didn''t think a little bit of questioning could hurt. So he got up and went to the window.

    <hr>

    Emrik

    He saw Tyrril go to the window and decided to approach his temporary boss. He hadn''t worked with Tyrril long but knew by now he''d probably fight very hard to save him if he was ever in trouble, the rations that Tyrril had shared hadn''t hurt that sentiment. Emrik spurred his acquired horse closer to the carriage after shaking himself out of his thoughts and leant over so he could here Tyrril over the carriage noise. Bandits are good for one thing... looting.

    "Need anything boss?"

    "Emrik? Ah yes... I was going to ask the Inquisitor some things, do you happen to know where she is?"

    He chuckles and looks at the Inquisitor who is currently riding on the same horse as Pavolia, seemingly in some sort of trance or meditation. He pulls out one of them handy makeup mirrors Pavolia bought them all in case they ever ran into a gorgon or basilisk while in the woods where they first met the Inquisitor. Emrik shook his head, far too sentimental for something so recent. He pulled out his mirror and showed Tyrril, who promptly made the right choice in Emrik''s opinion. Tyrril sighed, muttered something about asking again later and went back into the carriage.

    This was an ample opportunity of peace, not being on the front or rear watch, to check his status. Emrik was sure that the others were going to check their status'' as well during this moment of peace, after all, why wouldn''t they? Even if everyone knows that one man''s 30 strength isn''t the exact same as another mans, at that high a number they are close enough, being 200-230% stronger than they would''ve been at the average, which was 10.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Emrik]

    [User Level: 29]

    [User Health Points: 400/400]

    [User Mana Points: 100/100]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 21]

    [Speed: 39]

    [Intuition: 30]

    [Charisma: 16]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Adept Pickpocket: Lvl 14]

    [Acting: Lvl 16]

    [Knife Wielding: Lvl 7]

    [Skills]

    [Fleet Foot]

    [One With Shadows]

    [Hidden In Plain Sight]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Ex-Thief]

    [Gold Rank Adventurer: 20% bonus to XP]

    He didn''t think it was that bad. He stole a glance at the Inquisitor and Pavolia again, secretly thinking about what insane level her stats must be, compared to Pavolia, his and Karrlund''s stats. Pavolia looked up and smiled nervously, her arms still wrapped around the Inquisitor''s waist as she sat behind her on the horse. One day he''d reach level 50 and do an [Achievement Wipe] to remove the stain on his [Achievements].Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    <hr>

    Pavolia

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Pavolia]

    [User Level: 25]

    [User Health Points: 300/300]

    [User Mana Points: 570/600]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 14]

    [Speed: 10]

    [Intuition: 37]

    [Charisma: 28]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Instinctual Mana Control: Lvl 1]

    [Acting: Lvl 9]

    [Mana Manipulation (Through Chant): Lvl 3]

    [Skills]

    [Adept Flight]

    [Firebolt - Weak]

    [Wall of Fire - Moderate]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Ex-Cultist]

    [Ex-Heretic]

    [Gold Rank Adventurer: 20% bonus to XP]

    She looked up from her status screen after sensing a gaze land on her. Seeing Emrik look at her and the Inquisitor with a questioning and almost contemplative look, Pavolia smiled as confidently as she could. Of all the people the Inquisitor would decide to horse share with it had to be her. The one she''d likely be honour bound to slay if she ever found out the truth. Pavolia almost cried when she was told and only managed to control herself because of Karrlund and Emrik staring at her welled up eyes with worry and Emrik looking like he was going to ask about it. She didn''t think that saying it was nothing, she was just unnaturally terrified of someone hailed as a hero by literally all the subjects of the empire was a good idea for some reason.

    The Inquisitor moved slightly and Pavolia leant to attempt something akin to catching her if she fell, not that she ever did in the past 20 times this had happened. As always the Inquisitor righted herself almost instantly, almost like it was an instinct, which if Pavolia was honest with herself, was terrifying in its own right. She did wonder what it must be like to be so powerful that you just meditate while on horseback with an almost stranger without being worried. Then she thought about what the Inquisitor must''ve been through in order to be this strong and secretly is very glad she doesn''t know because her imagination is terrible and cruel and horrible, yet might pale in comparison to what actually happened.

    Pavolia hated sharing a horse with the Inquisitor, who still hadn''t revealed her name. Not through any fault of the Inquisitor mind you, she hadn''t really done anything but be surprisingly kind and thoughtful of others since hitching a ride with Tyrril''s carriage and goods. Her mind then strayed to Karrlund, for a reason Pavolia didn''t know nor care to know. She sighed and silently offered a prayer for the Carriage''s luck and safety, for what good a heretic''s prayer would do in the eyes of the system.

    "I hope Karrlund isn''t lonely on watch all by himself..."

    <hr>

    Karrlund

    Karrlund found it hard to concentrate on the safety of the caravan while also making sure the acquired horse from the bandits didn''t buck him off like it was trying to do every time he showed even a hint of weakness. Eventually he got fed up and hopped off, using [Unwavering Resolve] to increase his stamina and walk at the same pace as the horse was trotting.

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Karrlund ]

    [User Level: 29]

    [User Health Points: 800/800]

    [User Mana Points: 55/55]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 28]

    [Speed: 15]

    [Intuition: 36]

    [Charisma: 9]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Swordplay: Lvl 8]

    [Greatsword Wielding: Lvl 11]

    [Archery: Lvl 3]

    [Skills]

    [Strengthen Self]

    [Unwavering Resolve]

    [Minor Identify]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Gold Rank Adventurer: 20% bonus to XP]

    [Witness of Devotion: Partook in an Inquisitors prayer and now you gain 25% more XP for every [Holy] action you take]

    [System: Hidden Achievements]

    [Witness to the System''s Chosen: Unknown Effect]

    Karrlund stared at this new achievement. He didn''t even know that was a thing. Hidden Achievements just didn''t make sense. Why would [The System] hide something from its own faithful? It simply didn''t make sense.Karrlund stared at the achievement and then glances back at the Inquisitor who looks like they''re meditating while riding the horse. Pavolia looks terrified every time the Inquisitor sways slightly and Karrlund suppresses a laugh. He does wonder what goes on in that zealous head of hers. The Inquisitor is a strange one, the strength she displays so casually makes him really glad he didn''t attack instantly when he saw her standing on a [Direwolf] corpse near the carriage. Not that he thought he''d be able to manage to get her serious if he fought her but he''d be a bloody mist anyway if his instincts led him true, which thank [The System] they often did.

    His thoughts wandered for a while as he wondered about many things. One such thing being the Inquisitor''s goal here, and why she hitched a ride with them of all people. He also thought of his family. He kind of missed Elissa, the Nun who cared after him and the others at the Orphanage, but he knew that if he held on for just a couple more weeks, provided there aren''t too many stops or problems, he will see all of them again.

    <hr>

    Lilia

    [System: Status Screen]

    [User Preferred Name: Lilia]

    [User Level: 34]

    [User Health Points: 600/600]

    [User Mana Points: 750/750]

    [System: Stats Screen]

    [Strength: 14]

    [Speed: 10]

    [Intuition: 30]

    [Charisma: 27]

    [System: Abilities + Skills]

    [Abilities]

    [Swordplay: Lvl 1]

    [Mana Manipulation (Through chanting): Lvl 11]

    [Knife play: Lvl 4]

    [Skills]

    [Strengthen Undead]

    [Minor Raise Undead]

    [Lesser Identify]

    [System: Achievements]

    [Novice Necromancer: Slightly easier to get lesser undead to obey you]

    [Witness of Devotion: Partook in an Inquisitors prayer and now you gain 25% more XP for every [Holy] action you take]

    [System: Hidden Achievements]

    [Living due to the Mercy of the Chosen: Unknown Effect]

    Lilia looks at the trees glide by as the carriage she was in with the rich man trundled along seemingly without bumps. She knew better though. Also that new achievement section wasn''t normal in the slightest. Oh well. Not her problem at the moment, unless the effect turned out to be something like, Die Instantly. That would suck. Her stomach rumbled and she almost cringed, until she saw the merchant looking out the other window, chatting to his hired help. Lilia decided to just grit her teeth and push forwards, the merchant hadn''t done anything and had even been quite kind sounding towards someone not giving him a ton of respect, that being said hired help.

    "Sir? Do we... Do we have any rations I could have?"

    The man turned and smiled. He nodded and turned back towards the hired help, who Lilia assumed was the [Rogue] of the Gold Ranked party that the [Knight] or [Paladin] from earlier was a part of. The carriage stopped and she heard said Knight, she was going to assume that until told his name, yelling for an ordered queue so the cook isn''t overwhelmed. Lilia watched as the Merchant got up and got out before turning and offering her his hand. She saw no harm in taking it so smiled and let him guide her down before they both made their way over to the large group with the Rogue. The Inquisitor was sat on a tree stump, kneeling and looking like she was praying. The women that had been saved with her were all congregating around a [Mage] who''s name she caught to be Pavolia. Then the Knight came with a humongous cauldron pulled from [The System] knows where, and plopped it down.

    "Let us thank [The System] for our meal today! None of us would be here if not for its glorious follower!"

    She saw the Knight look at the Inquisitor briefly who in turn, turned her head to look at the crowd and then promptly stood up and walked over.

    "I am Feyre... Use my name when needed, it is a bore hearing Inquisitor and wont work for if we meet my friend where I hope to."

    Lilia stared, Feyre was a name many had heard before. The Iftani Lieutenant who just disappeared after defeating a literal [Evil Incarnation of Chaos]. This made so much sense now...

 {Chapter - 15} Theres a lot less people trying to kill me now. Yay.

    Feyre

    She stalked off into the forest. Karrlund called after her, calling her Inquisitor and not Feyre so she crossed her arms and corrected him slightly harsher than she meant to.

    "Feyre. Not Inquisitor, I am not my job!"

    She winced slightly at the sharpness of her own voice she hadn''t meant to snap at him for such an honest mistake but her from the real world had slipped through her facade. Now she had to come up with an excuse to explain her sudden shift lest he becomes suspicious or something. Or at least that''s what she told herself as she easily lied.

    "Apologies... I am tense due to something that happened recently."

    Feyre sighed and not for the first time today. She just wanted to be alone. The constant adrenaline of her fighting for survival and whatnot so far had worn off and now she just felt tired and bored. Sleeping on the horse with Pavolia was a short lived respite and plagued by Feyre waking up at Pavolia''s yelps of fear when she leaned one way or the other. It also didn''t help that she was covered in dried blood that made it super uncomfortable and kind of awkward for her to be around people. It was almost as if normal people got freaked out by an armoured lady covered in blood trying to talk to them.

    <hr>

    Karrlund

    Hearing the Inquisitor, no he should call her Feyre now, apologised to him before he could apologise first kind of hurt Karrlund. He hadn''t meant to call her Inquisitor again it just happened and obviously there was something going on. Ever since she had left the cave and seemed slightly injured she had been different. He wasn''t going to follow her anymore but had decided, then and there, he was at least going to try become as close to a friend as she''d allow. Inquisitor or not, Feyre had made it clear she was a human too. All humans that served [The System] had flaws, faults and could be scared. To Karrlund, it was their actions and reactions to the world around that mattered. He was going to turn away when he saw Feyre rub her abdomen, the part of her armour which was covered in the most blood. Obviously Karrlund thought nothing of it and went back to the group. Inquisitor Feyre wasn''t someone who could be injured like that.

    ...

    It had been some hours since he''d seen Feyre go off on her own, and when that woman who''d fainted after Feyre had whispered something asked about her he paused. Who was it that she''d buried, Karrlund wondered that when he had prayed at the burial and had wondered that again while the carriage was moving. He rounded up the whole group and drew in breath before asking.

    "Does anyone here know who the man Inquisitor Feyre buried was? I won''t ask how you know, unless it could be a threat to everyone here..."

    No one raised their hand or voice for a minute or two. Then two shaky hands raised almost simultaneously. One from the one who''d fainted and one from another woman, the first one to recognise Feyre as an Inquisitor in the group.

    "It was Korot the Fallen Hero I think..."

    "It was Korot Lord of Nothing I think..."

    Karrlund stared at the two, trying to process what they had just told him. Korot the Fallen was a fairy tale told to kids warning them that with great strength comes the ability to be corrupted by rage or anger. Korot the Fallen was a story that he''d heard many times at the adventurers guild, the only piece of it that was consistent was his looks... And they fit the description of the beastial man perfectly. Karrlund, one of many that can trace their home village or town''s continued existence back to the [Era of Heroes] shuddered. Korot was probably the last recorded [Hero] ever. A man who was supposedly a reincarnation of of P0TAT00_2 the second strongest [Beserker Hero] in history. If Feyre had killed someone like him then, perhaps she had been grievously wounded and tried hiding it as to not worry the civilians and maybe even Karrlund''s party. Karrlund shook his head, thinking back to his history lessons and dismissing all the woman who''d gathered back to their pots of stew. The name Feyre suddenly sounded more familiar... There was the hero Feyre_#93 who was apparently related to all 92 other Feyre''s through a magical link and could swap places with them at will. Maybe this Feyre is a descendant, or maybe at this point Karrlund was overthinking it and needed to drink some [Potion of Calm].

    He would have done just that if Feyre hadn''t chosen that exact moment to return, no longer bloodied and no longer wielding anything but her shield. For the first time everyone saw the shine that an [Inquisitor''s Armour-Set] gave off. She nodded at them and sat down with Tyrril and Pavolia on one of the many logs Karrlund had set up as benches. She placed her shield down and nodded again before speaking.

    "Yeah... It was Korot... He got a good few hits on me but I got him way worse with mine. I pitied him, a man who had only hate for all these years, so I laid him to rest and prayed for his soul to be reincarnated by the system."Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Then Karrlund saw her lean against her shield, rest her head on it, and promptly fall asleep.

    <hr>

    Tyrril

    He supposed that if he was to be anywhere in the world, being next to a talented [Mage] and a sleeping [Inquisitor] wasn''t the worst outcome he could think of. He would be remarkably safe no matter what happened around him as long as the two women didn''t dislike him for whatever reason. Tyrril was quite confident in his charisma as to not be disliked by most people of a good or amicable nature so again, he didn''t think it was a bad thing to be next to such a talented duo.

    The soft breathing coming from under Feyre''s helmet made him question the comfortability of an enchanted metal helmet built solely for war. Then he just mentally shrugged, one of the same strength as her wouldn''t care about comfort would she... Tyrril smiled politely at Karrlund as he walked by, looking puzzled about the origin of this Inquisitor called Feyre. Tyrril had no doubt that Karrlund had thought up some elaborate and completely incorrect backstory for the Inquisitor and if he wasn''t extremely unwilling to risk waking said inquisitor he would''ve asked to hear Karrlund''s theory.

    ...

    It was almost daybreak now, Tyrril had somehow dozed off in amongst the pondering and murmuring, that was ever present even now, from the saved women. Never one to waste time he was given he got up and strolled leisurely but quietly to his carriage. Inside was a couple personal belongings along with a few luxury items he planned to sell once they reached their final destination in a couple months. He''d always been in awe of the Iftani, while not technically being native the zealots had never gone out of their way to make things harder like in most countries and empires. Tyrril wondered sometimes how a Theocracy of such magnitude was the lead in design and the general welfare of the people, then he thought that if there wasn''t an [Inventor] or something that is supposedly chosen by [The System] then it''d be declared heresy. That meant, in his mind, that there was definitely a class called [Inventor] he bet the skills were amazing.

    <hr>

    Pavolia

    Tyrril tried sneaking off to check his wares as he did every morning just before daybreak. Pavolia just sat in a tree and watched, as she always did because she didn''t trust his ability to be able to defend himself if something happened. Not that she''d ever let him know she did this. He''d end up making her accept even more money she doesn''t want to take from him. Merchants, always thinking money is the best gift when actually she''d much prefer for him to write a letter of recommendation for the church so she can be absolved of her heresy before it gets her executed by someone like Feyre.

    Pavolia continued watching; watching Tyrril who was trying not to wake anyone; watching Karrlund who was still very deep in thought even now; watching Feyre who had woken up a couple hours ago and was praying to [The System] since; and finally watching Emrik who was fiddling around with his armour, trying to get it on properly. She giggled and hopped down off the tree, using mana manipulation to soften the landing and then walks over to him smirking. She wasn''t one to back away from an opportunity to poke fun at ally, while helping him out of course, and the [Rogue] that was Emrik was certainly one of those, if not a bit better acquainted than just mere allies.

    "Good morning Em! Need some help with your armour straps?"

    She had schooled her face before speaking, putting on a polite and friendly smile rather than her struggling not to laugh kind of smirk. She had a reputation as calm and kind to uphold after all. Emrik stared at her and was probably going to deny needing help but then he promptly fumbled on one of the straps and caught his thumb in between himself and the now very tight strap. Emrik cursed loudly and violently before nodding his head. He looked quite embarrassed as She leant over and deftly did all his straps on the armour up.

    <hr>

    Esteri

    The mortals were weird. Esteri knew that the long haired mortals and the short haired mortals could bind and create another mortal, and yet none of these long haired mortals were binding with the 3 short haired mortals. It was a confusing sight but Esteri was smart so she already knew that mortals were very weird. After all, mortals went out of their way to look for Esteri and yet none of them were strong enough to survive Esteri''s burning love. Why would you seek out one of Esteri''s race without being fire resistant at the very least? Esteri shook her head and swooped down at a little four legged tusked morsel that was barely the size of a fully grown version of the short haired mortals. Barely enough to satisfy her but it was worth it for the taste. Unlike weird complicated mortals Esteri was quite simple. Esteri loves eating good things, and Esteri loves fighting. That''s why Esteri likes the mortals which don''t wear other animals or weird ground rocks. Those types of mortals are the most like Esteri, and sometimes they''re fire resistant.

    Esteri was back up high. Very very high. Higher than any of those mortals could ever get. Ever since Esteri had been very small and maybe even weaker than the mortals down there, her egg layer told her stories of ones who looked like mortals but we''re so powerful that [The System] itself sometimes changed if enough of them spoke out. There had been times back then, that Esteri laughed at her egg layer in the same way one might laugh at a mortal thinkkng they could kill Esteri. Now, however, Esteri had proof. Esteri''s egg layer was actually a ''mount'' for one of the supposed ''heroes''. Esteri didn''t know what thise two words really meant but she knew it was significant. She often found her egg layer never said anything insignificant.

    Esteri hovered there, watching with interest as the mortals went about their routines. Sometimes the long haired ones looked at the short haired ones but quickly turned away when the short haired ones looked at them. Esteri didn''t know if this was the mortals'' mating rituals or what, but she certainly knew it was weird. She did see one of the long haired ones, who was in the top 7 in terms of strength, go to a short haired one, also in the top end of the strength scale, and assist in putting on some of the furry skin and shiny earth rocks. Esteri shuddered and shook her head at the thought of being forced into the animal skin and shiny rocks and went back to watching the only actually dangerous mortal there.

    That very same mortal who, impossibly, also seemed to be watching her.