《Wrath-Book 2-The Second Creation》 Prologue The gods walked back to their thrones. Tanashi sat on his throne, made of board games and cards. Guargen on his simple stone throne, blending into it perfectly. Finn sat on his bails of hay, stacked to resemble a throne. Drake sat on a throne of sandstone. Shurma on her throne of gold and jewels. Zee, on her bright nebules throne. And Samael flopped lazily onto her throne in the shape of the world tree. Tanashi looked over at her and asked, ¡°Are you feeling okay?¡± ¡°No,¡± Samael said grumpily and did not elaborate any more. ¡°Well, you can at least try and feel okay,¡± Tanashi said hesitantly. ¡°Fuck you!¡± Samael rebutted while summoning a bottle of fine wine and drinking from it, ¡°It sucks that this does not affect me,¡± She added. Shurma nodded and said, ¡°I know the feeling. I haven¡¯t gotten drunk from a good jug of mead in far too long.¡± ¡°HA! Then you haven¡¯t added the right ingredients,¡± Zee scoffed. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Samael and Shurma asked simultaneously. ¡°I¡¯m close to making alcohol that can even get us gods drunk. But it needs some time to complete.¡± ¡°How much time?!¡± Samael and Shurma asked simultaneously. ¡°A few more years. I¡¯ll bring the tests every once in a while to see how it¡¯s coming along.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Samael and Shurma said excitedly. ¡°ANYWAYS!¡± Tanashi interrupted, ¡°Where did we leave off?¡± Samael looked at the bottle of wine and hurled the bottle at Guargens head, and said, ¡°Right here!¡± Finn sprung up and caught it in mid-air before it could hit him, ¡°I do believe that Ford just remembered that Tanya existed,¡± he answered calmly and set the bottle of wine down as far as possible from Samael. Samael grumbled something under her breath and summoned another bottle of wine. ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s probably already resolved, though. It looks like they¡¯re at the next town and halfway to the dungeon,¡± Tanashi said, opening up his screens. ¡°Good thing we record everything,¡± Drake said, pulling up a screen. ¡°That is a good thing indeed!¡± Tanashi agreed happily. ¡°I hope they don¡¯t fuck up Tanya¡¯s psyche any more than it already is,¡± Samael admitted. ¡°Agreed,¡± Finn said, pouring himself a glass of wine. Guargen pulled up the screen and looked at everyone in the party, then leaned over to Tanashi and asked, ¡°What are the game rules again? And what is my champion¡¯s name?¡± Tanashi sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Then he looked up as though he suddenly remembered something and said, ¡°Hold on, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Tanashi walked away from the game board and into one of his personal spaces. There he saw the new toy Alpha had brought him. The shaggy-haired ginger boy Felix sat on the floor surrounded by books on human, elf, halfling, giant, drake, dwarf, and demon anatomy. Studying what poisons affect them the most, their weaknesses, the fastest ways to kill them, and the slowest. Bending over, Tanashi asked, ¡°Sleep well last night?¡± ¡°Yes, my lord,¡± Felix responded politely, not looking up from his book. Manners had been the first thing Alpha had taught him. Tanashi nodded and waved his hand, creating a buffet of breakfast foods, and said, ¡°Well, remember to eat plenty. I¡¯ll be training you in physical combat soon.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord. I look forward to the training,¡± Felix said, turning to reveal his green eyes. Tanashi¡¯s smile widened as he saw the bloodlust within them and the burning drive for revenge. ¡°That¡¯s my boy. And be sure to pass my orders to Alpha when he comes by. We need to move onto phase two,¡± Tanashi said, then left with a snap of his fingers, returning to the game board and producing a large piece of slate, handing it to Guargen, ¡°Here you go, buddy, all the rules and such. I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll lose this one,¡± Guargen smiled brightly and accepted the slate tablet. As soon as his hands clasped the tablet, it shattered under his strength, and Guargen began to cry. ¡°Yes, but he might break it out right!¡± Zee laughed. ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t think of that,¡± Tanashi said, then looked at his planet and noticed it had moved ever so slightly to one side. He corrected it, ¡°Did anyone move my planet?¡± he asked. And everyone shook their heads in the negative. ¡°Huh, weird.¡± *** Tanya cried loud enough for Ford to have to cover her ears. Her high-pitched scream rang over the entire camp. Ford immediately tried to calm her down, ¡°Tanya! Please stop crying! I¡¯m very sorry about putting you into stasis! I needed to keep you safe! Tanya!¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°YOU-YOU LEFT ME IN-I-IN THERE! WAHHHAHAHAHH!¡± Tanya cried. ¡°I know! I know! I¡¯m sorry! I am so sorry!¡± Ford apologized again. Then Gimble came up behind Tanya and scooped her up as gently as a father would his daughter. He pulled her into his massive armored chest and said, ¡°There there, little Tanya. Everything will be all right now.¡± Tanya sniffed and calmed down enough to say, ¡°D-do you p-promise?¡± Gimble held up his massive pinky and pointed it at her, ¡°Pinky promise,¡± he said. That put a slight smile on Tanya¡¯s face as she grabbed Gimble¡¯s massive pinky with her tiny hand. Then she looked at Ford, ¡°Now you p-promise,¡± Tanya said and proffered Ford one of her tiny pinkies. Ford looked between her and Tanya¡¯s pinky, ¡°What am I promising to?¡± ¡°Y-you are p-promising not to p-put me in that p-place a-again,¡± Tanya stammered out through her sobs. ¡°I-¡­ I can¡¯t promise you that. Things happened in that dungeon that I¡¯m glad you weren¡¯t there to see. So, no, I won¡¯t promise you,¡± Ford said, looking downcast. Soft sobs soon increased in volume as Tanya began to cry again. Lilly walked up and smacked Ford upside the head with her staff, ¡°Ford! Promise ¡®er!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± ¡°Ye can an¡¯ ye ¡®ill!¡± Lilly yelled over Tanya¡¯s cries. ¡°But I-¡± Ford began, then got hit with Lilly¡¯s staff again, interrupting her. ¡°Ow! All right! All right!¡± Ford said, then walked up to Tanya, taking the tiny pinky in hers. Tanya immediately calmed down from a loud cry to a soft sob as Ford said, ¡°Tanya, I promise to keep you safe as long as I live. And I will do anything to do so. I promise you that much.¡± After a few more sniffles, Tanya nodded and pulled her pinky away, leaning into Gimble¡¯s massive chest. Then Ford walked over to the fire and began making dinner as she always did. All the while, she thought of what to do with Tanya. ¡®Should we bring her back to the city or bring her along?¡¯ she thought. ¡°I say we kill her. Fewer problems to deal with,¡± Wrath suggested. ¡®You just don¡¯t like her.¡¯ ¡°That too.¡± ¡°I say we keep her. She might be useful for menial tasks,¡± Greed said. ¡®No, we shouldn¡¯t use her for slave labor.¡¯ ¡°Why not? Seems like a perfectly reasonable use of a freeloader.¡± ¡°You two are the freeloaders.¡± ¡°No, we work our asses off trying to make new spells for you!¡± ¡°Oh, and what an excellent job you¡¯ve done. If the spell doesn¡¯t hurt me, it keeps me injured. Great job, you guys. You should get medals.¡± ¡°Relax, Ford. I¡¯m sure everything will work out in the end.¡± ¡°There is no guarantee! There is never a guarantee! All we do is hope and hope that things just might work out. But how has that worked for us now!? Half dead and now having to worry about a useless-¡± ¡°Ford!¡± Lilly interrupted, ¡°Ye¡¯re blatherin¡¯ wi¡¯ yerself again.¡± Ford looked up and saw everyone looking at her with worried expressions. Then she sighed and looked down at the saut¨¦ pans of food she had, ¡°Dinner¡¯s ready,¡± she mumbled. A stack of bowls came out of a shadow next to her, and she began dishing out the food for everyone starting with Tanya. By the time everyone got the food, she had run out of bowls, leaving her without food. Looking between the empty saut¨¦ pan and her bowl Lilly knelt next to Ford and offered her some of her cruciferous vegetables. Ford looked at it and waved it away, ¡°No, thanks. I¡¯m not that hungry right now anyway,¡± she said, then walked away from the others to begin cleaning the pans. As soon as Ford got far away, she began spraying the pans clean with Essence Thrower and getting as many burnt scraps off the bottom as she could. After half an hour of scrubbing with her nails and spraying, Ford finally finished cleaning the pans and put them away in her void storage. She then sat back and looked up at the night sky. Admiring the constellations and thinking back to when she arrived on this Hell hole of a planet. ¡°We¡¯ve gone through a lot, haven¡¯t we?¡± Ford said. ¡°Yes, we have,¡± Wrath agreed. ¡°We need more things,¡± Greed said unhelpfully. ¡°We don¡¯t need more things,¡± ¡°Sure we do! We need nunchakus!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t need ¨C¡± ¡°I think we should get some nunchakus,¡± Wrath interrupted. ¡°What?! Why do we need nunchakus?! Why are you two agreeing!?!¡± ¡°Because we all know.¡± ¡°We need a distraction.¡± ¡°Something to keep us busy.¡± ¡°So we don¡¯t relive the last dungeon.¡± ¡°Gah! Stop talking like that! You sound like Kii and Mizu.¡± ¡°We sound like Kii and Mizu,¡± Wrath countered. ¡°We are all in our head. So really, we¡¯re doing it to ourselves.¡± Ford flopped back to the ground and sighed, ¡°Now I¡¯ve gone from saying ¡®I¡¯ to ¡®We.¡¯ Fan-fucking-tastic.¡± ¡°You know ¡­ We¡¯ve been here for about a month. Maybe a little longer than that. So, where¡¯s the moon?¡± Ford looked around the night sky for a moment and realized that Wrath had a good question. She hadn¡¯t seen the moon since she got here. So, there should be a moon somewhere. Ford shook her head and ignored the question, ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll make the damn nunchakus.¡± ¡°Yay!¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± Ford said grumpily. Then stood and turned around to see Tanya standing behind her. ¡°Umm, hi?¡± Ford said, unsure of what to say. ¡°So, your name is Ford?¡± Ford nodded, ¡°Yeah. Sorry about lying to you about that back in town. Didn¡¯t want you to go screaming my name across town.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. ¡± Tanya said. Then she took a step forward and stuck out her hand, ¡°Propper introductions are in order. Hi, I¡¯m Tanya, Tanya Sinn.¡± Ford shook Tanya¡¯s hand, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Ford.¡± When Ford tried to release the handshake, but Tanya wouldn¡¯t let go, ¡°Ford ¡­ what?¡± ¡°Just Ford. Can I have my hand back now?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you have a last name?¡± ¡°Because I ¨C¡± ¡°We.¡± ¡®Shut up!¡¯ ¡°It is, We though.¡± ¡°Because we decided not to have a last name.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s we?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. Let go of my hand!¡± Tanya released Ford and began to stroke an imaginary beard as she thought. ¡°What is she doing?¡± Wrath asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Greed shrugged. ¡°How about you take my last name!¡± Tanya exclaimed as though she had reached a fantastic epiphany. ¡°You can be like my little sister!¡± Tanya continued excitedly. Ford looked confused, ¡°But I¡¯m older than you.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯ve only been alive for a month. Uncle Gimby told me.¡± ¡°Uncle Gim ¨C Danm it Gimble!¡± Ford yelled back to the camp, causing the big guy to shrink slightly. ¡°Aww, come on! It¡¯s not that bad an idea.¡± Ford sighed and thought for a moment, ¡®Ford Sinn. Hmm ¡­ it doesn¡¯t sound half bad.¡¯ ¡°Plus, it kinda suits us.¡± ¡®How so?¡¯ ¡°Well, look at our names, for starters. I¡¯m Greed. She¡¯s Wrath. We¡¯re two of the seven sins.¡± ¡°See. Fitting.¡± Shaking her head with a slight laugh, Ford said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s start over one more time.¡± She then knelt and stuck out her hand, ¡°The name¡¯s Ford, Ford Sinn.¡± Chpt. 31) Distractions After shaking Tanya¡¯s hand, Ford stood and said, ¡°All right. Time for bed. We got to turn around and take you home tomorrow.¡± ¡°No,¡± Tanya said defiantly. ¡°Yes,¡± Ford countered, crossing her arms. ¡°No,¡± Tanya said again, louder this time. Then she turned around and ran back to the camp. Ford ran after her and saw her run up to where Ee sat, still eating dinner, and saying, ¡°Auntie Ee! Auntie Ee! Ford won¡¯t let me come with you guys on your adventure!¡± Ee¡¯s eyes widened, and she looked up at Ford. ¡°Is that so?¡± Ee asked in a kind, motherly voice Ford didn¡¯t know she had. Then Ee used comms, ¡°WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS ABOUT!?!¡± Ford smiled nervously and said, ¡°I can¡¯t let you come on the adventure because it¡¯s dangerous.¡± ¡°You said you would protect me!¡± Tanya said, ¡°and a promise is a promise!¡± ¡°I promised not to put you in my void space.¡± ¡°Actually,¡± Gimble interjected, ¡°you said you would keep her safe as long as you lived.¡± ¡°Gimble! You¡¯re not helping!¡± Ford yelled over comms. Making the giant shrink back. ¡°Yeah, you promised!¡± Tanya said, agreeing with Gimble. Ford looked down at Tanya and then up at a furious and powerful guide. Ford had to think quickly to convince Tanya to go home, ¡°Well, what about your father? He¡¯ll surely miss you and worry if you¡¯re gone for too long.¡± ¡°Papa¡¯s dead,¡± Tanya said casually, ¡°I¡¯m going on the adventure.¡± ¡°What about your friends at home? Or the orphanage you live? Surely there¡¯s someone worried about you.¡± ¡°Friends all got kidnapped, enslaved, killed, starved, or disappeared,¡± Tanya said, counting off fingers. ¡°Everyone who still knows me doesn¡¯t like me. So, I¡¯m going on this adventure!¡± Ford blinked a few times in shock, not letting her nervous smile slip. ¡°Surely there¡¯s someone ¨C¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Tanya interrupted. ¡°Uhhh,¡± Ford said, at a loss for words. Then she looked at the furious Ee and glanced at everyone else. ¡°We could still kill her. Especially now that we know no one will miss her,¡± Wrath suggested. ¡®We are not going to kill a child!¡¯ Ford thought. Then she saw Gimble giving big puppy dog eyes and Ace doing the same next to him. Even Farah looked a little hopeful. Ford sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking dare!¡± Ee said over comms. ¡°Ee, can she come?¡± Ford said. Tanya jumped with joy and looked expectantly at Ee. ¡°Please,¡± Tanya asked, giving the best puppy dog eyes that no one could refuse. Ee shifted uncomfortably on her log and rolled her eyes, ¡°Fine. But take a bath.¡± Tanya jumped excitedly and asked, ¡°What¡¯s a bath?¡± ¡°Farah, you¡¯re up,¡± Ford said, turning to her. ¡°Why do¡ª¡± Farah started to protest, then remembered, ¡°oh yeah. I have the bath.¡± Farah led Tanya into the forest for privacy, and Sunny flew after her. Ford then turned to Ee and asked, ¡°Can I use the forge? I need to distract myself.¡± Ee raised an eyebrow, then nodded, pointing at a patch of trees. Ford walked over to the trees and stepped into the portal behind them. *** Ford sat down at the forge¡¯s workbench and pulled out some blueprint paper and a pen from a cup on the table. Then she thought about how she wanted to build the nunchakus and what materials she had in the forge. She had enough excess iron for another leg for Ace, which was a lot, but no wood to use for the nunchakus. ¡°We could use our swords?¡± Greed suggested. Being helpful for once. ¡°But first, we should allocate our skill and ability points.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve got a lot of points to use,¡± Wrath agreed. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do that, then start working on the nunchakus.¡± Ford focused on the cog wheel in the top left corner of her vision, opening up her stats screen. She had 20 skill points to spend. She then put 5 points into STR and END and the last 10 points into WIS. Name: Ford Sinn; Gender: Female; Race: Human; Grimoire: Antarctictite; Class: Ruler/Sin/Angelic; Level: 23. Abilities: STR: 55 + 10 (65); PER: 40 + 20 (60); END: 65; INT: 51 + 20 (71); AGI: 42 + 20 (62); CHR: 32 + 15 (47); LCK: 25 + 10 (35); WIS: 50 + 20 (70); SOL: 46. Open skills? Yes/No? HP: 715/715 STM: 6,630/6,630 This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. MN: 337,402/337,402 MNP: 10,000,000/10,000,000 EXP: 0/8,143 STM Recharge: 602/sec MN Recharge: 672/sec Grimoire Level Progression: 10%. 36 skill points available. After allocating the ability points, she opened the skill menu. Select Class Labor selected Select Sub-Class Blacksmith selected Select Route Armor Weapon Enchanter Soul Forger ¡®Which should I choose?¡¯ Ford asked. ¡°Soul Forger,¡± Greed suggested. ¡°Also enchanter. Enchanting our weapons would come in handy,¡± Wrath also suggested. Ford nodded, ¡®We¡¯ll look at both of them.¡¯ Soul Forger selected Skills: Soul Fire, Borrowed Soul, Soul Hammer, Soul Forger Ford ignored the new skills and re-read the four original skills. Skill: Soul Fire: Create a forge using fire made from your Soul. Requirements: SOL: 50. Cost: 1 SOL point/day. Level: 0/1. Skill: Borrowed Soul. Borrow someone else¡¯s Soul to run your forge. Requirement: SOL: 50, Skill: Soul Fire. Level: 0/1. Skill: Soul Hammer. Make a hammer out of your Soul. Requirements: SOL: 10, Skill: Soul Fire. Cost: 10 SOL points. Level: 0/1. SOL points will be refunded after use. Skill: Soul Forger. Craft weapons, armor, or equipment using Soul Fire. Requirements: SOL: 50, Skills: Soul Hammer, Soul Fire. Cost: enchanted weapon, armor, or equipment, 10 SOL points. Level: 0/100. Then she read the new skills available for her Soul Forger route. Skill: Soul Creation. Create materials out of your Soul. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 50, SOL: 5, Skill: Soul Fire. Cost: 1 SOL point/creation. Level: 0/5. Skill: Soul Enchantments. Create enchantments using your Soul. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 50, SOL: 35, Skill: Soul Fire. Creation time: 1hr. Cost: 300 MN/sec, 300 STM/sec, 5 SOL/enchantment. Level: 0/5. Skill: Soul Enchanting. Enchant Soul created materials using your Soul Enchantments. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 50, SOL: 35, Skill: Soul Fire, Soul Creation, Soul Enchantments. Enchantment time: 1hr. Cost: 250 MN/sec, 250 STM/sec, 1 SOL/enchantment. Level: 0/5. Ford put one point into Soul Hammer and Soul fire. Then she put five points into Soul Creation, Soul Enchantments, and Soul Enchanting. Then read the changes to the skills. Skill: Soul Fire: Create a forge using fire made from your Soul. Requirements: SOL: 50. Cost: 1 SOL point/day. Level: 1/1. Skill: Soul Hammer. Make a hammer out of your Soul. Requirements: SOL: 10, Skill: Soul Fire. Cost: 10 SOL points. Level: 1/1. SOL points will be refunded after use. Skill: Soul Creation. Create materials out of your Soul. The materials created need not be natural but must follow all physical laws. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 50, SOL: 25, Skill: Soul Fire. Cost: 5 SOL point/creation. Level: 5/5. Skill: Soul Enchantments. Create enchantments using your Soul. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 50, SOL: 40, Skill: Soul Fire. Creation time: 20 Min. Cost: 550 MN/sec, 550 STM/sec, 10 SOL/enchantment. Level: 5/5. Skill: Soul Enchanting. Enchant Soul created materials using your Soul Enchantments. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 50, SOL: 40, Skill: Soul Fire, Soul Creation, Soul Enchantments. Enchantment time: 20 Min. Cost: 450 MN/sec, 450 STM/sec, 5 SOL/enchantment. Level: 5/5. Then left the screen since she couldn¡¯t do anything else with the rest of the skills. Enchanter selected Skills: Destroy, Transfer, Enchant, Quick Enchantment New skills available Skill: Creation. Create a low-level enchantment. Using the created enchantment will make the enchanted item a common enchanted item. Requirement: INT: 50, WIS: 20. Cost: 2,000 MN/enchantment. Level: 0/5. Skill: Multi-Enchantment Items. Passive ability: Enchant items with more than one enchantment. Enchantment total: 2. Requirments: INT: 40, WIS: 40. Level: 0/5. Ford placed one point into Quick Enchantment and five points into Creation, and Multi-Enchantment Items, then read the changes. Skill: Quick Enchantment. Passive ability: Enchantment items instantly. Requirements: INT: 40, WIS: 40. Level: 1/1. Skill: Creation. Create a legendary-level enchantment. Using the created enchantment will make the enchanted item a legendary enchanted item. Requirement: INT: 50, WIS: 20. Cost: 100,000 MN/enchantment. Level: 5/5. Skill: Multi-Enchantment Items. Passive ability: Enchant items with more than one enchantment. Enchantment total: 10. Requirments: INT: 40, WIS: 40. Level: 5/5. Then since Ford had nine skill points left, she decided to keep them for later and get to work. Then she started with the easy part of her weapon build. She began taking the iron and carbon over to the forge and melting it. After a couple of hours of melting, she pulled out the glowing hot metal, placed it on the anvil, and created a Soul hammer. Or tried to. Whenever she tried activating the spell, it refused to work. So, she summoned her grimoire and flipped to the page with the Soul Hammer skill. Skill: Soul hammer. You must use your essence to create the hammer to use the Soul Hammer skill. The essences used to create the hammer will affect the material you use the Soul Hammer on. Ford nodded to herself and closed the book. She focused on the Soul Hammer skill and what she wanted her weapon to do. Then she used her Blood and Life essences to create her hammer. The hammer was shaped like a regular mallet, but it shimmered and glowed with the red and green flames it was made. Ford looked down at the clump of molten metal before her and began pounding on it with all her might. The relentless clang of hammer on metal drew her into a trance as she continuously hammered the materials into a large lump of hard steel the size of her forearm. She canceled her Soul Hammer skill and began shaping and re-heating the lump of metal with magic. She created one hundred and forty-eight chain links and two eye hooks. Each link was the size of her thumb and a centimeter and a half thick. She summoned the great sword she had taken from the adventurers a week ago and threw it into the forge to melt. Then she summoned two of her Obsidian Blades and examined the hilts. They were made of wood and didn¡¯t look as though the base of the blade went to the bottom of the hilt. Before she did anything, she thought about how she would fight with the blades once she finished. ¡®This will be too clumsy to fight with in an actual battle,¡¯ Ford concluded. ¡°What? Nonsense,¡± Greed dis-agreed, ¡°This will be a great tool.¡± ¡°She might be right,¡± Wrath agreed, ¡°We probably shouldn¡¯t use blades as the nunchakus.¡± ¡®Yeah, let¡¯s just fight with our normal swords. It¡¯ll make things easier.¡¯ Greed sighed, ¡°Fine. But I still want my nunchakus.¡± ¡®We¡¯ll make normal ones eventually,¡¯ Ford agreed. Then she pulled out her grimoire again and flipped to the page with her Creation and Soul Enchantments skills to enchant the chains. Skill: Creation. Focus on what you want your enchantment to do and what it would take to activate the enchantment. Once you think of the enchantment, create an image in which the enchantment will reside. Soul Enchantments had the same description, the only difference being it required Soul points to make the enchantment. Ford closed her grimoire and began thinking of what she wanted her enchantment to be. She then spent 100,000 mana to create an enchantment. Placed the enchantment on the chains, and a notification appeared. Item: Links Of Fate. Quality: Legendary. Living item. Indestructible. Multiplies. Links beings together when in contact with two or more beings. Operation cost: 100 MN/sec. Multiplication cost: 1,000 MN x2, 5,000 MN x5, 10,000 MN x10. Links in total: 148. Ford smiled at her work again as she pulled out the melted steel and began forging it into an additional seventeen links for the Links Of Fate. Then she placed all her materials and stored them in her new weapons in crystal weapon storage. Then left the forge feeling exhausted. Chpt. 32) Lakes And Hills (part 1) Ford didn¡¯t get much sleep last night, probably only a few hours. She left her tent and looked around the camp. The sun had risen, and everyone had busied themselves packing and cleaning the camp. Tanya stood silently behind Gimble while the big guy and Ace sat beside her. Ford sighed and scratched the back of her head. She, too, busied herself packing away her tent in her void warehouse and getting breakfast ready for everyone except Ace since they had run out of monster meat. Once breakfast was ready, everyone gathered around with their bowls and began eating. While they ate, Ford noticed that Tanya¡¯s hair had been cut and trimmed. The hair on the sides of her head had been cut short while the rest had been pulled back in a ponytail. Ford cleared her throat and said, ¡°Hey, Tanya. I like your new hairstyle. It suits you.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Tanya said with a small smile, ¡°Auntie Farah did it for me.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Ford said with a rye smile and looked at Farah. She didn¡¯t look back at them, but Ford could see the tips of all her scales turn red as she blushed. Ford chuckled and kept eating a little. She didn¡¯t feel very hungry at the moment. Once everyone finished eating, Lilly walked over, ¡°Are ye al¡¯ righ¡¯?¡± She asked, ¡°Ye always finish yer grub.¡± Ford stopped momentarily and spoke in a low voice so only Lilly could hear, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I am all right. But I do know that I can handle it by myself. For now, at least.¡± Lilly sighed and gave Ford a small kiss on her head before saying, ¡°Ye be¡¯er come blatherin¡¯ to me when ye nade ¡®elp. Or I¡¯ll beat the livin¡¯ shoite out av ye.¡± Smiling, Ford nodded, dumped her half-eaten food, and cleaned the cookware. Before climbing into the back of the wagon with everyone else as they got moving. ¡°Onto the next adventure,¡± Ford said, making Tanya excitedly laugh. *** The day was spent on the road with Ace pulling the wagon through the forest. While Ace pulled, Ford opened Ace¡¯s stat screen and allocated his twenty-eight ability points. Placing ten into STR, eight into END, and five into INT and WIS. Name: HK-9 ¡®Ace¡¯; Gender: ???; Race: Mech Hellhound; Grimoire: Antarctictite; Class: Void/Time/Destruction; Level: 17. Abilities: STR: 160 x 2 (320); PER: 50; END: 60; INT: 40; AGI: 42 x 2; CHR: 33; LCK: 15; WIS: 40; SOL: 6. Skills: Natural: Carry Weight: 1,600 Kg, Great Strength, Great Speed, Shock, Bloodhound, Tracking, Poltergeist, Fear Monger, Soul Eater, Soul Minions. Skills: Destructive Field 5/5, Gravitational Pull 5/5, Mana Pool 5/5, Energy Release 1/1, Essence Thrower 5/5, Essence Ball 5/5, Essence Manipulation 1/1, Essence Shield 5/5. HP: 660/660 STM: 6,120/6,120 MN: 24,970/24,970 EXP: 2,598/5,053 STM recharge: 89/sec MN recharge: 50/sec You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Grimoire Level progression: 0% 54 skill points available. Ford gaped at the number of skill points Ace had and decided to start allocating them. She opened up Ace¡¯s skill tree and went into the time class. Time selected Skill: Stasis Field. Freeze time in a two-meter sphere. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 30, SOL: 10. Cost: 100 MN/sec. Level 0/5. Skill: Advance. Increase the speed of time with a beam of time. Requirements: INT: 30, WIS: 20, SOL: 5. Rate of advancement: 1 yr/sec. Cost: 50 MN/sec. Level: 0/5. Skill: Time Field. Control the rate time passes within a determined area. Requirements: INT: 30, WIS: 40, SOL:10. Cost: 50 MN/meter/sec, 100 MN/(+/-1 sec)/sec. Level: 0/5. Skill: Time Travel. Travel within a certain distance in frozen time. The frozen time lasts ten seconds. Requirement: SOL: 10. Cost: 300 MN/time stop, 100 MN/meter. Level: 0/5. ¡®These are some pretty good skills,¡¯ Ford thought, placing five points into each skill and reading the new descriptions. Skill: Stasis Field. Freeze time in a ten-meter sphere. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 50, SOL: 20. Cost: 500 MN/sec. Level 5/5. Skill: Advance. Increase the speed of time with a beam of time. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 40, SOL: 15. Rate of advancement: 10 yr/sec. Cost: 200 MN/sec. Level: 5/5. Skill: Time Field. Control the rate time passes within a determined area. Requirements: INT: 50, WIS: 50, SOL:15. Cost: 25 MN/meter/sec, 150 MN/(+/-2 hr)/sec. Level: 5/5. Skill: Time Travel. Travel within a certain distance in frozen time. The frozen time lasts twenty seconds. Requirement: SOL: 15. Cost: 150 MN/time stop, 75 MN/meter. Level: 5/5. She closed the window realizing Ace could use all the skills due to the requirements to cast the spells. So she used companion skills to give Ace a few of her stats, giving him ten INT, WIS, and fourteen SOL. She then read his new stats. Name: HK-9 ¡®Ace¡¯; Gender: ???; Race: Mech Hellhound; Grimoire: Antarctictite; Class: Void/Time/Destruction; Level: 17. Abilities: STR: 160 x 2 (320); PER: 50; END: 60; INT: 50; AGI: 42 x 2; CHR: 33; LCK: 15; WIS: 50; SOL: 20. Skills: Natural: Carry Weight: 1,600 Kg, Great Strength, Great Speed, Shock, Bloodhound, Tracking, Poltergeist, Fear Monger, Soul Eater, Soul Minions. Skills: Destructive Field 5/5, Gravitational Pull 5/5, Mana Pool 5/5, Energy Release 1/1, Essence Thrower 5/5, Essence Ball 5/5, Essence Manipulation 1/1, Essence Shield 5/5, Stasis Field 5/5, Advance 5/5, Time Field 5/5, Time Travel 5/5. HP: 660/660 STM: 6,120/6,120 MN: 104,040/104,040 EXP: 2,598/5,053 STM recharge: 297/sec MN recharge: 207/sec Grimoire Level progression: 0% Feeling satisfied with her changes to Ace, Ford meditated to cultivate some more Soul before she looked at her stats. She¡¯s cultivated so much Soul over the past month her meditation didn¡¯t take long to complete. ¡°Was it wise giving so much of our stats to Ace?¡± Wrath asked. ¡°Yeah, those were my stats, too,¡± Greed added unhelpfully. ¡°Those stats will help Ace help us in the long run. It¡¯s a worthwhile investment,¡± I retorted. Wrath shrugged, shaking her head, ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Ford felt concerned that Wrath wasn¡¯t putting up a fight this time but decided to leave it be as she opened her eyes and her stat screen, noting the changes. Her INT was 41, her WIS was 40, and her SOL was 42. She didn¡¯t cultivate all the Soul she spent on Ace, and her STM Recharge had dropped to 550/sec. And her MN capacity was at 264,366/264,366, and her recharge was 526/sec. She sighed, knowing there wasn¡¯t anything else she could do about it. Then noticed that Ace was slowing down, and so did everyone else. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Ace?¡± Ford asked. Ace slowed to a stop and turned his head back to look at everyone, ¡°I¡¯m hungry,¡± he said. ¡°Oh, well, in that case,¡± Ford said as she opened her inventory screen ¡­ and saw no monster meat. She closed the screen and said, ¡°Well, shit. We¡¯re out of wolpertingers. And all we do have is the massive snake scales.¡± ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time to hunt,¡± Farah said. ¡°Aye, let¡¯s spread out an¡¯ git as many monsters as possible,¡± Lilly agreed. Ford nodded, hopped off the wagon, and got to work taking the wagon off Ace. It only took a moment as she shrunk him down to the size of a puppy, and he stepped out of the harness. Ford looked at everyone and began splitting everyone into teams, saying, ¡°Farah, Gimble, and Lilly, you three head north with Tanya to find monsters. Benet, Morgan, Kii, and Mizu, you all head south. Max and Ace, you two are with me, scouting out ahead.¡± ¡°Heard,¡± everyone said, Max agreeing reluctantly as they all went in separate directions. *** Chpt. 32) Lakes And Hills (part 2) She¡¯s not wrong, though,¡± Greed said unhelpfully. Shut up. You¡¯re very unhelpful.¡¯ I¡¯m plenty helpful,¡± Greed argued. Then Greed dropped her voice to whisper, ¡°Take a look at that b-e-a-utiful dress Max is wearing.¡± Ford did so, and she felt a sudden infatuation with how it glinted in the light that got through the tree¡¯s canopy. ¡°We should take it. Go on. She won¡¯t mind if we have it for a little while. No one will care if suddenly we¡¯re wearing it. Go on. Take it for us,¡± Greed softly whispered. No! We are not doing that!¡¯ Ford thought, furious with herself. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Fire.¡± I would¡¯ve been more entertained by them attacking you. Watching you scramble to get them off you would be fun to watch.¡± That would be funny.¡± Stop it, the both of you.¡¯ Chpt. 32) Lakes And Hills (part 3) While Ace ate his fill, Ford examined the monster cores. They were black with stripes of brown swirling within. Ford shoveled the thirty cores into her void with the rest of her cores. Ace finished eating quickly, and they all returned to the wagon, arriving within twenty minutes. ¡°We¡¯re back at the wagon,¡± Ford said over comms, ¡°head back when you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Heard. We¡¯ll be back after we finish our monster,¡± Farah answered. ¡°Same here,¡± Benet said a moment after. Ford nodded and opened up her core inventory. She saw Max¡¯s Torus core, which she got from the first dungeon, and killing the boss. ¡°Hey, Max. Are you going to use the Torus core from the first dungeon?¡± Ford asked. Max thought momentarily, ¡°No, I need something with more ground aspects.¡± ¡°Mind if I use it?¡± Ford asked. ¡°No. Go ahead.¡± Ford smiled and pulled out the massive core. Summoning her grimoire, which now looked different, she¡¯ll examine it later. She placed the core on her grimoire, and it began to melt into it, filling the area with a horrible stench that smelled of pneumonia. After a minute, the core finished melting, and a notification appeared. Grimoire Level Progression 100/100. Progression from Antarctictite to Phosphophyllite complete. Grimoire Level Progression at 0/100. Skills have been upgraded. Skill: Regeneration. Regenerate HP, bones, and limbs. Will not regenerate head. 12 HP/sec. Cost: 10 HP/limb. Time: instant. Level: 5/5. Has changed to ¨C Skill: Regeneration. Regenerate HP, bones, and limbs. Will not regenerate head. 20 HP/sec. Cost: 5 HP/limb. Time: instant. Level: 5/5. Skill: Embracing Pain. While injured strength is multiplied by five. Requirements: END: 50. Duration: 10 seconds. Level: 5/5. Has changed to ¨C Skill: Embracing Pain. While injured, receive a x8 increase in Strength and a x2 increase in Endurance. Requirements: END: 50. Duration: 10 seconds. Level: 5/5. Skill: Essence Enforcement. Send essence through your body to create a protective shield and increase Strength by times three. Requirements: INT: 25, END: 30, STR: 30, Skill: Essence Manipulation. Cost: 100 MN/essence, 50 MN/sec, 1 STM/1 KG of defense. 100 STM and 100 MN to recharge. Level: 5/5. Has changed to ¨C Skill: Essence Enforcement. Send essence through your body to create a protective shield and increase Strength by x5, Endurance by x2. Requirements: INT: 25, END: 30, STR: 30, Skill: Essence Manipulation. Cost: 100 MN/essence, 50 MN/sec, 1 STM/1 KG of defense. 100 STM and 100 MN to recharge. Level: 5/5. Skill: Berserkers Rage. Increase strength by x10. Increase Endurance by +100. Increase speed by x5. 200 HP/sec regeneration. Spells cost nothing while Berserkers Rage is in effect. Duration: 60 seconds. Requirements: END: 60, STR: 50, AGI: 40. Cost: 99% HP, 99% MN, 99% STM. Level: 1/1. Warning: HP, MN, and STM will not regenerate for ten minutes after activation. Has changed to ¨C Skill: Berserkers Rage. Increase strength by x15. Increase Endurance by +150. Increase Agility by x10. 250 HP/sec regeneration. Spells cost nothing while Berserkers Rage is in effect. Duration: 60 seconds. Requirements: END: 60, STR: 50, AGI: 40. Cost: 99% HP, 99% MN, 99% STM. Level: 1/1. Warning: HP, MN, and STM will not regenerate for ten minutes after activation. Skill: Hard-Shell. Harden your skin till it¡¯s stronger than tungsten steel. Duration: lasts until the user dispels the skill. Requirements: STR: 50, END: 50, Blood essence. Cost: 200 STM/sec. Level: 5/5. Has changed to ¨C Skill: Hard-Shell. Harden your skin till it¡¯s stronger than tungsten steel. Duration: lasts until the user dispels the skill. Requirements: STR: 50, END: 50, Blood essence. Cost: 100 STM/sec. Level: 5/5. Ford smiled at the changes to the skills, noticing all the little changes that benefited her. She then examined her grimoire. It now had a Fox with wings curled up in a ball with a pair of crossed battle axes behind it, and it shone with a light blue glow. Ford ran her hands over her grimoire, and Ee sauntered over to examine the grimoire as well. She abruptly pulled it from Ford¡¯s hands and examined it, ignoring Ford¡¯s look of bewilderment and annoyance. Ee then tossed it back to her, ¡°You¡¯re going to want to get even more specific with the cores you want in your grimoire. The further you progress, the more changes there will be to your skills and abilities.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know,¡± Ford grumbled. She then settled in the back of the wagon, crossing her arms. She relaxed her body, and exhaustion overwhelmed her as she fell asleep. *** ¡°Oooh, new upgrades to her skills!¡± Tanashi exclaimed excitedly. ¡°This will make things so much more exciting!¡± Samael sipped a glass of the experimental drink Zee made. ¡°This is some good alcohol. What did you call it again?¡± Samael asked, ignoring Tanashi. ¡°It¡¯s called mead,¡± Zee answered. Shurma chugged at a tankard of mead. Once she stopped for a breath, she raised it in Zee¡¯s direction, ¡°It¡¯s good, but I don¡¯t think I can get drunk off it.¡± Zee shrugged, ¡°Still in the prototype phase. So it¡¯s to be expected. I¡¯ll have to make some adjustments soon.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Samael said, raising her glass and drinking it. Tanashi¡¯s eye twitched, annoyed at the conversation that didn¡¯t have anything to do with him or the game, and he shifted through his cards to see what he had. Then he smiled at one of his newer cards. ¡°Oh, this is going to be fun,¡± he mumbled as he lovingly pet the card in his hand and turned his attention back to the screen in front of him. *** Tendrils impaled Ford over and over again. She couldn¡¯t move, she couldn¡¯t breathe, she couldn¡¯t see. But she felt everything. She felt the tendrils stab into her body and fill her with an ooze that ate away at her muscles and bones. She could feel them holding her down and squirming around her body as she struggled to breathe. Then one of the tendrils stabbed her eye, and she awoke with a start. Looking around, she quickly took note of everything going on around her. The sky was clear and sunny, revealing the beautiful blue of the sky. The twins played a game with a deck of cards, hiding cards up their sleeves and cheating. Gimble sat with his grimoire out and read its contents, assigning skill and ability points. Morgan sat next to him, making schematics for some machine he planned to build. Farah sat at the back of the wagon with Tanya, pointing out birds and teaching Tanya about each of them. Ee sat with her back to them all, widdling away at a wood carving, then she cut too deep, and she tossed the carving away, pulling a new one out and starting over. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Max and Benet both sat at the front of the wagon, sleeping. And Lilly lay next to Ford, her head resting on Ford¡¯s lap. She looked so peaceful at that moment and even more beautiful. Her long ears twitched as she dreamed, and she puffed her cheeks out a little as she breathed. She looked adorable. Ford calmed herself down with a few deep breaths and gently brushed Lilly¡¯s hair. Ford looked up at the sky and enjoyed the moment while it lasted, wondering when it would be ruined. She didn¡¯t have to wonder long as the wagon lurched as Ace came to a stop. The sudden stop shook everyone awake, and Ford looked forward to see why Ace had stopped. She stood as she saw a grassland of rolling hills covered in grass and flowers. Before that, a wide raging river bubbled and turned, threatening death to whoever may enter its treacherous waters. And before that stood two lone strangers. Activating her Linchpin skill, she identified the first stranger. She wore a green cloak with blue and white stripes that obscured her face from view and tight, black leather clothes that fit her figure perfectly. She had a blue bow and aimed a glowing blue and white arrow at them, her arms perfectly steady. Name: Luna ¡®Ice queen¡¯ Shantel Level: 54 Weakness: none The next stranger wore blue armor with silver highlights. Each piece of metal looked incredibly shiny. He had two swords on his hips, still sheathed, and golden blond hair peeked out from beneath his helm. Ford could only see his eyes behind his helmet, which shone blue from underneath. Name: Lance ¡®Ice king¡¯ Shantel Level: 55 Weakness: none Ford quickly spoke over comms, ¡°Lilly, Ace, get everyone across the river safely. I will keep them distracted and catch up with you.¡± ¡°Are ye sure ye can take ¡®em?¡± Lilly asked. ¡°Nope, but I¡¯m sure I can distract them,¡± Ford answered and jumped off the wagon, opening her skill trees and placing a point into Slight Of Hand. Skill: Sleight Of Hand. Take an ability or skill point from someone else. Requirements: SOL: 20, AGI: 25. Cost: 10,000 MN. Level: 1/1. ¡°¡¯eard. Be careful, though. They¡¯re plenty strong enoof to kill ye.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. Just get everyone to safety,¡± Ford said as she summoned her Elemental blade into her left hand and her Willful dagger in her right. She then slowly approached the two strangers, neither of them flinching. The moment she stepped past Ace, the arrow Luna had been holding released and hurtled toward Ford at an incredible speed. Ford didn¡¯t move, however, and used Targeted Slaughter to create a small shield the size of her left eye one step before her. The arrow collided with the skill and burst into blue dust. Ford charged forward, closing the distance between her and Lance. She made a diagonal slash and sent a blade of light at the man. He didn¡¯t flinch, letting the attack hit an invisible field around him. Then Lance moved. He drew his swords and cut Ford¡¯s arm off at the elbow before she could react, and Luna fired a volley of arrows that struck Ford¡¯s heart. Ice exploded from the point of impact and covered Ford in a thick layer of ice, immobilizing her. As Ford¡¯s arm hit the ground, Lance sheathed his blades and scoffed, ¡°That was too easy. It¡¯s hard to believe these people killed a group of adventurers.¡± His voice sounded pleasant to the ear and dripping with arrogance. Lilly ran up and hopped onto Ace¡¯s back, ¡°OI! Wonder twins! Cum ¡®ere, I got somethin¡¯ to tell you!¡± Lance and Luna looked at each other and slowly approached. ¡°What would that be?¡± Luna asked, readying another arrow. Lilly leaned over, resting her arms on one knee and wiggling her finger to bring them closer, ¡°It¡¯s a secret. Cum closer, an¡¯ I¡¯ll tell ye.¡± They slowly came closer, walking past the frozen Ford. ¡°I guess I can indulge you since you¡¯ll die soon,¡± Lance boasted. ¡°Be careful. One of them still controls the dog,¡± Luna said, and Ace growled, sparks jumping between the spikes of his antlers. Lilly waved them closer and leaned in, ¡°Ye missed.¡± ¡°I what?¡± Luna asked. ¡°She isn¡¯t dead yet,¡± Lilly clarified. And Ford sprung into action. She activated, Embracing Pain and Essence Enforcement with water and dark essences with half her stamina. She then flexed her body, breaking the ice around her easily, and willed her dagger to fly out of her hand and into Luna¡¯s calf muscle. Luna screamed in pain as the dagger dragged her off her feet and far over the trees. Ten seconds. ¡°Luna!¡± Lance yelled as he watched her being flown away. Ace then ran toward the raging river, and Lilly cast Essence Thrower, shooting a ray of ice at the water and freezing it solid as Ace ran across the improvised ice bridge. ¡°Oh, no, you don¡¯t!¡± Lance yelled and swung his blade, creating a blade of ice that flew toward the wagon. Eight seconds. Ford dashed in front of the blades taking the hit on her Essence Enforcement, receiving no damage. A trail of blood gushed out of her left arm from where he had cut her. She willed her Elemental to return, her severed arm still holding onto the sword hilt. She grabbed her arm and put it back on her stump of an arm. Her skin crawled and itched as it knitted itself back together. Three ¡­ two ¡­ one. Ford smirked, ¡°You attack my friends. I attack yours.¡± Lance dropped into a crouch and readied himself for a fight, ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try.¡± Plastering a fake smile onto her face, Ford cast Slight Of Hand on the man twenty-six times, taking ten Intelligence points, ten Wisdom points, and six Agility points, ¡°Catch me if you can.¡± She then ran in the direction of Luna, and Lance immediately followed. He cursed as he noticed how fast Ford suddenly became but endeavored to keep up with her. Ford raced through the forest, weaving her way around trees with ease. Soon enough, Lance got close to her and swiped at her with his sword, severing her Achilles tendon. She screamed as she rolled her body to land on her shoulder and hit the ground at inhuman speeds. She felt her Essence Enforcement dissipate as the ground sliced up her skin. Ford rolled out of the forest and stopped at the shore of a massive lake. She quickly got to her feet and sent a hundred mana into her clothes to fix them. She looked up at Lance, who looked a tad out of breath. Ford felt her Willful dagger appear in her sheathe, and she drew it, tapping the brim of her hat, making it morph into a helmet. ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± Wrath asks. ¡®Ware him down and survive,¡¯ Ford answered. ¡°Very comprehensive plan,¡± Greed deadpanned, ¡°So much detail.¡± Looking at her mana, she read MN: 14,886/264,886. Clenching her fists around her blades, she let them go and float. Lance looked between the floating blades nervously and said, ¡°What? Are you some sort of Possessor? I didn¡¯t know they could heal themselves.¡± ¡°You could say I¡¯m a Possessor,¡± Ford answered. She summoned the rest of her blades and her sword, Smite. She grabbed the blade with both hands and readied herself for a fight, ¡°You could also say I¡¯m your worst nightmare.¡± The collection of blades sped toward Lance, and he dodged each attack easily. Dancing around the blades as though he had been made of air. Ford charged forward and swung her blade with all her strength. Lance dodged and brought his blade down, stabbing Ford¡¯s back and through her heart. Ford gasped at the slight sting of pain, de-summoning Smite and activating Embracing Pain. Ten seconds. She turned and punched Lance with all her strength sending him flying back along the shore of the lake. Nine seconds. Ford closed the distance between them in a second and unleashed a flurry of punches at Lance. Each one threw him back further and further. Then he landed on his feet, and a fist of water struck Ford in her stomach, sending her flying back. Seven seconds. Ford landed on her feet, and her blades flew forward. Each blade struck a wall of ice and stuck there. Six seconds. The ice wall shattered, and Lance charged forward, slashing at Ford with blades of ice and water. Each one cut Ford, giving her massive gashes on her body and freezing her solid. Five ¡­ four ¡­ three ¡­ two ¡­ one. Lance panted heavily as he walked past the shattered ice, swinging his sword lazily in circles. ¡°I have to admit,¡± Lance said, ¡°you put up one hell of a fight.¡± ¡°Lilly, how far are you guys?¡± Ford asked over comms. ¡°We¡¯re ¨C¡± Lilly¡¯s voice cut out suddenly as they went past the limit of comms. ¡®Good, they¡¯re five kilometers away at least. Maybe more,¡¯ Ford thought. ¡°But you insisted on fighting me, and where did that end you up? In an early grave,¡± Lance boasted, apparently monologing. Ford didn¡¯t pay attention as she looked at her mana. MN: 20,146/264,886. She needed more, and she searched through her spells franticly. Then she remembered Energy Release. Skill: Energy Release. Passive ability. Use the MN you stored from the Mana Pool for other uses. Stored MN can be released at once in a ray. Level: 1/1. And reading a mana pool of ten million, she smiled. ¡°And now I¡¯m going to kill you, ending this fight,¡± Lance said, raising his sword to cut off Ford¡¯s head. ¡°Thanks for the heads up,¡± Ford said, activated Slight Of Hand, and took ten more INT, WIS, and twenty Agility. Simultaneously she activated the gravitational pull of her dagger. Lance flew backward toward the blade, along with a massive chunk of earth and water. He collided with the ever-growing ball of earth and was quickly buried under the rocks and immense pressure. Ford cut the mana flow as she collided with the rocks, breaking out of the ice encapsulating her. She stood and de-summoned all her weapons, stepping away from the massive ball. She then turned and ran back in the direction she had come. She activated Essence Enforcement, giving her more strength, and ran faster to catch up with her friends. *** Tanashi watched the short battle in astonishment with the rest of the gods. He then turned and examined his planet and saw the tiny divot in the ground. ¡°That bitch!¡± Tanashi exclaimed, ¡°She moved my planet and dented it!¡± ¡°Appears so,¡± Finn said. ¡°It is impressive she was able to do that,¡± Guargen said, admiring Ford, ¡°I wish I had that much strength back when I fought.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Tanashi exclaimed, ¡°The point is that bitch dented my planet!!¡± ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± Samael yelled, throwing an empty wine bottle at Tanashi¡¯s head. He easily dodged it and looked at Samael quizzically, causing everyone to chuckle at his misfortune. Tanashi crossed his arms and said, ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll shut up. Not like I can do anything about it now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Tanashi,¡± Zee said, pointing at the planet, ¡°You can always kiss your ball and make it feel better.¡± This made everyone laugh, and Tanashi blushed furiously. Chpt. 33) Runaway (part 1) Ford returned to camp quickly enough, especially since Ace decided to slow down enough for her to catch up. And now she sat by the fire examining her stat screen, willing her skills to organize themselves by class. Name: Ford Sinn; Gender: Female; Race: Human; Grimoire: Phosphophyllite; Class: Ruler/Sin/Angelic; Level: 23. Abilities: STR: 55 + 10 (65); PER: 40 + 20 (60); END: 65; INT: 61 + 20 (81); AGI: 68 + 20 (88); CHR: 32 + 15 (47); LCK: 25 + 10 (35); WIS: 60 + 20 (80); SOL: 42. Open skills? Yes/No? Yes Skills: Natural: Carry Weight: 325 Kg, Quick-Witted, Resilient, Immovable Will, Cook, Sleep Paralysis, Silent Intimidation. Labor Carrier: Void Warehouse 5/5 Blacksmith: Folding 1/1, Heating 1/1, Shaping 1/1, Quick Enchantment 1/1, Creation 5/5, Multi-Enchantment Items 5/5, Soul Fire 1/1, Soul Hammer 1/1, Soul Creation 5/5, Soul Enchantments 5/5, Soul Enchanting 5/5 Mage Space: Size 1/1 Destruction: Essence thrower 5/5, Essence Volley 5/5, Essence Ball 5/5, Essence Mortar 5/5, Essence Manipulation 1/1 Possessor: Mechanized Servant 5/5, Self-repair 5/5 Void: Destructive Field 5/5, Gravitational Pull 5/5, Mana Pool 5/5, Energy Release 1/1 Archer Sniper: Essence Shot 5/5 Beast Master Companions: Speak 5/5, Bond 5/5, Senses 5/5, Companion Stats 1/1, Companion Class 1/1, Companion Skills 1/1, Companion¡¯s Form 1/5 Warrior CQC: Hand-To-Hand Combat 5/5, Energy Pulse 5/5 Knight: Warning 1/1, Comms 2/5, Strategist 1/1, Party Stats 5/5, Radar 1/5 Sin Berserker: Weapon Mastery 5/5, Crystal Heart 5/5, Blood Controller 5/5, Crystal Weapon Storage 5/5, Crystal Battle Music 2/5, Blood Weapons 5/5, Regeneration 5/5, Embracing Pain 5/5, Psychosis 5/5, Targeted Slaughter 5/5, Battle Control 5/5, Essence Enforcement 5/5, Blood Salvos 2/5, Boiling Blood 2/5, Berserkers Rage 1/1, Holistic Shield 5/5, Holistic Kill 4/5, Linchpin 5/5, Hard-Shell 5/5 Fox: Siphon 5/5, Sleight Of Hand 1/1, Copycat 1/1, Fox Den 1/1, Swap 1/1 Angelic Sacrifice: Area Cleanse 5/5, Replacement 5/5, Life Line 5/5, Loving Sacrifice 1/1, Banishing Light 5/5, Plead 5/5, All-Knowing Light 1/1 HP: 715/715 STM: 6,630/6,630 MN: 351,759/351,759 MNP: 9,958,000/10,000,000 If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. EXP: 1,358/8,143 STM Recharge: 663/sec MN Recharge: 700/sec Grimoire Level Progression: 0%. 8 skill points are available ¡®Ah, that is so much easier to read. And it¡¯s so nice having most of my stat points back in INT and WIS,¡¯ Ford thought. Then turned her attention to her EXP, ¡®Though it¡¯s troubling knowing I didn¡¯t get any EXP from the fight. Especially since that means they¡¯re still alive.¡¯ ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s future Ford¡¯s problem. The important thing is how neat and organized the skills are now. Praze me for my greatness,¡± Greed said, distracting Ford from her thoughts. ¡°You mean the stone angle. She¡¯s the one who organized everything in the blink of an eye,¡± Wrath corrected. ¡®Shut up, both of you! Neither of you are helping,¡¯ Ford thought, interrupting the argument before it started. ¡®We need to think of a plan to stay alive right now,¡¯ Ford said. ¡°Do the simple thing and do what we¡¯ve been doing. We keep moving,¡± Wrath said. ¡°That is the best solution we have,¡± Greed agreed. ¡®Fine. We¡¯ll eat, then keep moving.¡¯ Then a tap on Ford¡¯s shoulder drew her attention to her right, and she turned to see Benet. He fiddled with his thumbs as though he felt nervous to ask something, then he spoke, ¡°Can I ask a serious favor of you in private?¡± Ford¡¯s eyebrows creased, and she nodded. Standing and following Benet a little way out of the camp to where no one but the twins could hear them, Ford asked, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Benet scratched the back of his head nervously, ¡°Well, I need a favor. See that light over there?¡± he pointed to a glow of light over the horizon. ¡°Yeah, what about it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my hometown of Hobtin. My family lives there, and I would like to see them. Can I go do that? Just to see if they¡¯re all right.¡± Ford scratched the back of her head in thought, then sighed, ¡°I can¡¯t let you do that.¡± Benet looked visibly upset for a moment, then schooled his expression and asked, ¡°Why? It¡¯s not that far away. Thirty minutes with Ace is all I¡¯ll need. Please, I¡¯m begging you, I need to¡ª¡± Ford raised her hand and cut him off, ¡°You know why. We¡¯re being hunted by every sentient being on every planet in the solar system. If you go there, not only will you put yourself and us in danger, but you¡¯ll also put your family in danger as well. Sorry, but I can¡¯t let you go.¡± Ford explained, then turned, returning to camp, and sat in her spot next to Lilly before Benet asked to speak with her. ¡°I should¡¯ve known you wouldn¡¯t care!!¡± Benet yelled at Ford from where he still stood outside camp. Everyone jumped at Benet¡¯s yell, except for the twins, who knew what was happening. ¡°You never cared about me or any of us! You¡¯re just keeping us together, so you¡¯ll be safe! We¡¯re cannon fodder to you, aren¡¯t we!? Aren¡¯t we!!?¡± Benet continued to yell. ¡°That¡¯s enough, Benet!!¡± Ford yelled back at him, standing to face him. ¡°Or what!? You¡¯ll beat me! You have no family, so I¡¯m not surprised you don¡¯t care about anybody but yourself!¡± ¡°I said be quiet!!¡± Ford yelled again, rage coursing through her body so powerful she almost couldn¡¯t hold it back. ¡°Silence him. He¡¯s not worth the trouble,¡± Wrath whispered in Ford¡¯s ear. ¡°She¡¯s right, Benet,¡± Ee said from her hammock suspended mid-air and a nearly finished sculpture in her hands, ¡°It¡¯ll be too dangerous to see family. You¡¯ll just get yourself and all of us killed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s called caring for other people and family! You should try it sometime,¡± Benet fired back at Ee angrily. Ee immediately stopped widdling at her carving and stared at Benet hatefully for a moment. Then she tossed the carving into her shadow storage and rolled over, turning her back to them. ¡°I think he hit a nerve.¡± ¡°Do it again!¡± Ford shook her head and said, ¡°Look, Benet, I know you¡¯re upset, and I understand that. But I can¡¯t let you go. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Benet clenched his fists and looked down at the ground before saying, ¡°Try and stop me then.¡± He turned on his heels and ran into the darkness toward the light. But before he got more than a few meters, a glowing purple sphere formed around him, and his movements slowed to a crawl. Ace cast a level 1 Stasis Field on Benet and was almost completely frozen in time. Ford sighed and casually jogged up to Benet, getting in front of him. She stuck her arm out at head level to him, and Ace dispelled the Stasis Field replacing it with a Time Field, speeding up time within an instant. Benet charged forward at an incredible speed before running into Ford¡¯s outstretched arm and flying a meter forward before hitting the ground with a loud thud. ¡°Sorry, buddy. But I can¡¯t let you go,¡± Ford said with a sigh, then shook her head and carried him back to camp over her shoulder. Once she returned to camp, she put him in his tent and began pulling out the ingredients she needed to cook dinner to blot out Benet¡¯s hurtful words to anger her. ¡®If only he knew,¡¯ Ford thought and shook her head again. Lilly put a hand on Ford¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°If ye nade someone to talk wi¡¯, I¡¯m ¡®ere.¡± Ford put a hand on Lilly¡¯s and said, ¡°Thanks, I just need to do something productive right now and cook.¡± ¡°OH! Can we have fried chicken!?¡± Tanya asked excitedly. Ford chuckled, ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± she said in a slightly better mood. *** Chpt. 33) Runaway (part 2) The following morning, Ford woke early as always, walked out of her tent, put on her Fedora, and went over to the smoldering coals of the fire from last night. Kii and Mizu slept shoulder to shoulder while on watch. Ford shook her head, summoned her Elemental blade, and placed the tip of it between their chins. The cold metal woke them, and fear filled their eyes as they instantly used comms, ¡°SOMEONE¡¯S HERE! HELP!¡± Then they noticed who held the sword, ¡°Oh, oh wait, it¡¯s just Ford. Never mind!¡± Ford chuckled half-heartedly to herself and said, ¡°You¡¯re lucky we weren¡¯t attacked when you two were on watch. Otherwise, we would¡¯ve probably died.¡± ¡°Sorry, Ford,¡± the twins apologized dejectedly. ¡°It¡¯s fine, guys.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not! We should punish them!¡± ¡®No, we won¡¯t punish them,¡¯ Ford rejected Wrath¡¯s demands and began to get ingredients to cook breakfast. Soon, everyone began to leave their tents and wait for breakfast. That¡¯s when Ford noticed something was wrong. She looked at all of them and saw Farah, Lilly, Morgan, Gimble, Kii, Mizu, Ee, Max, Tanya, and Ace, but not Benet. A sickening feeling clutched at her gut, and she quickly stood and went over to Benet¡¯s tent. ¡°Benet! You in there?¡± Ford asked and opened the tent flap. Ford cursed and turned to everyone, yelling, ¡°Pack up camp quickly! We need to go now!¡± Everyone looked confused at Ford¡¯s demand as she willed storage portals to open underneath everyone¡¯s tents, swallowing them whole. ¡°Why? Wha¡¯s wrong?¡± Lilly asked, starting to feel a little panicked. ¡°Benet! He¡¯s gone!¡± Ford said and snapped her fingers for Ace to come over to her. He did so without hesitation, and Ford made him grow to his full size before attaching the wagon. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°What are we going to do? Run?¡± Farah asked. ¡°No,¡± Ford said, adding, ¡°We are going to find him, save him, and be on our way as fast as we can.¡± ¡°What if he doesn¡¯t need saving?¡± Morgan asked. ¡°Then we drag him away kicking and screaming if we have to. But for now, enough with the questions. Let¡¯s go! Who knows how much of a headstart he has on us, and we need to confirm he¡¯s still alive,¡± Ford jumped onto the front of the wagon, followed by everyone else climbing on in a hurry. Lilly sat next to Ford and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Ace barked and quickly ran to the south, where the lights were last night. Ford clenched her hands together and began gnawing on her knuckles, and a moment later, a gentle hand wrapped around her wrist. She turned to see the concerned expression on Lilly¡¯s face, ¡°It¡¯s goin¡¯ to be al¡¯ righ¡¯. We¡¯ll git ¡®im,¡± she said reassuringly. Steeling her resolve, Ford nodded, ¡°We¡¯ll get him. I know we will.¡± *** Tanashi and the other gods all watched as Benet snuck out of his tent and ran toward his hometown of Hobtin. The ever-present smile on Tanashi¡¯s face grew wicked as he looked at his cards. ¡°I think,¡± Tanashi began, ¡°I¡¯ll play this one.¡± He pulled the third card from his hand and placed it face-up on the invisible game table for everyone to see. Good Luck +2 ¡°Why use that card?¡± Guargen asked. ¡°I think Benet could use it right now,¡± Tanashi answered as the card dissolved into gold and blue dust, and words appeared in the center of the game table. Good Luck +2 has been used on Benet Benten. Good Luck duration will last two hours. ¡°I¡¯ll play this card,¡± Samael said, pulling her bottom card and placing it face up. Good Luck +2 Good Luck +2 has been used on Benet Benten. Good Luck duration will last four hours. Zee began to cackle as Drake and Shirma both passed their turns. She then played another card, ¡°I think thisss will be worth usssing now.¡± Even Scales. The scales of luck will be balanced with four hours of Bad luck. Tanashi laughed and dealt Zee, Samael, and himself three new cards, ¡°I like the way you think.¡± ¡°Now all we have to do is watch,¡± Finn said, leaning back on his throne and watching his champion run across the fields of grass at incredible speeds on his way home. *** Chpt. 34) Hero Hunters (part 1) Chpt. 34) Hero Hunters Ace ran as fast as he could for hours without stopping for even a moment. When we saw the town in the distance, it was nearly ten in the morning. Ford turned to Farah and said, ¡°Can you contact Benet yet?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying, but he¡¯s ignoring me.¡± ¡°Fuck! We need to find him fast,¡± Ford cursed. ¡°How? There¡¯s too much ground to cover?¡± Max pointed out. Ford thought for a moment, ¡°Everyone get your disguises ready. Helmets on, faces concealed. We split into two teams. Farah, Kii, Gimble, and Max check the east side of the town. Lilly, Morgan, Ace, Mizu, and I will check the west side. Look for any sign of him and stay in contact with each other.¡± ¡°Heard,¡± everyone agreed, and once Ace was a couple of hundred meters away from the town, they stopped, and Ford stored the wagon in her storage. Leaving Ee and Tanya behind, they split up and ran to the town. The town didn¡¯t have any walls around it and looked surprisingly peaceful. The houses were all one-story-high wood homes with gardens on their roofs. Grass either grew on the rooftops or flowers. Some even looked to have vegetables growing in them. Ford slipped between two buildings and waited for everyone else to catch up. Lilly was the first to reach her, followed by Ace, whom Ford shrank into a puppy again, Morgan, and Mizu. ¡°Is everyone all right?¡± Ford asked over comms. ¡°We¡¯re good. We just got into the town,¡± Came Farah¡¯s response. Ford nodded, ¡°Good. Everyone split up and started searching. I want to be out of here by noon.¡± ¡°Heard,¡± everyone confirmed. Morgan and Lilly walked out of the ally into a crowd of halflings going about their days, not sticking out at all as Lilly towered over everyone. Mizu, on the other hand, climbed one of the nearby walls and got onto the rooftops. Ace put his nose to the ground, sniffed, trying to pick up a scent, and ran down the alley opposite Lilly and Morgan. ¡°Find something, Ace?¡± Ford asked as she followed him. ¡°Maybe. I found a familiar scent, but it¡¯s not Benet¡¯s,¡± Ace answered promptly. Ford nodded and added, ¡°You sound smarter for some reason. Why is that?¡± ¡°It might be because you put Intelligence points from your stats instead of adding to it from the ones I earn,¡± Ace hedged, weaving through people as he sniffed the air. ¡°That would make sense,¡± Ford said, nodding. Then, she saw a red dot appear on her radar, and she grabbed Ace¡¯s spiked scruff, cutting her right hand as she pulled back and crouched. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked. Ford removed her hand and shook it as spikes of pain shot through her hand for a second before it healed. She peered over the curious gazes of the crowd in the direction of the red dot. One kilometer away, she saw a tall woman with golden armor peering around the corner of a building toward a street full of stalls for a farmer¡¯s market. Cursing under her breath, Ford immediately spoke over comms, ¡°General Tse is here.¡± ¡°WHAT!?¡± Farah exclaimed. ¡°Guards up, everyone. If she¡¯s here, then so is Mr.Smith.¡± ¡°¡¯eard. We¡¯ll be careful,¡± Lilly confirmed. ¡°Who¡¯s she? And who¡¯s Mr.Smith?¡± Ace asked, cocking his head. ¡°Bad guys,¡± Ford answered, pulling her Smiling cloak from her inventory and putting it on. Her helmet still covered her face, and she dared not pull her weapons. She watched the General for a moment longer before deciding to gamble and yelled over comms, ¡°Benet! Where are you!?¡± ¡°Leave me alone, Ford!¡± came a surprisingly fast response from Benet. ¡°Benet! Thank the gods, you¡¯re all right. Listen¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m done listening to you!¡± Benet yelled, cutting Ford off, ¡°I¡¯m with my family right now, and I won¡¯t be going on the journey with you anymore! So go away!¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand¡ª¡± ¡°NO! YOU DON¡¯T UNDERSTAND! I¡¯m happy with my family, and if I go with you, there is a chance that I will die and never see them again! I will spend what time I have left with them, and you can¡¯t stop me.¡± Benet cut her off again. Ford gritted her teeth and said, ¡°Fine. You might as well say your goodbyes now because General Tse is here, and she probably has others with her like Mr.Smith.¡± Silence followed her statement before Benet asked, ¡°How long do I have?¡± ¡°Depends. Where are you now?¡± ¡°At the farmers market with my mom and grandma.¡± ¡°I give you about ten seconds,¡± Ford said before she began moving again. Crouching she made her way slowly to the General. ¡°Ee, if you can hear me, please come and help us with this,¡± Ford said over comms, half praying. She received no answer. Ford cursed under her breath and said, ¡°Everyone come to me. There¡¯s going to be a fight soon.¡± ¡°Heard,¡± Farah confirmed and went silent. General Tse kept her eyes around the corner, ignoring Ford¡¯s approach. Ford stood again and began walking normally, changing her helmet¡¯s color from blood red to black. And within a minute, she walked past the General without her noticing. As she did, she used Linchpin on the General. Name: General Iris Tse Class: Knight Level: 263 Weakness: None Cursing her luck and hoping not to fight her and Mr.Smith again, Ford kept walking, trying to act as casually as possible. She soon reached the market where dozens of people perused the fresh produce offered. ¡°Do you smell him, Ace?¡± Ford asked over comms. Ace nodded and began leading the way through the crowd. Within moments, she saw Benet hugging two small older women. Ford waited a moment to let him enjoy his time with his family. Then she took three quick strides forward and tapped his shoulder. The two women jumped, and Benet reluctantly relinquished his hug. ¡°It¡¯s time,¡± Ford said gently. Benet nodded, putting up his hood. ¡°Goodbye, Mom, Grandma,¡± Benet said, his voice sounding choked. ¡°Take care of yourself, pumpkin,¡± one woman said. ¡°Thanks, Mom. I will.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, you said your goodbyes. Now let¡¯s go,¡± Ford said, trying to rush out of there. Benet scoffed and shook his head, ¡°You never will understand, will you?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t care about anybody else¡¯s feelings, do you? You just want to kill monsters and get that sweet adrenalin high, right?¡± Benet said, turning to me and looking up at me with tears in his eyes, ¡°You will never understand me.¡± Ford felt her anger build up in her chest again and opened her mouth to snap at him when several loud booms sounded around them, making the civilians scream and run in all directions. Ford turned and saw General Tse and Mr.Smith with a dozen men in full battle armor surrounding them. ¡°Well, hello again, Mrs.Ford. Long time no see,¡± Mr.Smith said with a sly smile. Ford cursed her luck and fixed a smile on her face before morphing her helmet into her usual hat, ¡°Mr.Smith,¡± she said cheerily, stalling for time and playing her role, ¡°How did you find us this time?¡± ¡°It was pure luck this time. I would like to know what you¡¯re doing here, though. Your path is taking us around the world, and it¡¯s getting rather troublesome. So what are you doing here?¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°That is none of your concern, Mr.Smith,¡± Ford answered, then added threateningly, ¡°It would be best if you let us leave. We wouldn¡¯t want to hurt the civilians around us now, wouldn¡¯t we?¡± Mr.Smith nodded and looked around at the civilians hiding behind stalls and peering out windows to see the commotion. ¡°Yes, that would be problematic. Why don¡¯t you surrender yourself, and I¡¯ll make your death quick and painless,¡± Mr.Smith countered and waved his hand forward. Ford¡¯s Linchpin activated automatically, and she activated her Hard-Shell and took one step to the right in front of Benet. A gleaming arrow bounced off her thigh a split second later and disappeared into dust. The arrow would have gone through Benet and his mom if she hadn¡¯t moved. He noticed her actions and gaped in astonishment. Another second passed, and Ford¡¯s Warning skill went off as a second arrow struck her chest with a loud boom, breaking through her Hard-Shell skill and planting itself in her left shoulder. Ford gritted her teeth as her HP dropped one hundred points. A third arrow with even more power behind it boomed and struck her gut, breaking through her skill again and costing her another hundred points of HP. She doubled over and refused to move. She spread her arms protectively and said, ¡°Was that all you got?¡± Mr.Smith smiled and waved his hand again. A second passed, then two, three, and nothing happened. Mr.Smith scowled as he asked, ¡°What did you do?¡± Ford smiled and looked at her stats. HP: 515/715 STM: 6,630/6,630 MN: 351,759/351,759 MNP: 9,958,000/10,000,000 EXP: 98,250/8,143 ¡°I just killed your sniper. How do you like that?¡± Ford said, boasting. Mr.Smith looked briefly shocked as he said, ¡°They were level one-hundred eighty-nine. How did you kill them?¡± Ford chuckled, ¡°A special skill of mine,¡± she said as she dispelled her Hard-Shell and pulled the arrow out of her shoulder and gut, ¡°If I receive a fatal wound, it will be reflected to the person who caused it. In this case, your sniper. It doesn¡¯t always work, though.¡± With a look of frustration, Mr.Smith said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll take you on again.¡± Ford immediately pulled her knife from her waist and said, ¡°Ah, ah, ah. Take one step closer, and I¡¯ll level this town.¡± Mr.Smith scowled, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t dare. Nor is it possible for someone as low level as you. You¡¯re only level twenty-three. It¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°Try me,¡± Ford said with a smirk dispelling her Hard-Shell. Mr.Smith didn¡¯t dare move and kept his eyes locked on Ford. Nobody dared move. Taking the opportunity, Ford spoke over comms, ¡°Benet, take your family and get out of here.¡± Benet shook his head, ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Just go.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°But nothing! Run!!¡± At that, Benet turned, grabbed his Mom and Grandma by the waist, jumped to the roof of a nearby building, and began running with Ace hot on his heels. Mr.Smith noticed but did nothing, preferring to wait for my next move. General Tse clicked her tongue, and a flash of light shot out of nowhere, putting a massive hole in Ford¡¯s chest. She had no time to react. Looking down, she saw the massive hole in the center of her chest where her heart should¡¯ve been, and her HP had fallen to fifty points. ¡°A waste of time,¡± the General grumbled and turned to leave. ¡°Hey!¡± Ford gargled as blood filled her lungs, and she refused to fall. The General stopped in her tracks and turned around to see Ford still standing and the hole in her chest swiftly closing by the second. ¡°You missed,¡± she said, spitting out a glob of blood. General Tse growled, ¡°How!?¡± Ford smiled, ¡°Fucking magic, bitch.¡± Then she summoned her seven swords and her Links Of Fate. ¡°You seem to be ready for a fight. Why don¡¯t I give it to you?¡± Ford said, addressing the General and Mr.Smith while she also spoke over comms, ¡°I need some help over here!¡± ¡°We¡¯re pinned down!¡± Farah answered, ¡°Kii, Gimble, and I were separated from Max, and we can¡¯t get out of this forsaken corner because of a couple of elves and a sniper!¡± ¡°Seem ¡®ere!¡± Lilly answered right after Farah, ¡°Morgan an¡¯ I are cornered by a giant in full-plate armor. We can¡¯t git raun ¡®im!¡± ¡°Mizu! Where are you!?¡± Ford asked in a panic. ¡°Heading to my brother right now! I¡¯ll get them out of the corner.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget about me,¡± Benet spoke over comms, ¡°I¡¯ll head to Lilly and Morgan. You take care of things where you are, and don¡¯t worry about us!¡± As the chains Ford summoned landed in her hands, Ford nodded, ¡°Keep them safe.¡± ¡°Heard!¡± Mizu and Benet answered in unison as they went to help their comrades. Mr.Smith chuckled, ¡°You think you can beat me in a one-on-one fight? You remember how the last fight went, right?¡± ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Wrath whispered in Ford¡¯s ear, ¡°Let me fight him. I¡¯ll win.¡± The seven blades came hovering out from behind Ford, creating a circle behind her. She nodded, ¡°You¡¯re threatening my friends. If there¡¯s one thing that infuriates me, it¡¯s people like you who think they can get away with it!¡± Ford blinked, and her eyes turned blood red as Wrath took over to finish the sentence with a growl. Mr.Smith blinked in surprise, noticing the change, ¡°What just happened?¡± he asked. ¡°Ford¡¯s being kind enough to let me out and play a little. And I¡¯m going to enjoy every second of it!¡± Wrath roared, and a black meteor shot down from the sky, crashing into the General, who noticed in time to get a radiant barrier up and keep herself from being crushed instantly. Ee had made her entrance as she yelled, ¡°DIE!¡± and unleashed a flurry of shadowed attacks at the General. Wrath took the opportunity to use the Links Of Fate to wrap around the surrounding spearmen, capturing them. Mr. Smith barely had time to react as several swords came for his throat. He backpedaled, avoiding the attack and throwing a dagger that embedded itself in Wrath¡¯s heart. She laughed and pulled the blade from her chest, tossing it aside and creating a two-meter Destructive Field behind him, destroying a vegetable stand. One of the civilians nearby yelled in anguish, ¡°MY CABBAGES!!¡± Wrath ignored them as Mr.Smith stopped before reaching the destructive field and instead jumped to a nearby rooftop in a blur of motion. Wrath cursed, ¡°Your speed is annoying.¡± She cast Sleight Of Hand for three-hundred fifty-thousand mana on Mr.Smith¡¯s Agility, taking thirty-five points from the man. Mr. Smith stumbled back a step and looked down at his hand, then glared at Wrath, ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°Nothing much, just trying to even the playing field,¡± Wrath said with a manic smile and jumped after him. ¡°And you know what?!¡± Wrath continued as she swiped at him with her dagger, missing as he deftly dodged the attack. With a quick blur of motion, Ford¡¯s hand wrapped around his arm as he dodged. ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can cheat the system,¡± Ford said as her eyes changed from red to violet and gold to Emerald green. ¡°Fox Den,¡± Greed stated un-necessarily, and Mr.Smith¡¯s eyes widened as he felt the skill activate, and he wrenched his wrist free from Greed¡¯s grasp. ¡°WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!¡± Mr.Smith demanded angrily. Greed smiled and summoned her new grimoire. It had a black cover with a hooded figure and two blades on the cover. She waved the book before him and said, ¡°I got a brand new book.¡± She paused as a notification appeared. Third grimoire occuired. Error. You possess too many grimoires. Storing grimoire. Error. Skill required. Skill: Dragon¡¯s Horde. Passive ability: Store extra grimoires for later retrieval. Capacity: 0/5. Requirements: INT 80, WIS 80, AGI 100, SOL 25. Level: 0/20. Ford took her body back and quickly placed a point in the skill, and the grimoire in her hand dissolved into nothing. Mr.Smith¡¯s eyes widened in horror as he watched his grimoire dissolve. ¡°NOOOOO!!¡± Mr.Smith yelled in anguish. His sorrow quickly turned to anger as he yelled, ¡°I¡¯LL KILL YOU!¡± He lunged at her. His movements appeared slow, and she quickly stepped to one side, letting him run past her. ¡®This just became too easy,¡¯ she thought as Mr.Smith stumbled and fell over. ¡°Ford, in case you forgot, you don¡¯t have any mana, stamina, or health right now. And the soldiers are getting free from their bindings,¡± Wrath pointed out. Looking down to the street below, Ford saw the men wriggling free from the Links Of Fate and also saw her HP, STM, and MN bars. HP: 1/715 STM: 1/6,630 MN: 1/351,759 MNP: 9,958,500/10,000,000 EXP: 98,250/8,143 Ford cursed and opened her stat screen, deciding to level up just once. If at all possible. She concentrated on only using 8,143 EXP, and a notification appeared in her vision. 18 ability points available 25 skill points available She quickly allocated the points between INT and END with a triumphant grin. Name: Ford Sinn; Gender: Female; Race: Human; Grimoire: Phosphophyllite; Class: Ruler/Sin/Angelic; Level: 24. Abilities: STR: 55 + 10 (65); PER: 40 + 20 (60); END: 74; INT: 70 + 20 (90); AGI: 103+ 20 (123); CHR: 32 + 15 (47); LCK: 25 + 10 (35); WIS: 60 + 20 (80); SOL: 42. Open skills? Yes/No? HP: 814/814 STM: 7,548/7,548 MN: 371,423/371,423 MNP: 9,958,500/10,000,000 EXP: 90,107/8,957 STM Recharge: 853/sec MN Recharge: 740/sec Grimoire Level Progression: 0%. ¡®It worked!¡¯ Ford¡¯s grin widened as she saw her HP, STM, and MN return to full capacity. She re-asserted her control over her weapons and noted that her stats began dropping fast without regenerating. With a sigh, she recalled her weapons and stored them away along with her cloak. She couldn¡¯t afford to waste her stamina, which led to a new problem. The now free soldiers began getting up to fight quickly. Ford cursed and began running west toward a few higher buildings, where she could see a few flashes of colored light in the distance. As she ran, Mr.Smith yelled behind her, ¡°Nobody kills her! I want her alive!!¡± Ford couldn¡¯t help but smirk and mentally ran through her skills as she double-checked her stats in the top right of her vision. STM: 7,048 MN: 347,423 She lost four thousand mana when she put away her weapons and was losing fifty stamina per second as she ran. Then, she noticed that she had no movement skills. ¡®Great,¡¯ she thought, then she heard the soldiers catching up behind her, ¡®Just fucking perfect,¡¯ she cursed internally before mentally activating her Linchpin skill to look for a way out of her predicament. A white arrow appeared in her vision, pointing down off the rooftops ten meters away. She quickly made it there and jumped down only to see an X on the ground to her right. She threw her dagger down into the ground and another arrow appeared, pointing down the alley, which she quickly followed. As she ran the soldiers following her jumped down and tripped and fell over her knife and each other, creating an amusing pile of cursing men and women in armor. Ford soon reached a point where the alley split up and she followed the arrow left then up to a rooftop garden where she quickly dropped to the ground and hid. The soldiers soon passed her as her dagger reappeared in its sheath. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw her skill deactivate automatically and she turned to see three halfling kids staring at her with sprouting carrots and potatoes in their hands, ready to plant. Ford laughed nervously as she said, ¡°Stay out of trouble kids.¡± Then jumped to a different rooftop a few buildings over to pull up her skill tree quickly and get a movement skill. *** Chpt. 34) Hero Hunters (Part 2) Tanashi laughed and clapped wildly as he watched the chaos unfolding before him. It was the exact entertainment he had been looking for this entire game. ¡°Hahaha! This is amazing! I had no idea this would happen!¡± he exclaimed excitedly. ¡°Yes, quite surprising,¡± Drake agreed, ¡°Ford¡¯s new ability to store and use grimoires later is an unforeseen adaptation.¡± Zee cackled, ¡°I like the way she thinks.¡± ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Tanashi agreed again. Then he threw down one of his cards. Monster attack under-way. Sacrifice cards for two rounds to determine the level, type, and quantity. ¡°Hey!¡± Samael protested, tossing aside her wine, ¡°They¡¯re having enough trouble as it is trying to escape! Don¡¯t add a monster attack to their problems!¡± Tanashi waved her off as he searched his hand for the cards he wanted to sacrifice, ¡°Relax Samael. This is to help them. While the monsters attack, they can escape. And they¡¯ll have less enemies hunting them to worry about for a time.¡± Tanashi said as he tossed the rest of his cards into the sun for his sacrifice, activating a new window. Five cards sacrificed Three weapons and two armor cards Epic, legendary, and common weapons Uncommon and legendary armor Monster Lvl 45 Type rare tortoise Quantity 5 Generating monster Samael gritted her teeth as the message appeared above the table and was about to throw a card down to try and stop the attack when Guargen surprised her by throwing down a card of his own. Sacrifice theft Remove two sacrificed cards from the sun and play them for yourself. Legendary armor and legendary weapons taken Loot will be given to champion ¡°Gimble¡± with the next loot drop. Monster attack changed Monster Lvl 34 Type uncommon tortoise Quantity 1 Generating monster Tanashi¡¯s face fell in disappointment as he scowled at Guargen, who smiled smugly and shrugged. Finn laughed boisterously and said, ¡°Okay, I like where this is going. Let¡¯s try this.¡± He then threw down two cards, and the screen changed again. Monster size increased Monster level and rarity raised Monster Lvl 44 Type epic tortoise Generating monster Tanashi smiled a little at that and crossed his arms smugly. Samael looked at the card she would¡¯ve played and decided to hold onto it for now as everyone else also passed their turns. Tanashi clapped his hands and said, ¡°Let¡¯s see what happens next.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. *** Lilly fired several lightning bolts at the giant who towered over her and Morgan. He lazily swung his claymore and deflected the bolts into the ground harmlessly. The giant stood four meters tall, with his steel grey eyes the only thing visible through his stone helmet and armor. The sliver steel claymore he wielded like a feather was as long as he was tall and half as wide being a meter and a half wide. It had intricate silver filagree all along the length of the blade which allowed him to effectively grab, and direct lightning thrown at him. The only reason he hasn¡¯t come any closer and killed them was because of Lilly¡¯s relentless attacks and Morgan¡¯s defenses. ¡°We aren¡¯t gittin¡¯ anywhere wi¡¯ ¡®im,¡± Lilly griped. She knew the lightning wouldn¡¯t do anything to him, but to avoid setting the buildings on fire she used lightning to keep the giant at bay. Morgan grunted in agreement and said, ¡°Perhaps we can simply stall for time while we figure this out.¡± ¡°Not likely but let¡¯s gie it a shot, I don¡¯t ¡®av any ideas,¡± Lilly agreed begrudgingly letting out another salvo of lightning bolts. ¡°Heh! And I thought elves were supposed to be smart,¡± Morgan joked. Lilly shot a glare at him with a retort already on her lips when she saw his right hand clutching his hammer. His hand shook slightly, and his armor rattled slightly. Lilly rolled her eyes, swallowing her comeback, and said, ¡°Aye, we are. But even we nade a dwarf¡¯s ¡®elp from time to time.¡± Morgan glanced back at her with a crooked smile before taking a deep breath and turning his attention back to the giant and yelling, ¡°OI! Big and stubborn bastard! What¡¯s your name?!¡± The giant stopped for a second and looked around the square they fought in as if Morgan had yelled at some other giant in the square before turning back to face Morgan and Lilly, cocking his head and pointing at himself quizzically. Morgan rolled his eyes and yelled, ¡°Yes, you! Ye see anyone else here?! What¡¯s your name?!¡± The giant didn¡¯t answer immediately and took a second to respond. Lilly could see his eyes blink dumbly behind his helmet before he scratched his head and spoke in a voice Lilly did not expect to hear from someone like him. ¡°I¡¯m Forgal of the Gaol tribe,¡± he spoke nervously but formally and his voice sounded like a small child¡¯s, high-pitched and quiet. ¡°How auld are ye?¡± Lilly couldn¡¯t help but ask. Forgal looked nervous again and seemed to draw into himself as he answered, ¡°F-Forty-nine.¡± ¡°Forty-nine?!¡± Lilly and Morgan exclaimed in surprise. Forgal glared at them as if their astonishment offended him and he yelled ¡°What?! You thought I was a child because of my voice!?¡± An enormous pressure surrounded Morgan and Lilly as the giant yelled. Lilly leaned heavily against her staff as Morgan did the same with his hammer. Gritting her teeth Lilly tried her best to speak, but her voice barely escaped her throat, ¡°We ¡­ weren¡¯ sayin¡¯ tha¡¯. We jist meant¡ª¡± ¡°LIAR, LIAR, LIAR!¡± Forgal screamed like a child throwing a temper tantrum as the pressure around Morgan and Lilly increased. Lilly gritted her teeth as she fought to stay upright. Morgan did the same as he tried his best to move in front of Lilly and protect her. She put her hand on his shoulder and said, ¡°If I die. It¡¯s yer fault.¡± Morgan let out a nervous laugh, ¡°Yeah, sounds about right.¡± Then Forgal roared and charged at them which only increased the pressure around them. Morgan braced himself against his shield, ready to counterattack. A scream of pain escaped Forgal¡¯s lips out of nowhere and the pressure released from around them as he fell to the ground face first and rolled on the ground, screaming and clutching his left leg. Lilly and Morgan stared at the giant, dumbfounded as a shadow fell upon the giant and plunged a dagger into his armpit. The giant screamed again as he grabbed at the shadow only for his hand to pass through it as the shadow disappeared only to re-appear near his legs and plunge the dagger into his right leg, behind the knee where his armor was weakest, and pulled a dagger out from his left leg. The shadow then disappeared and reappeared in front of Lilly and Morgan, revealing a smug smiling Benet. ¡°You know you missed me beautiful!¡± he exclaimed happily. Lilly didn¡¯t answer and just rapped the end of her staff against Morgan¡¯s back gently and said, ¡°Well? Aren¡¯ ye goin¡¯ to answer ¡®im?¡± Morgan barked a laugh, ¡°HA! He¡¯s not talking to me. He¡¯s talking to himself.¡± Benet¡¯s face fell as they made jabs at him, ¡°Why do I even bother trying?¡± Lilly was about to make another jab at him but stopped herself as she saw Forgal struggling to stand. ¡°We can roast ye la¡¯er. We nade to run now,¡± Lilly commanded, and just before she started running, a dwarf in black armor slammed into Forgal¡¯s side and they collapsed in a heap. Then Ace jumped down from a nearby roof standing at his full size, with the dwarf¡¯s boot still in his mouth. He looked at them, his obsidian eyes burning with their ethereal blue and violet flames, and asked, ¡°Can I run with you?¡± Letting out a small chuckle, Lilly said, ¡°Ye can run for us!¡± Ace¡¯s tail wagged happily as he put his chest to the ground and exclaimed, ¡°Yay! I like running!¡± Laughing, Lilly jogged forward and climbed up his side and onto his back, followed by Morgan and Benet. Ace¡¯s fur had softened as he ate cores, so when they sat on his back, they weren¡¯t stabbed in their groins. As soon as Benet sat down, Ace took off toward the edge of town and Lilly accessed her comms and sent to Ford, ¡°Ford, we¡¯re gittin¡¯ out av ¡®ere. Benet an¡¯ Ace got ¡®ere jist in time. Go save Farah an¡¯ the rest.¡± Ford breathed a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Good. Get the hell out of dodge, grab Tanya, and keep running. We¡¯ll be right behind you.¡± Lilly looked down as she nodded to herself and mumbled her reply, ¡°Al¡¯ righ¡¯. We¡¯ll go. An¡¯ Ford ¡­ stay safe. Love ye.¡± ¡°Love you too,¡± Ford sent back before ending the communication. ¡°You do know that was an open comm right? We all heard you,¡± Benet said, ruining the moment. Lilly swung her staff over her head and smacked Benet with it. ***