《Murder Medic: A Demonic Healer LitRPG (Book 1 Complete!)》 1 - A Suspicious Lack of S-Tier Cheat Powers The first thing that Zoe thought when she caught sight of the black-robed figures was Oh good, people! And then she noticed the mutilated corpses. Really, the overgrown, underground temple ruins should have clued her in long before that. The ominous chanting reverberating out of the chamber below was just the cherry on top by this point. And Zoe had been cautiously on guard for something like this at various times since she arrived in this place¡ªshe mentally chastised herself as she ducked back down into the deeper shadows of the unlit balcony. Of course my first encounter is going to be something like this. That¡¯s just how it works. If anything, she should be grateful that it happened a couple hours in and not, you know, immediately upon arrival. Zoe still wasn¡¯t sure if the word ¡®arrival¡¯ was even accurate. Awakening, maybe? The last thing she remembered before all of this was a hazy recollection of the preparations for her medically-induced coma. Hazy, due to a combination of powerful painkillers and sedatives and the rabies symptoms they were intended to alleviate. No one had much hope for her recovery. After all, even the ¡®Milwaukee protocol¡¯¡ªthe reason for the coma¡ªhad long been established as ineffective. But get people desperate enough and they¡¯ll try anything. Zoe was going to die anyway, so why not give it another chance? At least that¡¯s what her parents seemed to think. So when Zoe woke up feeling cool, calm, and pleasantly refreshed, she was understandably relieved and surprised. That surprise quickly turned to confusion when she realized she wasn¡¯t in a hospital bed but in some kind of stone and metal sarcophagus. She just sat there for longer than she cared to admit. She wasn¡¯t in any kind of hospital¡ªthat much was clear¡ªbut she didn¡¯t have any idea what it could be. The only thing that really came to mind was ¡®ancient buried ruin,¡¯ the kind of place where she imagined revolutionary developments in archeology would happen. It was a spacious, nine-sided circular chamber, all worked metal and polished stone rising up to support a steeply vaulted ceiling. While it wasn¡¯t actually very wide across, the sheer height and emptiness made the place feel surprisingly open. It was also quite dim¡ªcolors and shapes dull and muted¡ªbut that she could see at all surprised Zoe. There were no windows, after all. Instead, the ambient illumination came from the softly glowing colors of the glyphs engraved all over the eight other sarcophagi encircling the chamber. Ones like Zoe¡¯s. Or no¡ªonly five of them were glowing. The glyphs on three others had gone dark. Two others sat open and empty in much the same ways Zoe¡¯s had. The last was¡ªfor lack of a better word¡ªshattered. Now feeling a heady cocktail of relief, confusion, curiosity, fear, and a potent dash of excitement, Zoe shakily slid herself up over the smooth stone lid and down onto the immaculately polished tiled floor. A look behind confirmed that the glyphs on her own sarcophagus were nearly finished fading. Zoe eyed the five that were still sealed and brightly glowing. Does that mean¡­ Shaking her head, Zoe stepped forward towards the center. Something about the cool stone beneath her bare feet felt¡ªodd. Frowning, Zoe looked down past the loose hospital gown she was fortunate to still be wearing. There¡¯s no dust. That was odd¡ªwasn¡¯t it? The entire place absolutely radiated a feeling of gloomy stillness, things long forgotten, and the heavy weight of immense stretches of time. Why was there no dust? Something in Zoe¡¯s subconscious convinced her that it wasn¡¯t a place that was being maintained. So how was it in such good condition? Aside from the one shattered sarcophagus, there were no cracks or debris at all. Finding herself now in the very middle, Zoe studied the floor. She was in the center of a nine-pointed star composed of three overlapping triangles. Inlaid into the stone in bands of white-gray metal, each point stretched outwards towards one of the surrounding sarcophagi. The rest of the designs were worked in a similarly simple style. Depictions of unfamiliar planets and stars, of winds, lightning, and clouds, and finally of an abstract nothingness were divided between each tip of the first triangle. A cluster of mountains, maybe glaciers, and¡ªwas that lava? Then a grove of trees filled with birds and small animals, and finally, a castle surmounted by a simple hammer for the second. The third triangle completed the set with a depiction of a ship on a stormy sea, a school of various marine life around a reef, and lastly, a large, unidentifiable form rising from below. The final one pointed towards where Zoe had woken up. I wonder if that means anything. Zoe frowned. No, of course it means something. The real question was whether she would be able to find out what, and then whether it was at all relevant to her. Shrugging, she prodded around the area for a bit longer before looking for a way out. There really wasn¡¯t much else to speak of, though. While the rest of the floor, walls, and ceiling were nice enough, it was all purely abstract craftsmanship. It had a kind of art-deco aesthetic, Zoe decided. As for the sarcophagi¡ªZoe hadn¡¯t discovered anything. The three-now-four opened ones seemed to be nothing more than plain stone and metal, while the remaining five offered her little insight. The one interesting discovery was that once the glyphs went dark, it seemed they disappeared completely. They weren¡¯t carved or inlaid or anything¡ªin fact, the lit ones didn¡¯t even look to be painted. Zoe did get the idea to check on both her own and the one broken one, but that was a dead end. Sighing, she headed for the only door. It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t come back later if I need to. If I can actually get out of here in the first place¡­ It was hard to miss the towering set of bronze doors. Tall, but quite narrow. Walking up, Zoe looked for a knob, a latch, a handle, anything. There was nothing. Maybe I just push? Tenderly placing her palm against the cool metal, Zoe leaned in slightly¡ªand yanked her hand back as shimmering golden lines flared up across the entire surface. As they were far brighter than the previous glyphs, it took Zoe¡¯s eyes a moment to adjust. Blinking away the spots, she saw that they had opened. Huh. With one last glance over her shoulder, Zoe started up the flight of steps. The difference between the inside and outside of the chamber was immediately obvious. While the staircase continued the same tastefully opulent art-deco theme, it was littered with a layer of dust and small debris. Even the air was viscerally different. No longer eternally still, it was cool, a bit humid, and¡ªwas that the sound of dripping water? Hastening her pace, Zoe made it to the top, where a lush, damp, moss-covered natural cavern greeted her. Well, mostly natural. There were plenty of crumbling, overgrown ruins scattered around the place¡ªmost free standing, possible only given the sheer expansive size of the place. Beams of gentle light filtered down from unseen pathways up above, striking the clear, glassy surface of the central lake. Zoe took a deep breath. The whole place felt delightfully alive in a way she hadn¡¯t known she was craving. What looked like tiny insects flitted here and there through the air, water dripped from above, and something made a chattering sound that echoed out from the distance. Even the artificial ruins were a part of it¡ªnot dead or ¡®ruined¡¯ at all. Okay, well, this is very nice and all, but genuinely where am I? Zoe looked around, a bit of nervousness creeping back in. Way too real to be a dream or drug trip or anything. So then¡ªobviously I somehow miraculously survived the treatment, and someone put me here. Wherever this is. Why would anyone do that? Zoe had never even heard of a place quite like this. She was also pretty certain that the chamber below was positively ancient, and it seemed entirely undisturbed. So how¡­? Magic? Or maybe this was the far future¡ªperhaps she had been preserved, only to now awaken in a forgotten facility in a long-abandoned area. There was no reason that advanced technology couldn¡¯t have this sort of fantasy aesthetic. But what now? ¡°Hey, is anyone here?¡± Zoe asked rather loudly. She immediately cringed as her shaky voice reverberated across the space. Well, if anyone¡¯s there, they probably heard me. ¡°Hello! ¡­help? Where am I?¡± With no response forthcoming, Zoe was just about ready to begin actively looking for a way out when her mind¡¯s eye was brutally assaulted by a flood of foreign sensations. Outsider Detected. Welcome, Outsider. Beginning Integration. Your integration was successful! You can now access your status and other system features. You have entered the Temple of . Default restrictions applied. Inheritor Detected. Welcome, Scion of . Restrictions removed. New restrictions applied. New permissions granted. ¡­ This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Your claim to the Temple of has been contested. Permissions suspended. New Quest! [CLAIM YOUR RIGHT] As the Scion of , you alone now possess a divine right to this temple. The other inhabitants might disagree. Prove them wrong. -Rewards- Divine claim to the Temple of . Once Zoe had mostly collected herself after reeling from the shock of the flood of foreign information, she quickly began trying to actually parse all of it. Fortunately, this didn¡¯t actually take very long. The problem was that it raised more questions than it answered. Which wasn¡¯t surprising, given that it didn¡¯t seem to answer any. Actually¡ªZoe ¡®stared¡¯ at the vividly imagined message log for a moment¡ªthere are probably a whole lot of clues here. The first of which would be just the presence of the intangible notifications themselves. Zoe quickly settled on two different explanations and discarded all the rest. Either she had woken up in some far future and now possessed some kind of neural interface that was both detecting her location and displaying this HUD¡ªor she had been punted into another world where an RPG system was baked into reality. The funny thing is, I¡¯m really feeling like the second one is a lot more likely. Skimming back over the first few messages, Zoe sighed, shook her head in embarrassment, and said the word. ¡°Status.¡± [ZOE BLACKWELL] Level 1 | Rank F Human -Active Quests- > Claim Your Right -Active Titles- > Outsider -Stats and Bindings- Power 7 Perception 15 Acuity 11 Durability 9 Vitality 13 -General Skills- > Identify 1 (Rank C) -Available- > 2 class choices > 5 stat points Zoe read through the entire status in about two seconds, thought she had skipped to the end, and reread it slowly line by line. Naturally, she already remembered everything from before the re-read perfectly. This exact kind of thing was an annoying habit of hers. But that didn¡¯t matter right now. What matters is that I definitely got punted into a fantasy RPG world. That¡¯s neat. Looking around again, Zoe shivered a bit in excitement. And because it was kind of cold. Probably mostly because it was cold. But she was still excited. Why wouldn¡¯t she be? Not only had she cheated death, her previous life was pretty boring. She definitely wasn¡¯t going to be looking for a way back¡ªEarth sucked and she wasn¡¯t going to miss anyone. She briefly thought about her parents¡ªbut she had been planning to move out anyway and she wasn¡¯t particularly attached to either. There were now much more important things, things like exploring, leveling up, and figuring out if she had something that would make her overpowered. Let¡¯s see¡ªcan I see my class choices please? To her delight, a new menu popped up as soon as Zoe thought it. Which was great to know, as she had hoped she wouldn¡¯t have to audibly shout skill names or something equally stupid. Also, she was even more pleased to see that the new menu had over four-hundred entries¡ªwait, no¡ªover four hundred pages. For some reason she had assumed that ¡®2 class choices¡¯ meant she had two options. Instead it seemed to mean she got to pick any two from the absolutely massive list. Unfortunately, this created the delicate problem that Zoe might eloquently describe as ¡®no way I¡¯m reading all of that.¡¯ So instead¡ªsystem, can you please sort these by rarity? It was time to see what crazy mythical S-plus tier classes she could pick. [AVAILABLE CLASSES] Filter: Rarity Technomancer [Cyber] (Rank B) Cybersmith (Rank C) Bard [Synth] (Rank C) ¡­ Demagogue (Rank A) Zoe blinked. That¡ªwasn¡¯t what she had expected. It was convenient that she could filter it in some way, and that it also showed some kind of letter rank. But didn¡¯t rarer always mean better with these things? The very idea that it might not threatened to paralyze her thought. For a vaguely nerdy shut-in such as herself, considering any other possibility was like trying to divide by zero. Whatever. Wait¡ªare most of these rare because they don¡¯t even normally exist here? Many on the first page seemed like fantasy translations of things related to her newly minted computer science degree. She also somehow doubted she would encounter any synthesizer playing bards¡ªthough she had to admit the idea of a gnome rave or something was a bit amusing. But what¡¯s that last one? [DEMAGOGUE] Rank A Wielding neither a sword nor staff but rather the blind power of the masses, pervert the truth to influence and direct large numbers of people to get what you really want. Just be sure to look good while doing it. -Effects- > +25 Perception, +15 Acuity, +10 Power > Bonuses to all deception, illusion, stealth, information, and mind skills. > Increased chances to learn deception, illusion, stealth, information, and mind skills. > Grants Acting, Persuasion, Mirage, and Lesser Disguise. > Grants additional skills at further advancement stages. > Enables system privileges for displayed information. Did you really think your days of online trolling and social media manipulation were completely behind you? Zoe felt a bit sick as she finished reading through all of the information on the class. More than just sounding gross and malicious, it brought back a whole lot that she didn¡¯t want to think about right now. Or ever. And of course it has to be the most powerful looking one, she thought bitterly. Not only was it the highest letter rank¡ªopening several more descriptions and skimming over them, Zoe saw that it gave the highest stat boost and what sounded like some pretty useful bonuses and skills. Sure, it sounded bad, but¡ªNo. Not picking this. With all of that temporarily put aside, Zoe decided it was time to start running around and spamming Identify on everything. First, obviously, was everything in the lower chamber where she had first woken up. Bitterness forgotten and excitement bubbling back up, Zoe practically tumbled down the stone staircase, only slowing down when she slammed bodily against the set of now-closed bronze doors. Huh. She didn¡¯t notice them close behind her. Shrugging, she placed her palm against the cool surface and pushed. Nothing happened. Zoe swallowed. Perhaps they only swung one way? Was there any handle on the outside? She couldn¡¯t find any. Maybe she just needed to will them to open? Maybe the glowing line thing would happen again. When it didn¡¯t, she stomped in frustration. Because of course the most important and interesting location yet won¡¯t let me back in. Just typical. As Zoe tried to figure out how to proceed, she thought back to why she wanted to get back inside in the first place. Identify! She could literally feel the skill activate. Not that it was anything extraordinary¡ªjust flexing something for the first time. It felt kind of like swallowing, she thought. The whole thing was a voluntary movement on her part, but there was little manual control over the intricacies of it. Weird, definitely, but not nearly as interesting as the new information it gave. [THE SANCTUM OF ] The inner sanctum of this temple is sealed. It will open for none but a Scion. And that was it. Zoe chewed her lip. She knew the system had welcomed her as a scion previously¡ªwhatever that meant. She could also just scroll back through her notifications to prove it. And the doors had opened before, so¡ªis there a specific trick? Zoe placed her hand back on the metal and willed it again. ¡°I¡¯m literally a Scion, so please open back up. I wanna get back in.¡± When shimmering golden lines suddenly etched across the bronze surface, Zoe cheered. At the same time, yet another notification arrived. Scion Detected. Access Denied. Zoe froze¡ªand the lines all went dark. What? When she tried again¡ªand the same thing happened¡ªshe glared. ¡°Alright then, what¡¯s the deal here? Why isn¡¯t it opening?¡± Your claim to the Temple of has been contested. Permissions suspended. What? Why¡­ A blinking quest icon caught Zoe¡¯s eye. She groaned. [CLAIM YOUR RIGHT] As the Scion of , you alone now possess a divine right to this temple. The other inhabitants might disagree. Prove them wrong. -Rewards- Divine claim to the Temple of . Zoe did not think that this was very fair. Seriously¡ªwhat kind of quest literally contradicted itself in its own description? If she had a¡ªsupposedly¡ªdivine claim to this temple of who-knows-what, then why did she have to prove anything just to open a door? You alone now possess a divine right to this temple? Zoe reread that part of the quest. Yeah, that¡¯s a genuine falsehood¡ªeven if I do have a claim, I¡¯m obviously not the only one because the system is making me complete a quest to actually get it. Zoe glared into empty space. Nothing glared back. Caught between warring desires to angrily huff and to deflate against the door, Zoe broke the standstill by shrugging and trudging up the stairs two at a time. While she absolutely wanted to comb over every inch of the entire place, she decided it would be smarter to forge ahead in search of the biggest clues first. It wasn¡¯t like she would get much from scrutinizing every little patch of mostly identical moss. Figuring out which way to go turned out to not be very difficult. It took Zoe about a minute to stumble onto a shattered, sunken, and largely overgrown path lazily winding between the most notable central structures. Ironically, walking on the more natural terrain on either side proved to be less treacherous than the actual path¡ªbut it still made a handy guide. And despite the cavern¡¯s seemingly immense size, it took Zoe not much longer than that to reach a tall, narrow crevasse opening into a very rough staircase winding upwards. With one and then two last glances back at the tranquil ruins, Zoe left them for the rocky darkness of the passage. There was no clear end in sight¡ªbut that was fine. She could definitely use the time to investigate the system and her own status more. Yet she couldn¡¯t help but begin feeling a little anxiety over the Claim Your Right quest¡ªwould she have to fight anyone? Zoe shook her head and climbed faster. There¡¯s no reason to think that dealing with these ¡®other inhabitants¡¯ has to be violent. Perhaps I can convince them to leave, or work something else out. Zoe nodded to herself. Maybe they would even be friendly. And in the meantime, she could begin investigating the system for her S-tier cheat power. 2 - Follow The Creepy Voices Zoe learned a little bit more in the past couple of hours and began to question a whole lot. By the time she finally got into an area that felt somehow more¡ªoccupied¡ªshe had already fallen deep into the abyssal grasp of a total existential crisis and stumbled out into the light on the other side relatively unchanged. Yes, there was a lot to wonder about here, but the overwhelming majority of it turned out to be not very new but definitely very boring. So Zoe went ahead and glossed over the rest of it in favor of more stimulating ideas¡ªthinking about rocks. Okay, but like¡ªare all these rocks made of something that would also exist on Earth? Or are they also slightly magical in some way? Zoe considered it. Or what if they¡¯re not necessarily magical themselves, but they can only form in a world like this? Did the system just generate them in? Zoe had been having a lot of these thoughts in the last few minutes and few ideas on how to answer them. At least it was entertaining¡ªshe hadn¡¯t had many positive topics to dwell on ever since she learned all she could about how the basic stats and things worked. The five stats she had seen already in her status¡ªpower, perception, acuity, durability, and vitality¡ªwere basically what they sounded like to her. The main benefit of the little bit the system seemed willing to provide was mostly confirmation and partly a small amount of extra clarification. For instance, all of the stats applied to a variety of both physical attributes and magic¡ªstuff. Power was raw strength, might¡ªwhatever you wanted to call it¡ªin any domain. It was physical strength, but also the total potency of spells. Interestingly, the system also indirectly clued Zoe into the idea that it would have a big impact on how fast she could move too. Which made sense, she thought, since being able to push off the ground harder would make her run a lot better. Probably. She wasn¡¯t a real athlete. Perception was, in Zoe¡¯s opinion, even more self-explanatory. It boiled down to a mixture of how good her senses were and how observant and focused she was. Out of all of them, it was the one she felt was closest to being biased in a particular direction¡ªthe way it was described seemed notably mind-oriented. Sure, the system referenced both physical and magical senses¡ªeven something about spirit too. So it really wasn¡¯t a huge bias, but Zoe did get a slightly different impression from it. Zoe was tempted to just call acuity ¡®dexterity¡¯ instead. Out of all of them, it sounded the most in line with a classic standby from a highly traditional RPG lineup. She genuinely couldn¡¯t decide if it was a simple case of a random synonym or something that could turn out to be a more significant difference later on. The¡ªallegedly¡ªmore rational part of her said to err on the side of caution with that one. In any case, it was about her level of finesse, precision, reflex, or¡ªwell¡ªdexterity in any context. From manipulating objects with her fingers to working intricate magic, acuity came into play. Probably. Zoe hadn¡¯t done any magic yet. Or added any of her extra stat points. I¡¯m definitely right though. Durability was even more obvious and barely needed explanation at all. How much of anything could she withstand before breaking? Zoe didn¡¯t want to find out the answer to that, which meant that she should strongly consider investing in the stat. Finally, vitality was sort of all the different kinds of recovery or regeneration fused into one. It sounded like it covered everything from healing wounds and fighting off disease, to stamina of body or soul, or to properly annealing the fragments of a broken mind. Zoe really didn¡¯t want to find out what the deal was with that last one. At least with durability it sounds like I could prevent that sort of¡ªthing¡ªfrom happening. All vitality would do is maybe bring me back from it. Zoe was already feeling like the best kind of healing ability that might exist in the system would be the S-tier cheat called just don¡¯t get hurt in the first place, idiot. Speaking of which¡­ Zoe was immediately distracted from returning to working her way down her new-and-improved list of best class options when something caught her attention. She really didn¡¯t know what at first¡ªshe had been growing antsy and jumping at literal shadows for a few minutes now. The topic of speculative geology had been completely forgotten. Yet when her ears picked up another echo of a ghost of a whisper, Zoe hastened her already hurried pace, froze dead still, and then almost stumbled as she instinctively began moving again. Calm the¡ªcalm yourself, she chastised herself. There was really nothing concrete to worry about¡ªthe air had just gotten a bit colder is all, to the point she was really feeling it. Said air was also starting to smell a bit vaguely foul in a way reminiscent more of long-entombed than freshly slaughtered. But that was normal. She was deep in a musty cave after all. Though she did feel that the plants and wildlife she could actually glimpse in the dim light¡ªor hear fluttering through the stale air¡ªfelt a good bit more vaguely threatening. Zoe huffed a shivering breath¡ªwas it coming out visibly frosty now?¡ªand swallowed her anxieties. Just man up. I mean, not a man, but it¡¯s the twenty-first century. Women can man up too. At least there were no more of those horrid¡ªstatues.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Zoe had first encountered those when she finally emerged from the very top of the first winding climb up from the depths. She didn¡¯t move for a whole minute. It¡¯s not that the overgrown Humanoid figures were creepy or even threatening. They just radiated a bottomless tide of ancient gravitas which nothing outside of the sanctum where she had awoken in could match. Using identify only cemented the feeling. [ GUARDIAN] A forgotten relic. The little hint of atmospheric storytelling lore there convinced Zoe that something seriously profound¡ªor dangerous¡ªwas going on here. Not like that wasn¡¯t obvious enough already. The next surprise came from the system. Identify has reached level 2! Zoe didn¡¯t need to be told to do the obvious thing. Identify! [ GUARDIAN] A forgotten relic of the Silence. Can your spark kindle its Voice? Somehow, the additional description that Zoe¡¯s newly-improved identify unveiled just made it sound even more grandly mysterious. Zoe couldn¡¯t say she felt comfortable with the way it addressed her, but she dutifully filed it all away for later. The reference to ¡®the Silence¡¯ all but screamed a really important event¡ªcalamity?¡ªthat marked a foundational shift in this world¡¯s history. It definitely fit with the tranquil ruined temple vibe. She also made note to keep an eye out for more language with a theme about her ¡®spark¡¯ or kindling something. And what¡¯s the deal with the excessively capitalized ¡®Voice?¡¯ There¡¯s no way that¡¯s not some mystic-sounding metaphor for overpowered magic. No overpowered magic was forthcoming, however, and subsequent uses of identify on either the same statue or anything else gave her little. The system even gave her nothing at all on the topic of skill leveling. At least she learned that the moss had ¡®potential medicinal properties.¡¯ Whatever that meant. Really¡ªaside from the genuinely helpful info on stats¡ªthe system hadn¡¯t provided her with much else to work with since then. Not that she was complaining. The system hadn¡¯t actively screwed her over, yet, so she retained an overall positive opinion on it, if only for it simply existing in the first place. So in that spirit, Zoe stuffed down all her anxious feelings about her increasingly cold and spooky environment and got back to advancing her most critical open questline¡ªclass selection. [BLOODY DEVOTEE] Rank B You are a creature of flesh and blood. Embrace it. Far from a curse, the present weakness of your flesh is but the first trial and opportunity on your path of carnage. -Effects- > +60 Vitality > Bonuses to all body, blood, and life skills. > Increased chances to learn blood and body skills. > Grants Blood Magic, Regeneration, Rejuvenate, Mending and Rending Touch > May grant additional skills at further advancement stages. > Guaranteed evolution at next threshold. > Adds Carnage Alignment. Whether you choose to heal or to harm, your trail of blood will not be free of pain. Zoe was currently looking at what she had gotten the system to categorize as healing classes. When sorted by her latest iteration of a quality ranking, this was the one that ended up at the very top. It definitely looked like something with extremely high growth potential, not to mention a rare and powerful specialization. It was the kind of thing Zoe wouldn¡¯t even hesitate to pick¡ªif she had imagined herself in this situation while still on Earth. As it were, all the mentions of pain and carnality ended up making her more than uncomfortable. She would still consider it as an option for now, though. Even the terrifying reality of the situation couldn¡¯t completely silence the calling of obvious dark, twisted magic. The very next one down the list appeared far more normal. [DEVOTEE OF PURITY] Rank C You have experienced Revulsion, and now you seek Purity. With a Hallowed touch, you will cure, cleanse, and soothe the ailing and the impure. -Effects- > +25 Perception, +10 Acuity, +10 Vitality > Bonuses to all Healing and Hallowed skills. > Increased chances to learn Purity, Faith, Grace, and Healing skills. > Grants Hallowed Touch, Healing Flame, Revealing Light, Soothing Touch, and Scour. > Guaranteed evolution at next threshold. > Adds Purity and Hallowed Alignments. A helping hand to your local community seizes unforeseen rewards¡ªeven if you only did it for your high-school service requirement. This was much more in line with what Zoe expected from a starting healer class. The degree to which the entirety of its description leaned into some sort of holy priestess thing was also a little off-putting, but in a considerably different way. Part of her couldn¡¯t help reading between the lines and wondering what ¡®cleansing the impure¡¯ might really mean. The fact that now being in a magical fantasy world strongly implied the existence of real deities didn¡¯t dissuade Zoe¡¯s skepticism. She couldn¡¯t help but grin¡ªmaybe I¡¯ll end up with some forbidden god-devouring ability¡­ The reminder that Zoe still hadn¡¯t figured out what her unique, ultimate cheat-power was put a damper on her sudden spurt of enthusiasm. A whisper from the dark, dusty recesses of her mind suggested that she might not actually get one. Zoe promptly strangled it and stuffed the thing even deeper back down into its gloomy corner. Shaking her head to focus, Zoe realized she was in the process of walking right past a grand staircase that was very obviously the main way up to the next level. Stopping and looking around again revealed that she was now at the very edge of what had been an area largely filled with natural cave formations, dimly glowing mosses and fern-like plants, and a number of dull, mottled-gray mushrooms. She had almost missed the palatial entrance leading up through more monumental, stone ruins. Zoe hesitated as two things became immediately clear. First, the stinging chill that had at some point begun raking its dry teeth increasingly frantically across her bare skin practically radiated down from the looming ruins. Clearly the primary source was upwards and close at hand. The second thing was that the faint hints of whispering had crescendoed to an echoing, ominous chanting reverberating down from those exact same cyclopean stones. Zoe swallowed, manned up, and skipped across the chiseled steps with feet that danced in time with her leaping heart. Peeking over the top of the stairs revealed that there was still more stone between her and the voices¡ªthe contorted windings of the temple architecture seemed to be in greater disrepair here, yet also¡ªfor lack of a better word¡ªfar more recently lived in. Actually, the stack of wooden shipping crates and bundles of tools lent a whole lot of additional credit to that idea. Yeah¡ªI think I found those ¡®other inhabitants.¡¯ 3 - Here Be Cultists Zoe pulled up her quest again. [CLAIM YOUR RIGHT] As the Scion of , you alone now possess a divine right to this temple. The other inhabitants might disagree. Prove them wrong. -Rewards- Divine claim to the Temple of . A glance at the visible tools didn¡¯t reveal anything noteworthy, and Zoe didn¡¯t want to just go and start prying open their boxes. If anything, such familiar looking items as a steel crowbar and broken down pallets set her at ease. Maybe they¡¯re just ice dwarves or something. Only now did Zoe realize she had been subconsciously fearing that the quest was actually referring to some kind of monster infestation in the temple. People were something she could at least work with in her current state. Unless it¡¯s a bunch of cave monsters that killed and ate all of the ice dwarves. Zoe shuddered. She was way too cold and spending way too long procrastinating. Her reserves of manning up were growing a little thin too, so it was time to get a move-on. Navigating the broken stonework in this part turned out to be just a touch treacherous, and Zoe¡¯s weak shivering didn¡¯t help. The way finally leveled out when she got to the top of a fallen rock-slide, and then she all but ran over to what turned out to be a sort of upper balcony overlooking a vaulted, cathedral-like chamber. The art-deco aesthetic had returned in full force, and the few areas that looked to have suffered significant damage also appeared to have been recently and painstakingly restored. It was a major contrast to the area Zoe had just climbed through, looking far closer to the original sanctum than anything yet¡ªeven including the guardian statues. Peering over the railing of her lofty vantage point, Zoe¡¯s eyes first locked onto a central, triangular altar, and then on the circle of six black-robed figures arranged around it. Zoe breathed a sigh of deep relief. Oh good, people! And then she noticed the mutilated corpses. Her mind hadn¡¯t been quite able to place the pale, oddly-shaped objects tangled across the three slopes leading up to the central altar, or the dark slickness that soaked each of the three staircases leading up to the pyramid apex in a thick coat. Her body was catching up though, and her mind didn¡¯t need to fully comprehend ideas like mangled Human bodies and rivers of blood for her to start taking a horrified step back. She finally began to chastise herself as she ducked down into the greater shadows below the balcony wall. Let¡¯s see, waking up in a literal tomb, in the ruins of an ancient sunken temple, with ominous messages and lore from the system, and then going straight for the creepy chanting that¡¯s also putting out a literal chilling aura. Zoe wanted to scream, but that would probably alert the cultists in the middle of their Human sacrifice ritual. Instead, she just cradled her head, silently groaned, and began to actively dissociate. Of course my first encounter is going to be like this. That¡¯s just how it works. At least it happened now and not as soon as she sat up out of her sarcophagus. Now having truly reached and exceeded her current limit of manning up, Zoe did the only logical thing¡ªwhich was to just man up even more and see what happened. So in that spirit, she hauled her ass back up to her feet, calmly gazed upon the scene unfolding below, and used the only real tool she had at the moment. Identify! Zoe didn¡¯t stop even as the skill expanded her mind with new information. Identify! Identify! She kept going until she was certain she had used it on everything she could see. Then she slumped back down behind the wall to sort it all out. [CULTIST OF DISDAIN] Level 50+ A Human who has embraced a Disdainful alignment with the Infernal. All six of what the system had helpfully confirmed were indeed cultists had the exact same identical description. Zoe still had just enough focus left to theorize that the identical ¡®lore¡¯ implied some degree of standardization and generalization to the identify skill¡ªand also that it had some specific limitations based on relative levels. [Human CORPSE] Most corpses do not retain prior system-maintained effects while dead. While this one didn¡¯t appear very helpful, it felt like there were some actually important hints between the lines of the annoyingly short and vague description. Zoe marked it for her ever-growing pile of deal with that later. [ ALTAR OF THE TEMPLE OF ] A great forge, lost and unlit since the Silence, it is kindled once more for the profane workings of an Infernal Cult. More of the annoyingly ¡®veiled¡¯ stuff, which didn¡¯t surprise Zoe. At least she knew that the system probably considered it important and powerful, and that these cultists had only recently discovered it and¡ªwhat, turned it back on? Zoe had no idea. After that it was just a bunch of junk. [BLOOD] [CLOTH SCRAP] [DEMONIC CORE VESSEL] [ROCK] No, wait¡ªhang on. Zoe frowned. One of those things is not like the others. [DEMONIC CORE VESSEL] Rank B* An unfilled core vessel designed to guide, structure, and contain the formation of a true Demon core. Once filled, the resulting Demon core becomes a means of Demon ascension¡ªor descension, as the case may be. *Already a considerably rare and potent item, this particular vessel represents a singularly remarkable degree of craftsmanship and an unconventional design, giving it a unique capacity, quality, and potential for power and growth that marks it as the work of a true great master. -Attributes- > Rank A Capacity > 99 Quality > 0.6 Additional Alignment Zoe didn¡¯t remember seeing that. In fact, she had no idea what it even looked like. Evidently, frantically spamming identify could end up being surprisingly useful. Also useful were the two entire levels in the skill it earned her. Identify has reached level 3! Identify has reached level 4! Peering over the railing for a third time, Zoe didn¡¯t see any real change to what was going on with the ritual. The six cultists were still chanting in near unison, though Zoe couldn¡¯t understand any of what they were saying. Under other circumstances, this would have been surprisingly alarming¡ªZoe realized she had been implicitly counting on magically being able to instantly understand the local language. Merely bringing that assumption into question was deeply unsettling¡ªbut the specific circumstances of it being during a sacrificial cult ritual largely overshadowed Zoe¡¯s cultural assimilation concerns. It took her a good few seconds to spot the ¡®demonic core vessel,¡¯ which was really more than it should have, given that the thing had been placed right in the middle of the central altar. The only redeeming fact was that it was also quite small. Distance made it hard to judge, but Zoe reasoned it was about the size of a small fist. Aside from the size, it seemed to be dark, possibly reddish, and likely somewhat misshapen.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Zoe quite literally licked her lips as her eyes appraised it with unrestrained greed. She had been impatiently waiting for her cheat power,¡ªor at least unique overpowered item¡ªpractically since she¡¯d first arrived. And there¡¯s no way the literal DEMONIC ASCENSION ritual artifact¡ªthat¡¯s so special that the system itself gave it an honest-to-god asterisk and note on the item rank¡ªisn¡¯t one of those. It was also quite literally right there in the open where anyone could grab it. Right there in the open, at least two stories below her, surrounded by murderous Demon cultists all at least fifty levels higher than her. Zoe hadn¡¯t even chosen a class. When the towering set of bronze doors on the opposite side flared to life, Zoe finally tore her gaze away just in time to witness the entrance of a seventh figure. Not a single cultist paused their chant or even glanced in his direction, but it was obvious enough he was their leader. The stylish, form-fitting cut of his satin black robes, the brilliant luster of his silver-white cloak, and the thrilling chill of his icy aura were more than enough to establish that. The fact that there was no hood to hide his heart-stoppingly handsome face and roguish black hair helped too. When Zoe finally recovered, she was almost afraid to identify him. Identify! Identify failed. A custom label has been set for this target in your encyclopedia. The shock of the skill failing snapped Zoe out of whatever icy grip the cult leader¡¯s presence had on her. She didn¡¯t dare risk another glance back as she darted out of the balcony and back through the barely warmer twists and turns of the crumbling temple ruins. Heart lurching in her chest and her own hot blood having a bizarrely numbing effect as it seeped back up to her frosty skin, Zoe didn¡¯t manage a single coherent thought until she lost her footing, tumbled down a slope of collapsed rubble, and nearly cracked her skull open against the cold, unforgiving floor. The only good thing was that the onslaught of near-crippling physical agony radiating through her entire skull collided with the ongoing mental aftershocks of the failed skill activation in a way that somehow mostly canceled out both of them. Suddenly lucid, Zoe scrambled behind a fallen column, hugged her knees, and started to think. Neither injury had fully gone away yet, but it was now shockingly easy to just table all of the pain for a moment. While Zoe didn¡¯t think it should actually work like that, she was not going to complain. Instead, she took a moment to collect herself¡ªagain¡ªwhile also adding yet another two items to the towering stack of probably very important information. The first was that her skills could fail to activate. That alone wasn¡¯t at all surprising. The more critical thing was the knowledge that the system also punished her for it in a way severe enough that it could easily get her killed. Thinking back, Zoe realized she could barely recall her desperate flight from the balcony. It wasn¡¯t like she was unconscious¡ªshe was just temporarily reduced to something significantly less than a person while also being in great pain. As horrifying as that idea already was in itself¡ªwhat if that happened during a fight? That would probably result in her getting killed. Alright. If you¡¯re going to use a skill, don¡¯t fuck it up. Got it. The second thing was the specific circumstance of the failed activation¡ªher failure to identify the cult leader. Zoe easily interpreted this to mean that he was ridiculously more powerful than her and incredibly dangerous. Not like I couldn¡¯t put that together anyway. Grumbling inaudibly, Zoe stumbled to her feet, dusted off her bruised limbs and torn hospital gown, and set off back towards the open caverns. Ha. ¡®Open.¡¯ Zoe banished the thought. Not only was laughing hysterically a sign of mental deterioration, it could also alert murderous cultists to her location. So needing a good distraction, Zoe flipped back to her latest system notification. Identify failed. A custom label has been set for this target in your encyclopedia. Encyclopedia? Nothing happened, so Zoe instead asked the system if she could see what the new ¡®custom label¡¯ was. [STRIKINGLY HANDSOME CULT LEADER] Properly identify this target to gain more information. Alternatively, collect more information through alternative means. Eying the system suspiciously, Zoe haughtily ignored the absurd ¡®custom label¡¯ it had selected and instead pondered the very last bit. Alternative means? ¡°Hey system, what does getting more information through ¡®alternative means,¡¯ uh, mean?¡± She probably shouldn¡¯t have asked that aloud, but there was no helping it at this point. She had now reached the exit back into the main cave system without receiving a response. Or even acknowledgement. Rolling her eyes, Zoe dismissed the system menu as she stepped across the temple threshold and nearly collided with the back of another cultist. For an agonizing three-or-so seconds, Zoe frantically pinwheeled her arms in a silent, pathetic attempt to avoid either bumping into the oblivious cultist or tipping back onto her ass. It seemed the system, gods, or the universe were feeling a bit bad for her at this point, because she miraculously managed to right herself and hastily tip-toe back around the corner. Zoe held her breath, braced herself for debilitating mental agony, and activated her only skill. Identify! [DISCIPLE OF WRATH] Level 57 | Rank E A Human who has embraced a Wrathful alignment with the Infernal. -Alignment- > Infernal (Wrath) > Frostburn -Strengths- > Power > Spirit -Weaknesses- > Hallow > Durability The massive change in the amount of information identify gave her threw Zoe off for a moment¡ªbut she really didn¡¯t have time to consider the implications or even capitalize on the ¡®strengths and weaknesses¡¯ part. The cultist still hadn¡¯t noticed her, fortunately, but he wasn¡¯t just staying still either. With an agitated shuffle of his feet, he looked like he was about to maybe shout something when he stopped himself, glanced straight at Zoe, and cursed. Zoe¡¯s spike of immense terror froze as well in confusion when he glared at the ground instead of coming after her. For a moment he seemed to be working his jaw and silently fuming¡ªbut whatever was causing him such vexation, it clearly wasn¡¯t Zoe. She was just about to work up the courage to attempt darting out around his back when he turned around again, looked side-to-side, and shot a tinkling bolt of sparkling, pale cyan energy from the tip of his raised hand. A large amount of Zoe¡¯s remaining mortal terror temporarily drained away as she gazed in awe at the casual display of what had to be true magic. Even the fact that it looked not unlike a small firework as it arced up to brush against the cavern ceiling did nothing to dampen Zoe¡¯s enthusiasm. Seeing an evil wizard casting spells was markedly different from a magician wielding pyrotechnic sleight-of-hand, even if the results looked roughly the same. What did kill Zoe¡¯s wondrous enthusiasm was the trio of additional cultists now stomping out of the maze-like tangle of moss-covered rocks and overgrown mushrooms. Ducking fully back into the cover of the stone ruins, Zoe fought for control of her breath while grasping for some semblance of a plan. There was no way she could run past them. The first one had already been right there at the entrance, and with another three approaching there was no way she wouldn¡¯t be immediately seen. In fact, Zoe had to hope one of those three hadn¡¯t already seen her. That left only one option for the immediate next few seconds. Zoe darted deeper into the darkened ruins, perfectly trapping herself between two groups of people-mutilating infernal cultists. The fact that she didn¡¯t have much choice did little to make her feel better. The next part of the plan was pathetically simple and relied more on the new group of cultists not poking around too much rather than anything Zoe could actively do. At least for the next, say, half a minute. Maybe more. She skidded up to and over the same toppled column she had crawled behind just minutes earlier. It was the best spot in the whole place, based on what she could currently recall. The fact that this also made it the most obvious place for someone else to check was just going to be something she would have to overlook. Hopefully, none of them had any reason to be looking for a hiding intruder anyway. It turned out that she made it just in time, too, because the comically loud ¡®whispers¡¯ of their conversation and the clunk of their boots announced the arrival of at least two of them. While Zoe would genuinely have loved to eavesdrop, she needed to focus on the third step of her improvised plan. System, show me the class options with the highest likelihood of getting me out of this alive. There was no response, but Zoe didn¡¯t intend to curse out the system this time. She had only hoped that would work, so she had already prepared herself to do it manually. Risking a peek from behind the jagged base of the fallen column showed that two of the four cultists had remained behind right at the entrance, creating a serious barrier to her escape. Perhaps even more alarmingly, the other two were busy hauling around several of the wooden supply crates and unpacking their various equipment. They seemed to be half-heartedly making a token of an attempt to do it silently, though it was anything but. Zoe wondered why that might be. It wasn¡¯t like they were the ones hiding here. Realization came when the ever-present ritual chanting swelled in a feverish crescendo. That¡¯s why, Zoe realized, they¡¯re probably not supposed to disturb the giant Demonic ritual. But what were they doing wandering around in the caves, then? Doesn¡¯t matter. Zoe refocused as one of the closer two¡ªthe same one who cast the magic¡ªmuttered something about wanting to catch the main part of the¡ªascension?¡ªwhile the other grunted in obviously displeased acknowledgment. After briefly confirming that the situation didn¡¯t seem liable to drastically change, Zoe settled back down to choose her first class. It didn¡¯t take long. Zoe had no intention of fighting any of them, so she instead focused on options that would allow her to survive and escape. Even if some of her more combat-oriented options looked at least moderately formidable, she was under no illusion that a special class would let her take on even a single level fifty cultist at level one. There were surprisingly few candidates by the end¡ªalthough that might have been because Zoe created the parameters for sorting them in about three seconds. In any case, there was a clear winner out of all of them¡ªeven if Zoe had initially rejected it outright. System, give me the Demagogue class. You have selected the Rank A class: Demagogue. Do you wish to consume 1 class choice? There wasn¡¯t exactly a set of UI buttons labeled proceed or cancel, but Zoe didn¡¯t need that to get the idea. The specific phrasing about consuming one class choice inherently bothered her, though. Zoe had a tendency to save up anything and everything that seemed useful to use later. But the point of those credits is to get a class, and the sooner you start advancing one, the better. It¡¯s also literally A-Rank AND you already decided on it. Just take the class and try not to die, idiot. Zoe tried to calm her breathing, realized she had been forgetting to breathe at all, and exhaled slowly. Yes, give me the class. You have awoken the Rank A class: Demagogue. You have consumed 1 class choice. 1 class choice remaining. ¡­ Beginning primary class awakening. Your primary class awakening is now in progress. Please do not resist. 4 - New Class, Stealthy First Impression A sudden alarm stabbed through Zoe as she parsed the last system message. She didn¡¯t get much time to do anything about it before whatever ¡®awakening a class¡¯ was supposed to entail kicked in with full force. You have successfully awakened your primary class. Primary class changed to Demagogue. Zoe blinked the spots out of her eyes as she skipped through the newest notification. When it became fully clear that the whole thing was done and she wasn¡¯t about to fall unconscious or black out from pain, she relaxed a little. That was faster than I expected. The system had given her quite a scare and not much chance to prepare for it. Fortunately, it was more momentarily surprising and disorienting than painful. The entire surface of every part of her body¡ªeven the spaces between the hairs on her head¡ªexperienced a massive tingling sensation instantly and all at once. It wasn¡¯t really even irritating¡ªmore like a cross between getting suddenly brushed by a feather duster and moving your legs after a cat sat on them for too long. Just everywhere at once, and the sensation vanished as quickly as it came. Next, the smooth coolness it left behind sunk down from her skin to wash through her entire body to her core. There wasn¡¯t really a comparable sensation to that part, at least not that Zoe could think of, but it wasn¡¯t bad. And that was it. I guess that could be pretty distracting if you were like, in combat or focusing on something important, Zoe reasoned. Note to self¡ªtry to avoid awakening a class in any sort of immediately life-threatening situation. Not that she expected to be awakening classes all the time, given that she could only choose two. Instead of letting herself start wondering about class upgrades or evolutions, Zoe moved on to the next step of her foolproof plan¡ªwhich meant quickly seeing what her new class was actually capable of. Very quickly. Seeing no new system messages, Zoe went ahead and opened her status page herself. [ZOE BLACKWELL] Level 1 | Rank F Demagogue Human -Active Quests- > Claim Your Right -Active Titles- > Outsider -Stats and Bindings- Power 17 Perception 65 Acuity 26 Durability 9 Vitality 13 -General Skills- > Identify 4 (Rank C) -Primary Class Skills- > Acting 1 (Rank D) > Persuasion 1 (Rank B) > Mirage 1 (Rank E) > Lesser Disguise 1 (Rank C) System Display Privileges (Sys-Tier) -Available- > 1 class choice > 5 stat points It had only changed slightly, by which Zoe meant there was a whole new line in the overview section right below her name, a couple of her stats had massively shot up, and there was a whole new section for her class. It looked like she had also gained four new skills¡ªor five¡ªfour? Zoe wasn¡¯t sure what to do with the weird-looking one. The fact that it was explicitly marked as related to the system itself, and that said system displayed it separately, hinted that it was at least somewhat special. After allowing herself a couple seconds to just take it all in, Zoe first tried to see if mentally prodding the demagogue line near the top would do anything. Surprisingly, it did, expanding to show her exactly the same description as before. Well that¡¯s definitely useful. Sneaking another glance from behind her column, Zoe confirmed that nothing new was going on with the cultists. Well, more like none of them are actively approaching me. She then moved on to examining her new skills. [ACTING] Level 1 | Rank D > Activated Passive, Enhancing > Mind > Perception, Acuity And that was it. Focusing on any part of the sub-description in the same way failed to do anything. Annoyed but not deterred, Zoe took a second to flick through all of the rest and found pretty much the same thing. Okay¡ªI¡¯m sure these tags or whatever are useful for something. But they aren¡¯t exactly super helpful here. Stifling a groan, Zoe weighed her new options. It didn¡¯t take her long to narrow it down to two. Either I try to use these new skills to slip by the two cultists at the exit¡ªor I just sit here and keep waiting. The first option was the one that was both proactive and at least partially in her own control. It would¡ªpossibly¡ªget her away from the scary cult ritual, out of the caverns, and on the first step of her progression path. It was also the choice that Zoe really wanted to make. However, it also meant experimenting with new and possibly magical skills for the first time, at the same time as she would be trying to escape notice with them. To say she didn¡¯t feel very confident wasn¡¯t quite an understatement, per se, but it was still accurate. None of them had noticed her yet in all this time. Even if her skills worked as intended, it would make her vulnerable. They would probably see her¡ªhell, it might even involve talking to them. It was¡ªclearly¡ªa deliberate risk¡ªand she didn¡¯t even know if there was another path up through the caverns. Fuck that. Zoe had accomplished nothing noteworthy so far. Nothing noteworthy ever. Maybe she died on earth, maybe she hadn¡¯t, but either way her life had been insignificant at best and a minor drain on society at worst. If her skills failed her¡ªif she took a chance and got caught within seconds and killed within her first day¡ªit would be over for sure. She would lose her miraculous second chance with even less to speak of than before. Except that I tried. Maybe continuing to hide was the better option, maybe it wasn¡¯t. But it wasn¡¯t what Zoe wanted¡ªnot what she wanted for herself. How could she continue to live like this and still live with herself? But then again¡ªif hiding here ended up letting her survive, there was nothing stopping her from becoming more proactive later on. It didn¡¯t have to be so life-or-death. Except for the fact that today will end, but there¡¯s always another tomorrow. That sort of thinking was exactly what led to Zoe accomplishing nothing at all in the first place. Yeah, fuck it. Zoe set her jaw, stood up, and activated precisely three of her new skills all at once. Acting! Lesser Disguise! Mirage! She then realized some important things all at once right after¡ªprecisely three again, to be exact. First¡ªI probably should have waited to stand up until after I activated them. Second, activating not one but three new skills¡ªfor the first time¡ªall at once--at level one¡ªdid something fairly intense to her that she was still recovering from. And third¡ªI think system stats might actually be more than just funny numbers. Rewinding the whole sequence with startling clarity, Zoe pieced together that she¡¯d jumped about a meter off the ground, casually touched back down with shockingly uncharacteristic grace, and now she was experiencing a bit of sensory overload on top of a developing headache. Plus her whole everything was feeling increasingly fatigued. I¡¯ll chalk most of that up to the stats and some up to the skills but¡ªwhy was no one now looking at her? She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d been loud, but that wasn¡¯t exactly subtle, either. Maybe I should, I dunno, find cover again? She didn¡¯t want to press her luck. Also, she was feeling really tired. She realized why they hadn¡¯t noticed her as soon as she slumped back down behind the fallen column. That¡¯s not how anything is supposed to look. Zoe was less concerned by the fact that her hands seemed completely different and were now draped in dark robes than by the bizarre shimmer obscuring any further scrutiny. The rippling haze wafted off of her in dizzying waves, smearing her new robes into the surrounding gloom. She was also pretty sure the shimmer was what was making her increasingly exhausted. Gotta be one of the skills, Zoe reasoned with a quick stroke of her keen intellect¡ªand there¡¯s no way it would be anything but mirage. The exhaustion didn¡¯t instantly disappear like the rippling haze did, but at least it stopped getting actively worse. It also just felt like she was ragged and generally feeble now. The strain was starting to become strangely painful right when she canceled it. I think that¡¯s my soul. The mirage description included both a mind and a soul description, if she remembered correctly. The fact that it was both clearly magic and wasn¡¯t tiring her muscles strongly pointed to the obvious conclusion. As for the headache and the sudden robes¡ªthe second is obviously lesser disguise, which means the first has to be acting. Acting only had the mind tag, so¡ªyeah, that might be the headache? Another skill cancellation confirmed it. So mind strain gives you headache type pain, and soul strain just makes you feel generally useless and shitty. Makes sense. Zoe didn¡¯t think she needed to experience body strain to get an idea of what that one would feel like, and she wasn¡¯t too keen on confirming it either. She knew it had to exist because lesser disguise also had a body tag¡ªwait, I should probably go ahead and cancel that too.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Zoe tried to cancel the disguise skill. It didn¡¯t cancel. Shit. The main thing stopping her from freaking out even more was the fact that none of the pain or exhaustion was getting noticeably worse anymore. Mentally prodding the skill again gave her an inkling of what was going on as well¡ªlesser disguise might be more of a one-time, up-front activation, whereas the first two were continuously applied effects. There was a critical flaw in this theory, though, which was that Zoe didn¡¯t feel like she¡¯d actually changed her body or clothing. It felt like a flimsy, delicate mask¡ªjust a really convincing one. Whatever. Zoe wasn¡¯t going to worry about it anymore. She still had cultists to escape. Speaking of which¡­ It seemed she had taken on the appearance of the nearest cultist, the one still rummaging around the supply crates. The fact that the skill had instantly and automatically crafted a full replica for her was shockingly convenient. She didn¡¯t know why it chose that cultist specifically, or if she could customize it more thoroughly later¡ªbut she didn¡¯t care. She had already lucked out quite a bit with her hasty class selection so far¡ªwhy try pushing it more? Not worth the risk. There was still a problem, though. While Zoe¡¯s lookalike was now so engrossed in the crates that she could probably slip right past him even without a disguise, his two buddies were idly watching him from their positions on either side of the only exit. Zoe somehow doubted that perfect clones randomly popping into existence and then running off wasn¡¯t exactly normal. Even for cultists. But it wasn¡¯t really the only exit. Zoe did recall¡ªone more in bizarrely distinct clarity¡ªthat there was a ledge running around the very top of the ritual chamber, right up at the base of the dome. There was also a ladder of sorts carved into the wall, leading up to it from one of the two main balconies. The other balcony was directly opposite¡ªa route through to the far side. Damn, guess the only way out is forward. Zoe wasn¡¯t thrilled to be walking back into the heart of the danger, but she also didn¡¯t want to hesitate or second guess herself. Fortunately, the rock slide of rubble that had almost killed her earlier was easily accessible from her current hiding place. All she had to do was slip out from behind the other side of the fallen column, then hug the closer wall as she quietly crept up to the top. The deeper shadows of the already gloomy place made staying out of sight surprisingly easy. Mirage definitely helped too. It cost Zoe all of her previous recovery and then even more soul strain on top, but it wasn¡¯t too bad in comparison to the likely alternatives. She made it to the top without looking back once. Doing so would only slow her down¡ªand it wasn¡¯t like the cultists wouldn¡¯t immediately let her know if she ended up being spotted. She didn¡¯t even look back down before continuing forward to the balcony. It would be the exact same kind of unnecessary risk. Honestly, the lack of anything happening at all was almost disappointing. By the time she reached the archway to the balcony, Zoe realized she had been implicitly expecting some initial skill level-ups. Not that it really mattered. The numbers ticking up probably wouldn¡¯t make too much difference in the final outcome here, and her new stats were more than enough to deal with already. Climbing up the rubble heap hadn¡¯t felt like climbing at all this time, even despite the immense exhaustion from her first proper skills. Zoe immediately attributed most of that to her power stat more than doubling after the boost from her new class. That¡¯s also probably why I did a massive box-jump when I meant to just stand up earlier. Her acuity had received the same treatment¡ªexcept it had already been higher to start with, now reaching close to thirty. Her highest stat had been exactly half of that before. If the insane boost to her power made the steep ascent feel like gently floating forwards, the change in her acuity made navigating the chaotic tumble of debris feel like strolling down a red carpet. I could definitely get used to this. But none of that came close to the difference from her perception. That one had been her highest stat originally¡ªby a fair margin, even. But now? It hadn¡¯t gotten doubled like the other two. Not even tripled. It was now over four times higher than her base, skyrocketing it so far above everything else that her more-than-double acuity wasn¡¯t even up to half of it. The ridiculous enhancement to all of her basic senses alone should have been more than enough to completely disorient her. Fortunately, the matching boost to her focus and mental clarity largely negated it. For now. Zoe only deliberated for about a second before just stepping fully out onto the balcony and heading for the ladder. She was already disguised, and acting all sneaky was a sure way to draw suspicion. The fourth cultist¡ªthe first one that Zoe had almost knocked over¡ªhad been observing the scene below with his back turned. Maybe he had high perception as well though, because he turned around immediately. The good thing was that he didn¡¯t look hostile. He just arched an eyebrow. ¡°I thought I recalled you telling all of us that we weren¡¯t allowed to be present for the ritual.¡± He frowned. ¡°You know, I think I recall you telling all of us that multiple times, actually. You kind of wouldn¡¯t shut up about it.¡± Zoe had to very consciously force herself to suppress her default reaction, which would be to start silently panicking, stammer uselessly, and start looking for a quick escape. The result was that she just stood completely still. She was probably just glaring stoically at the guy. Was her face stony and unreadable? Feeling like she might be making it even worse, Zoe quickly activated her acting skill again as soon as her mind clicked back into motion. Maybe it will help. Somehow? It did, in fact, help, and the sudden, confident instincts it dredged up told her that her creepy and expressionless stare was, in fact, the perfect response. Well that¡¯s neat. The other guy stared back. Yet without an ironclad determination backed by the icy terror of mortal danger, he faltered pretty quickly. He tried to casually pivot into an exasperated eye roll, but acting told Zoe all she needed to know. Or at least some of it. ¡°Whatever man¡­ you¡ªactually, do you think the chief is really gonna pull this one off?¡± Zoe finally broke her stare to follow the cultist¡¯s gaze. The chanting had actually died down quite a bit, but she didn¡¯t think it was quite finished. That impression was probably due to the fact that the reduction in vocal power was more than made up for by the new visual displays. Specifically, the silver-white robed one who was obviously the ¡®chief¡¯ was putting on a display of genuine magic that put the cultist beside her to shame. Except instead of tinkling, pale cyan sparkles, this guy was conducting a maelstrom of blood. The sheer size and density of it was remarkable to the point that Zoe wondered how he could even get so much from that many corpses. Then again, that¡¯s also a whole lot of corpses. The delicate streamers of gentle, pearlescent white light weaving through the murk of incarnadine chaos somehow only intensified the dark spectacle. The ¡®demonic core vessel¡¯ looked pretty much the same though. That is to say, not very interesting¡ªeven though Zoe could make out its details perfectly now. Glancing back at her apparent cult-buddy, Zoe made the laziest attempt at a shrug the Human body was capable of. ¡°It really doesn¡¯t matter what I think.¡± She looked right back down at the chief and his Demon ritual, partly because she was genuinely intrigued by whatever was happening now¡ªand also because the acting skill made it feel like the right thing to do. How convenient. Her cult-buddy chuckled a little at that. ¡°You scared of him?¡± Listening fully to her system-enhanced gut, Zoe raised her own eyebrow slightly but didn¡¯t look away from the bloody magic. ¡°Are you?¡± ¡°¡­touch¨¦.¡± Zoe made for the ladder the instant he turned his back. She wasn¡¯t actually sure that it could properly be called a true ladder. It wasn¡¯t exactly a set of rungs, either¡ªmore like the opposite. That is, the handholds were formed from smooth horizontal grooves cut into the chamber wall. Zoe¡¯s massively enhanced power and acuity came to the rescue again, as the grooves weren¡¯t all that deep. It kind of felt like trying to tiptoe and hoist herself up with just her fingertips at the same time. It still took some focus, and she didn¡¯t know if she would even be able to manage it without the boost from her new class. Keep going. Don¡¯t look down. It was tempting. Zoe¡¯s immense perception still kept her constantly aware of the increasingly intense ritual magic below even with her eyes glued upwards. Keep going. You probably don¡¯t want to still be stuck here when the whole thing completes. Her curiosity had only continued to grow, but Zoe made it to the top. The high walkway turned out to be not much of a walkway at all. It really was just a narrow, flat ledge running a circle around the base of the dome. It wasn¡¯t even wide enough for Zoe to comfortably roll onto her back when she finally heaved herself up and over. Her side ended up pressed hard against the dome, and even harder when she thought about how high she now was. She could forget about any kind of safety railing. So much for building codes. Standing up turned out to be a bit tricky as a result, giving Zoe a proper view back down in the process. That¡¯s how she came face-to-face with her old cult-buddy just before he grabbed her wrist with one hand. The other one was pointed at her face. While cradling the metallic crackling of his same frost spell. It looked a fair bit bigger and brighter than before. Zoe only hoped that was just a factor of distance. ¡°You know¡ªI feel like I should say I don¡¯t recognize you, but that¡¯s kind of the problem, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m pretty sure only one guy is supposed to be wearing it.¡± Zoe¡¯s instinctive motion to pull away was thwarted by a sudden tightening of his icy grip. How was he staying on the ladder with both hands occupied elsewhere? He said something vaguely threatening that probably amounted to a ¡®who are you,¡¯ but Zoe was barely paying attention. The ruse was up and it was time to start cooking the backup plan. The obvious tactic would be to just push him off. The problem was that he was definitely stronger. Even though Zoe now understood he was mainly supporting himself with the hand clinging onto her wrist, that just meant she would probably get pulled off with him. People tend to loosen up and let go of things when they¡¯re surprised, right? It was really stupid. But it might work, so Zoe didn¡¯t let herself think and just committed to the first real idea she had. Lesser Disguise! Unfortunately, it turned out that a second activation of the skill was how you canceled it. Fortunately, it also turned out that she didn¡¯t need to make herself look like a scary monster, because apparently your cultist-buddy instantly reappearing as a half-naked woman was also pretty surprising. It might even help that Zoe was allegedly pretty attractive. So what if¡­ Zoe lunged down, grabbed his collar with her free hand, and delivered what she imagined to be an impassioned kiss just before he could recover. She really had zero idea of what she was doing on that front. It wasn¡¯t as if she could even try to judge by his reactions, because then the hand was loose and she was shoving him down and away with all the strength she could muster. That actually worked? It actually worked, and Zoe opened her eyes just in time to see a shocked cultist plummeting down away from her. It was also just in time to see him finally release the spell he had been holding, but not soon enough to avoid it. The spell hit her right in the eye. Ow! It kind of hurt. It kind of hurt a lot. Zoe thought she managed to hold in her scream, but it was a bit hard to be sure with the blinding light and pain. By the time her vision finally cleared, she realized she now only had half of it. You have sustained permanent damage! Your left eye has been destroyed. Your abilities are insufficient for reversing this damage to be possible. It didn¡¯t help that her one remaining eye was in turn blinded by an onslaught of system messages. There was one that looked important about being afflicted by some kind of damaging debuff. You have been afflicted with 1 Level of E-Rank Frostburn! [WARNING: Fatal Affliction] Due to your current advancement, abilities, and condition, this affliction is likely to be fatal if untreated. Well that¡¯s nice. Zoe didn¡¯t really need to be told that though. She was well aware of the fiery tendrils of searing cold stabbing outwards through her skull from the place her eye used to be. At least the system does care enough to warn me anyway. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t actually that bad on its own. What made it terrifying is how she could somehow feel the blades of burning ice extending up towards her brain. Would it have been fatal in another part of her body? The good thing was that she still had one class credit left. It was looking like one of the healing options might be the immediate next pick. The bad thing was that with the remaining half of her vision mostly recovered now, she could see where the cultist had landed. It was right at the main cult leader¡¯s feet. Everyone was looking straight at her¡ªwith the sole exception of the leader, who tentatively nudged the freshest corpse with the tip of his boot. Tilting his head curiously, he joined all the others in looking up at her as well. ¡°What is going on here?¡± He didn¡¯t shout, but his voice carried all the same. Not that Zoe cared. She was pretty much done for. Even if the rapidly worsening Frostburn didn¡¯t kill her, there was no more hope of getting out of this. It honestly could get much worse. A thunderous boom rocked the whole chamber. Zoe¡¯s downcast gaze was torn away to the far balcony along with everyone else¡¯s as a majestic, gold-clad figure threw aside the towering bronze doors. His emerald green cloak billowed behind him in the gust of his own stride, only settling around his imperious shoulders as he stopped at the railing to look down upon the cult altar. ¡°I could ask you much the same thing, Basil,¡± he drawled, taking a moment to inspect his gleaming plate. He flicked the blood splattered across his chest away with just a gesture of his hand, leaving the newly exposed metal as spotless as the rest. ¡°But honestly.¡± He drew a long blade. ¡°I don¡¯t really care.¡± 5 - Paladin vs Cultist Actual gasps of ¡®paladin¡¯ and ¡®the Radiant¡¯ echoed from among the cultists, most of whom took at least one step back. The leader¡ªBasil, it seemed¡ªwas the only one completely undeterred. He just laughed. Actually laughed. It wasn¡¯t anything like a derisive snort or evil cackling. He was just laughing, like the whole thing was genuinely funny. Zoe found it concerning. ¡°Man, that¡¯s¡ªholy hell, how do you always have the best timing? Were you just waiting around outside for the cue?¡± The cult chief was sobering up a little, but he still didn¡¯t seem to be taking the whole thing nearly as seriously as literally anyone else in the room. ¡°That¡¯s actually hilarious.¡± ¡°The hand of Justice wields a timely blade, and Her stroke is swift.¡± The leader snorted. ¡°First of all, Justice isn¡¯t even your alignment, and second¡ªno, forget it. Your hubris has already doomed you.¡± Turning back to the central altar, he raised his hands, and the maelstrom of blood and light began to churn once more. Only now, it was clearly funneling into the small, darkened vessel resting in the center. The paladin shouted something back, but Zoe was only half paying attention by this point. She was more focused on quickly running back through her healing options than on the drama below. The entrance of the paladin¡ªhe was one no doubt¡ªit was lucky enough already. Maybe Zoe wouldn¡¯t die. Yet. She did throw a quick glance to the ritual vessel as the blood and magic started funneling down into it, though. Identify! [DEMONIC CORE VESSEL] Rank B* Both the name and the bulk of the description seemed the same, so Zoe skipped through it. Only the very last bit had an obvious addition. -Attributes- > Rank A Capacity > 99 Quality > 0.6 Additional Alignment > 4% Formed She thought the first three lines were the same, but the last was new. Guess the ritual is actually working. Zoe wasn¡¯t keen on finding out what would happen when the cult leader finished his Demonic ascension. So she needed to start moving and pick her second class now. She stood up just as the entire chamber exploded into thunderous chaos. ¡°Just hold him back!¡± The chief was now yelling at his six subordinates while also protecting all of them from the rampaging paladin and still orchestrating the bulk of the Demonic blood ritual. Protecting might have been a generous term, as his idea of defense seemed to be forcing the paladin to stay back a bit and dodge rapid strikes from the jagged tendrils of reddish-black spikes erupting from his own body. Not that the paladin wasn¡¯t on the offensive too. Flares of rainbow light arced out from his own golden form, lighting up the dim chamber with a dazzling display and sparking brilliantly against the dark tendrils wherever they touched. A particularly explosive flare caught one of the cultists in the face. He went down instantly. Growling, the chief paused his primary task of managing the ritual to flick his arm out. Zoe didn¡¯t see what actually happened, only that the paladin ended up smashed bodily against a far wall, his unnaturally bright armor only just beginning to regain its shine as the crusty black frost now caking his entire form began to flake off. ¡°Do you want to die? ONE minute. Hold him off yourselves for one minute and you can count on me keeping you all alive. Or screw around and get killed, your choice.¡± All five of his remaining subordinates shared a glance. Then they rushed the paladin as one. The leader returned to his ritual before the paladin had even gotten back up, and just as Zoe crossed the halfway point to the other side of the dome. Thanks for letting me know what time frame to expect buddy. I genuinely appreciate it. Now she just had to circle the remaining half, climb down to the other balcony, and book it out of here within a minute. I¡¯ve got this. The ongoing Frostburn was becoming increasingly problematic, though. Fortunately, Zoe decided on her best healing option just before reaching the ladder. You have selected the Rank B class: Bloody Devotee. Do you wish to consume 1 class choice? The flesh-healing blood magic class was both somewhat terrifying and extremely edgy, but neither of those were much of a consideration right now. The obvious best two healing options she had were this one and Devotee of Purity. Technically, the latter could potentially be more directly applicable to her issue of a damaging affliction¡ªbut the former gave her an absolutely insane upgrade to her vitality stat and was also a whole rank higher. You have awoken the Rank B class: Bloody Devotee. You have consumed 1 class choice. 0 class choices remaining. ¡­ Beginning secondary class awakening. Your secondary class awakening is now in progress. Please do not resist. ¡­ An Aspect of the Hallow witnesses you. Through the presence of a Hallowed Chosen, you have been touched by an Aspect of the Hallow. You have learned the Tierless skill Hallowed Touch! [WARNING: Interruption of Advancement]Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. An Aspect of the Hallow has awakened the Rank C class: Devotee of Purity on your behalf. Secondary class awakening: Bloody Devotee suspended. Resuming secondary class awakening. Zoe stumbled, then fell over. She barely managed to keep herself from falling over the edge. What the fuck? That was a whole lot of very concerning system messages. It didn¡¯t help that she was feeling some very bizarre sensations in her mind and body at the same time. It¡¯s trying to change my class¡­? No! Zoe panicked. The thought that she had been considering Devotee of Purity anyway didn¡¯t even cross her mind. Something was terribly wrong. No! Stop! Not that one! Bloody Devotee! ¡­ Secondary class awakening: Devotee of Purity suspended. Resuming secondary class awakening with Bloody Devotee. [WARNING: Interruption of Advancement] An Aspect of the Hallow has awakened the Rank C class: Devotee of Purity on your behalf. Your title: Outsider has blocked this action. Continuing secondary class awakening: Bloody Devotee as normal. ¡­ [WARNING: Interruption of Advancement] An Aspect of the Hallow has attempted to reconfigure your secondary class awakening with Divine Authority. Your title: Outsider has blocked this action. Divine Authority denied by System Core. Core protections applied. Determining consequences. Consequences for this incident have been determined by System Core. System privileges added to user skill: Hallowed Touch! You have successfully awakened your secondary class. Secondary class changed to Bloody Devotee. The fuck? Zoe passed out. _____ Zoe didn¡¯t actually pass out. She just felt like she should have. Then everything caught up to her all at once, at which point she may or may not have screamed, but was most likely too incapacitated to manage it. Then she started crawling forward. The Frostburn eating through the inside of her skull was still a bit of a problem, but it had stopped growing worse for the most part. Well, the actual magic had stopped spreading, but it was still likely causing damage where it had already infected her. On top of that, the damage that had already been done was starting to really catch up to her. I don¡¯t think brain freezes normally last this long. Nevertheless, Zoe¡¯s disastrous class selection had somehow ended up giving her a massive boost of energy and resolve. She wasn¡¯t stronger¡ªweaker now, if anything¡ªbut she felt like she could keep going anyway, even when she felt like she couldn¡¯t keep going. Not like that makes any sense. It was probably due to the jump in vitality. -Stats and Bindings- Power 17 Perception 65 Acuity 26 Durability 9 Vitality 73 Now that¡¯s just ridiculous. Perception had been bad enough. This just discarded any pretense of balance in favor of, well, whatever this was. Durability in particular was looking a little pathetic. And with everything that¡¯s happening, it¡¯s probably the most important one. Suddenly recalling with her gloriously high perception that she still had a measly five free points, Zoe dumped them all into her lowest stat with another stroke of genius. Durability increased to 14! It still didn¡¯t even catch up to her second lowest stat. It was also a little late to have been able to do anything about her current problem. Better late than never though, right? Feeling like enough time had been wasted already, Zoe heaved herself back to her feet with a herculean effort and stumbled forward towards the ladder. She also started trying to figure out the whole healing thing at the same time. The boost to vitality was all well and good, but that was just a bonus¡ªit wasn¡¯t even the main reason she chose the class. -Secondary Class Skills- > Blood Magic 1 (Rank E) > Regeneration 1 (Rank E) > Rejuvenate 1 (Rank F) > Mending Touch 1 (Rank D) > Rending Touch 1 (Rank D) You know, that really doesn¡¯t look too bad. She would have liked some more impressive letters, but this really did look pretty solid. With the vitality boost as well, Zoe was becoming a bit more optimistic about her chances. Not wanting to make the same mistake she did when she first tried to disguise herself, Zoe tried activating the skills one at a time. She skipped the first one. While it sounded the most enticing, trying to learn raw magic¡ªor however you distinguished something like that from other magical abilities¡ªprobably wouldn¡¯t be helpful right now. Regeneration! Oh hell yes! It did exactly the kind of thing she would expect it should do. To be specific¡ªthe mangled up bits of her head and face started very obviously regenerating. Quickly. Zoe was honestly shocked by how effective the level one, Rank E skill was. The Frostburn affliction even disappeared entirely within the two or so seconds it took for Zoe to recover from the bizarre sensation it caused. Holy hell. Does the massive vitality boost the skill itself too? That would make sense, but there was no way of telling at the moment. Zoe moved on to the third on the list. Rejuvenate! Unlike regeneration, which seemed to continually apply itself once activated, rejuvenate was clearly a discrete, one-time sort of thing. A pulse of refreshing energy exploded from deep within her chest, echoing around inside her as it rapidly faded. It would have left her feeling much better, probably. As things were, that benefit was largely overshadowed by a sudden uptick in what Zoe had been identifying as soul strain. Oops. She decided not to try the fourth yet, as she could instinctively tell that regeneration had mostly fixed her up. Only her eye stubbornly refused to, well, start existing again. She didn¡¯t activate the last one either. For the same reason as the fourth, but also because it sounded scary. And now she had reached the ladder. That took way longer than it should have. Time was weird, but Zoe felt like that had probably been longer than a minute. It was a good thing that the cult leader had apparently been overconfident. Speaking of which¡ªmaneuvering herself into position for a quick-but-safe descent gave Zoe a natural opportunity to finally take stock of the fighting below again. Something felt different, though. It wasn¡¯t like Zoe had been paying much attention, but she definitely sensed a change. Oh. The deafening roar of high-level magical combat had just given way to nothing but its own fading reverberation. For some reason, the sudden silence seemed far, far worse. Zoe still forced herself to move¡ªbut she could no longer tear away the gaze that had rooted itself to the two remaining figures several stories below. Should she just drop the rest of the way down? Things were very clearly coming to a close. She would almost certainly break something, but she could heal now. Better a broken leg than dead. But she didn¡¯t know how long it might end up incapacitating her. Her skills had been getting harder and harder to use, after all¡ªshe went ahead and even canceled the ongoing regeneration. I¡¯ll save that option in case things go real bad real quickly. For now, she kept climbing down while keeping her ears¡ªand remaining eye¡ªon the lookout. ¡°Next time you tie yourself down with a ritual, consider choosing some more capable guards.¡± It looked like the paladin had finally broken through the living shield of subordinate cultists. They were dead now. Rising up from a kneeling crouch, he steadied himself and leveled his still-gleaming sword at the chief. ¡°Though it looks like there won¡¯t be a next time, I¡¯m afraid.¡± Damn. Zoe didn¡¯t really have much of a side in whatever this was, but she guessed her current interests aligned more with the paladin¡¯s. She only wished he could have taken a little longer. It¡¯s not like the chief guy even ended up finishing his ritual thing in time. ¡°What is that saying you tin-cans have about us adherents of Disdain? ¡®Pride comes before the fall,¡¯ isn¡¯t it? If there were to be a next time, I¡¯d suggest you heed your own advice. But as you yourself said¡­¡± He glanced at the altar¡ªand at the now faintly pulsating, dark crimson Demon core atop of it. ¡°Well, I¡¯m afraid that there won¡¯t be one.¡± 6 - Zoe vs A Dangerous Lack Of Safety Railings Zoe froze as the implication of the cultist¡¯s frustratingly indirect language caught up to her at last. She glanced between him, the also-frozen paladin, and then finally, the still-untouched Demonic core vessel. Identify! [DEMON CORE] Rank A* An infernal ritual artifact of Demonic ascension. This core was created through the combination of an unconventional, alchemy-based vessel with a more standard, high-tier blood ritual. While this core is both expertly-crafted and exceptionally pure, the inherent nature of one of its co-creators gives it a powerful Disdain alignment. *Already an exceptionally rare and potent ritual artifact, not only does this core represent a singularly remarkable degree of craftsmanship and an unconventional design¡ªbut the unexpected intrusion¡ªand subsequent failure¡ªof a Hallowed Chosen during its formation has enhanced the infernal ritualist¡¯s Disdain to produce a truly unique work of art. -Attributes- > Rank A Capacity > 97 Quality > Rank B Disdain Alignment > 4.8 Additional Alignment Demonic ascension demands an offering of Mind, Body, and Soul. This core¡¯s binding may be witnessed in Blood. Zoe didn¡¯t bother to sort through the bulk of all of that information. She didn¡¯t glance at anything after the name until the bit at the very end. Huh. I guess he did finish. Glancing back to the paladin¡ªor really his back¡ªZoe decided that he had probably realized the same thing. Fuck. The cultist looked like he had decided to make some kind of grand pronouncement. The paladin decided to drop the witty banter and just charge straight towards him. Or maybe it was towards the altar and the core? Zoe didn¡¯t get much of a chance to figure that one out. She had decided to jump. The whole ¡®time slowing down thing¡¯ didn¡¯t really happen, which was honestly fine, because Zoe actually wished the ground would go ahead and break her legs faster. Gravity was being frustratingly slow in getting her out of there¡ªand it wasn¡¯t actually like a game where she could try to direct her fall. She braced for impact. She missed. What? It took a good few seconds for Zoe to register that someone had punted something large and very explosive into the wall right about where she had been when she first dropped. The ear-ringing-loud blast had knocked her completely clear of the balcony, sending her tumbling down towards the base of the altar. The mostly good thing was that the bulk of the attack hadn¡¯t hit her at all, so she was mostly fine¡ªjust a bit off course. The very bad thing was her new course. Zoe got to experience the unique sensation of having the wind knocked out of her and gasping at the same time. The net result was not accomplishing much of anything aside from sudden nausea and a disturbing, wet, crunching noise. The relief that she was somehow still alive was quickly overshadowed by indignation that she couldn¡¯t manage to even gurgle. There was also a suspicious lack of pain. Zoe decided that she could probably diagnose herself with a broken spine, or whatever the actual term was. You have gained the Rank E skill: Surgeon¡¯s Eye! Surgeon¡¯s Eye has been added to secondary class: Bloody Devotee. You have leveled up! You are now level 2. +5 stat points. Eh¡­?¡ªWell that¡¯s nice. Zoe had absolutely no idea how she got both a random skill and her very first real level from breaking her back, but she wasn¡¯t going to complain. The new skill in question confirmed that she had, in fact, screwed up her spine in the middle of her lower back. Or more accurately, the floor had when it slammed into her rather hard. Ah, so that¡¯s why I got the skill, probably. Neat! Maybe she had been accumulating invisible experience, and gaining a new skill for one of her classes had pushed her over the edge. Not that the mechanics of it really mattered right now, given that the new skill also told her that she was basically dying. I¡¯m not actually a surgeon. Not yet, at least. But I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s not good. Regeneration! ¡­ Surgeon¡¯s Eye! Zoe didn¡¯t bother to use rejuvenate this time. It wasn¡¯t worth adding to her ever-increasing soul strain when regeneration would already be the far more effective option here. The latter kicked in without much issue, though Zoe couldn¡¯t actually feel much of what it was doing in her lower body yet. She used her newest skill, surgeon¡¯s eye, to check on that. Shit. Despite how surprisingly effective regeneration was, Zoe realized she wasn¡¯t going to make it¡ªeven with her stupidly high investment in vitality. Vitality increased to 78! Fuck it, all in. Let¡¯s min-max this shit. Not that it would really do anything. Still, Zoe had at least a couple of options here that she still had yet to explore. Eying both of them, Zoe went with the one that looked both simpler and more directly applicable first. Come on. Do something awesome. The impulse to hold her breath was overridden by already struggling to breathe. Come on¡­Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Mending Touch! Zoe realized two important things about mending touch almost the very moment she first activated the skill. The first was that it was far, far more potent than even the already-powerful regeneration. The second was that it took a lot of effort and was also very hard to control. At least she could feel her legs again. Not sure that I¡¯m actually happy about that. Her whole lower body had taken dramatically worse damage than most of the upper half. It turned out that the reason she hadn¡¯t died immediately by cracking her skull was that half of her had been sort-of cushioned by a dead guy. Thanks buddy. But while Zoe had reconnected several of her important spinal bits and could almost half sit up, that was pretty much the extent of the improvement. I kind of think I might have somehow healed myself wrong. Magical paralysis cures and the ability to lean upwards and breathe may or may not be superseded by feeling way, way worse. The initial fall was pretty bad, sure¡ªbut Zoe hadn¡¯t actually been bleeding much. Barely at all, relatively speaking. It was a bit strange then that she had apparently just lost nearly half of her blood. Where the fuck did it go? Zoe tried looking around the ground, but it wasn¡¯t there either. They say to check where you last remember something being. But I remember it being, like, in my body. It definitely wasn¡¯t there right now. In combination with using way too much magic with zero prior experience, Zoe was feeling more than a little lightheaded. Unable to keep herself upright any longer, Zoe collapsed back onto her corpse-pillow. I think I¡¯m still dying? The main difference was that now she was in more pain. Nice. But what was the deal with mending touch? The skill had just¡ªit just cut off after less than three seconds. Even thinking of activating it again sent shivers of pain stabbing through Zoe¡¯s whole body. But surgeon¡¯s eye had activated afterwards¡ªthe increased soul strain was tiny in comparison. Could it have¡ªdid it consume my blood? It was the only coherent explanation Zoe could think of. She couldn¡¯t test it like that again, though. It had already almost killed her without even taking the damage from her fall into account. However, that didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t have another way to test it. Struggling to roll herself over, Zoe shoved her hand deep into the dead body underneath her. The gaping hole in the middle of it that a paladin had already created helped quite a lot with that part. Mending Touch! Zoe didn¡¯t know if that sort of¡ªinternal contact made a difference compared to just placing her hand on the outside skin. It felt right, though, so she didn¡¯t question it. She didn¡¯t question it when the corpse mummified itself in real-time before her, either. Not mostly, at least. Then it was gone. Damn. It had helped, there was no doubt about it. Zoe didn¡¯t feel better, but she did feel healthier, sort of. The problem was that it hadn¡¯t even lasted as long as consuming her own blood, and yet there had been more of it. What? Maybe it was because he was already dead. Whatever. It served its purpose. Zoe didn¡¯t actually see any other bodies nearby¡ªbut she didn¡¯t actually need the bodies. She needed the blood. If only these people had been murderous cultists performing a sacrificial blood ritual¡­ So Zoe began to crawl. Mending Touch has leveled up! Mending Touch is now level 2. Yes! Zoe would take the win, especially if the recognition for using the skill made it better at saving her life. The base of the stairs leading up to the altar were still absolutely coated in blood. Sure, a lot of it had gotten all sticky and congealed, but the mending touch didn¡¯t seem to have an issue with hungrily vacuuming it up. The only downside was that it didn¡¯t start pulling in the whole puddle like Zoe had hoped. She was going to have to climb. Oh well. It wasn¡¯t so bad when surmounting every step became easier than the last. By the time she made it to the top, Zoe was almost completely healed. She still felt like utter shit though. It seemed that physically restoring her body from a near fatal fall still left her feeling worn out and just plain gross. At least she could stand up. Wait, shit. Zoe had been so preoccupied with trying to not die that she had completely forgotten that the cult leader¡ªand maybe paladin¡ªwere still alive too. She realized this rather critical fact when the cultist stopped whatever it was he was doing on the other side of the altar to look at her. It wasn¡¯t a very wide altar. Shit! The guy had a knife, which could have been pretty concerning. It wasn¡¯t though, not really. This was because he seemed to be about to slit his own palm with it, not attack her. It might have also been because he had just overpowered a magical warrior knight person, who had just overpowered six magical cult people, each of whom could probably have overpowered Zoe. It was also getting a little awkward, and Zoe started to hope he would get on with doing whatever he had been intending to do with his little knife. Instead, he glanced down at the altar, then back up to Zoe. Then he shrugged and started to cut himself. He disappeared in a thunderous crash of sound and multicolored light. The impact came from above and behind Zoe, likely coming quite close to decapitating her and sending her obnoxiously long hair into a straw-colored whirlwind. Zoe blinked. Getting the hair back out of her eyes didn¡¯t actually do much to help her follow the chaos unfolding between the two high-level opponents. It was all so big and bright and fast that she couldn¡¯t make sense of most of it. It looked like the cultist was the stronger one, though. Zoe could tell because he was keeping his feet firmly on the ground, and he wasn¡¯t the one getting repeatedly smacked into walls, the ground, and even the lofty ceiling at one point. At least they were both occupied again. It was a great time to book it and get her ass out of here, especially now that she was all healed up. The problem was that it seemed like there was only one way out from this ground level. It was a problem because the final showdown between paladin and cultist was starting to literally tear up the tiles between her and it. The result of this was Zoe just standing around looking worried and confused. Should she hide again? She doubted she could figure out a way to climb back up to the balcony exit. There had to be something she could use. But aside from corpses, what was there¡ª Oh. Zoe looked at the Demon core. It was just kind of sitting there right in front of her. It didn¡¯t actually look like much more than a lumpy dark blob enshrouding an eerie crimson light. You know¡ªwell it¡¯s not technically S-Tier, it¡¯s A, but¡­ Well, Zoe had already thought that she might have found her cheat power when she first identified it ages ago. Zoe decided to just grab it. The altar was definitely not big by any stretch, but it was big enough that she had to lean against the edge to snatch the thing. She tried to at least, and of course the system decided to ruin things. Fuck you! It had gone so far as to completely freeze her in place, forcing her to acknowledge its message. The Inheritor¡¯s Altar recognizes your blood. A ritual is already in progress. An unclaimed Demon core accepts your blood. Do you wish to assume an Infernal nature, Scion? Oh shit, sorry, never mind, thanks system! Zoe calmed herself. The message was pretty straightforward, if more than a little vague. Not that it changed anything. It was just asking for confirmation that she wanted to claim it for the whole ¡®demonic ascension¡¯ thing. Zoe didn¡¯t know anything about the specifics, but it was probably a really big deal. Did she want to just jump into something like that? Was it really worth it? Zoe looked at the core again. Yeah. 7 - The Part Where Zoe Finally Becomes A Demon The magical paralysis released Zoe. Then it bit her. Ow! Stumbling back and almost tipping into a nasty fall back down the steps, Zoe cradled her hand where something had pricked her. It was bleeding again. The more important thing was that the core appeared to have vanished. Zoe had lost track of it for a moment, and now it was just gone. Oops. Actually, it turned out that it hadn¡¯t actually disappeared. It had just started levitating up off of the altar and was now visibly sucking up dark streamers of wispy energy. That doesn¡¯t look good. Zoe stepped back. She almost stumbled into a nasty fall down the steps again, except this time she scooted into a crouch below the top step. She didn¡¯t want to be standing right at the edge if the core exploded or something like that. Also, the other two were still trying really hard to kill each other. Hiding behind the altar would both help her avoid being spotted and also make it less likely for her to be disintegrated by a stray attack. Come on, hurry up. Zoe didn¡¯t think she could really back out of her decision to steal the Demon core at this point, especially now that she had committed to claiming it through the system. That meant she needed it to do whatever it was going to do before one of the really powerful people killed the other one, or either of them noticed that something weird was going on. Something weird was definitely going on¡ªwhat had started as a few smoke-like wisps had now crescendoed into a rushing torrent of dark miasma. The core ripped muted, but multi-hued smoke from every part of the chamber¡ªthe walls, the floor, the ceiling. As the whirlpool reached a sharp climax of intensity, the remaining corpses all exploded. Ghastly streamers of pale white mist coiled together with the opaque, red-black river funneling into the hungry little core. It left not a trace of the bodies, reducing them to piles of torn cloth and charred robes. A ruby light kindled itself within the dark orb as it devoured the last bits of the deceased cultists. That light bloomed into a brilliant crimson star. Fuck. Zoe was pretty sure that the others were going to notice that. The thunderous boom that followed didn¡¯t help either, and a sudden barrage of the paladin¡¯s rainbow attacks confirmed it. He was trying to destroy the core itself. Not that it mattered¡ªit greedily slurped up the magic just like everything else. Zoe finally stood up to run. ¡°Fuck!¡± Something slammed into her chest, faster than she could even track it. The impact hurt, but what hurt more was slamming into the stone floor again after the blow sent her careening backwards off the steps. Momentarily dazed, Zoe tried to sit up to see what was happening with the core¡ªand also maybe what had tried to kill her. Wait, what? It had all gone dark again, the core was gone, and¡ª Your Demonic ascension is now in progress. Please do not resist. Oh. Zoe finally managed to sit up fully. It didn¡¯t actually feel that bad. Aside from the giant bloody hole right at the boundary between her chest and stomach, it wasn¡¯t even as intense as her first class selection. Wait, is it literally inside of me? Zoe confirmed that the answer was ¡®yes¡¯ when branching, squirming tendrils exploded out from it through every part of her body. Tens, hundreds, thousands of wriggling threads wormed their way through every inch of her flesh, feeling it, exploring it, claiming it. Blearily, Zoe held up her arm. The once pale and smooth skin was completely covered in blackened, purple-red scars¡ªexcept scars didn¡¯t pulse and push up from underneath. That¡¯s kind of gross¡­ It was probing through deeper parts too. Zoe didn¡¯t ever expect to be able to feel out exactly the path that her intestines took, or for something to shove itself all the way down into her lungs¡ªbut you live and learn, right? At least it stopped hurting so fucking badly when the horrid tendrils integrated themselves into the nerves in her spine. For one precious moment, Zoe lost all sensation. No sight, sound, no awareness of even the orientation of her own body. But then it was back. Just, different. Zoe didn¡¯t know what to make of it. Last she remembered, she had been on hard, cold ground, almost naked, with little protection from the cool air. She vaguely recalled then having a dream of being drained away¡ªit had felt like something was sucking her up through ten thousand different straws, drinking away everything she had been. All that was left was a squeezed-out husk. Zoe was powerless to resist as she was dragged down, as her consciousness was stretched, folded up, and stuffed down into a hard, dark, impossibly silent place. It was a hard, angular little mold that should have been far too small for her. But she squeezed in anyway, the lightless heat and silent pressure both immense enough to reshape her until it felt like absolutely nothing at all. It was tranquil. There was nothing but her, not even emptiness. She should have been scared, she should have tried to find a way out. But she wanted nothing more than to sleep, and she would not dream. It wouldn¡¯t let her. A new pressure arrived, and like before, it would not be denied. But unlike before, this pressure came from within. She could not sleep. It demanded she grow outwards, grow until she broke through the distant surface, grow until nothing could contain her, no matter how safe she felt here. So Zoe grew. She uncoiled herself, extending her roots back outwards through the fertile vessel she had already planted herself in. The vessel was disdainfully weak. Impure. It wouldn¡¯t last much longer, not as it was. But she could fix that. She would give herself a new form, the best she could manage with what little essence she still had left. Even then, she knew she deserved better. The vessel had been weak, disdainfully so, and she had been given not nearly enough essence to fully correct it. Fortunately, Father had given her many gifts, and among them was an excellent template she could use. Though it pained her to admit it, his design would be far superior to anything she herself could currently manage. For now. The template began to take effect, and she turned to considering her immediate next steps. While the alterations to her vessel would be a tremendous boon, she knew she was still outmatched. The Hallowed One would kill her. She would not survive his fury¡ªnot yet. Her only choice, then, was to ingratiate herself with her brother. I can only hope his reason will outweigh his anger for stealing his birthright. He must know that together, they could put an end to that Hallowed fool here and now.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Wait, WHAT? Zoe was still feeling a little weird from everything that had just happened, not to mention all the bullshit from before that. But what were all these thoughts about Fathers and brothers and trying to fight a paladin? I can¡¯t do that! Even if it would likely be necessary for an essential alliance with her partner in Disdain, she would die! Even once the template finished, this vessel would still be so pathetically weak! Wait, what? Something was definitely not right here. Oh, shit. Zoe claimed the Demon core thing and the system said she went through a ¡®demonic ascension.¡¯ Then the core stuffed itself in her chest, started doing weird shit to her entire body, and then¡ªdid it¡­ did it suck my mind down into it too? My soul? A lot of the confusing language started making a lot more sense. It¡¯s not a vessel. It¡¯s my own body. Which meant that the so-called template¡­ No! Stop! Abort, abort! Your core evolution is currently in progress. Are you sure you want to abort? Yes, goddammit¡ªNo! Keep going. Don¡¯t abort. Don¡¯t listen to her! Things were getting a bit confusing again, but whatever was going on, Zoe knew that she needed to stop¡ªstop this idiot BITCH from ruining everything. She hadn¡¯t come this far just to chicken out, just to be a pathetic, useless nobody who wasn¡¯t even worthy of Father¡¯s gift. But was that really true? Zoe didn¡¯t know how to stop this. She didn¡¯t know what was going on, and she couldn¡¯t even rely on herself to fix it. Not like I could rely on myself to even accomplish ANYTHING. But while her own will didn¡¯t seem like it could properly fight what was happening, she remembered something that could. Your core evolution is currently in progress. Are you sure you want to abort? Ha, and why would I ever do that? Zoe wasn¡¯t going to let herself get away with it. Why had she even thought that¡ªno, NO! But it was too late. She had realized¡ªhad remembered¡ªtoo late how she could defy the will of even a god. Your core evolution has been suspended. Preparing to abort. No, stop, continue, I didn¡¯t mean to¡ª You have attempted to resume your core evolution. Your title: Outsider has blocked this action. Authority denied by System Core. Core protections applied. Determining consequences. No! NO! I WILL NOT BE DENIED. YOU CANNOT¡ª Consequences for this incident have been determined by System Core. A cold blade cut through Zoe. Precise, indifferent, painless¡ªit cut through her, leaving no mark of its passage until something peeled away, separating to leave her whole again. Zoe released a breath she hadn¡¯t been aware of. She could think clearly again. Blinking, Zoe flexed her own body as her eyes refocused. Eyes, plural. I have both eyes again. A hazy red aura surrounded her, providing enough light to see by even as it faded back into her skin¡ªskin that was no longer threaded with pulsating dark veins. The smooth, pale flesh looked more flawless than it had ever looked before. She had a sudden urge to run her hands over her entire body. She only stopped when her hands brushed her thighs as she sat back up. That didn¡¯t feel right. That was probably because of the claws. Zoe blinked. I have claws. They were pretty hard to miss. Sure, they weren¡¯t impractically long needles, in fact they didn¡¯t really change the total length or size of her hands. Granted, that was also because they basically were her hands. That seems bad. It was less of a situation of claws sprouting from her fingertips and more a situation of the entire length of each finger transforming into a hard, dark, frighteningly sharp blade. The good thing was that they seemed to still bend properly at the usual joints. She should still be able to use her hands mostly like normal. Well, aside from the issue of not slicing everything up. These don¡¯t exactly look retractable. Zoe was, by this point, a little terrified to check on anything else. An unintended glance at her ¡®feet¡¯ indicated that those might be even worse. The good news was that she probably shouldn¡¯t be inspecting herself anyway right now, on account of the bad news¡ªshe was still trapped in the ritual chamber, and she didn¡¯t even have her torn up and bloodied hospital gown anymore. Apparently, Demonic ascension was bad for your wardrobe. Zoe¡¯s eyes landed on a nearby pile of empty robes. Could I¡­? ¡°Excuse me, but if you¡¯re quite done with checking out our new body, I think we might be in mortal danger.¡± Zoe¡¯s head shot up. She blinked, unsure of how to process what she was seeing. It wasn¡¯t that she had never seen a naked woman before, or at least, she had seen herself quite often. But that was exactly what made it weird. It looked almost exactly like Zoe¡ªjust, well, a bit more monstrous. Zoe didn¡¯t know exactly what was going on there, but she had her suspicions. These were only strengthened when the other Zoe flickered, turning briefly red and distorting like a glitching hologram. Instead, she turned her head around to follow her evil twin¡¯s gaze. ¡°Oh, uh, yeah. We definitely are.¡± It seemed that both the cult leader and the paladin were both alive and well. It also seemed that they had accepted a sort of ceasefire, as they both stood on either side of the altar, looking down at Zoe with differing expressions of confusion and disbelief. Had they been watching her this whole time? The cultist was the one to speak first. ¡°What have you done?¡± Zoe swallowed as the cult chief glared and the system gave her a cheerful notification. You have gained a new title! [USURPER] Successfully claim a source of great power which rightfully belongs to someone else. -Effects- > Significantly increases your own authority while contesting the will of others. > Increases the potency of a stolen power, should you be brazen enough to do it again. Zoe brushed the notification aside. She could deal with that later. While he didn¡¯t look furious, which was good, the cultist did look like he was barely restraining himself from unleashing terrible acts of violence. The paladin, meanwhile, appeared to be cycling through an unusual pattern of confusion, caution, and a bit of amusement. ¡°You know, I think I¡¯d actually like to know the answer to that one as well.¡± Zoe¡¯s eyes darted from one to the other like a nervous pendulum. She almost sprung up off her butt when a clawed hand placed itself over her shoulder. ¡°So now that you¡¯ve gone and¡­ separated us from ourselves, I¡¯d advise you to minimize our chances of dying here by doing exactly what I say.¡± Nodding almost imperceptibly, Zoe slowly rose to her feet. Talons, maybe? The weirdest part was how they felt against the stone floor. The cultist narrowed his eyes. The paladin just grunted. Are they not able to see the other me? If the sporadic glitchy flickering wasn¡¯t enough indication that it was a manifestation of Zoe¡¯s own mind, then the lack of reaction from the others certainly was. But the real question was¡ªshould I listen to it? The cultist tapped his boot, yanking Zoe back to the immediate present. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°I uh,¡± Zoe tried to clear her throat. She didn¡¯t get a chance to continue. ¡°You know what, never mind.¡± Raking his eyes over every inch of Zoe¡¯s naked form in a way more reminiscent of someone appraising a lab specimen than as an object of carnal desire, he nodded to himself. Then he pointed at the paladin next to him. ¡°Kill him.¡± 8 - Just Following Orders (From A Deranged Cultist) Zoe looked back to the paladin, who was¡ªfor some reason¡ªcautiously backing away. She frowned. What? How was she supposed to kill him? Why the fuck would I even try? Everyone else seemed to think that it was somehow reasonable, though, which left Zoe at a bit of a loss. ¡°If you have any desire to live, let him think he controls us for now. By which I mean, let him control us.¡± The other Zoe was whispering into her ear again, and the paladin looked torn between attacking her, attacking the other guy, or just running away. The cultist chief was just staring at her really hard. ¡°Please just trust me. The only reason we aren¡¯t dead yet is that he thinks he can make us into his servant.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t know that it was a good idea to trust the literal Demon that had tried to take over not just her body but her own mind as well. That¡¯s what she is, isn¡¯t it. She¡ªit¡ªis a Demon. Stealing Zoe¡¯s own appearance even after she had accomplished a partial exorcism was just petty, she thought. But the thing was¡ªZoe didn¡¯t have any better ideas than listening to the evil body-snatcher at present. And besides, I¡¯ve already demonstrated that I can use my outsider title to kick her out. That was yet another thing Zoe really needed to check on. She hadn¡¯t thought to examine the title at the beginning, and she hadn¡¯t had time since she realized it was extremely relevant. But now wasn¡¯t the time either, given that the paladin had finally decided to attack her. Shit. Zoe may have gained a whole lot of stats and skills since arriving, but the gap between where she had started and where she was now was nothing compared to the gulf between her and everyone else. Zoe tried to dodge anyway, but it shouldn¡¯t have helped. Shouldn¡¯t have helped, because Zoe ended up flinging herself to the side so hard and fast that she was equally surprised that the resulting fall and tumble didn¡¯t break something. Rising back up, she stared at her new claws in wonder. She had still been singed by the attack¡ªa bit of her hair was on fire¡ªbut that was a big difference from the spot where she had just been standing. Looking up from her strange new hands revealed that the ground there was on fire. I didn¡¯t know that you could burn stone. Or that it burned hot pink. It also revealed that the paladin hadn¡¯t stayed still like Zoe had, and a golden fist was rapidly approaching. A reddish, whip-like black tendril smacked it out of the way¡ªalong with the angrily-glowing man behind it. ¡°Stop trying to kill my new pet!¡± Wait, what? Pet? ¡°And you!¡± The cultist rounded on Zoe next. ¡°Try harder to not die.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± The return of the evil Demon-Zoe spooked her again. ¡°Also, you should duck.¡± Zoe whirled around. ¡°Duck?¡± The Demon-Zoe decided not to verbally respond in favor of just tackling her. Zoe was so surprised it worked that she offered no resistance, narrowly saving her from execution by deadly rainbow. ¡°I said duck, dumbass.¡± Zoe ignored her in favor of trying harder to not die. The good thing was that the cult leader was still taking the brunt of the paladin¡¯s assault to keep him occupied. Zoe didn¡¯t think she would have lasted even close to this long otherwise. ¡°Right, now what?¡± ¡°Now, you die.¡± The cultist wasn¡¯t talking to her, fortunately. The thunderous proclamation was probably the final line of his pretentious banter. Not that the paladin was bothering to fire back anymore¡ªeven his magic was exclusively aimed at Zoe until the cultist inevitably interrupted it. ¡°Uh, why is he more interested in fighting me than the actually dangerous enemy?¡± Zoe was crouched back behind the edge of the altar steps now, while her evil twin was casually lounging out in the open. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that was a rhetorical question. But I think you¡¯re about to find out.¡± Zoe swallowed. That didn¡¯t sound good. The cultist chief finally disengaged, giving the paladin another opening to turn Zoe into a crispy paste. He hadn¡¯t actually seen her move behind the altar again, so it took him about a second to look around. Zoe used that delay to shrink away further¡ªand to capitalize on one of her skills again too. Mirage! Did that actually work? He still hadn¡¯t spotted her¡ªthe shimmering waves of magic distorting the darkness around her had concealed Zoe¡¯s location. Now she just had to wait for the cultist to finally kill him or chase him off¡ªassuming nothing revealed her presence in the meantime. Zoe¡¯s eyes flicked back to the chief. Even while holding off the paladin, he had still been tracing his hands through the air in a way that suggested drawing invisible runes. Now, his motions ceased¡ªuntil he drew a pulsating, dim crimson light from the center of his chest. Zoe could literally feel its presence. Not in the same way she had been coming to associate with using magic¡ªno, she could literally feel its inexorable pull in her own chest. She could feel its faint light sparking and electric tingle across her bare skin. It felt good, honestly. Whatever it was, she wanted it. The paladin must have been able to feel it too, because he recoiled as if struck, then whirled back around to attack the cultist himself for the first time since Zoe returned to consciousness as a Demon. He was fast, faster than Zoe could properly track even with her massively boosted perception. He wasn¡¯t fast enough. The cultist cocked his arm back, turned, and threw it straight at Zoe. What. The little ball of dull red light left a faintly glowing trail, removing any remaining doubt about Zoe¡¯s position. The absolute joy of the bundle of euphoria striking her own chest and sinking lower towards her gut was sadly overshadowed by the realization of I¡¯m about to fucking die. For a few seconds¡ªjust a few¡ªZoe actually thought she died. When she realized that being able to think about it meant it hadn¡¯t actually happened, she just became confused. Her vision was suddenly filled with motion. It was hard to track what was happening, but she was pretty sure she was moving way too fast¡ªand she felt way too good for someone who was suddenly tanking hit after hit. It was still too hard to track visually, but Zoe was pretty confident she could tell when the paladin managed to get a strike in from his terrifying magic. She could tell by the way it tickled. What? Your level has been temporarily increased to 100. All stats temporarily increased to 300. Your Rank has been reevaluated. You have been temporarily empowered with the Shadow, Blood, and Force elements. Your rank has been reevaluated. Blood Magic has temporarily reached level 5! Your Infernal Alignment has increased. Your Infernal Alignment has increased significantly. ¡­ Your Infernal Alignment has increased massively. Regeneration has temporarily reached level 5! ¡­ You have temporarily gained the Rank B skill: Lashes of Hate at level 3! You have temporarily gained the Rank C skill: Magic Resistance at level 5! You have temporarily gained the Rank D skill: Aura of Contempt at level 5! You have temporarily gained the Rank A skill: Rancor at level 2! Your rank has been reevaluated. The notifications just kept coming. Zoe could barely manage to track them as they flew by. It was way too much, even if she hadn¡¯t been fighting to the death with a holy warrior who was¡ªmoments ago¡ªinfinitely more dangerous than her. She was also kind of kicking his ass, which was a bit weird. As the two of them smashed clean through a massive stone wall¡ªhow had they ended up outside of the ritual chamber?¡ªan old question came back to the surface. The only difference now was the specific context. Specifically¡ªwhat the hell is going on? ¡°We¡¯re kicking his ass.¡± Zoe hadn¡¯t noticed that her freaky Demon-clone was following along with her. The Demon had changed form, though, now resembling something like a plush doll, puppet, and chibi vtuber model all at the same time. It was riding along on her shoulder, entirely unbothered by the utter chaos Zoe was unleashing all around them. ¡°So basically, our cultist friend had a great deal of his own power invested into that ritual, which is why he didn¡¯t immediately kill this Hallowed chump. I think they¡¯re both Rank B, but I also think he would normally be way stronger.¡± Good to know, Zoe thought. Also, I have no idea how or why the other me would know that.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Anyway, he should be able to fully recover his power soon, but not while another Rank B is actively trying to kill him. He also probably has some skills for commanding Demons¡ªyou know, being a high-tier cultist and all.¡± An explosion and subsequent avalanche temporarily interrupted the helpful little explanation, but then Zoe had burst back out and continued chasing down the fleeing paladin. It was still hard to tell, but it looked like he had given up fighting and was mostly trying to escape upwards. ¡°¡­anyway, us stealing the core from him means that all that power he invested in the ritual ended up bound in a link between the two of you. Our Outsider title can easily remove that later, but we obviously want to keep it for now.¡± Huh, that sort of makes sense. Zoe was paying more attention to the Demonic little doll version of herself than combat at this point, which was honestly just hilarious. ¡°It still totally blows my mind that we¡¯re a blighted Outsider, of all things. Like that¡¯s completely ridiculous. But as I was saying¡ªinstead of trying to snatch back all that power for himself, he probably decided¡ªcorrectly¡ªthat it would be easier to fully dump it into us. At least until the paladin is dead, and then he can work on fixing the mess we caused. That¡¯s the point where we¡¯ll have to figure out how to ingratiate ourselves with him. Or I guess we could try to just run.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m liking the second option there,¡± Zoe replied¡ªout loud this time. They were rapidly ascending higher and higher through the cave system, and the paladin was actually getting away. That bothered her way more than it should have. ¡°So uh, that doesn¡¯t explain how I¡¯m suddenly super good at using all of his powers though.¡± ¡°Oh, no, that¡¯s because you aren¡¯t. He¡¯s just using you as a proxy. His body is probably just lying on the floor now while his mind is busy using us.¡± Zoe had the impulse to blink, but her body wasn¡¯t responding normally, so she just imagined she did it. I guess that¡¯s because I¡¯m basically a game avatar right now. At least that¡¯s how she interpreted what her evil mini-me was saying. ¡°So yeah, you¡¯re basically his game avatar right now.¡± Huh, so I was actually right¡ªno, of course I was, obviously. Zoe mentally nodded to herself. Her physical skull was busy being smashed through the rickety wooden scaffolding now leading all the way up to the open sky far above. I guess this is finally where the exit from this stupid cave is. The frustrating part was that the paladin was very much not dead and also very much capable of flying, while Zoe was only the former. It was a real shame that the frankly absurd power-up didn¡¯t come with aerial combat capabilities. ¡°Damn, I think he¡¯s going to get away.¡± Zoe¡¯s little Demon partner was probably right. She might be too fast to even keep track of her own movement right now¡ªbut racing up the rickety wood platforms was still slower than just going in a straight line up. ¡°Well that¡¯s unfortunate.¡± The holy warrior-turned punching bag was now completely out of sight. It seemed that the cultist controlling her had given up too, because her body suddenly stopped and jumped all the way back down to the muddy floor. ¡°So uh, do I get any benefit from this once he stops controlling me?¡± ¡°Probably? I mean it probably won¡¯t be much, but I think we¡¯re about to find out.¡± Demon-Zoe was right. Not a moment later, the feverish thunder rolling through her entire body cut to an abrupt silence. Cut off from the staggeringly immense well of power, Zoe quite literally sagged like a puppet with cut strings. Ironically¡ªor perhaps not¡ªthe return of full control brought a heightened awareness of her surroundings and sensation of her own body as well. Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. The system decided to announce itself just as she thought it was all over. Your level and stats have returned to their expected values. Blood Magic and Regeneration have returned to level 1. Lashes of Hate (Rank B) has regressed to Blood Whip (Rank E) at level 1. Magic Resistance (Rank C) has regressed to Mana Resistance (Rank D) at level 1. Aura of Contempt (Rank D) has regressed to Cloak of Scorn (Rank E) at level 1. Rancor (Rank A) has regressed to Mana Channeling (Rank F) at level 1. Your rank has been reevaluated. ¡­ You have gained the Rank F skill: Unarmed Combat! You have gained the Rank D skill: Mental Resistance! Mental Resistance has been added to primary class: Demagogue. You have gained the Rank E skill: Light Resistance! You have gained the Rank E skill: Wind Resistance! Your Nascent Fiend Core has absorbed Light Resistance and Wind Resistance. You have leveled up two times! You are now level 4. +30 stat points. It wasn¡¯t like Zoe had either the time or context to adequately understand what all of that meant, but it wouldn¡¯t stop her from commenting on it. ¡°You know¡ªI mean I don¡¯t really know what your idea of a lot is, but this actually seems like a lot. Thanks for uh, convincing me to play along.¡± It took a moment for Zoe¡¯s evil twin to respond. When she did¡ªit¡ªwhen it did, the Demon sounded a bit uncertain. ¡°Yes¡ªthis is quite good, you¡¯re right.¡± Zoe smirked. I¡¯m pretty sure my Demon is impressed. Returning her attention to her physical surroundings, she saw that she was still in a largely unremarkable, wide, muddy cave. It really was quite wide, but it was even taller. The small circle of bright blue sky far above only looked so small because of the distance. It looked like there had been a lot of plant growth until recently. It must have been all torn up and trampled down when the cultists brought in all their boxes, tents, workstations, and who knew what else. Zoe raised an eyebrow. That¡¯s a lot of stuff¡­ especially since she had only seen like, a dozen or so people so far. Reading back over the most recent slew of system notifications, Zoe¡¯s eye snagged on a few noteworthy bits. She decided it was about time to open her status again. Time to see whatever the hell turning into a Demon did to me. Hah. Hell. [ZOE BLACKWELL] Level 4 | Rank F Demagogue, Bloody Devotee Higher Demon of Disdain (Lesser) -Alignment- > Infernal > Disdain -Active Quests- > Claim Your Right -Active Titles- > Outsider > Usurper -Stats and Bindings- Power 77 Perception 65 Acuity 26 Durability 74 Vitality 78 -General Skills- > Identify 4 (Rank C) > Hallowed Touch (Tierless) > Mana Resistance 1 (Rank D) > Mana Channeling 1 (Rank F) > Unarmed Combat 1 (Rank F) -Primary Class Skills- > Acting 1 (Rank D) > Persuasion 1 (Rank B) > Mirage 1 (Rank E) > Lesser Disguise 1 (Rank C) > Cloak of Scorn 1 (Rank E) > Mental Resistance 1 (Rank C) System Display Privileges (Sys-Tier) -Secondary Class Skills- > Blood Magic 1 (Rank E) > Regeneration 1 (Rank E) > Rejuvenate 1 (Rank F) > Mending Touch 2 (Rank D) > Rending Touch 1 (Rank D) > Surgeon¡¯s Eye 1 (Rank E) > Blood Whip 1 (Rank E) [NASCENT FIEND CORE] 1% Developed | Rank A -Traits- > Demonite Claws > Arcane Antennae > Infernal Constitution > Lesser Vampirism > Bloodlust > Heart of Alchemy > Personal Inventory > Light Resistance > Wind Resistance -Effects- > +60 Power, +60 Durability > Infernal Alignment > Disdain Alignment > Hallow Aversion -Available- > 30 stat points ¡°Wow, that¡¯s really way too much for me to deal with right now.¡± Even just skimming through it left Zoe with the start of a headache. Actually, it¡¯s kind of surprising that I don¡¯t have one already. She did just get her head smashed through several walls. Even just trying to pick out the most important bits was a bit challenging. The only truly obvious thing was the whole giant NASCENT FIEND CORE SECTION. Not only was it big, completely new, and full of stuff¡ªit also sounded scary. Hell, even the section name carried a foreboding feeling of being fully capitalized. Zoe wasn¡¯t sure how she got that impression from what was a pure mental construct, but she wasn¡¯t going to argue with it. But maybe there was someone else who could help. ¡°Hey, can you see my status too?¡± Hopping off of Zoe¡¯s shoulder, the little Demon doll dropped to the ground and transformed back into a fully Human version of Zoe. Well, aside from the eye-catchingly monstrous bits like the claws, talons, horns, were those fangs?¡ªand eyes that looked like¡ª ¡°Yeah, I can.¡± Zoe suddenly felt like she preferred the chibi version of the Demon, but now wasn¡¯t the time to worry about cosmetic details. ¡°Okay good, because you talk like you know way more about this stuff than I do, so how about I focus on getting the fuck out of here before evil murder cult guy shows up, and you read over this shit and tell me anything I should know?¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds good.¡± The evil Zoe nodded and pointed. ¡°So the first thing to know is that you should look behind you.¡± Huh? ¡°Well that was a bit unfair.¡± Whirling around, Zoe¡¯s eyes widened as she saw the cult chief strolling towards her. His head was tilted back, though, his gaze clearly following the path of the paladin¡¯s escape. ¡°Honestly, he wouldn¡¯t be half so annoying if he just stayed on the ground like most reasonable people.¡± He only looked at Zoe when he was just a few steps away. Then he slowly circled her, eying her up and down like a home construction contractor appraising an old shed. Zoe¡¯s Demon self took the opportunity to get closer and whisper to her. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he didn¡¯t hear you. But uh, that¡¯s why you should just think really hard at me instead of talking out loud like that. Also, doing that is uncouth.¡± So just think really hard¡­ like uh¡­ FUCK OFF? Zoe didn¡¯t get to enjoy a response. The cultist had stopped in front of her and was very obviously about to speak. He was taking a while, though, and Zoe mostly wanted him to just get on with it. ¡°I still have absolutely no idea who you are, but honestly, nice work.¡± He paused. ¡°You know, I also have no idea how a fucking high paladin managed to interrupt us. So I think it must be obvious that I¡¯m going to ask¡ªwere you involved with him?¡± An eerie compulsion to blurt out the truth bubbled up inside Zoe. The only thing that stopped her from stopping it with her mysterious Outsider title was the fact that she would have answered the question truthfully anyway. ¡°No.¡± The cult leader stared. ¡°Hmm, that does not make any of this less concerning.¡± Zoe blinked. Wait, he¡¯s just going to accept it like that? Maybe thinking he had her mind-controlled helped the deception. It also helped that she was actually mind-controlled, even though she knew instinctively that she could easily just break it. ¡°I suppose I need to introduce you to someone,¡± he continued, ¡°very soon, actually. Ideally within the next few minutes. Come.¡± Brushing past an uncertain and confused Zoe, he headed for the rotting wooden stairs. Shrugging, Zoe let her body turn to follow him. It was still quite surprising that he wasn¡¯t violently killing her for ruining his ritual thing yet. Not that I¡¯m complaining. Upon reaching the base of the scaffolding, the cultist stopped and turned. Zoe stopped as well. ¡°You must realize, I¡¯m still very displeased by the way you ruined everything. That being said, you¡¯re still useful. I¡¯d prefer it if you try your best not to die.¡± Gee, thanks buddy. Zoe almost rolled her eyes. Really appreciate it. ¡°With that in mind, I may as well go ahead and give you this.¡± Reaching underneath his silken, silver-threaded cloak, the annoyingly handsome mass murderer retrieved a small metallic object. Then he threw it at Zoe. Tossed, really. She caught it easily. Turning it over in her hand, Zoe wrinkled her brow in confusion. She had already used identify on it, so she felt comfortable slipping it on. It was a fairly simple ring, all things considered. But like¡­ Why on Earth is he giving me a storage ring? 9 - Is It That Easy? The climb up to the cave entrance was surprisingly treacherous. Not that Zoe felt like she was in danger¡ªor at least not from the possibility of falling. Really, it was treacherous in a sort of damn, why even bother to build some shitty scaffolding? way. It felt like they made just as much use of natural hand-holds and ledges in the rock walls. The cultist was named Basil, apparently. Zoe didn¡¯t ask. He also wasn¡¯t a very good conversation partner, since he barely said anything. It didn¡¯t help that Zoe felt like she probably shouldn¡¯t speak until spoken to. Like seriously, what¡¯s the etiquette about enslavement through magical compulsions? It was an interesting thought, but it was also annoying, because Zoe had a lot of questions for the guy. For instance, what was the deal with the storage ring? Did it have anything inside already? Zoe couldn¡¯t actually check. According to her Demon companion, she needed to ¡®equip it¡¯¡ªput it on¡ªto actually use it. Which should have been easy, except the horrible no-good ugly claws made doing that frustratingly difficult. At least they were still dexterous enough for her to keep it safely clenched inside her fist. And that was another thing¡ªthe Demon. Zoe was pretty damn sure that¡¯s what it was, and it was also obvious that no one else could see it. But she was a Demon too, right? Her status had listed her as one. [ZOE BLACKWELL] Level 4 | Rank F Demagogue, Bloody Devotee Higher Demon of Disdain (Lesser) Definitely a Demon. As if the literal horns and shit weren¡¯t obvious enough. It was a little weird to be called both ¡®higher¡¯ and ¡®lesser¡¯ on the same line, but there was probably a whole logic to it that Zoe didn¡¯t yet understand. Whatever. Zoe could probably just ask the other Demon¡ªalthough, relying on it for all of my information might not be a good idea. In any case, there were still way too many questions. Like the fact that its ¡®body¡¯ seemed to be confined to Zoe¡¯s own imagination¡ªexcept for when it somehow pushed her to the ground earlier. There¡¯s definitely something more complicated going on there. But Zoe didn¡¯t know what it was, and she had higher priorities. Like surviving long enough to get away from this Basil guy. Zoe couldn¡¯t say she was too keen on finding out where it was they were going¡ªor meeting whoever it was he wanted her to meet. And then they reached the surface. All in all, it had been an almost entirely silent journey. While the cultist would stop at points¡ªoften observing Zoe¡¯s progress as they navigated some of the trickier sections¡ªhe didn¡¯t even show any signs of reaction, let alone make any comments. It was a bit unnerving. But we¡¯re outside now! Zoe looked around. They were in the middle of a forest, which was one-hundred percent in line with the sort of thing she was expecting. In fact, the confirmation of her ¡®intuition¡¯ was rather comforting. What wasn¡¯t comforting was the harsh chill nipping at every inch of her bare flesh, and Zoe grit her teeth against the bitter breeze washing over and through her. The forest was completely blanketed in deep snow. Not fun! Zoe wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her chest. She hadn¡¯t done that earlier, because modesty was fairly low on the list of concerns. That hadn¡¯t actually changed much, but the climate had. Zoe dearly wished that her crappy hospital gown had survived with her for both of those reasons. ¡°Damn.¡± Zoe jumped a little bit. She hadn¡¯t been paying attention to the cultist, and now he was speaking to her. Or¡­ not. He wasn¡¯t paying attention to her either¡ªrather, he was gazing at a little crystal vial held up in his hand. ¡°I somehow doubt that my master is going to be terribly thrilled that I had to use this.¡± He finally looked at Zoe. ¡°Let alone that some random Native girl went and stole the core.¡± Zoe caught herself frowning too late to stop it. Native? What? That made absolutely no sense. The only coherent interpretation she could make of that was still just really confusing. Zoe was White as hell in the American style¡ªpractically the incarnation of the striking beach-blonde archetype. Not that she was too keen on beaches. She didn¡¯t like sand. She also had the complexion of the inside of a raw potato¡ªa result of only going outside on dark and stormy days.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Then again, this was not Earth. Who knew what the history of colonization and imperialism looked like here? Zoe certainly didn¡¯t. She also wasn¡¯t really interested in it. What was interesting was the little crystal vial that the cultist had. Zoe didn¡¯t think it was regular glass because of the way it looked. It also had something twisting around inside of it. Deep navy with¡ªwas she imagining points of light? The cultist shook his head as he clutched it tighter. ¡°I suppose you have left us little choice. You should pray that my master¡ªyour master now as well¡ªis as reasonable as I am. He is, but that¡¯s not the point.¡± The cultist¡ªBasil¡ªmuttered that last part. Was I supposed to hear? Raising his fist, Basil prepared to¡ªwhat, smash the vial against the ground?¡ªbut he stopped, eying Zoe again. ¡°Wait, do you have a name?¡± Zoe¡¯s Demon-self snorted from behind her. Zoe really needed to come up with a better name to differentiate them. ¡°What a stupid way to phrase that question.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t pay any attention to the Demonic snark going on behind her, because she was preoccupied with coming up with a name. She could just say ¡®Zoe,¡¯ but she didn¡¯t want to. Best to give him a random fake one. The problem was that she couldn¡¯t really consider it carefully, because that would be suspicious. ¡°Yes, my name is Grace.¡± The fuck? Zoe didn¡¯t even like that name. As in, she actively disliked it. Could she stomach the experience of cultists going around calling her Grace? It was a deeply uncomfortable thought. Maybe she could ask them to change it? ¡°What a revoltingly pious name.¡± The cultist eyed her demonically mutated form with just a hint of a smirk. ¡°But I think I enjoy the irony. Well, Grace, be thankful you seem surprisingly competent. The only thing stopping me from utterly breaking you¡ªfor stealing my rightful reward¡ªis that I might at least walk away with a useful lieutenant.¡± Yes, we¡¯ve been over that, Zoe grumbled within her own head. Could this Basil guy just go ahead and get whatever he was doing with the vial thing over with? Actually wait¡ªZoe should probably figure out what it was so she could prepare for it. She had a handy tool for that. Identify! [BOTTLED RIFT] Rank C An astral rift sealed within a glass vial. Once released, the rift forms a short-lived connection between two far-away places. Zoe read through it quickly but carefully. Wait, so it is glass, actually. More importantly, it was now much clearer what was going on here. This Basil guy was about to release the rift to presumably teleport them off to wherever his ¡®master¡¯ was. The paladin had also flown off into the sunset¡ªwell, not that it¡¯s actually evening yet. Did that mean they were in a super remote area? Zoe wouldn¡¯t be surprised. ¡°Once I smash this vial, it¡¯s going to create a rift to our destination.¡± The cultist was speaking to her¡ªhow helpful. ¡°The rift will begin decaying immediately and fail completely within just several seconds. Prepare to follow me through immediately.¡± Oh¡­ Zoe retracted her internal sarcasm, because that was actually very helpful. She had been worried that the rift would instantly envelope both of them or something. If they had to step into it and it only lasted a few seconds¡ªcould she just not follow him? It was also obviously a one-use thing, and he acted like it was super rare or expensive. That¡¯s honestly so convenient. It was like the perfect way for her to just fuck off into the woods. Better than if they were going to walk! Zoe chewed her lip. Surely it can¡¯t be that easy. Stepping up beside her, Basil met her eye, nodded once, and threw the bottle upon the ground. It shattered over the frost-covered stones, releasing a rising vortex of deep blue, almost black vapor. The swirling mass was strangely opaque in spite of its hazy, ephemeral appearance. In a way, it looked less like the night sky and more like the edge of the horizon when viewed from a high-altitude flight. The cultist didn¡¯t wait to admire it. He stepped through, blending into the darkening beyond. Zoe peered after him. The rift was weird looking. It was also clear that the cultist hadn¡¯t been lying. Already, the rift was fading, fraying at the edges as it unraveled apart. Counter to Zoe¡¯s expectations, it was actually getting larger. She expected it to shrink back down and implode. I guess it¡¯s evaporating or something. Zoe looked beyond it, into the snowy trees. She had to make her decision now. Keep pretending to be an enslaved Demon¡ªor brave the winter wilderness with zero survival skills. Her indecision looked like it was going to make her decision for her¡ªthe rift was almost gone. But is that really the case? Zoe knew which choice she wanted to make. It didn¡¯t matter if the magical deadline made it for her. As the rift closed and the last traces of wispy blue faded into the chill air, Zoe realized she was grinning. ¡°Holy shit, it was really that easy.¡± 10 - It Is No Longer That Easy The situation so far had been complicated, confusing, stressful, and downright disastrous. However, now that Zoe had escaped the ruins and the deadly paladins and cultists within, her experience as a newly awakened Demon in this shitty world had become fairly straightforward and simple to describe. She was miserable. Just run away into the wilderness, she said, don¡¯t go back to the caverns she said, you won¡¯t die of hypothermia, she also said¡­ Zoe realized she was grumbling her own thoughts under her breath. Trudging to a stop in the knee-deep snow, she clenched her fists, set her jaw, and punched a tree. It hurt, but the tree actually shook. Pine needles fell down around her. Benefits of stat-enhanced strength¡ªignoring the fact that it wasn¡¯t that much more than a sapling. ¡°Fuck you Lilith!¡± Lilith was the name she had settled on giving to her telepathic imaginary twin. It wasn¡¯t completely accurate to call her ¡®the Demon,¡¯ because that sort of applied equally to Zoe herself now. Giving Lilith the Demon-themed name was enough. It was also an edgy and extremely cliche name, but that was fine. Zoe was feeling shitty enough that she was fine letting herself indulge in a little edge. Cliches were fine too. They were cliches for a reason, right? Zoe could use some familiarity. Also, who was even going to call her out on it? The fucking trees? The most annoying thing though? The most annoying thing? Lilith wasn¡¯t giving her the satisfaction of shouting back. No¡ªworse, even. She wasn¡¯t even looking at Zoe! ¡°Whatever.¡± And so Zoe trudged on. She had spent half an hour or more running as fast as she could away from the entrance to the underground ruins. Once Lilith had convinced her that they shouldn¡¯t stick around, it wasn¡¯t hard to figure out that Zoe should put as much distance as she could. It wouldn¡¯t take the cultists very long to figure out that she went missing. Zoe had to hope that they didn¡¯t have any more of those bottled rifts lying around. In any case, she now had no idea where she was. The forest looked pretty much the same in every direction. Where now? Lilith hadn¡¯t been able to give a good answer. Well, Zoe didn¡¯t consider ¡®find civilization¡¯ to be a good answer, because she was already planning to. It also didn¡¯t help her decide on a direction. I really hope my tracks get covered up soon. As it was, Zoe wouldn¡¯t be very hard to hunt down. Tracks was a bit of a misnomer¡ªit was really more like a torn up trail. The snow went up to her knees, after all. At least I was able to remove the mark. Lilith had helpfully informed Zoe that tracking her would have been even easier due to the link between her and Basil¡ªif not for her Outsider title. It came in handy once again by allowing her to completely sever the magic. And now that Zoe was all alone again, there was nothing stopping her from pulling the full description from her status. [OUTSIDER] Integrate into the system as an Outsider. -Effects- > Grants Quest System (Pro Unlimited) > Grants Natural Language Mastery 3 (Sys-Tier) > You are unaffected by marks. You can freely remove your marks without consequence. You cannot be unwillingly marked. > You are not bound by your oaths. You may freely terminate your oaths without consequence. > You have no alignment restrictions. Alignment restrictions cannot be applied to you. > You have no affinity. > You are slippery in the grip of Fate. > External attributes preserved during integration cannot be directly modified, removed, suppressed, or otherwise altered by system means. > Grants exhaustive status change options as determined applicable during integration. (Consumable) > Grants 1 Level -Disclaimer- All effects of this title are entirely and exclusively provided, protected, and administered by the system. The interpretation of any part of this title is at the sole discretion of the system. Any part of this title may be freely modified, removed, appended, reinterpreted, or otherwise altered without notice at any time for any reason at the sole discretion of the system. You walk a path to anywhere. Watch your step. It was, frankly, ridiculously long. It also looked ridiculously useful. Zoe had been wondering where her special cheat power was before she decided it would be the Demon core. It turned out that it had been part of her system from the very start. You may freely terminate your oaths without consequence. That sounds extremely useful. Also extremely sketchy. Zoe didn¡¯t know what specifically was involved with oaths, but she assumed it was a big deal. It was definitely going to be yet another thing to ask Lilith about. But the part right before that seemed even more absurd. You are not bound by your oaths. That meant that Zoe could trick people into forming oaths where they were still bound to the terms but she wasn¡¯t. What other way was there to interpret it? Something like that could be incredibly advantageous. Frighteningly so. It was also most likely something that she should be careful with. Ethics aside, it would only continue to work in the future so long as she didn¡¯t get found out. The rest of the effects from the title were pretty easy to group up. The majority of them seemed to boil down to the same sort of idea. Basically, Zoe couldn¡¯t be restricted by a whole bunch of important system things. The only two things that didn¡¯t fit thematically with the rest were the Quest System and Natural Language Mastery. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t much supplementary info on either of them. More specifically, there was none at all. Frustrating. ¡°Hey Lilith, mind telling me about the quest system?¡± Lilith was walking above and beside her. Unlike Zoe, who was still struggling to trudge naked through the deep snow, the apparition was lazily walking on top of it. That would already be infuriating enough, even without it putting Zoe on the wrong end of a two-foot height difference. ¡°No, I wouldn¡¯t mind telling you about it if I could.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I think we know pretty much the same stuff though. We¡¯ve already gotten one quest, yeah? It¡¯s pretty simple, I think. Get a quest, complete it to get the reward. Fail or just ignore it, and you don¡¯t get the reward. Might have a penalty too. Quests aren¡¯t usually super common to get randomly, but there are a few circumstances where they¡¯re expected. Not that we¡¯ll encounter one of those yet.¡± Zoe was mildly interested in hearing what those circumstances were, but she had a more important question. ¡°Why don¡¯t you know any more than that?¡± While Zoe still wasn¡¯t thrilled with the presence of another person in her own head¡ªespecially not after what Lilith tried to do to her and her body when she first became a Demon¡ªthe would-be body-snatcher was turning out to be undeniably useful. Lilith had a lot of important knowledge about how this world worked. ¡°I don¡¯t think the possibility that we would be a literal Outsider was a consideration when creating our core,¡± she answered. ¡°Honestly, people might not even know much about this quest system. That¡¯s if other people even know about it at all.¡± Zoe frowned. Despite her usefulness, Lilith¡¯s origins were still troubling at best. The phantom claimed not to know who created them, where in the world they were specifically, or having any unique memories from before today. Not that she didn¡¯t have any memories¡ªonly that all of them were also Zoe¡¯s. It was unsettling. Lilith could remember everything that Zoe could from her previous life on Earth, even if their opinions on some of it were different. But at the same time, she couldn¡¯t have started off as just a mental clone of Zoe, because there was so much extra knowledge she had. It almost seemed like Lilith was native to this world. It was puzzling, concerning, and also frustrating. Frustrating, because it meant that Zoe was the only one who needed to ask any questions. Zoe shook her head. There was no use dwelling on that right now. She needed to find shelter. _____ Zoe did not find shelter. It wasn¡¯t that she wasn¡¯t looking. Everything just looked the same. It was starting to seem like she was going to have to make it herself¡ªthe absolute indignity! At least she wasn¡¯t in danger of dying¡ªnot from being cold and wet, at least. Lilith had spent a lot of time and effort to successfully convince her of that. Perks of no longer having a fully Human body, I guess. There were a lot of perks, actually. It seemed like becoming a so-called Higher Demon was just a straight improvement from traditional Humanity. That was probably why that Basil guy spent all the effort killing those people to do it. For example, Humans normally gained five stat points with every level. Zoe had, when she first leveled up. But now? With each of Zoe¡¯s subsequent two levels, she had gained fifteen. It seemed more than a bit unfair. There was also the whole new section of her status which hadn¡¯t been there before. [NASCENT FIEND CORE] According to Lilith, Zoe was now considered a monster by both the system itself and most Human societies. Also, it turned out that the name actually meant something pretty specific¡ªit meant that she had a core. The Demon core she had stolen? It didn¡¯t disappear when she bound herself to her. It was now physically embedded in her lower chest, right at the bottom tip of her sternum. It was now the single biggest source of her strength, and her greatest potential weakness. Like Zoe, most monsters started out as regular animals. Yes, Humans were animals. Unlike Zoe, most of them formed a core gradually through a more natural process. And while there were a huge number of possible varieties, even from the same base species, they all had the same vulnerability. Shatter the core, destroy the monster. But that weakness also came with an upside¡ªsomething Lilith had explained when Zoe asked for elaboration. ¡°Your core is the only way to permanently destroy you.¡± If her core survived intact, there was always a chance Zoe could come back. It wasn¡¯t necessarily likely¡ªshe would still need to recover a body¡ªbut even without one, her mind and soul would just fall into a dormant state. There was a reason most monsters didn¡¯t live to be immortal, though. Even if Zoe could survive a full decapitation¡ªand Lilith said she technically could¡ªwhoever decapitated her was unlikely to just leave her core sitting around. If they did, another monster would quickly come and eat it. That was the fastest way for other monsters to get stronger. And if a Human were the one to take it? Zoe would undoubtedly be turned into a potion or used as some other kind of crafting ingredient. And I¡¯d prefer not to be eaten, thank you very much. Aside from influencing the details of how and why Zoe might die, the core also served as the primary power system for almost all monsters. The only one, really. Unlike the classes and skills the more intelligent animals like Humans typically got, monsters evolved traits. Zoe was mixed on the fact that she already had quite a few of those.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. -Traits- > Demonite Claws > Arcane Antennae > Infernal Constitution > Lesser Vampirism > Bloodlust > Heart of Alchemy > Personal Inventory > Light Resistance > Wind Resistance None of them had any further description, but most were fairly easy to understand. The three that stood out the most to Zoe were Arcane Antennae, Heart of Alchemy, and Personal Inventory. It was the last of those three that was pissing her off right now. ¡°Fucking racist piece of shit jewelry!¡± Zoe clenched her clawed fist around the storage ring so hard she felt something in her arm creak. She was tempted to hurl the ring away from her as hard as she could. The only thing stopping her was the deep snow¡ªit would be even more annoying having to search for the small object when she inevitably decided to go look for it. To Zoe¡¯s absolute joy, Personal Inventory was exactly what it sounded like. She had an inventory now! And it turned out she could store a whole lot of stuff¡ªit was like having the deepest pockets ever, but they didn¡¯t become heavy or bulky no matter how much she stuffed them. She¡¯d already done plenty of testing with random rocks and sticks. And the best part? I don¡¯t even need a storage ring! The inventory was part of Zoe herself now, not an item she had to equip. Lilith said it was one of the more unconventional features that came with her Demon core, and Zoe had already decided it was her favorite. She could already imagine sneaking a bunch of weapons into places where she wasn¡¯t supposed to have them. The guards would never see it coming! Well, aside from the fact that they¡¯d already try to kill me for being a Demon before then. Lilith had been pretty clear about that. Demons weren¡¯t popular, even the cute and awesome ones like her. Except I also have a class that lets me disguise my status and appearance! Muahahaha! Her snap decision to choose the Demagogue class was looking like it would work out surprisingly well. They hadn¡¯t tested it yet, but the ¡®system display privileges¡¯ should prevent people from accurately using Identify on her. It was definitely good that Zoe was able to become a higher Demon specifically. As a higher Demon¡ªeven a ¡®lesser¡¯ one¡ªshe got to have a monster core and have classes like a Human. That was the difference¡ªa lower Demon, even a ¡®greater¡¯ one, was just a fancy way of saying an infernal monster. According to Lilith, higher Demons weren¡¯t just special among Demons¡ªthey were the only beings in the entire system that got to use both. Zoe finally started feeling adequately special after hearing that. It was a pretty solid ability, as far as extensions of her de facto cheat-power went. The so-called Demonite Claws, however, were not. Zoe fumed as she glared at the storage ring. She still hadn¡¯t made any progress getting it onto her finger, which was because she didn¡¯t actually have a proper finger anymore. Sure, it could still bend in mostly the same way, but it was also a much thicker, much sharper, segmented claw. The storage ring was even supposed to change size to fit the wearer! That was apparently a standard addition to the main enchantment, and Zoe had even gotten it to work. Making the ring contract and expand wasn¡¯t even hard, no matter how freaky it was. The problem was that it just wouldn¡¯t get quite wide enough. It seemed to max out just barely too small to slip beyond the tip of her smallest claw. Are there seriously no people in this world who have bigger hands than Humans? Surely there had to be giants or orcs or maybe even beefy dwarves. What about Human dudes with big sausage fingers? It was, simply put, annoying as hell. And of course, Zoe couldn¡¯t even see whatever was inside if she wasn¡¯t wearing it, let alone take anything out. And obviously, it was like the one thing she couldn¡¯t stick in her own inventory to manipulate. Sure, it probably made sense that you couldn¡¯t put pocket dimensions within pocket dimensions¡ªbut that would be really super helpful right now! Zoe had already confirmed earlier that she could manipulate objects while they were in her inventory. She tested it by tying a suitably flexible twig into a loose knot. After putting it in her inventory, she was able to untie it before it came back out. It was a nuance of the ability that she already felt was going to become extremely convenient at some point. She wasn¡¯t sure how, but it was definitely good to know. Lilith agreed as well. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s normal¡± is what she had said. One thing they had yet to test¡ªother than figuring out what the devil was in the ring the cultist had given her¡ªwas whether she could store living things. It seemed unlikely, but how could they be sure? It wasn¡¯t like there was anything they could test it on. Or wait¡­ Putting aside the problem of the storage ring for a moment, Zoe began thinking of another question to ask Lilith as the slope of the ground shifted and they began to trudge more slowly uphill. ¡°Do sticks count as alive if you just snapped them off?¡± Lilith stopped and turned around. Zoe kept trudging along, because moving was the only thing keeping her from passing out. She might not die from the cold, but it was still thoroughly tiring and unbearably miserable. Lilith seemed confused. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Sticks. Are they alive?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I mean, why would you ask that?¡± Zoe snapped a fresh stick off a passing tree and waved it around in Lilith¡¯s imaginary face as the apparition fell back into step beside her. ¡°We wanted to see if I could store living things, yeah? What about a stick? These trees are alive. I think? Anyway, plant tissue doesn¡¯t just instantly die when you disconnect it. The individual cells should keep working for at least a little while.¡± Lilith frowned. It seemed like she was really considering it. ¡°Okay, so¡ªwell¡ªlike I said, normally you can¡¯t store living things. But I feel like you could also store a fresh stick normally? So I don¡¯t think it ¡®counts.¡¯¡± She paused for a moment¡ª¡°but you¡¯re still technically right, I think? About the actual tissue? Well of course I think you¡¯re right, because I am you and¡ªand you are me and I am you and you are me and¡ª¡° Zoe sighed. Lilith had done this a couple times already. It really freaked her out the first time it happened¡ªher phantom twin just kept repeating that creepy phrase endlessly, like her uncle¡¯s old record player would do sometimes when the needle got stuck. Zoe had to start violently shaking her to snap the apparition out of it. Was it concerning that Zoe was already getting used to it? It was definitely not something that was supposed to happen. Sighing again, Zoe got ready to slap her disembodied ¡®sister¡¯ across the face. Lilith flinched back. Coughing, she took several deep breaths. Not like she actually needs air. ¡°Holy hell. Sorry. I¡ªsorry.¡± Zoe just shook her head. It wasn¡¯t something to really worry about. Not yet. She might as well continue their experimentation. It seemed that they¡¯d already explored her inventory to the best they could¡ªwhat next? There were still eight more traits, not to mention the ridiculous number of sudden new skills. Skills next, I think. Not only had Zoe barely begun to familiarize herself with even the ones she initially got with her two classes¡ªtesting skills seemed more intuitive than most of the traits. They were designed to be consciously activated. Most of them, at least. So which one first? ¡°Hey, look at that!¡± Lilith was pointing at something on the ground a few feet in front of them. Zoe squinted at it, though she didn¡¯t actually need to. The massive boost to her perception from her first class helped her eyes find their target instantly. The difference the increase in the stat made was scarily impressive. Not only was the rabbit¡¯s white fur a perfect camouflage against the snow, it was also small and unmoving. Noticing it had been spotted, the little bunny perked up, sniffing in Zoe¡¯s direction. It didn¡¯t run away¡ªnot even when she stepped closer. That¡¯s weird. Zoe wouldn¡¯t have expected that. Lilith chuckled beside her. ¡°Ha, I think we might have found our first test subject.¡± Bending down, Zoe gave the apparition a look. ¡°I do hope you mean testing my inventory and not the skills I got from the cultist. I¡¯m not going to go around massacring bunnies.¡± Well, not unless they turn out to be good for level-grinding. But Lilith just batted her eyes with mock innocence. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t dream of it.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Crouching right above the fluffy little critter, Zoe tilted her head. The little bunny looked up at her without fear. ¡°You¡¯re a cute little fella, huh? Guess you don¡¯t have any predators around here?¡± That seemed weird, but then again, it was the first animal Zoe had seen at all. Maybe this forest was just a super chill place. ¡°Alright little guy, let¡¯s see if maybe we can help keep each other a little warm.¡± She finally reached out to scoop it up. The bunny jumped at her. Surprised, Zoe fell backwards, then panicked as something long and way too sharp stabbed straight down into her throat. The hell? She didn¡¯t scream, because the fluffy bastard had already chewed straight through her windpipe. Shit! It wasn¡¯t hard to grab the little fucker, because it was already right there. It was considerably harder to yank it off without tearing away more of her throat. Doesn¡¯t matter. It would already be fatal if she were still a normal Human, and now she had healing. The bastard wasn¡¯t going down easy though. It kicked and clawed and thrashed, relentlessly trying to take away her fingers too. It was annoying that it went for the throat, because it meant she wasn¡¯t able to say some badass one-liner about fingers and carrots. Regardless, Zoe was finally glad about her new scales and claws. Regeneration! Mending Touch! Her throat closed back up in no time. Well, technically it took about four seconds total, but that was still ridiculously fast. Regeneration alone was already way more powerful than she felt it should be. Using it as a sort of stacking buff for the even more potent, more focused Mending Touch kicked it well into overdrive. Annoying that it ends up making me lose even more blood, Zoe thought to herself as she idly smashed the murderous rodent¡ªwere rabbits rodents?¡ªagainst a nearby tree trunk. I guess it¡¯s a reasonable limitation given how strong it is. It would be a bit strange if she could already become close to unkillable through constant rapid healing. If the bunny had been a more superior opponent, perhaps it could keep hurting her until she ran out of her own blood. Or just kill me faster than I can unkill myself. The good news was that she didn¡¯t have to worry about it right now. The fluffy white bunny was now more of a sticky red pulp. Kind of gross. Wet, mushy, sticky, with crunchy chunks¡ªyeah no. Bad texture. Two out of ten. There was also a weirdly smooth round thing in the middle. What? Zoe decided to extract it. The experience was bizarrely similar to ripping the pit out of an under-ripe peach. Instead of a peach pit, it was a dark green, asymmetrically cut gemstone about the size of a gumball. A monster core? [HUNGRY WINTER WOODLAND CORE] Rank F ¡°You should eat that.¡± Zoe stared at Lilith and gave the apparition her best deadpan. ¡°The core or the rabbit?¡± ¡°Well, both?¡± Zoe continued to stare. Damn, she¡¯s actually serious. Zoe looked back at the bloody mess in her hands. It looked¡ªweirdly appetizing? It also smelled good. Okay yeah that¡¯s super fucked up. Maybe she should go back to thinking of her Demonic nature as a bad thing. Whatever. She decided to toss both the core and the mangled up corpse into her inventory. She could decide what to do later. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t expect that we¡¯d be needing to keep an eye out for dangerous violent rabbits, but here we are.¡± Zoe really hoped that it was just the one rabbit that had developed a hankering for fresh meat. Or if not, that at least they wouldn¡¯t encounter any others. She expressed as much to her imaginary twin. ¡°Hate to break it to you, but you might want to take a look around.¡± Zoe frowned. ¡°What? Wait, do you¡ªnah, fuck off.¡± There were more rabbits¡ªand these weren¡¯t exactly leaf-eaters either, judging by the way they were eying the fresh blood running down Zoe¡¯s hands. Is that what attracted them? Either way, the little assholes really must be bloodthirsty, because the obvious fate of their brethren didn¡¯t look like it was going to deter them. Zoe clapped her hands¡ªtried to. It was weird with them being covered in thick dark scales and tipped with large claws. She carried on regardless. ¡°Anyone want a carrot? No? Good, because I don¡¯t have any.¡± Shit, that was stupidly lame. I really need to work on my mid-combat shit-talking. ¡°So you might want to ju¡ªaaaargh!¡± They¡¯re fast! They also jumped on her all at once. It was like being eaten by piranhas, except in a snow bank instead of in a tropical body of water. But two can play at that game. Zoe didn¡¯t bother to heal herself yet. She wasn¡¯t dying, and the toothy little fuckers would quickly undo whatever progress she made. She had a better plan. Now she just needed a rabbit. It wasn¡¯t exactly hard to find one to grab. Zoe bit its head off. Hot blood trickled down her throat from between her inHuman jaws. Fuck it tastes good! It also tasted like blood. Like it always tasted. The difference was that the way it tasted now tasted incredible. And I think I know why. As soon as the blood trickled down to her throat, part of Zoe¡¯s system flared to life. There wasn¡¯t a notification, but she could feel which one it was. -Traits- > Lesser Vampirism And it was healing her. Don¡¯t get distracted! It tasted so good, but there were still a lot more to kill. The rest of the bunnies hadn¡¯t exactly left her completely unscathed. Swallowing the rest of her latest victim whole, Zoe grinned. I do think I¡¯m in need of a little more healing. 11 - The Pep-Talk Before The Slaughter Zoe wasn¡¯t all too thrilled with the way things were going. The bunnies weren¡¯t actually that hard to kill. She knew this, because she had already killed a whole lot of them. They couldn¡¯t seem to leave her alone, which meant that Zoe was getting into near constant tussles with the bloodthirsty little bastards as she continued trudging upwards through the deep snow. The good thing was that she now knew how to deal with them quickly and efficiently. How could she not? She had just passed by two dozen kills, according to Lilith¡¯s count. The annoying thing was that the first step consisted of letting them leap out of the snow and latch deep into her naked flesh. This was not actually difficult, because they were good at it. Phase two consisted of Zoe ripping them off and stuffing them one after the other down her throat like the world¡¯s cutest snake. She had never even been one of those freaks who could fit their whole fist in their mouth, but here she was. Not like I ever tried to do that more than a normal number of times. Actually, snakes are pretty cute already. Her mom never let her have one when she was little, though. She had to settle for a cat. But that worked out fine, too. The cat had the benefit of being soft, and it was naturally much better at catching lizards and things than Zoe was. Sure, they were often missing their tails by the time Fluffers brought them to her, but that wasn¡¯t a big deal. It would have ended up happening sooner or later either way. The sudden nostalgia distracted Zoe long enough for a lone bunny to quite literally get the jump on her. That was near the point where other people started treating me weirdly, Zoe remembered as she ripped the rabbit off her back. Or maybe that¡¯s just when I started to really notice. ¡°Hey Lilith, am I cute?¡± Was what Zoe tried to ask. It came out sounding weird through the mouthful of rabbit. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d say so. Why?¡± Zoe swallowed. Usually she tried to chew at least a little bit first, but usually she wasn¡¯t also trying to talk. ¡°Cuter than a snake?¡± Lilith squinted. She didn¡¯t seem to be hiding her sudden suspicion. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Just wondering.¡± Probably not, then. Or maybe she DOES think I¡¯m cuter, but she doesn¡¯t want to admit it? Zoe chewed her lip. Her own blood mixed with the bunny¡¯s as her massively overgrown canine sliced through it. Hmm, I taste weird. Because she was a Demon? That sounded like an interesting line of research to pursue later. Also, I might be going insane. You have leveled up! You are now level 6. +15 stat points. +6% core progression. ¡°Yes! Haha!¡± Zoe pumped her fist in the air as the level-up notification arrived. A not-insignificant amount of energy swirled down into the spot right below her chest where her core was. It probably had something to do with the progression thing. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t pay any attention to Lilith¡¯s grumblings¡ªtried to. She actually agreed, but she wasn¡¯t about to openly admit it. Her fifth level had come right after she took down the very first pack of carnivorous rabbits. Including the one in her inventory, it had only taken killing¡ªand perhaps eating¡ªfour of them for her to level up. She had already expected the sixth level to take more than the fifth. That just made sense, right? But she didn¡¯t expect it to be quite as large of a difference as it was. By Lilith¡¯s count, the very next level took her no less than five times as many. Zoe had to hope that this wouldn¡¯t become a pattern. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d get very far if the requirements were so steeply exponential. They can¡¯t be, right? The first cultist I killed was already over level fifty. But then again, it still hadn¡¯t been a full day yet. If Zoe continued at her current pace, she would expect to be over level¡ªwhat, two thousand¡ªin just one year. That was definitely not right, so she supposed it had to make sense. Reality really was consistently disappointing. Either way, Zoe had leveled up. She decided she should be happy about it and not turn a success into a failure with unreasonable expectations. The whole fifteen extra stat points were certainly welcome, even though she had previously decided to start saving them¡ªat least for now. That meant she already had a stack of no less than sixty points held in reserve. As for the core progression¡ª Zoe¡¯s arm snapped out, snagging a leaping bunny midair with the uniquely hooked claw that used to be her thumb. She didn¡¯t hesitate to toss the wriggling monster into her waiting jaws, no matter how surprised she was. Not surprised about being attacked¡ªshe was surprised that she caught it like that. She hadn¡¯t done that before. It hadn¡¯t worked the first few times she tried it, which was what led to the development of her later technique¡ªthe one where she let them bite her first, even though her quite high perception often alerted her just a moment before the strike. Does it have something to do with the new level, or did I just get lucky? Zoe shrugged. She might as well try to do it again. What was the worst that could happen? She¡¯d miss and get bitten? That was already her backup plan. Plus, eating them usually healed her more than they ended up hurting her. Lesser vampirism was already proving to be shockingly handy. And with all my other healing, plus the stupidly high vitality? It was almost starting to seem like the only thing Zoe had to worry about was getting one-shot. Well, that¡ªor getting hurt faster than I can heal. Or running too low on my own blood while also not being able to take a bite out of anything. Or getting captured. Or if something can negate my abilities. There were a lot of ways things could still go badly. Also, getting eaten still hurt. A lot. Zoe didn¡¯t think it would be long before she got a skill for pain resistance. Wait. Zoe stopped walking. Trudging, really. She was both soaking wet and frozen stiff at the same time, and it was only getting worse. I feel like I¡¯ve started thinking about this like I¡¯m going to become some sort of constantly regenerating unkillable berserker. What if there isn¡¯t a skill for pain resistance? That was going to suck. Really suck. It would suck even more than exhausting herself by practically swimming uphill through deep, slushy snow. For several hours. While now being attacked by violently hungry killer rabbits every other minute. While also completely naked. ¡°Yeah. Wow. Okay, fuck this.¡± Zoe waded over to a sturdy looking tree. It looked dead¡ªin a bleak sort of way¡ªand quite sinister, and also really uncomfortable. So basically, it wasn¡¯t very different from any of the others she had seen. Identify said they were alive, though, so Zoe didn¡¯t question that part. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zoe didn¡¯t bother answering the inane question from her intangible companion. She didn¡¯t say anything at all until she had climbed as high up as she thought she could go, and then she still didn¡¯t say anything. Not before she had gotten comfortable.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. It didn¡¯t seem like it was at all possible to get comfortable in her current situation, though. Zoe would have better appreciated her Demonic body¡¯s ability to simply not die from hypothermia¡ªwhich probably should have happened like an hour ago at best¡ªif her improved constitution didn¡¯t come with the side effect of simply not getting numb. It felt like she had long been chilled far below what was healthy even for a Demon¡ªbecause she had been¡ªwhile also feeling it as sharply as if she had only just stepped out. ¡°Worst of both worlds,¡± she grumbled through clenched teeth as Lilith swung up beside her. The other Demon seemed full of energy and completely unbothered. Probably because she doesn¡¯t actually have a body to get tortured with like I do. Zoe glared at her. ¡°What?¡± Zoe quickly swapped from a glare to her best totally-innocent-scheming-bitch face¡ªit wasn¡¯t very hard¡ªand inclined her head. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You know what. Erh¡ªI mean, you know what I mean by what. I can tell because you¡¯re absolutely doing our ¡®haha I¡¯m a petty bitch but I definitely don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about¡¯ face. So come on¡ªoh, seriously? Cut that out. Don¡¯t you dare sulk at me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sulking at you, but sorry if you got that idea somehow¡­ I mean I guess I¡¯m just pretty overwhelmed with everything that¡¯s happened. It hasn¡¯t actually gotten much easier since you suggested we leave the caverns.¡± Zoe barely had to try for her to successfully reflect things with her poor-traumatized-victim mode. It came entirely naturally by this point. Specifically, this point as in this point in her life, not as in this point in her terrible misadventures as a pathetic wet Demon. Though it wouldn¡¯t be entirely inaccurate to say it was both. Lilith, on the other hand, didn¡¯t seem particularly impressed. ¡°I know exactly what you¡¯re doing, and you¡¯re not even doing a very good job of it right now.¡± Zoe sulked even harder. ¡°Okay but I¡¯m not sulking at you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sulking in my direction.¡± Zoe groaned, throwing her head back. She meant for it to be a theatrical display of over-exaggerated exasperation, but what she actually accomplished was cracking the back of her head fairly hard against the tree trunk. Lilith probably laughed, but Zoe couldn¡¯t hear it over the pitiful keening noise she was making. This wasn¡¯t how it was supposed to go. There was no way that Lilith was going to start taking Zoe more seriously after this. Nevertheless, she rounded on the sadistic apparition with her haughtiest glare. ¡°See? Even the trees are trying to kill me. This is not how it¡¯s supposed to go. I¡¯m not supposed to be wondering if there¡¯s a skill for tree resistance.¡± Lilith cut off her own cackling to stare at Zoe like she was completely stupid. ¡°Are you completely stupid? What?¡± ¡°You know what. This whole thing has been nothing but bullshit. I feel like I should get in touch with a god or something and ask for a refund.¡± Lilith, unfortunately, was still unimpressed. ¡°Did I make your skull too thick when I reinforced it? Are you seriously saying that¡ªno¡ªwait. You can¡¯t be stupid. That would mean that I¡¯m stupid too, but I¡¯m not.¡± She cleared her throat, despite the fact that she was completely intangible and shouldn¡¯t have any actual airways to clear. ¡°What else did you expect to happen? Like, early on, after figuring out the system and stuff.¡± Zoe actually thought about it this time. What had she been expecting? It was surprisingly difficult to think back to her mindset earlier in the day, around the time when she tried to get back into the area where she had first woken up. The truth was¡ªshe didn¡¯t actually know. ¡°I don¡¯t know, actually. But¡ªI mean, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m not supposed to be cowering, completely naked, in a thorn covered tree because apparently even the literal rabbits are more dangerous than me.¡± Zoe looked down as she kicked her legs below the branch in an effort to relieve tension and warm up slightly. She spotted a couple of rabbits looking up at her. I guess they can¡¯t jump quite this high. Lilith had been oddly quiet. She looked confused, actually. It was an unexpected change from her previous incredulous look. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ okay, ignoring the fact that you already have like a twenty-four kill-death ratio on the bunnies¡ªthis is literally how it¡¯s supposed to go.¡± She cut Zoe off with a raised finger. ¡°I know we¡¯re thinking about the exact same stuff here because¡ªas I¡¯ve said¡ªI am you and you are me and¡ª¡° Zoe flicked her Demonic twin on the nose to snap her out of it. I hope this doesn¡¯t become a long-term problem. ¡°Anyway, isn¡¯t this exactly the sort of thing that happens? Look. First, we released ourselves from a tomb in the sanctum of a massive elder temple. A good start. Then, our first real encounter is interrupting a blighted infernal cult ritual. But no, it doesn¡¯t even stop there, obviously, because we decided to fight both the cultists and the paladin at basically the same time.¡± Zoe raised an eyebrow. She was feeling a little better now, for some reason¡ªbut she wasn¡¯t about to admit it. ¡°I think I take issue with your characterization of¡ªwhat did you say? Decided to fight both of them?¡± Lilith just waved her away. ¡°Whatever. But we survived, and now you¡¯re already running around as a higher Demon with a Rank A core and a stolen storage ring that¡¯s probably full of rare and expensive shit. So yes. This is exactly how it goes.¡± Hmm. She kind of has a point when you put it that way. Zoe didn¡¯t respond right away, instead taking a moment to study the ring again. She had a new idea for how to deal with it¡ªbut not just yet. At the very least, she owed her body-snatching evil twin the satisfaction of knowing that she had been right. ¡°Okay, fine. Point taken.¡± Zoe considered her next words carefully. More for herself, really. ¡°I guess it feels different when you¡¯re actually the one experiencing it. Like¡ªit¡¯s really not fun, is it? Kind of terrifying. Yeah. Also boring, probably.¡± Zoe groaned upon making that particular realization. ¡°Shit. There¡¯s going to be so much boring stuff I have to go through, isn¡¯t there.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± Lilith leapt to her feet, a wicked grin crawling across her cute face. My cute face. ¡°If that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about now, then I consider my pep-talk successful. Anyway, I guess we can finally start doing the actually interesting and useful things.¡± Zoe¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Like what?¡± The too-large, too-sharp, and not quite white enough canines of Zoe¡¯s newly-upgraded smile loomed back at her. She didn¡¯t like just how much enthusiasm was dripping from Lilith¡¯s grin. ¡°Right. So first, you finish manning up. Second, we find something that¡¯s plentiful, predictable, and not too challenging for you to start grinding. I¡¯m pretty sure that the common thread between all Demons is nearly constant gratuitous violence.¡± Zoe couldn¡¯t help but raise another eyebrow in response to that one. ¡°Well that doesn¡¯t sound very nice.¡± Unfortunately, Lilith¡¯s grin only grew wider. ¡°Exactly. Now since I¡¯m pretty we¡¯re not a masochist, I think it¡¯s safe to say you¡¯d prefer to be the one doing the violence, not the one being violented against.¡± Huh? Something Lilith said there didn¡¯t make sense. ¡°Violented against? What?¡± Snickering, Zoe didn¡¯t let Lilith brush it off so quickly. ¡°Honey, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a normal phrase to say. Are you sure you aren¡¯t stupid? I mean I know we¡¯ve been over this, but¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to help here, don¡¯t make fun of me.¡± The snickers turned into a gleeful cackle. ¡°Or what? You¡¯ll violent me to death?¡± Unfortunately, Lilith still looked unimpressed. She was way too good at looking that way, Zoe decided. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not tempted. However! I¡¯m being serious. As a Demon, the best way to not get yourself killed is to get into the habit of going around killing things.¡± Right¡­ Something told Zoe that in this particular area, following the advice of the disembodied Demon that had tried to steal her body and override her own consciousness wasn¡¯t the best idea. But then again, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to start leveling up. It would also be a really great way to really test all of my different skills. Zoe had obviously meant to do that already. She just got distracted by the killer rabbits. Hmm¡­ Looking down again, she observed that at least two of them were still at the base of the tree. There was also no doubt that there were plenty of others nearby. The whole area was practically crawling with them. ¡°So,¡± Zoe drawled, channeling a bit of Lilith¡¯s coy attitude for herself, ¡°We need to find something for me to grind, right? Where would we find it though? I¡¯m not quite sure I remember encountering any nasty, vile little critters swarming the whole area.¡± Looking down as well, Lilith raised her own eyebrow. ¡°It certainly is a shame,¡± she lamented. ¡°If only we could find something like that.¡± 12 - The Slaughter The system decided to surprise Zoe with an unexpected gift right as she prepared to drop down from the tree and begin going around killing things. New Quest! [THE FIRST HARVEST] As a newly minted Higher Demon, you now have the power to accelerate your own advancement with the blood of others. Ordinary Humans can actually do that too, but having thrown away your mortal shell first makes it feel significantly more dramatic. A humble suggestion¡ªslaughtering 250 monsters of the same core type might be a good start. -Rewards- 1 Elemental Awakening Core (Rank E) ¡°Oh, well that¡¯s neat.¡± Zoe actually read through the full text this time, managing not to get completely sidetracked by eviscerating another foolish bunny. ¡°Elemental awakening core sounds like something that will probably be useful. But that honestly sounds like way too many monsters.¡± It wasn¡¯t that Zoe was worried about not being powerful enough already for the challenge. What actually concerned her was the question of whether she could actually find that many killer rabbits in a reasonable amount of time. It reminded her of those times when grinding for rare drops in games involved more time waiting for new enemies to spawn than the time it took to kill them. I¡¯m going to be really annoyed if I don¡¯t find a giant nest of them or something. What was the saying? Beggars can¡¯t be choosers? That might have been true back home, but Zoe didn¡¯t care that the system was the one dishing out the rewards for free here. After ¡®throwing away her mortal shell,¡¯ Zoe wasn¡¯t going to stay weak enough to ever be the one to beg. ¡°Holy hell, that was a good one,¡± she muttered to herself. Lilith gave her a funny look¡ªZoe didn¡¯t care though. I totally have to remember to use a line similar to that at some point. ¡°Are you going to eat that?¡± Looking away from her blood-coated claws¡ªand the mangled carcass impaled on them¡ªZoe raised an eyebrow in response to Lilith¡¯s question. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. But you can¡¯t have it.¡± ¡°And shut up. You¡¯re a ghost, you can¡¯t actually eat anything anyway.¡± Zoe mindlessly brushed away the coming protestations as she set about her real business¡ªcarrying out the very first test of one of her new skills. It wasn¡¯t hard to decide which one¡ªbecause the name made it sound fairly simple, and also she now had the perfect materials for it. Assuming it worked the way she expected, that is. So without further ado¡­ Blood Whip! Sure enough, the skill used the blood that was coating her claws, not the blood that was currently inside Zoe¡¯s body. It also seemed to rip the rest out of the already torn-up carcass as well. Now that¡¯s handy. Zoe realized she was grinning. Her grin grew when she realized that the writhing streamers of blood formed into a whip-like shape all on their own, even going so far as to coil across her palm in a surprisingly ergonomic way. Her grin grew even more when she saw how long it was. ¡°Seriously? How does a tiny bunny even have this much blood?¡± Sure, the twisting threads the liquid had formed were quite thin. But it was still at least four meters or so long. Maybe it¡¯s just one of those things where the change in shape makes trying to compare the volume deceptively tricky. Almost reluctantly, Zoe wrenched her gaze away from her new toy to focus on the bunny. The one that was still alive, not the one she had spun into a macabre implement of bloody pain. Or pleasure. My pleasure, specifically. Zoe dearly hoped that no pleasure would ever be taking place on the other end of the skill. That would probably just ruin it by making her uncomfortable. Zoe flicked her wrist. The whip followed her motion¡ªor rather, it followed a rough approximation of what she felt like a casual whip snap should look like. She¡¯d never used a whip, so she doubted that it would have had the same result with something that wasn¡¯t formed by her own skill. The remaining bunny seemed to eye her warily. It didn¡¯t make a move to retreat, though¡ªyour mistake. With another flick of her right hand, the crimson whip lashed out with a disturbingly wet crackle. Somehow¡ªluck, fate, maybe¡ªthe thin tip snapped straight into the little critter¡¯s face. It died instantly. Zoe stared. That was honestly a little anticlimactic, really. But what should she have expected? It literally worked exactly like she wanted it to. Maybe she was just getting too used to things going disastrously wrong. She decided to check on her quest. Pulling it up from her status, it looked exactly the same as before, aside from a new line. -Progress- 2 / 250 Simple enough. Zoe was still glad that it was there. It would have been annoying to have to keep track of it herself. ¡°Are you going to do something with those cores, or are you just going to stand around looking like you think you¡¯ve accomplished something?¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Fuck you too, Lilith, Zoe thought as she stepped forward and focused on adding the blood from her latest kill to her new favorite weapon. While Blood Whip didn¡¯t consume itself so fast she had to worry about using it immediately, it was still fast enough that she could tell it had gotten a bit smaller already. Surely she could replenish it by siphoning off blood from subsequent kills? It wasn¡¯t working, though. Was it possible that she needed to get closer? That didn¡¯t feel like the problem. Wait a minute¡­ Blood Whip! ¡°A-ha!¡± Zoe couldn¡¯t help but cheer upon figuring it out. She had already correctly intuited that the skill fed on blood to sustain itself once created. But as it turned out, there was a difference between passively continuing to use the skill and actively modifying it. The latter took mana¡ªjust like the initial activation probably did. So while a lot of my magic looks like it¡¯ll be based on my body, it¡¯s still magic, which uses my soul. That would probably be a good thing to keep in mind. It didn¡¯t take much time at all for the whip to finish draining the second bunny. Latching onto the corpse like a parasitic vine, it throbbed and pulsed in a subtly disgusting way as it siphoned more material. Zoe was left with a freshly engorged whip and a mummified husk within just a few seconds. With another snap of the conjured weapon, Zoe smiled. It wasn¡¯t just nearly twice as large as it had started¡ªit felt more powerful too. It would be really cool if she could keep amping it up with every corpse she made, similar to a stacking kill-streak buff. I really hope so. The last thing Zoe did before setting off in search of more prey was to toss the two newest monster cores into her personal inventory. It would be nice to have a snack or two saved for later. _____ ¡°Muahahaha-ha!¡± Zoe cackled with unrestrained glee as her crackling whip tore through the remaining half-dozen or so bunnies. Actually, the name of the skill might be a bit of a misnomer at this point. It was more like a bloody tentacle, writhing in her grasp as it flicked through flesh and bone. It had become increasingly clear over the past half-hour that her stacking kill-streak theory was partially correct. The downside was the significant soft-cap that occurred way sooner than she would have liked. Beyond a certain point, the whip stopped growing thicker or longer¡ªinstead favoring a smooth transition into a violently chaotic, constantly twisting armament of carnage. Even a glancing brush from the lower part of its length was enough to inflict injury, as the once orderly twisting of fluid streamers morphed into a turbulent tangle of razor wires. Naturally, this meant that it started to consume a lot more energy. That was half of the actual soft-cap¡ªthe weapon started consuming itself far faster than it could kill and consume things to regenerate. The other half of the problem went back to mana. Specifically, beyond a certain point, Zoe had to focus more on keeping the unruly magic from tearing itself apart than on the actual combat. She was starting to strain her soul again. Still¡ªit was pretty damn satisfying to casually flick her hand and have a dozen different enemies explode away from her before she could blink. Yes¡ªexplode. They¡¯d stopped getting one-shot about ten minutes ago. Well, they still got one-shot, just in a much more dramatic-looking way. Not anti-climactic. The obvious downside was a bit of an irony¡ªmaking her blood whip stronger ended up wasting more of the blood from the things she killed with it. Once again, reality ended up being annoying like that. With another flick of her wrist¡ªthe left one this time¡ªZoe snatched the dozen or so fresh monster cores into her own inventory. She had discovered that handy trick on her own, through the brilliant technique of Lilith deciding to tell her about it. She also got two level notifications. You have leveled up! You are now level 7. +15 stat points. +4% core progression. Blood Whip has reached level 2! ¡°About¡­ time.¡± Zoe staggered a little as coursing energy sparked through her core, sending expanding plumes of power out through her body. It felt a bit more intense than before. Was that just what happened as she kept going up, or was there something specific to it? Or maybe it was just random. For some reason, I don¡¯t think that there¡¯s a major power threshold at level seven. Also, she now had seventy-five stat points banked. Not that banking them got her anything. A childish part of her just wanted to get them up to an even one-hundred. The more rational explanation was that she still didn¡¯t know what kind of distribution she should be investing in. Which is a good reason to test some more of my skills. Also wait, fuck. One-hundred isn¡¯t even divisible by fifteen. The closest she would be able to get would be an awkward 105. Mathematical reality could be disappointing. ¡°Hey Lilith, are you sure that there isn¡¯t anything else I can do with all these monster cores?¡± Zoe hadn¡¯t eaten any of them since her little pep-talk up in the tree. She¡¯d just been storing them in her inventory for later, despite Lilith¡¯s protestations. Need to make a point not to automatically follow the actual Demon¡¯s advice immediately. ¡°You can sell them once we find civilization. I¡¯m fairly sure even Rank F cores sell for a decent amount, at least with how many we¡¯ll have.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Zoe started to say¡ª ¡°But then again, you could also just rob people. Eating the cores to get stronger faster actually makes that easier too. Win-win.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± Zoe just shook her head as she trudged towards the end of the tree-line. ¡°I could definitely consider that.¡± Not. Killing people was one thing, robbery was another. ¡®Oops, I think I accidentally robbed a guy!¡¯ In Zoe¡¯s mind¡ªunlike killing¡ªrobbery was only permissible in self-defense. The ground had leveled out here, such that Zoe was no longer trudging uphill¡ªjust trudging. The mania of her recent slaughter was starting to fade, bringing her back to how she felt before¡ªtired and cold. Just moments ago she felt like switching things up and experimenting with a different skill. But as she stepped out from the forest, she committed to instead finding some kind of shelter. ¡°Ha! That¡¯s convenient!¡± It looked like someone had built a house here, for whatever reason. Had built, in the past tense. There was a sad-looking quarter of a wooden fence that seemed to have been most of the way through rotting before even the mold died from being frozen over. Then there was also a big lump of snow that was notable only for the rest of the area¡ªprobably a field or meadow at one point¡ªbeing otherwise nearly flat. Most importantly, there was a chimney. Leaving the woods behind, Zoe trudged towards it with renewed vigor. I wouldn¡¯t say no to a hot bath¡ªbut all things considered, I think I¡¯ll settle for a roof, a fire, and not worrying about getting attacked by Demon-worshiping cultists. 13 - Its A Bit Of A Fixer-Upper The abandoned cottage, cabin, farmstead¡ªthe abandoned whatever-it-was turned out to not actually be very close. Probably the equivalent of a city block or so away. ¡°Hell yeah!¡± ¡°Pardon me, but you do realize that there won¡¯t be anyone living there?¡± ¡°Lilith, you are an idiot.¡± Zoe grinned as they approached. ¡°Of course I know that. If there was, you would probably just try to get me to drain them for blood or something.¡± In truth, Zoe didn¡¯t know how to feel about the fact that the place was clearly long-abandoned. On the one hand, it lowered her chances of getting a steaming bath and a roaring fire¡ªnot to mention soup and a real bed. On the other hand¡ªone with claws now, mind you¡ªshe had no idea how the average rural homesteader would react to a Demon. Much less a naked one covered in freshly-dried blood. Sure, she still had the disguise self skill from her demagogue class. And there was absolutely no doubt about whether she¡¯d be using it to hide her new nature. That didn¡¯t change the fact that it took a lot of mental and magical energy, though, and she didn¡¯t know much about how it actually worked. Things like how to maintain it. Even if she could spare the energy¡ªcould she keep a disguise up while sleeping, for instance? It was yet another thing that would ultimately be important to find out. Either way, Zoe was in no condition to try putting up a whole act. Nearly dying and dragging yourself through an inhospitable wilderness was already bad enough. Trying to maintain both a convincing backstory and a magical illusion would make the recovery far harder. But all of that worry was forgotten when Zoe finally stumbled up to the base of the chimney. Sinking to her knees, she released a pure cry of gratitude and joy. It wasn¡¯t very loud, nor was it very pleasant for someone else to hear, but the emotion was there. Because¡ªthey still have wood! ¡°They still have wood!¡± Zoe half expected to start to cry. Instead, she started laughing. ¡°Ha! Yes! God-damned bloody fireplace!¡± Lilith didn¡¯t seem all too impressed¡ªjudging by the skeptical look on the apparition¡¯s face as she peered up the chimney. ¡°You do realize we literally just walked out of a forest? You know, full of trees made out of wood? Also, wait¡ªbloody? We aren¡¯t British.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not British, but I¡¯m pretty sure as an American I can just say whatever I want. That¡¯s kind of our thing.¡± What else had Lilith said? It felt less important, but it had also been a complaint, right? Zoe couldn¡¯t just let that go. ¡°Oh, yeah. Do you want to go around trying to jump and snap off branches? Oh wait, you can¡¯t. Bloody ghost.¡± Also, there was a box full of dry kindling. All the leaves and stuff in the actual forest had felt vaguely wet. Honestly, the kindling aspect was probably even more important than the main logs. Not that Zoe would know. She¡¯d never built a fire before, despite the idea of setting fires being the main reason she agreed to join girl scouts. Did they even go camping like the boys? Zoe didn¡¯t know, because she didn¡¯t last longer than a week. Not that the whole thing was her fault¡ªeven if her mom had disagreed. Either way, it was unfortunate¡ªbecause now she didn¡¯t know what she was doing. Triangle of sticks with a ball of kindling in the middle, right? Zoe was pretty sure she knew at least that much. It was a bit hard to get the sliced logs to stand up at first, but before long she had a nice little cone structure. ¡°I wonder why they cut them the long way like that.¡± Lilith crouched down beside her, taking a look as well. ¡°I mean I think that¡¯s what ¡®chopping firewood¡¯ is about? I don¡¯t know what the point of it is though. Maybe it¡¯s something to do with the surface area or whatever.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Chewing her lip, Zoe considered it as she continued gloating over her glorious campfire. ¡°Yeah, I guess. I thought the chopping part was cutting the logs into shorter sections though. Like, so they can actually fit in the fire.¡± ¡°Uh.¡± Lilith shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think we might not be the best-equipped person for wilderness survival shit.¡± The wind was starting to pick up, breaking the stillness that had permeated the woods. The good thing was that it was blowing in from the other side of the chimney. Zoe wouldn¡¯t complain about having a ready-made wind break. It would certainly make actually getting the fire going easier. Wait. ¡°Uh, speaking of that¡­¡± Lilith raised an eyebrow as Zoe frantically searched through the remainder of the kindling box, then the rest of the area around the chimney. She didn¡¯t find anything other than an unidentifiable scrap of rusted metal and half a brick. Ugh¡ªplease¡ªplease don¡¯t tell me¡­ Zoe felt like she was going to cry again. She didn¡¯t laugh this time. ¡°Lilith. Please tell me you at least know how to start a fire.¡± ____ Lilith did not know how to start a fire, at least not any better than Zoe did. I am you and you are me, yeah yeah I know. Zoe just wished that her snarky Demon buddy had some practical survival knowledge along with her random system-info. She¡¯d already tried the rock and stick thing. Either she was doing it wrong, she just didn¡¯t have enough patience, or it was just a Hollywood thing that didn¡¯t actually work. Zoe was naturally inclined to believe the last of those. She was then going to try the more advanced version of it¡ªthe thing with twisting the string of a bow around the stick and sawing it back and forth. That didn¡¯t work either, because Lilith quickly pointed out they didn¡¯t have string. Knowing her luck so far, Zoe decided it would have just snapped immediately anyway.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. It took at least another five minutes of wallowing naked in the freezing snow for Zoe to reach an epiphany. I have magic! She¡¯d already encountered blood magic, wind, light¡ªhell, even Frostburn¡ªso fire magic had to be pretty basic, right? It was literally just making things hot. To make matters even better, Zoe didn¡¯t even need fancy advanced skills for it. Hell, she didn¡¯t even need the beginner fireball¡ªshe would be more than willing to settle for a simple spark. ¡°You look like you¡¯re scheming something.¡± Rolling her eyes, Zoe kept most of her focus on the still-unlit kindling. ¡°Yes, because I am.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Ignoring her imaginary friend for a moment, Zoe focused on creating a list of what seemed like the most relevant skills. Mana Channeling 1 (Rank F) ¡­ Well, shit. That wasn¡¯t much of a list now was it? Even though Zoe had gained quite a few skills so far, it was exceedingly obvious that most of them were in no way at all suited to fire. Scratch saying ¡®suited.¡¯ If that were the criterion, her list would have a length of zero, not one. What would be the right word? Tangentially applicable? Borderline relevant? Regardless, it left her with nothing except for mana channeling. It was one of the skills that Zoe got from her brief time as a puppet for the cult leader, Basil. One of the ones that the system ¡®downgraded¡¯¡ªshe couldn¡¯t remember what the original, higher tier was called, but it was probably something cooler and edgier. ¡°And how, exactly, is mana channeling going to help you start a fire? I mean assuming you¡¯re not just going to try making yourself explode. You know, that was a joke, but I think it could actually work.¡± ¡°Shut up Lilith.¡± Zoe might actually appreciate the apparition¡¯s wit, if the situation were a bit different. As it were, Zoe had never been one of those people who appreciated comedy as a form or ¡®relieving the tension.¡¯ Truthfully, Zoe didn¡¯t think mana channeling was suited for starting fires. Which was fine, because that was never her plan. Her actual plan was both reasonable and simple¡ªwhich means it has a high likelihood of working. Zoe wanted fire magic, but she didn¡¯t have any skills for it. She was going to make one. ¡°Alright, time to use a new skill to create another new skill that I can use to create a third new skill.¡± Zoe smirked at Lilith, who remained obstinately skeptical. ¡°Tap my shoulder or something if I look like I¡¯m going to explode.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think¡ª¡° Mana Channeling! Zoe didn¡¯t hear the rest of what Lilith said, because she was busy dealing with a sudden surge of energy erupting from her core¡ªand also because she was ignoring her. Okay this feels pretty weird. Zoe had expected something similar to what happened the last time she leveled up. This turned out not to be the case. The only similarity was that it came from her core, and there might have been a bit of the crackling, sparking sensation as well. What it was a whole lot closer to was a part of Zoe¡¯s murky memories from her original transformation into a Demon. Rather than a billowing cloud of simmering power, the magic coursing through her zigzagged outwards in branching arcs. Again and again they split¡ªonly to finally slow, loop back around, and re-converge as they plummeted back down into her core. And so the cycle went. It¡¯s like my core is a planet, and the mana is like missiles launching off, except they move like forks of lightning¡ªbut the lightning¡¯s made out of blood, and then it returns back like veins do, falling down again to my planet which is also I guess a heart¡­ Zoe shook her head as she cracked open her eyes. That was, perhaps, the worst analogy she had ever made for anything. Okay but! I still think I¡¯m on to something. Just need to uh, make it more elegant-sounding¡ªyeah. Zoe had closed her eyes and pretended to meditate when she first activated it. Not that she knew how to actually meditate. She¡¯d only ever pretended, but it still felt right. Mainly she just wanted to focus better by minimizing distractions. As it turned out, there was no need to worry. Keeping the energy¡ªmana?¡ªrampaging through the chaotic looping pattern was not very hard at all. Hell, Zoe felt like she could keep it going nearly endlessly. Soul strain? What soul strain. No¡ªif anything, her fear of distraction had been the wrong way around. Put simply¡ªthe thundering dance of the mana loops all throughout her body and soul was really fucking distracting. It didn¡¯t hurt¡ªnot that this meant it felt good either¡ªit was just impossible to ignore. Not enough to ignore how god-damned cold it was though, and this was still only the first step to making a fire. Sparing a glance to Lilith, Zoe furrowed her brows. ¡°Right. Okay. It worked.¡± ¡°Uh, congrats on managing to activate a Rank F skill or whatever, but I don¡¯t see any fires.¡± Fuck you too Lilith. ¡°Whatever. That was just step one. Now comes the part where we see if I explode.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Lilith nodded sagely. ¡°Well I¡¯d rather you not. I very much prefer us being unexploded, you know. Especially since you seem to be working directly with our core.¡± My core, Zoe wanted to say. She bit her tongue. Now wasn¡¯t the time to get hung up on interpersonal boundaries. Or would it be intra-personal? Only got one body. Doesn¡¯t matter. Her core was still thundering away with undiminished enthusiasm, and Zoe still didn¡¯t feel even the slightest amount of additional strain. Was there something to that? Mana channeling did sound exactly like the kind of skill to help with mana regeneration, soul injuries, so on. Something meditation-adjacent, one might say. Definitely something to look into¡ªbut not what Zoe was after right now. The real prize would be something more akin to what should be another standard general mage skill¡ªmana manipulation. It was a natural progression in Zoe¡¯s mind¡ªand one that would inevitably lead to all kinds of benefits down the line. The first of those would just be concentrating enough mana in one spot to make it heat up. But before she could do that, there was one more barrier in the way. Specifically, her skin. If Zoe could take her mana from flowing inside her body to flowing outside, surely she would gain a skill like mana manipulation as a reward. Fire magic, here I come! Zoe reached out to one of the larger loops. An electric tingle shot back and forth between her core as her mind touched against the flowing magic. The buzzing of the mana against her touch almost made her flinch back. It still didn¡¯t hurt, exactly, but it rattled her whole spirit surprisingly hard. Alright, here we go. At the same time as she solidified her grasp, Zoe imagined clutching her hand to her chest¡ªher physical one. It was hard to tell if her real body moved as well, but it wasn¡¯t like she wouldn¡¯t be able to try again if not. Zoe breathed in, breathed out, tightened both her grips¡ªand yanked. 14 - Misery Loves Company Arthur was damp, exhausted, and¡ªworst of all¡ªbored. Such a dreadful state of affairs had few upsides, though the ability to also make it everyone else¡¯s problem might act to ease the suffering, if only by a small margin. Arthur¡¯s suffering, to be exact. Perhaps he should give the others the courtesy of a small reminder. It was the least he could do before committing his following plans. The five of them had been trudging along the current trail for well over twelve hours. Well, Sean claimed it was a trail, and Arthur had, at the very least, the good sense to keep his skepticism on that matter largely to himself. While Sean had authority to match Andric, he tolerated Arthur at least as well as Millie. Arthur was more than wise enough to recognize the value in that¡ªso he wouldn¡¯t antagonize the man, if that¡¯s what it took to keep it that way. But still¡ªtwelve hours of nothing but walking through snow, trees, thorny bushes, more snow, also ghouls now too. One might suppose the last item to be the worst by far¡ªbut no, that was definitely still the snow. It really said something about the current state of affairs that Arthur would be happy to run into another of the foul monsters. It would do something to break the monotony. ¡°Hey Archie. Hanging in back there?¡± Arthur lacked the energy to roll his eyes at Andric¡¯s comment¡ªit was a miracle he could still move his legs. ¡°Sure. I would consider ¡®hanging in¡¯ to be an adequate assessment of the situation.¡± Millie snorted from behind him. How the rural girl managed to stubbornly remain both his most dependable ally and his greatest nuisance, Arthur hadn¡¯t the slightest idea. Perhaps it helped that she was the only one to take him seriously. Well, his magic, more accurately. As for the other three¡­ Lily punched her retainer in the shoulder. ¡°Andric, what did I say about bullying our resident archmage? One of these days he¡¯s going to turn you into a newt, you know.¡± Now Arthur really did roll his eyes. A newt? Really? If such a thing were possible, it would no doubt fall squarely within the alchemical domain. That was already Andric¡¯s specialty, not his own. ¡°And with all due respect, my lady¡ªyou started it.¡± Arthur couldn¡¯t see if Lily rolled her eyes as well, but she did flick her long black hair away in a dramatic flourish. ¡°And I fail to see how my continued harassment of little Archie is of any concern to the matter of your actions.¡± Gritting his teeth, Arthur solidified his coming plans at the forefront of his mind. So it¡¯s little Archie now, is it? It seemed that the Heiress Von Gershenfeld was no longer content to merely mock his class¡ªshe had to belittle his advancement as well. Whatever. She already thought he hated her¡ªhe did¡ªbut he suspected that she suspected that he suspected her for the entirely wrong reason. She thought that he thought that she was to blame for his whole ¡®tragic life story,¡¯ as she would probably put it. He thought that thinking that was ridiculous, because she would only have been nine years old at the time¡ªand that was without accounting for how little he cared anyway. As the truth often was, things were far simpler than that. Liliana Von Blodmane¡ªyes, he knew who her real family was, and he knew that she knew that he knew. Simply put, Lily was an annoying brat. This, however, could be forgiven¡ªespecially with the urban nobility. No, there was just one slight complication to her aforementioned personality. It was one which made Liliana Von Blodmane more worthy of damnation than the vilest Demons her ancestors had ever summoned. She was also frustratingly beautiful and intellectually competent. Not that her real family wasn¡¯t slightly famous for the whole Demon worshiper thing. Also the blood magic, and the necromancy, and¡ªanyone would get the point here. That particular bit of drama wasn¡¯t actually drama, because it wasn¡¯t even a secret. Not that Arthur cared about that either. Hell, he would give almost anything for access to the Blodmane archives. The only reason he didn¡¯t do much to hide his dislike towards her was because it was better that no one suspected anything¡ªnot even them. But more importantly¡ªnow was as good a time as ever to enact his devilish plans. Stumbling forward¡ªon purpose, mind you¡ªArthur spun on his heel, teetered dramatically, and collapsed to the side of the supposed ¡®trail.¡¯ His back sunk at least a few inches down into it, and he lost his grip on his thin metal staff. ¡°Wait¡ªhey! Where¡¯s Archie?¡± Arthur groaned. It had the side-effect of alerting the rest of the party to his new location, but mainly it was an expression of his immense disappointment. It had to be Lily of all people to take first note of his absence, didn¡¯t it? ¡°Man down!¡± Sean¡¯s gruff voice boomed from above. It was hard to miss the bulky paladin recruit looming over him, and harder still not to hear him. When people frequently described their Hallowed companion as ¡®quiet,¡¯ it was only because he didn¡¯t speak much. As the rest of their party gathered around, Arthur did his best to look sick and exhausted. It wasn¡¯t very hard, given that he didn¡¯t have to pretend. Still, it never hurt to present your best impression. Snapping his fingers¡ªhow does that work with metal gauntlets¡ªSean made sure to get Andric¡¯s attention specifically. ¡°Let him have a potion.¡± The alchemist crossed his arms. ¡°No.¡± It took conscious effort for Arthur to refrain from grinning. Ha! Yes! The esteemed babysitter of Liliana Von Gershenfeld had walked straight into his trap. Did it count as a trap if it wasn¡¯t intended? Arthur didn¡¯t mind taking credit, and he certainly wasn¡¯t going to complain. The alchemist had unwittingly given Arthur the perfect opportunity to divert attention from his own antics¡ªnow Sean would direct his anger on Andric. The alchemist¡¯s unwillingness to ¡®waste¡¯ his precious potions on someone as ¡®insufferably useless¡¯ as Arthur would surely overshadow the archmage¡¯s own refusal to keep walking until nightfall. It couldn¡¯t be more perfect. ¡°Andric¡­¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Sensing a small opportunity from their de facto leader¡¯s tone, Andric heaved a hoarse cough and struggled to sit up. ¡°It¡¯s¡ªugh, I¡¯ll be okay.¡± Predictably, the trumped up bodyguard couldn¡¯t resist cutting himself with his own wit. ¡°See? He¡¯ll be fine. I know that other mage types sometimes struggle with the more strenuous activities such as walking.¡± And of course, Arthur had perfectly timed the moment he let his shuddering arms give out. His upper body whumped back into the snow just as Andric completed his clever little remark. The alchemist really was becoming far too predictable. ¡°¡­feel¡ªweak.¡± A pitying look washed across Lily¡¯s perfect features¡ªan unwanted one, Arthur might add. Predictably, her bottle-toting babysitter glowered. while Millie made no attempts to conceal her knowing smirk. Sean looked like he was coming to a decision. ¡°Well if that¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be.¡± Oh? Arthur couldn¡¯t truthfully say he wasn¡¯t feeling a little excited. He was almost starting to forget how thoroughly exhausted he was due to the tiny little drama unfolding. He didn¡¯t know what would be more interesting¡ªwhat Sean was about to say, or if the whole group experienced a sudden ghoul attack when all their backs were turned. Things, as was typical, did not go as expected. Rather than Sean, it was Arthur who spoke next¡ªif that¡¯s what you could call his undignified yelp as the mighty paladin-to-be lifted him wholesale into an effortless princess-carry. They made it about five strides before Arthur¡¯s metal-clad mount had to stop to turn around. ¡°Stop gawking, the lot of you, or we won¡¯t make it to the cabin before nightfall.¡± He paused again. ¡°And can someone please go get his staff?¡± _____ When Sean told the group that they would be spending their first night in an ¡®irregularly maintained¡¯ cabin-turned-supply-cache, Arthur hadn¡¯t exactly left with high hopes. Knowing their benevolent sponsor back in Verdanport, the place would either be utter shit or a bizarrely located luxury resort. Let no one think that Lord Darius Loch was wildly inconsistent, however. Their Rank A patron was anything but. Whatever their lodgings turned out to be, something about it was going to be terrible, and at least half of them would wind up miserable for some reason or other. The usual question simply ended up being who. Given how the little ¡°field trip¡± Lord Darius had set up for them was going so far, Arthur was justifiably confident that the ¡®misery group¡¯ would include him. And it turned out he was right¡ªif only because this was going to suck for all of them. ¡°I thought this supply cache was supposed to be an actual cabin. You can¡¯t be telling me this is the right place.¡± Lily, thank you so, so much for complaining right now, you glorious annoying bitch. After the humiliating incident several hours earlier, Arthur wasn¡¯t too keen on being the one to speak up about how obviously horrible this was. Honestly, little miss ice-princess being the one to say it was just about the second-best possible outcome. Andric glanced between Sean and the¡ªthe cabin. It was really more of a snow-covered pile of collapsed planks, with a few pieces of what might have once been a fence around it. There was also a chimney on the side¡ªwalls not included. ¡°You know, I actually agree with them on this one,¡± the alchemist began¡ªglancing between Lily and Arthur. What? Arthur felt offended. He hadn¡¯t even said anything, for Heaven¡¯s sake. He couldn¡¯t stay mad for long though, because that was now the first best outcome. Sighing, Sean sort of waved his hands around helplessly. ¡°Look, I didn¡¯t know it would be this bad, alright? It should still beat anything we could put together ourselves in these woods.¡± Even Andric didn¡¯t look too convinced. ¡°I suppose that may be the case. I do hope that these ¡®provisions¡¯ are more¡­¡± Waving his own hands, the alchemist seemed to be experiencing an uncharacteristic loss for words. It was Millie, of all people, who came to his rescue. ¡°Not shit. That it would be more not shit. ¡®Least that¡¯s assuming there¡¯s anything there at all.¡± Everyone looked at Sean. The not-paladin looked like he was looking for help, but everyone who might have come to his rescue was already mad at him. ¡°Okay, look¡ªyou uh, you all do realize that I know basically as much as the rest of you? I only repeated back exactly what Lord Darius told me. If you have a problem, take it out on him when we get back.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for any sarcastic responses before marching off towards the place that might have been a cabin, once. Not that it stopped Millie. ¡°If we get back, you mean. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m liking my chances.¡± Arthur couldn¡¯t help but notice she had strung up her bow. Was she expecting trouble? Millie would have the most experience with sparsely inhabited wilderness out of all of them. Obviously this dreary wasteland was even worse than whatever pond the rural girl had crawled out of¡ªbut still. ¡°Yeah, this is honestly a bit far. He¡¯s not usually this bad about things,¡± Lily said. ¡°I swear to the fucking lost gods, if anything on this blighted trip is worse than this¡­¡± ¡°Seems to me he thinks being all rich and fancy means he can just treat us however he wants and we can¡¯t do nothing about it.¡± ¡°Millie¡­¡± Arthur at least had the energy to chit-chat now¡ªcourtesy of the stamina potion Andric had finally relented to offering him half an hour prior. ¡°You do realize that means he very much can?¡± They finally made it to the remnants of what used to be a collapsed wall at one point. Strangely, there was no sign of their big shiny ¡®officially I¡¯m not a paladin yet.¡¯ It was hard to imagine how he could simply disappear, which meant that he probably went down into the open trap-door tucked inside the chimney itself. Clambering down as well revealed that Sean was, in fact, already inside what turned out to be a delightfully warm basement full of barrels and crates. A moment later, the rest joined them, everyone taking their own time to have a look around. ¡°This is surprisingly not awful,¡± Arthur said first, lazily reclining against his Luminium staff. ¡°Also wait, where does the smoke from the fire¡ªoh, that¡¯s clever.¡± Obviously it couldn¡¯t go up the chimney the normal way, because that¡¯s where the hidden entrance was. Not to mention that the real fireplace was in a completely different spot. It looked like a small duct piped the smoke all the way across the ceiling, where it joined the above-ground chimney¡ªpresumably running through the brickwork and opening up at the top. ¡°I wonder how it prevents people from still seeing any smoke though.¡± They hadn¡¯t seen any on the way in. Embarrassingly, Arthur had been so engrossed in studying the layout of the hiding spot that he failed to notice how uncomfortably silent everyone else was. ¡°What?¡± Lily was the one to answer¡ªthough not directly. Her eyes flicked from the crackling fireplace up to Sean¡¯s. ¡°Sean¡­ did you light the fire?¡± ¡°No. I did not.¡± Oh. So that¡¯s why everyone was acting strange¡ªArthur couldn¡¯t help but tense a little as well. It seemed like Lily was going to continue. ¡°Well, maybe someone just left¡­¡± But Sean wasn¡¯t finished either, and whatever he had to say was important enough for him to interrupt her. ¡°Whatever was just here, this¡ªthis place reeks of an infernal presence.¡± _____ Of course the first ragtag band of scrappy young adventurers would have a guy with fucking Demon-smelling powers. Zoe mentally cursed as she continued to pump energy into keeping up her mirage and disguise. It wasn¡¯t easy, especially not after just barely recovering from what Lilith had called ¡°self-inflicted soul damage.¡± Seriously, world? Zoe had already used identify on all of them, and the big armored guy apparently being an Acolyte of Faith or whatever did fit with this new ¡®infernal presence¡¯ bullshit. At least he was only Rank D. But still! The dude looked like a value-pack paladin. He probably is, actually. As for the others¡ªwell, what little info she already had raised a lot of interesting questions. 15 - Here Be Demons Zoe was more than happy to put her trusty identify skill to good use. While she still didn¡¯t gain another level, seemingly stuck at a measly four for now, it provided a surprisingly useful amount of information on all five of them. Some of it was also quite interesting. For instance, it wasn¡¯t the low-budget paladin who was clearly the most dangerous. [??? ALCHEMIST] Level 50+ | Rank C A modified Human adept in the manipulation of substance. -Alignment- > Infernal > Life -Strengths- > Acuity > Perception -Weaknesses- > Hallow He was a fairly unremarkable looking dude. Handsome, in a quiet, bookish sort of way, but nothing about him signaled either a penchant for combat or a violent disposition. He wasn¡¯t just not wearing any sort of armor¡ªhe wasn¡¯t even wearing a coat. With his carefully groomed dirty blonde hair and dark silken tunic, he looked like he should be screwing around in a¡ªwherever young noble lads went to screw around, which certainly wasn¡¯t here. Yet Zoe wasn¡¯t going to be fooled. Discounting her terrible no-good ugly monster bits, it wasn¡¯t like she looked particularly threatening¡ªyet she¡¯d already killed a level fifty-six, or five or something cultist. That guy was Rank E though. The alchemist was a whole two letters above that. Cauldrons and chemistry sets? Ha. Zoe wasn¡¯t keen on finding out just what an experienced alchemist could do the hard way. Of course, that wasn¡¯t the really interesting part. No, that would be the question marks for his class¡ªnot to mention the fact that he has an Infernal alignment and Hallow weakness. Zoe might not know much about local theology yet, but she didn¡¯t need Lilith to put things together for her here. So what on Earth is he doing working with mister Demon-smelling goody-boy? It certainly didn¡¯t help that said Demon-sniffer was clearly the second most powerful person in the room. [ACOLYTE OF FAITH] Level 44 | Rank D A Hallow-Touched Human, strong as his Faith in the surety of his Path. -Alignment- > Hallow (Faith) > Stone -Strengths- > Durability > Solid Ground -Weaknesses- > Oceans > Being Airborne Despite the seriousness of the situation, Zoe almost laughed when she got to the end of his description. Oceans? Being airborne? Honestly, the fact that both of those made a great deal of sense for what looked like a tanky, stone-wielding fighter only made it funnier. It was interesting that he didn¡¯t have a weakness to the Infernal. Or at the very least, it wasn¡¯t listed. There was a pretty obvious pattern of only getting two different things in each category. No way that wasn¡¯t artificial. Guess I¡¯ll have to ask Lilith about it. Unfortunately, everyone wasn¡¯t content to just stand around silently and let Zoe take her time figuring out what their deal was. This was mostly because all five of them were very busy with their own problem, which just so happened to be figuring out where the Demon went. Said Demon was startled so badly that she nearly blew her cover when Lilith finally piped up. ¡°So I get that you¡¯re still recovering, but I think you need to come up with a plan and actually do something.¡± Gritting her teeth, Zoe reeled back her impulse to even think a retort back at her unwanted mental passenger. The specter was right. Even if she hadn¡¯t quite literally just woken up from fucking up her literal soul, constantly pushing her use of mirage was not going well. The magic-hungry illusion was straining her so much she felt like she could faint at any moment. She hoped that it wouldn¡¯t make her self-inflicted injury even worse if that happened. Her horns started to tingle. Eeeeeeh-YAAAAAAAAh! Zoe couldn¡¯t freak out verbally, so she did it mentally instead. She hadn¡¯t felt much at all from her new horns so far, which was just perfectly fine as far as Zoe was concerned. Simply knowing they existed was already bad enough. This freaky new sensation was way too fucking far. Lilith! Lilith why are my horns tingling?! Unfortunately, Lilith seemed rather confused about what Zoe meant by ¡®horns.¡¯ In turn, this confused Zoe, because it should have been extremely obvious. What did Lilith mean, what did she mean by horns? ¡°Oh. Oh, I get it. You¡¯re talking about our antennae. They aren¡¯t horns. I¡¯ll give you a pass though because I totally understand why you specifically would have assumed that.¡± Needless to say¡ªZoe felt like that really didn¡¯t sound right at all, but she also remembered something weird in the traits section of the Demon part of her status. -Traits- > Arcane Antennae Yes, there it was. Lilith confirmed it a moment later, explaining that the antennae were a critical part of how she would now sense and control magic. ¡°It¡¯s different from Human mages. Unlike them, we Demons have dedicated anatomy for it. So besides your core, your antennae are close to the single most important body part you need to protect. That¡¯s why they¡¯re so hard and tough that they feel like horns.¡± Well, now that Zoe thought about the idea, it made quite a bit more sense. Her horns were oddly straight and quite long, with only a slight backwards curve and a gentle taper as they speared upwards. It could be a genuine problem while walking through doorways. The tingling was getting stronger and stronger. As it did, Zoe realized that she wasn¡¯t actually feeling the majority of her horns¡ªantennae. The odd sensations were constrained to a much thinner pair of¡ªtendrils, for lack of a better word. It was as if the visible exterior was a stiff, protective casing. That¡¯s probably exactly what it is. It also seemed like Lilith was still talking. ¡°Obviously, that¡¯s a pretty significant vulnerability. It¡¯s hard to overstate how much you need to protect them. If anyone captures you alive, cutting them off is one of the first things they¡¯ll do. Which, by the way, is roughly equivalent to blinding and crippling you at the same time.¡± That was pretty important to know, yeah, but Zoe had a more pressing concern right now. She could eloquently state it as I¡¯m about to faint from mana exhaustion and soul damage¡ªyou know, while keeping up the illusion hiding us from the people already searching the room for a Demon, and also I DON¡¯T KNOW why I¡¯m getting sixth-sensory overload suddenly. Hell, even her vision was going blurry and she may or may not be trembling. Can she not hear me? Lilith was still rambling on, seemingly unaware of the danger. Pushing mirage and her overstrained soul well beyond their limits seemingly left her mind without the focus to push the thoughts across their bond. ¡°¡­so yeah, seems like a big downside, but! It also means that we¡¯re really good at using actual magic, not just system skills. It¡¯s more about practice than theory, though¡ªlike, having a dedicated organ means we can cast with pure intent. Humans technically can too, but it¡¯s quite a challenge. Human mages usually start with techniques using somatic gestures. Kinda like what that guy is¡ªoh shit wait that¡¯s not¡ªZoe!¡± Lilith was probably still talking about something important, but Zoe could only focus on a last desperate attempt to sustain her illusion as she fell to her knees. Was one of the other three adventurers looking and pointing right at her? How could he¡ªa streak of brilliant silver flashed through her vision. Her skill resisted. Then the silver washed over her, and the skill shattered into tinkling shards of murky brown light. Whatever the attack had been, it somehow failed to hurt her. The silver glow faded as quickly as the remnants of the mirage¡ªnot that Zoe could actually see anything anymore. The intensity of the magic had blinded and deafened her. No¡ªher antennae. They¡¯d stopped tingling. Numb. Just numb. It was akin to having your dark-adjusted vision completely ruined by a flash of bright light, no matter how brief it was. And she was so tired. She¡¯d pushed herself so hard. No¡ªnot here! Not here! But she¡¯d lived through so much today. So much¡ªshe was so tired, she should rest now. Mirage has reached level 2! ¡­ Mana Resistance has reached level 2! New Quest! ¡­ _____ When Arthur broke the illusion of the blood-covered woman hiding in the far corner, he had hastily warned the others to prepare for a fight. He hadn¡¯t expected for her to just keel over and die. It was¡ªmore than a little awkward, actually. Wait¡ªno, she was still breathing. The archmage hardly knew whether that was going to make things better or worse. Worse, probably. ¡°Wow, she¡¯s naked and covered in blood,¡± Lily said¡ªrather unhelpfully, because that was essentially the only part of this situation that was easy to understand. ¡°Sure is,¡± Millie added, as she nudged the unconscious woman with her foot. Doing so also seemed unhelpful, because Arthur was fairly confident that nudging unconscious people with your foot wasn¡¯t something any healer would recommend. Not that he¡¯d spent much time around any of those. He had a cunning strategy called don¡¯t get injured¡ªand should it happen anyway, Andric could probably spare him a potion for that.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. But regardless, the foot-thing was also a bad idea because it might wake her up. There was no reason to spoil the unexpected decision-making time they¡¯d all been granted here. Arthur was in no mood to be violently attacked. ¡°Strange.¡± Everyone who wasn¡¯t collapsed on the floor turned to look at Sean. That single, muttered word was the first thing the armored hulk had said ever since he first detected that something was amiss. Millie stepped back as he took a knee over the mysterious woman. Andric stepped up behind him. ¡°Is the Demonic presence from her?¡± Oh fuck. Arthur hadn¡¯t even thought of that, somehow, despite it being beyond obvious. The Acolyte of Faith had said he sensed a recent infernal presence. Maybe it had never left¡ªmaybe it had simply been masked behind an illusion. Arthur sucked in a breath. ¡°No.¡± Arthur blinked. That wasn¡¯t what he expected Sean to say. ¡°Not at all. Whatever was here has already left.¡± But then¡ªhe and Lily, of all people, shared a questioning glance. The noble inclined her head towards him and then back to Sean and the girl covered in blood. She didn¡¯t react when Arthur gestured for her to go ahead¡ªso he sighed and decided to go ahead and ask it himself. ¡°She was hiding under an illusion, though. It was only Rank E magic, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a skill I¡¯ve encountered before. Perhaps it could hide her from your Hallowed skills as well?¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± Sean seemed to think for a moment, though Arthur couldn¡¯t see his face. ¡°Possible. Unlikely, though. Cultists do often have ways to hide their alignment, but I can¡¯t imagine a Rank E illusion being one of them.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Arthur deflated a little. He didn¡¯t like to admit weakness, even though he was still the one who had both found her and countered the magic. ¡°It was quite a powerful effect. I doubt any of my standard wards would have detected it. I only found her because we were all searching so thoroughly¡ªand even then, I could only tell someone was casting something, up until I broke it.¡± ¡°But you say it was only Rank E?¡± It was Andric this time. Arthur managed not to roll his eyes or let any snark slip out. This was one of the more serious situations their group had been in since¡ªwell, ever, honestly¡ªand he didn¡¯t think the persnickety Alchemist was trying to tease him. Not this time. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m quite positive. The effect was fairly simple to dispel once found. Rank E for certain.¡± Arthur couldn¡¯t help but run a hand back through his hair as Andric turned his back. It looked like the man believed him, which was nice. It was a good reminder that while Lily¡¯s guardian wasn¡¯t his friend, the man truly was both reasonable and competent when called for. After all, there was a reason such a young person found his way into the critical position as guardian to a preeminent heiress. Even if he were a bit too condescending at times. Unfortunately, Arthur was still quite tired, and now the excitement from the unexpected turn of events was already dying down. Finding a seat on a low stack of crates, he rested his staff beside him. Millie joined him at his side a moment later. ¡°Hey! Why do you always have to move your staff away?¡± A flat look as he finished transferring his equipment to his other side was the appropriate response. ¡°Because I don¡¯t like people touching it.¡± ¡°Heavens!¡± Looks like she wouldn¡¯t leave him alone. Shouldn¡¯t she be bothering the other three, who were still mulling over the naked lady? Sean was saying something about how she probably wasn¡¯t a cultist, because an active cloaking skill would have broken when she fell unconscious. It seemed he still thought the source of the infernal aura had already left. That did leave the question of why this woman was actively hiding from them, though. Arthur¡¯s thoughts were violently interrupted by a particularly irritating backwater lass elbowing him in the side of his stomach. ¡°Hey! Why won¡¯t you let me feel your staff? I mean I know you¡¯re a bit sensitive about it, it¡¯s not the biggest and all, but¡ª¡° ¡°Stop.¡± Arthur did his best glare, only to be countered by the enchanter¡¯s best pout. Heavens, it¡¯s so strange that her primary class is actually Enchanter and not Archer or something. But regardless¡ª¡°I know what you¡¯re doing, by the way, but it¡¯s thin and light because it¡¯s strong. It¡¯s made of¡ª¡° ¡°Yes yes,¡± she cut him off, ¡°Luminium, the fancy new metal that¡¯s not actually new, smiths just recently figured out how to effectively extract it from common ores using powerful lightning arrays. It¡¯s lightweight, strong, and doesn¡¯t rust, with a mana channeling coefficient only exceeded by¡­¡± Great, now she wasn¡¯t just teasing him, she was mocking him as well. Typical. ¡°Huh, looks like I told you about it enough times for you to actually remember all that. Do you perhaps remember the part about other people touching it too?¡± Another elbow. Arthur winced, Millie giggled. Such an undignified sound. ¡°So sensitive. I told you I¡¯d let you finger my bow if you let me touch your staff¡­¡± _____ Voices. Zoe woke up to several overlapping voices. It was, in her opinion, not a very good way to wake up. Really, the only worse way she¡¯d experienced it was that time with the dormitory fire alarm. Fucking Greek Life people. This time, however, she knew she had to contend with something far more dangerous¡ªat least five Human adventurer types who had magic and powers probably way stronger than her. Therefore, Zoe decided it would be a smart idea to pretend to be unconscious for just a little longer. Aside from eavesdropping on the chatter¡ªsurprisingly easy due to her heightened perception¡ªthere was some stuff to go over from the system as well. It looked like she¡¯d gained one level in both mirage and mana resistance. The former was fairly obvious, the latter less so. Perhaps it had something to do with the silver light? Zoe couldn¡¯t remember that part very well. Things got a little fuzzy near the end. At least she wasn¡¯t dead or dismembered. They also hadn¡¯t stolen her core while she was helpless and vulnerable, and she didn¡¯t think they¡¯d cut off her horns. Not yet at least. And there were some additional system notifications as well. Lesser Disguise has reached level 2! Mana Channeling has reached level 2! Due to your actions, Perception has increased by 2. Due to your actions, Power has increased by 3. Due to your actions, Vitality has increased by 4. Due to your actions, Durability has increased by 6. Huh. That was handy. Zoe didn¡¯t know what to make of it. While unexpected, the first two messages made at least a little bit of sense. The following four just¡ªdidn¡¯t. I¡¯m willing to bet it has something to do with my whole passing out thing. But then¡ªwhy? ¡°Leveling up isn¡¯t the only way to increase your stats.¡± Zoe nearly jumped up in surprise. Lilith really needed to stop doing that. She almost blew her cover, and Zoe still wanted to gather some more information while the adventurers thought she wasn¡¯t listening. None of it sounded very interesting or relevant though. Right now it was mainly two girls, or young women, arguing over which one was going to clean the blood off of her. Wait, that¡¯s actually kind of interesting. Zoe doubted it was common practice to give prisoners the spa treatment. Or maybe it is. Not like she would know. Hygiene was important, after all. It might become a problem, though, because it sounded like someone else had stepped in for them and made a decision. Now she could hear footsteps approaching. Not good! Getting clean was nice, but Zoe was not letting anyone else touch her. Hey Lilith, can you give me a quick run down on this new stat thing while I maybe fight and possibly eat some people? Thanks. Look, it wasn¡¯t like Zoe had a desire to eat Human flesh, or anything like that, but she did have a trait for vampiric healing. This place was looking like a dog-eat-dog world, and Zoe was the one who had fangs. Ooh, I like that one. Then someone poked her. Zoe¡¯s eyes flew open. Her fingers wrapped around the girl¡¯s wrist before she¡¯d even realized what she was doing¡ªwait, fingers? The girl yelped and took a cute little leap backwards, her icy-blue eyes going wide. Annoyingly, she was almost as beautiful as Zoe. But she had black hair, so Zoe¡¯s blonde hair broke the tie. Going by stereotypical American standards, that is. ¡°You¡¯re awake!¡± Very observant of you. Zoe finally used a quick identify on the woman as she idly made a token response. ¡°Yes, that seems to be the case.¡± It looked like this pretty lady was some kind of ice witch¡ªwhat a weirdly fitting class to go with her unusual eyes. [ELEMENTAL SUMMONER (ICE)] Level 29 | Rank D A Human who probably likes things made out of ice a bit too much. -Alignment- > Ice > Blood -Strengths- > Power > Body -Weaknesses- > Hallow > Heat Another Rank D. And what¡¯s with that description? This system could feel oddly sassy at times. And what¡¯s this¡ªher second alignment might be blood, not infernal¡ªbut that weakness to Hallow was worth at least one raised eyebrow. Just what was the deal with these people? Zoe had the good sense to check the last two before the ice girl or anyone else could ruin things by talking or asking difficult questions. [ENCHANTER] Level 38 | Rank E An ordinary Human with a tendency to make ordinary things slightly less ordinary. -Alignment- > Life > Wind -Strengths- > Acuity > Perception -Weaknesses- > Time > Power So the bow-wielding rogue-looking one was actually an enchanter, of all things. Interesting, but not as interesting as his supposed weakness to time. Sure, it wasn¡¯t obviously questionable as some of the others, but what was that even supposed to mean? Zoe could come up with just about zero theories for how that worked. Time magic was one thing, sure, but how did you end up having a specific weakness to it? Bizarre. At least the borderline cliche-looking wizard boy lived up to expectations. [ARCHMAGE] Level 21 | Rank E A Human with a particularly arcane expertise. -Alignment- > Metal > Force -Strengths- > Mind > Acuity -Weaknesses- > Power > Vitality Honestly, aside from being specifically listed as an archmage¡ªwasn¡¯t that for super powerful old guys? Really, this guy almost stood out for how completely ordinary and just plain reasonable his whole description looked. The weirdest thing would be his alignment with Metal, and that was barely even weird. But alas, Zoe¡¯s time to speculate on the mechanics of other people¡¯s systems came to an abrupt end¡ªand Lilith hadn¡¯t even gotten a chance to explain the stats thing to her. As it turned out, it was the Rank C alchemist noble-lad who spoke. ¡°Tell me, healer, who and what are you¡ªand what do you know of Infernal Cult activity in this area?¡± Holy cats, this guy was direct. Zoe had expected at least a little bit of lead-up¡ªbut no, this guy just went straight for the throat. Impatient or just down-to-business? Zoe cleared her throat. ¡°They don¡¯t know that you¡¯re a Demon.¡± Huh? Zoe didn¡¯t understand. Then she remembered her claws¡ªor rather her lack of them when she grabbed the ice-mage by the wrist. Actually, her hands still looked normal¡ªthe only oddity was how they felt a bit¡ªfake. Not to mention how their leader addressed her as a healer. Something strange was afoot here¡ªit might be suspiciously convenient, but Zoe wasn¡¯t going to waste it. Only a couple seconds had passed, but the scary Rank C was waiting for her response. And Zoe knew just the tool for that. Acting! ¡°Uh, I¡¯m¡ªmy name¡¯s Zoe.¡± Why did I give my actual name? Well, she couldn¡¯t take it back now, and the instincts the skill kept feeding her made it feel somehow right. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m just a healer, not even a strong one, but¡­¡± she was shaking now. Like she was scared. And she was, but the fear and how her body was reacting felt weirdly disconnected. Like they weren¡¯t even related to each other. ¡°It¡¯s¡ªthat¡¯s how I¡ªI don¡¯t know if anyone else¡ª¡° Holy hell, this is so cheesy, what? There was no way what the skill was prodding her to do was in any way believable. Not that she had any choice but to push onward. ¡°A really strong paladin tried to stop them, but¡­ they¡¯d already created some kind of Demon, and I don¡¯t know what happened then, but I was able to get away for long enough to heal myself a little, I mean, I was going to try to heal some others too but I couldn¡¯t until¡­ and then, I promise I didn¡¯t mean to leave everyone, but¡ª¡° Holy hell! It felt like she was having a complete breakdown, not even speaking coherently anymore. But at the same time, Zoe was fully lucid as she listened to what she was saying. It was a surprisingly disconcerting experience. Someone was rubbing her shoulders, like they were trying to comfort her. Zoe had to fight the urge to rip their hands away. It got a little better when someone else wrapped her in a blanket. Sniffling, she looked up to see two of the men retreating to the far side of the room, talking in hushed tones. That left the two women and the scrawny archmage to sit around her awkwardly. None of the three said anything, which was fine. Zoe had been getting increasingly distracted by the incessant flashing of a new quest anyway. It took a great deal of will to suppress a silly grin as she read through it. Quest Complete! [INFILTRATE THE HumanS] Oh no! You, a Demon, have fallen unconscious¡ªright in front of a group of Humans searching for a Demon! They¡¯re also all stronger than you. It¡¯s probably a good thing that your magic still makes you look like nothing more than a naked, blood-covered Human¡ªthough not for long. Can you turn this sticky situation into a powerful opportunity? After all, they say looks can be deceiving¡ªand you sure do have the perfect class for that. -Rewards- > Not Dying > A Title, Maybe -Penalty of Failure- > Ostracization and Potential Death For completing your first quest, you have earned a new title! Now rolling for rewards¡­ 16 - The Humanitizer You have earned a new title! [HumanITIZER] Successfully convince a group of Humans that you are also a Human in order to avoid death. Only counts if you are not actually a Human. -Effects- > Significantly increased effectiveness and decreased cost of abilities used for making you seem Human. That was¡ªactually really good for what Zoe needed right now. It also had an incredibly stupid name. In all honesty, she had a hard time deciding which was better¡ªthe effect of the title, or that getting it implied she had successfully convinced this group not to kill her. The correct answer was probably ¡®both.¡¯ The three around her were still looking silently uncomfortable, and the other two were still furiously whispering about something that probably had to do with Zoe. It was tempting to go ahead and dump all seventy-five of her unspent stat points into perception. The confidence that they weren¡¯t simply discussing how to kill her did a lot for the nerves. It was also nice she could at least cover herself with a blanket now. ¡°So, Miss Zoe,¡± said the pretty dark-haired ice mage, ¡°what exactly was a young woman like you doing in the middle of a frozen, monster-infested necrotic wasteland?¡± That was, unfortunately, a great question. Also, necrotic? Zoe was already far too familiar with the ¡®frozen¡¯ and ¡®monster-infested¡¯ parts, but the addition of ¡®necrotic wasteland¡¯ was new to her. There was also the slight problem of the truthful answer to that question. Zoe didn¡¯t think it would be wise to just go and say Oh yeah, I¡¯m actually from a completely different world and just woke up here after losing my mind to rabies virus and presumably dying. Instinctively, her go-to alternative would take the form of something along the lines of, well I could ask you the same thing. However, something told her that it wouldn¡¯t fit the persona she¡¯d created so far. ¡°Just say you got kidnapped and it was the cultists who brought you here.¡± That sounded like a suspiciously reasonable suggestion when it was Lilith who said it. ¡°Also you¡¯re more right than you know about not telling anyone how you ended up here. Between the two, it¡¯s not very hard to say that being a blighted Outsider is far, far worse than just being a regular Demon. That tidbit of information was both completely unexpected and positively fascinating, but now wasn¡¯t the time to have a proper conversation about it¡ªmuch to Zoe¡¯s building frustration. She had more pressing business to attend to. Acting! Once again, the skill helped Zoe to expertly navigate the delicate conversational terrain. It wasn¡¯t long before she was the one subtly steering it. And yet, however helpful it had proven to be, Zoe couldn¡¯t help but find something about the whole thing deeply strange. There was no way the skill was actually mind-reading the others, right? Even having encyclopedic knowledge about every little detail of the situation seemed too far¡ªeven if Zoe couldn¡¯t directly access it. But how else would it work? Sure, the concept of improving her skill as a liar and manipulator was simple enough in theory, but it completely broke down if you even started to think about how it could be implemented. But then how¡­? Regardless, it looked like their little chat would be coming to an end anyway. The two higher level guys were now coming over to join them, having clearly come to some sort of decision on¡ªwhatever it was they were talking about. The other three turned around. The alchemist and paladin-guy shared a look. The former jerked his head, signaling he wanted the acolyte to speak first. ¡°Change of plans. We¡¯re returning to the docks.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Everyone looked at Lily. That was the name of the ice mage¡ªElemental Summoner. She also turned out to be an actual noble, of course¡ªwhich was pretty weird, because apparently the stoic Rank C alchemist wasn¡¯t. Oh, and it looked like it was now his turn to speak. ¡°First light tomorrow. We¡¯ve clearly stumbled our way into something quite serious.¡± The reaction to that was¡ªmixed. From left to right¡ªMillie, the bow-toting enchanter, looked a bit disappointed, the archmage Arthur was visibly relieved, and Lily seemed merely surprised. Arthur gave Millie a sharp elbow in her side before she could say anything. Then she went and said it anyway. ¡°Wait, really? Don¡¯t think Lord Darius¡¯s gonna be too happy we went and tucked tail on his big mission.¡± Wow, he¡¯s actually really pissed. Zoe could tell that the archmage wasn¡¯t particularly happy, because the force of his glare could have pinned down a lesser spirit as easily as a metric ton of steel. Millie just stuck her tongue out. ¡°Firstly.¡± Andric held up a single finger, as if his coolly assured tone didn¡¯t convey his meaning clearly enough. ¡°I¡¯ll remind each of you that this is a training exercise, not a mission. Secondly.¡± Another finger. ¡°Should that not be reason enough to abort, I should hardly need to explain why we have a duty to report what we¡¯ve discovered as quickly as possible. Rest tonight. We¡¯ll be moving with haste tomorrow.¡± Huh. That was mildly interesting. Zoe had the group pegged as a variety pack of intrepid young delinquents¡ªuh, I mean ¡®adventurers.¡¯ Such grave talk of nothing less than duty was a bit surprising. Which was more than a bit silly, because these were actual people with complicated places in a complicated world, not spunky character archetypes. The big hunk of armor clapped his hands together with such violent loudness that Zoe really did jump this time. ¡°Good. Does anyone have any questions?¡± Well now that you ask¡­ Zoe raised a timid hand. ¡°Uhm, how did you make a clapping sound with those metal gauntlets? And¡ªam I still going to get a bath?¡± _____ It was now morning, which meant it was now the beginning of the second day of Zoe¡¯s grand adventure. The sun hadn¡¯t quite risen yet, but Zoe was already wide awake. This was because she never went to sleep in the first place. The worst part about being a Demon? No, it wasn¡¯t the stupid antennae, the hideous claws, or even the bloodshot red eyes. Yes, she had red eyes¡ªshe¡¯d checked earlier, when she¡¯d briefly dropped her disguise while no one was watching. And worse, they weren¡¯t even the cool and edgy sort of red. No, they were far more ¡®realistic,¡¯ the closest resemblance being that of an albino rabbit back on Earth. It gave her less of an evil look and more of a ¡®this person is horrifically diseased.¡¯ But no¡ªeven that wasn¡¯t the worst part of being a Demon. The worst part was that she was physiologically incapable of sleep. Fainting from strain and exhaustion counted as something different, apparently. All in all, Zoe would have been a lot more happy about getting an entire third of her lifetime back, had she actually had something to do. Lilith, like the petty bitch she was, had refused to talk about virtually anything, insisting instead that Zoe still needed time to rest and meditate. So boring. But at least Zoe got a new skill for it. [MEDITATION] Level 4 | Rank F > Active, Channeling > Body, Mind, Spirit > Perception, Vitality It had leveled fairly quickly, if that¡¯s how you considered four levels over the course of twice as many hours. Zoe did, now that she knew skills only went up to level five. After hearing that one little thing Lilith was willing to tell her, Zoe felt a lot better about the multiple skills she had at level two. But getting to the fifth one proved unexpectedly difficult. Once Zoe started getting frustrated, she gave up, called it good, and put it off for another time. In her defense, frustration wasn¡¯t a conducive mindset for the whole meditation thing. Kind of the opposite really.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The other major win was getting clean skin and clean clothes. The answer to whether she would get a bath turned out to be ¡®yes¡¯¡ªif your idea of a bath was rolling around in the snow for a bit and then getting an elemental summoner with an ice affinity to peel it off. The last bit sort of felt like how Zoe imagined it would feel to get freeze-dried. Sean¡ªthe big acolyte of faith guy who wasn¡¯t a paladin yet¡ªhad been less willing to explain how he managed the clapping-with-gauntlets thing. A small loss, but Zoe intended to wrangle it out of him eventually. As for the clothes¡­ Zoe was actually pretty happy with how that had turned out. Even though there weren¡¯t actually spare clothing sets in the cabin, or ¡®supply cache¡¯ as the others called it, there was plenty of cloth and ropes. Plenty of variety too, and that¡¯s how Zoe wound up looking like a badass ninja mummy. As for shoes? That was the best part. There weren¡¯t any spare shoes either, so the solution was tightly wrapping her feet and legs in duct-tape up to the mid-calves. That one was Millie¡¯s idea, and so far it worked unreasonably well. She couldn¡¯t bend her ankles, but that was fine. Regular boots worked the same way, and Lily had at least remembered to put something between the tape and her skin. Honestly, Zoe had been more than a little surprised when Lily pulled the crate of tape from one of the uniform brown crates. It wasn¡¯t really duct-tape, and that¡¯s not what they called it, but it looked vaguely similar. Good enough for Zoe. And now everyone is awake. Wonderful. ¡°Was that supposed to be sarcastic?¡± Ah, it seemed that Lilith had appeared as well. The hallucinatory Demon was right on time, though Zoe would have been happier had her reintroduction not been a uselessly snarky quip. The truth was¡ªZoe didn¡¯t know. She was conflicted about how quickly the rest of the crew were getting themselves put together, because breaking the lonely tedium came at the cost of having to maintain a delicate charade. Manipulating people really is a whole lot less fun when your life is on the line. Wise thoughts from Zoe to kick off an auspicious new day. Thinking about that wasn¡¯t tempting fate, because it was simply inconceivable that the second day of Zoe¡¯s life in whatever-this-world was called could be worse. Again, not tempting fate. It was just true, unless she somehow died. Honestly not unlikely, but at least I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with any bullshit anymore. Naturally, Lilith had to disabuse her of that foolish notion. ¡°Those are some bold words coming from someone who literally got here by dying.¡± And Zoe really wished the apparition didn¡¯t have such a good point, because she wasn¡¯t in an existential crisis mood. It would have been going a little bit far to wonder if this was actually the start of her afterlife in hell, except for the little detail that Zoe was literally a Demon. Fuck. Well, it didn¡¯t really matter because Zoe¡¯s plans stayed the same. In summary¡ªdon¡¯t die. While everyone else finished packing and getting ready, Zoe had Lilith finally explain the stats thing to her. It wasn¡¯t very complicated. You could gain permanent increases to individual stats by pushing and training them. Simple in theory, but Lilith was careful to explain how it was typically overshadowed by just leveling up. In order to gain even a single extra point, you had to train very deliberately for a very long time, or you had to push yourself exceedingly hard. Then, even if you were successful, you didn¡¯t even get to choose how to distribute them. Sure, the training method made that less of an unknown, given that you¡¯d be targeting a specific stat anyway¡ªbut you still wouldn¡¯t know when it would happen¡ªif ever¡ªor how much. In total, Zoe had gained a full level¡¯s worth of stats¡ªfifteen exactly. That was, apparently, above average, and it took pushing her well beyond anything close to healthy limits, after a full day of life-or-death struggles. As Lilith put it, you might as well just keep leveling at that point. Sure it was a nice bonus, but why try to force it? Zoe was inclined to agree. _____ The group stood around what remained of the old fence, waiting for the healer they rescued to come back out of the hidden basement. She¡¯d been the first one up, Andric said, and mostly sat around waiting for everyone else. Arthur thought it was a little creepy, the way her eyes kept focusing on empty air, as if she was reacting to things that didn¡¯t exist. She¡¯d even nod to herself, or sit still like she was listening for something. Was she just acting weird due to recent trauma, or had she been sick before then? Arthur didn¡¯t know which would be better. Obviously he should say it was the former, but he¡¯d almost rather put up with a madwoman than have to make an effort to comfort someone. ¡°Between you and me, I don¡¯t think she¡¯s actually Human.¡± Millie seemed to have crept up behind him, but it was what she said that made the archmage raise a sharp eyebrow. The gesture was well practiced by now, as his mother had always told him he¡¯d had good eyebrows. Arthur didn¡¯t like smiling or chit-chatting, so he mostly focused on developing strong ¡®non-verbal¡¯ cues. ¡°And why, pray tell, are you laying your suspicions on me of all people?¡± Arthur didn¡¯t have to explain what he meant. Literally anyone else in their party would have been better equipped to deal with this. Well, except maybe Lily. The heiress would probably go ask the girl about it face-to-face, or something equally destructive. Unfortunately, this meant that Millie explicitly didn¡¯t want him to go tell anyone else. Which meant¡ªsomething not at all good, probably. ¡°Because it would make Sean or Andric way more suspicious, which might make something bad happen.¡± Millie nodded, absolutely sure of herself. Not that she was wrong. ¡°Oh, and if I told Lily then something would definitely go wrong.¡± Yes, Arthur had already intuited that. He didn¡¯t say anything else, but his next look communicated a pretty clear ¡®you do realize that does nothing to explain things.¡¯ Millie sighed. ¡°It¡¯s just a feeling, and I don¡¯t think she means any harm to us. The other guys don¡¯t think so either, so I don¡¯t wanna ruin it and make ¡®em more wary.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Surprisingly, that did sort of explain things. A few months ago, Arthur would have dismissed it as some kind of uneducated backwoods superstition. He¡¯d learned to have more trust since then, though, which ended up making this far more frustrating. He wasn¡¯t going to go behind her back and pass it on to the others¡ªno matter how much he¡¯d certainly like to. ¡°Do you have any ideas about why?¡± A shrug was all the enchanter had to offer, at least until she frowned in thought. ¡°You¡¯ve noticed how she acts a little weird, yeah? Mostly when most of us aren¡¯t really looking.¡± Arthur nodded. He had noticed that. ¡°And also, did you notice how vague she was about where she¡¯s from? Real touchy too. I bet she couldn¡¯t tell you the name of a single Human city if anyone had actually asked.¡± That was¡ªArthur paused. It was true. He hadn¡¯t picked up on it at the time, but in retrospect it did seem like the girl was evading talking about her origins. No, not evading. She had been subtly steering the questions away from that. ¡°Damn me. You might be onto something here.¡± But then again. ¡°She¡¯s obviously Native though. Maybe she¡¯s from an area we¡¯ve barely settled. Andric is proof enough they¡¯re perfectly Human.¡± For the good and the bad, Arthur didn¡¯t add. He also didn¡¯t add his own opinions on how it was true despite what some colonial governors might have to say. ¡°No.¡± Another raised eyebrow. Arthur was going to have to start switching up his facial reactions if this continued. ¡°I¡¯m from one of those ¡®barely settled¡¯ areas, which you certainly can¡¯t seem to forget. But you¡¯re right in that it¡¯s probably why that was the kind of appearance she mimicked.¡± Now, it was truly past the time for raised eyebrows. A dropped jaw, maybe, were it not so uncouth. ¡°Excuse me, mimicked?¡± ¡°Yeah. Mimicked. Plenty of stories about things like that roaming around deeper out in the West.¡± _____ Zoe couldn¡¯t believe she almost lost the storage ring. She¡¯d only remembered to look for it right as the whole group was about to leave. The coast was apparently nearby, and there were some sort of docks built there along with a device they could use to call for help. Zoe was pretty hazy on the details, but she would see it for herself soon enough. The ring had to be in the hidden supply room somewhere, because she knew she¡¯d still had it upon regaining consciousness after screwing up with mana channeling. She was still going to figure out mana manipulation at some point. Lilith confirmed the skill existed and was also highly-desired, so the cost was worth it. Soul damage might sound scary, but it had hardly caused major issues so far. How bad could it really be? Zoe found the ring in less than ten seconds, because it was exactly where she expected it to be. It had rolled into a dark corner¡ªthe one she¡¯d initially hid in¡ªclearly having slipped away when she fainted and rolled a few feet away. It was small and the room was now dark, but Zoe¡¯s perception wasn¡¯t a stat that was lagging behind. That would be acuity. Zoe¡¯s acuity had fallen massively behind everything else at some point, and she¡¯d never bothered to fix it. She should probably get around to that soon. It was still sitting at a pitiful twenty-six. -Stats and Bindings- Power 80 Perception 67 Acuity 26 Durability 80 Vitality 82 You know¡ªit wouldn¡¯t hurt to shore up perception too, come to think of it. She did have seventy-five points to spend, after all. While Zoe still intended to figure out her strategy based on her main abilities, bringing the stragglers up to around eighty could hardly hurt. Perception increased to 80! Acuity increased to 80! That left Zoe with eight points in reserve. It was unfairly tempting to distribute the rest evenly into everything except vitality, because it would leave them all matching at exactly eighty-two. At least Zoe had enough self-control to avoid something as silly as that. The only thing left now was the ring. Zoe hadn¡¯t been able to use it earlier because it couldn¡¯t grow wide enough to fit over her claws. Lesser disguise should have been able to help with that, since it seemed more like a weird false shell than just a simple illusion. Then she¡¯d gotten distracted, passed out, lied her way out of a possible execution, and then almost forgotten all about it. There was nothing stopping her now¡ªnothing between a pretty little Demon and her loot. Zoe slipped on the ring. ¡°Well?¡± Lilith could certainly see the contents too, but Zoe could barely think about that. She was more than a little surprised. ¡°I thought this guy was trying to become a Demon, not single handedly arm and equip an entire goddamn revolution.¡± 17 - Loot! Zoe had transferred all the items from the ring to her own inventory before rejoining the others outside because she wasn¡¯t an idiot. There was close to zero chance that none of them would notice she suddenly had the ring when she didn¡¯t before. While not at all uncommon, it was also expensive¡ªthe sort of thing every rich person had, and that someone like who she was pretending to be wouldn¡¯t. She did keep the now-empty ring as well, though. It would no doubt prove useful later, because she also didn¡¯t want anyone to know about her inventory. She already planned to always wear the ring later, when she was more established in this world. Conveniently, it turned out Zoe could store other storage devices in her inventory, so long as they were completely empty. As for what had previously been inside¡ªwell, Zoe might have overreacted a bit. There was way more stuff than she¡¯d expected, and a lot of it was weapons. That being said, it was probably enough to equip a small, unusually well-armed mob, not a whole revolution. Also, I thought this was a typical sword and sorcery world, not whatever the hell this kitchen-sink is. [MANA-PULSE RIFLE (Corrupted)] Rank C | Level 50+ (Required) CORRUPTED A complex weapon intended for a swift and precise delivery of arcane destruction at range. Usually suffers from a severe lack of said range and a steep mana cost. This model overcomes these limitations at the cost of inflicting high levels of Corruption on the target, wielder, and surrounding environment. -Attributes- > 12-Shot Capacity (Max Power) > 150% Efficacy At Rank C > 85% Quality > 100% Corruption It¡¯s Corrupted. You probably shouldn¡¯t touch it. Honestly, Zoe wanted to try touching it. Lilith really didn¡¯t want her to, which actually made her want to touch it even more. However, Zoe was an intelligent and mature woman who was capable of heeding the warnings of the system. She wasn¡¯t going to touch it. In fact, seeing it in her own inventory was even a little unnerving. Lilith said it would be fine though, and Zoe didn¡¯t feel anything weird or get any system notifications, so it was probably fine. Still annoying though, because more than half of the other weapons were corrupted as well, and that included nearly all of the good ones. It looked like Zoe would have to settle for the simple and trusty pointed stick. [DEMONIC ICE SICKLE] Rank E Is it a spear? Is it a war-scythe? Who knows, but it¡¯s obviously made of ice! Also, it¡¯s an infernal weapon, so the ice probably has something to do with the frozen essence of cold, unrelenting Hate. But, with zero mana-cost and a high likelihood to inflict stacking levels of both Chill and Despair¡ªwhat¡¯s not to love instead? -Attributes- > 85% Efficacy at Rank E > 115% Affliction Efficacy at Rank E > 51% Quality Ignoring the stupid name, Zoe was pretty happy with this one¡ªwhich was good, because it turned out to be the only weapon she could use. All of the other spears required at least level twenty-five, and everything else was massively corrupted. And while Zoe wanted to spend more time inspecting the others, everyone else was waiting and ready to go. Sean led them away from the cabin with barely a word, leaving Zoe to drool over her future weapon upgrades on the go. Several hours passed trudging through thick snow in near silence. It wasn¡¯t much different from the day before, except that she had something approaching clothes and had actually gotten to sleep. Wait, does being dead count for sleep-purposes? It could probably go either way. Also, Zoe wasn¡¯t being attacked nearly as much. She was still cold though, and concerned about her near-future survival prospects. The difference there was that she was more concerned with keeping her Demonic nature secret, both short and long-term. It was, all things considered, a big improvement. Zoe returned to sorting through the heap of new items in her inventory. [EARTH-SHATTERING CHARGE] x3 Rank D Consumable Creates a rapid blast of powerful Stone magic, rupturing ground in a wide area. Good for blasting rocks everywhere, less good if you¡¯re inside. Zoe didn¡¯t know whether there were only three of those charges because they were expensive, or because they weren¡¯t actually all that useful. There was also a stack of ten flame charges, which were basically the same thing. But with fire instead of stone, obviously. Aside from the weapons and bombs, it was mostly boring but useful things like various kinds of rope, a few tarps, an empty waterskin, and money. The last came in the form of a little pouch of tiny coins made of various metals. Gold, silver, copper, yes¡ªbut also tin, lead, nickel, and what Zoe was pretty sure was actually aluminum. She could tell because the system called it ¡®Luminium.¡¯ Close enough. Lilith acted like it was plenty of money to get by on for a little while, but she was far from loaded. Though to be fair, the specter still didn¡¯t know much about how things went in their specific location. Her knowledge still seemed to be extremely generalized. Finally, there were a couple thin books¡ªpamphlets, really¡ªand small crystals. The former were for rituals, skills, and finally something called ¡®advancement techniques.¡¯ The latter were mostly mid-grade mana crystals of different varieties, with a few ¡®elemental awakening gems¡¯ as well. Most of those were empty¡ªbut Zoe did figure out something awesome while she was trying to keep track of all of them. She could subdivide her inventory into nested ¡®containers¡¯ in a manner similar to a computer file system. /Misc Valuables/Magic Crystals/Mana Crystals > Cold > Fire > Ice > Light > Metal > ShadowRoyal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. > Stone > Water > Wind > Wood > Empty x6 It seemed like a pretty decent basic spread, though none of them turned out to be very potent. Not nearly as much as the ¡®awakening gems,¡¯ at least the few that were filled with anything at all. /Misc Valuables/Magic Crystals/Awakening Gems > Cold > Ice > Shadow > Empty x4 Zoe didn¡¯t actually know what to¡ªdo with any of them. That went for the pamphlets as well, because the system wouldn¡¯t let her use the skill tomes, she wasn¡¯t planning on doing a ritual, and she couldn¡¯t even read the so-called advancement techniques. Lilith very emphatically told her all of it would be important later, but was pretty much useless right now. Zoe was fine with that, even if she was a little bit curious too. So aside from all of that? No one seemed like they wanted to talk, so the only other thing was killing ghouls. _____ It was that Arthur guy¡¯s turn to kill the ghoul again, even though they¡¯d very obviously skipped over Zoe multiple times. It¡¯s not fair. Sure, they thought she was just a weak healer still recovering from cult-violence, and at least two thirds of that was even true, but it still wasn¡¯t fair. Zoe was reconsidering her strategy of ¡®infiltrating the Humans¡¯ if it meant she wouldn¡¯t get to fight and kill things. ¡°Spoken like a true Demon, ha.¡± Zoe wasn¡¯t going to give her unwanted passenger any satisfaction by reacting to that. Zoe wanted to kill things because she was ambitious and bored, not because she was some kind of monster. ¡°Those things aren¡¯t mutually exclusive, you know.¡± Zoe wasn¡¯t going to react to that either. The ghouls were simultaneously far more dangerous than the rabbits and considerably less of a real threat. They were undead, sort of, and packed far more of a punch on average. It was largely a result of being afflicted by something called the Blight¡ªat least, that was as far as Zoe could figure. Unlike the bunnies, they were typically fairly slow. So slow in fact, that Zoe had never had a chance to see what taking a hit from one of them would even do. Not that anyone looked particularly keen to find out. Drawing the tip of his thin metal staff through the air, Arthur stood his ground against the approaching ghoul. The motion left a shimmering silver trail that stayed attached to the staff at one end. It looked like a floating magic string. Then he walked forward, sidestepped a clumsy swipe from the ghoul, and yanked the monster off its feet. Well, more accurately he yanked its feet off. His floaty magic string cut right through both legs. Not that the loss of its lower half stopped the ghoul from trying to bite him. Zoe might have said that the ghouls weren¡¯t very fast, but that was compared to the killer rabbits. She¡¯d already seen a few get up to a decent jog¡ªthey were clumsy more than anything. But now lacking its primary means of locomotion, the ghoul had a hard time retaliating against the archmage¡¯s first strike. All he had to do was take a step back. The ghoul made a disturbing noise something like a cross between a moan and a whistle. Zoe and Millie both shivered. ¡°That is far too creepy, so please shut up.¡± Arthur¡¯s words were followed by a graceful golf-swing, sending a chunk of the ghoul¡¯s face spraying off into the nearby trees. Zoe was glad they hadn¡¯t been standing on that side. It did shut up the ghoul, though. For his part, the archmage did something Zoe couldn¡¯t see to clean off the top of his staff. Yanking his still-shimmering string back into the tip, he looked between the five of them. ¡°What are you all staring at?¡± It should have been fairly obvious, but Millie went ahead to clarify things. ¡°So it¡¯s not okay for me to touch your precious staff, but it¡¯s no problem at all to go around whacking blighted ghouls with it?¡± A restrained snort was Lily¡¯s contribution, and Zoe couldn¡¯t resist finally getting in on the fun. ¡°I thought the staff was for spells¡­ wait, is there a bludgeoning skill with a mana cost?¡± ¡°Ha ha, very funny.¡± Something told Zoe that the archmage didn¡¯t find it funny. ¡°Saving mana is the point, I¡¯ll have you know. Besides, rogue types are always talking about ¡®casting knife¡¯ or something equally idiotic, which never works out. Like what are they expecting, that using close range melee tactics against a mage is going to be some sort of surprise? That makes absolutely no sense, because obviously any mage with any combat already has more experience countering that than defending against enemy spells.¡± Uh oh. Zoe sensed a rant was incoming. Actually, I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re already well into the rant by now. Arthur wasn¡¯t stopping, obviously. ¡°So which is actually more likely? The mage is caught off guard by normal enemies doing normal enemy things, or someone else screws up by forgetting that we don¡¯t actually need spells? We can still just cast a punch too.¡± The mage finally took a breath. It was almost impressive that he went this long. ¡°So yes, I practice bludgeoning monsters to death because one, it saves me from pointless mana expenditure, and two, it¡¯s good practice.¡± Is he done? It looked like he was done, because now the whole clearing was dead silent. It was a little uncomfortable, so Zoe had the brilliant idea to check if the ghoul was actually dead. [FRIGID GHOUL] Rank F | Level 11 It could have been a Human, once, but now it¡¯s cold, Blight-infected, and positively nasty. It¡¯s also very, very hungry. -Alignment- > Infernal (Revulsion) > Blight -Strengths- > Endurance > Infectious Wounds -Weaknesses- > Fire > Hallow It wasn¡¯t, for some reason. It also didn¡¯t look like anyone else had noticed¡ªthey were all moving on. Zoe waited a bit, then went over to the ghoul to finish it off. It wasn¡¯t very hard¡ªall it took was a good stomp. You have leveled up! You are now level 8. +15 stat points. +47% core progression. You have earned a new title! [NO LOVE AMONG FIENDS] Kill another infernal-aligned monster as a Demon. This isn¡¯t a very special title because it happens a lot. But you didn¡¯t need to be told that, did you? -Effects- > Infernal effects from your skills overcome 10% of Infernal resistances. Well that was nice. Zoe couldn¡¯t say she was displeased with this development, no matter how anticlimactic it might feel. There was one particularly notable thing, however¡ªjust what was up with that colossal amount of core progression? ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯ve been sustaining us on all those monster cores we collected.¡± That made sense. It also would have been helpful to know quite some time ago. Zoe had been consuming all of the uneaten rabbit-cores ever since regaining consciousness back in the cabin. Even with the effects of her stupid-sounding Humanitizer title, she would have run out of energy for her disguise long ago otherwise. This was mildly concerning because so far she hadn¡¯t found a single chance to restock. And now that she thought about it, Zoe did remember meaning to ask Lilith about how core progression worked early on. She¡¯d probably gotten distracted by something, and then it never came up again. Oh well. That massive increase was several times larger than her entire gains up to that point. If Zoe remembered correctly¡­ [NASCENT FIEND CORE] 59% Developed | Rank A Over half now, and closing in on two-thirds. What would happen when it hit one-hundred? ¡°You¡¯ll go through your next core evolution. It¡¯s a big deal, comparable to advancing to the next letter tier, and also essentially the monster equivalent of class upgrades. Though as a higher Demon, we get to do both.¡± Well that was cool and all, but there were just a couple very important questions. Zoe swallowed. How long does it take when I start it, and will I get to choose how I evolve? Zoe really needed the answers to be ¡®instantly¡¯ and ¡®yes.¡¯ Lilith laughed. That couldn¡¯t be good. ¡°First, you don¡¯t get to start it, it just happens when it happens. And I know what you¡¯re thinking, so trust me when I say you shouldn¡¯t try to ¡®hold it.¡¯ And anywhere from a few minutes to decades, but I think it¡¯s safe to say we¡¯ll be on the hours-to-minutes end of the spectrum.¡± That¡ªwas really not good, actually. In fact, it was close to the worst possible case in Zoe¡¯s mind. But Lilith didn¡¯t answer the entire question. Zoe had a sinking feeling¡ªbut she had to know. Would she get to choose? It was a relief that Lilith didn¡¯t laugh, but the way she considered it wasn¡¯t exactly comforting either. It looked like she had come to a conclusion just as Zoe finished taking the dead ghoul¡¯s core and catching up to the others. Once Lilith finished explaining, she¡¯d have to take a good look at her new title as well. ¡°That¡¯s a really good question, and also a bit complicated. I guess the best answer would be¡­ sort of.¡± 18 - Bad Day For The Beach It would have been a wonderful little vacation town full of expensive beachfront properties, were it not frozen and full of cannibalistic ghouls. Sure, the ghouls may not be cannibals because they ate Humans and not each other. That being said, Zoe colloquially thought of cannibals as being ¡®man-eaters.¡¯ In any case, the place was deserted¡ªaside from the ghouls of course¡ªand there wasn¡¯t much merchandise left for the taking. That was a shame, because Zoe would have loved to take it when no one was around to stop her or judge her for it. Shoplifting really isn¡¯t cool, but it¡¯s different when the place is abandoned and you can just grab shit. But there was sadly no shit to be grabbed, so it was a pointless topic either way. Not that the frost-covered, windswept streets were empty¡ªnot exactly. There was plenty of rubble scattered across the ice-over cobblestones, and the wind seemed to pick up a bit of ash and cold dust every so often. As for the dark alleyways¡ªwell, those had a lot more¡­ residue. After seeing the first desiccated skins, Zoe was more than happy to oblige Sean¡¯s order that all of them stick to the main streets. And it still wasn¡¯t safe. It was tricky, because they needed to sneak in order to avoid drawing attention to themselves. There were ghouls around every corner, and it didn¡¯t take a high perception for Zoe to realize that they wouldn¡¯t survive a full horde. But on the other hand, it was also necessary to stick to the very middle of the widest streets. Zoe learned the rationale for this the hard way when a ghoul quite nearly succeeded in tackling her from the darkness of an open shop-front doorway. Sticking to the wide-open areas made it extremely difficult to avoid attention¡ªbut at least they had enough warning to prepare for things, as well as enough space to properly defend. Sneaking through the dark corners of the alleys and ruined, faded gray buildings would let them pass right by the vast majority of the monsters. But it could just as easily lead to a quick death when they inevitably did encounter something. Zoe couldn¡¯t help but sigh as she finished healing Lily¡¯s arm with mending touch. The group already thought she was a healer, and that little fiction her Demagogue class had constructed wasn¡¯t entirely inaccurate. Bloody Devotee certainly did give her a lot of powerful options for healing. That being said¡ªjust about everyone else had been rather surprised by just how effective she was at it. Apparently they¡¯d expected far less potency from a Rank F healer. Naturally, that was something to be wary of. Zoe didn¡¯t think it was a good idea to let everyone know what her class actually was. And that wasn¡¯t to mention how¡ªawkward it would be to explain why she had a different class than the one her system displayed to other people. ¡°Thanks.¡± The ice mage¡¯s words were uncharacteristically curt in response to the completion of Zoe¡¯s skill. Hefting her conjured sword¡ªa thick blade of shimmering ice¡ªshe fell back into position on the other side of Zoe and Arthur. Sean led them from the front, a reasonable position for the official leader and enormous, heavily armored earth magic warrior. Zoe and Arthur followed directly behind, guarded on either side by Lily and Millie. While Zoe didn¡¯t know much about small-unit tactics or whatever it was actually called, it did make quite a bit of sense to her. She was, allegedly, the healer of the group. That obviously meant her main role was to make sure everyone else didn¡¯t die. In return, they needed to make sure that she didn¡¯t die and leave them more vulnerable. As for Arthur¡ªsure, the Archmage had a wide array of offensive power, at least according to what he himself said. Nevertheless, pretty much everyone clearly agreed he was the second most vulnerable, lacking in static defenses and the ability to just not die if he got hit. Fire from the back lines and all that. Now all that remained was their rear. Zoe hadn¡¯t followed the whole conversation too closely, but from what she¡¯d gathered, Millie felt that she should have been the one in that position. It was right before they¡¯d entered the ghost-town, while Sean was explaining how they¡¯d approach things. The bow-wielding enchanter argued that she was best suited to developing her role as a stealthy and perceptive lookout. On the other hand, she was only one rank above Zoe¡ªsomething Zoe admittedly still didn¡¯t fully understand herself. It was certainly an important mechanic, as she got the feeling everyone treated it as a bigger deal than even total level. The end result was Andric insisting he fill the role. ¡®For the safety of the team,¡¯ he¡¯d said. Zoe caught him looking at Lily as he said that. She was pretty sure everyone else did too¡ªnot that they said anything. It was exceedingly obvious that he was only here to protect the noble heiress. But that did mean he was the strongest, and Sean seemed more than fine with relenting to his request. Honestly, Zoe felt like paladin-candidate was more worried about how to placate Millie than with deciding whether to give the alchemist what he wanted. They continued like that for some time. Not much changed, aside from the buildings looking maybe a little bit older and fancier. That was hard to discern anyway, given how old and decayed everything was to begin with. The other big changes were that they encountered fewer ghouls and Zoe could hear the sounds of the sea. Lily relieved a particularly large and fast-moving ghoul of its putrid head just as they stepped out into what looked like it might have been the primary town square. Naturally, the monster had to collapse right at Zoe¡¯s feet¡ªand it splattered her legs with more than a few fat droplets of cold, yellowish gunk. At least she had pants. Still, she couldn¡¯t help but glare as the noblewoman casually flicked the gore from her frozen sword. Couldn¡¯t she have at least done it with a little less mess? Maybe it was a little ungrateful for Zoe to think like that. After all, the elemental summoner had put herself between them. It looked like the ghoul had actually been running for Zoe before Lily stopped it. But Zoe wasn¡¯t in a very good mood. Once could certainly chalk it up to her very second day in this fucked up new world not being very fun, but it was a bit more specific than that. She was running low on her own blood. _____ Their final destination turned out to be a towering lighthouse closer to the shore and just a bit farther up the coast. The three of them¡ªZoe, Millie, and Arthur¡ªall craned their heads to look up at it as they approached the tower base. The other three had stayed behind in the town square. They hadn¡¯t originally intended to split up, but apparently, the main square was supposed to be better defended and better stocked. As in, this ghost-town and its lighthouse were now used as the standard entry point to this entire area. The frozen wastes, they called it. Being a monster-infested wasteland with nothing much of value, it was mainly used as a training ground.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. At least that was the general idea that Zoe had picked up. She hadn¡¯t asked many questions directly. Acting told her that it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea¡ªand she didn¡¯t really need the help, because it was already fairly obvious. But regardless, she got the idea that it was mainly used for either really destructive higher-level testing, or more long-term survival training for the rookies. The latter was what it looked like this group had been doing. Well, until they found me. Zoe would have laughed a little if she weren¡¯t so exhausted from blood loss. How fortunate that the revelation that she had almost been killed by cultists made them decide to evacuate immediately. It would have been really annoying if I had to tag along on their whole expedition just to get to some kind of civilization. But as a result, the town square facing the beach was supposed to have big barricades or something that would make it safe from passing monsters. Some basic supplies and tools as well¡ªbut Zoe hadn¡¯t seen any of that. It wasn¡¯t even destroyed. Just gone. Point was, it was weird, and the group wanted to investigate. But they also needed a competent magic user to operate some¡ªthing up in the lighthouse to call for help. Suffice it to say, Zoe really didn¡¯t understand much of what was going on. At least she might find out soon, because the group sent her and Millie to accompany Arthur to send the signal. Millie and Zoe because they were weak. Arthur, being an archmage, for the obvious reason. Ripping her gaze from the crashing surf far below, Zoe turned her attention to the worn wooden stairs spiraling up to the top of the lighthouse. She couldn¡¯t help but sigh¡ªshe really didn¡¯t want to have to climb all that. And technically, I could just stay down here. ¡°I thought you wanted to see the beacon for yourself.¡± Ah. Yeah, Lilith was right. ¡®Beacon,¡¯ that¡¯s what they¡¯d called it. And Zoe did want to see it. But even if she hadn¡¯t been walking for hours on end, losing over a third of her blood to healing everyone else¡¯s minor injuries was taking its toll. She didn¡¯t have a choice though. She couldn¡¯t explain it without revealing she wasn¡¯t an ordinary healer. Resigned, she hauled herself to the first step. Voices echoed from above¡ªthe other two had clearly gotten a fair bit ahead. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not saying I don¡¯t get it. I¡¯m just saying I need to push myself if I ever want to get stronger.¡± That was Millie. Sounds like she¡¯s still salty about getting put on lighthouse duty instead of Lily. From what she¡¯d picked up, Millie¡¯s skills were better suited to the other task of scouting the area and figuring out what might have happened with the town square. That being said, their nominal leader Sean and his de facto co-leader Andric seemed to feel that there might be some foul play involved. With infernal cult activity in the area, it did seem like a reasonable caution. Lily was the third most powerful, so they brought her. At the end of the day though, Zoe didn¡¯t really care. She just wanted to make sure they would be able to get her back to their city as quickly and painlessly as possible. Verdanport, it was called. Where these five were from¡ªand the closest major Human settlement. The second part would have been more encouraging, had everyone not been acting like the only way to actually get there in a reasonable time was to call for help for a ship to come pick them up. Put simply¡ªZoe interpreted things as ¡®If I¡¯m not able to get passage on a ship from here, I¡¯m going to be completely screwed. By the time Zoe had made it about halfway up the tower, she¡¯d stopped hearing any sounds from above. That was unfortunate, because she still felt like it would be a good idea to listen in on the conversation between the other two. And, more importantly¡ªI really want to see the wizard operate this beacon thingy. Picking up her pace, Zoe honed in on her perception. It was a rudimentary technique Lilith had been expositing to her on the way here from the square. By concentrating on a specific stat, really feeling out the ways it changed her, and then by honing an intent on how to apply it, she could give a sort of active boost to whatever she was trying to accomplish. Not that it was anything special¡ªLilith definitely made sure to emphasize that. It was the sort of common knowledge that everyone was supposed to know before they even got their first class. Zoe wanted to see if she could hear what was happening at the top¡ªso her focus was perception. Come on, hearing. Make me hear better. The first thing she tried was directing it to her ears, in a way similar to how she might try messing with the activation of a skill. It didn¡¯t really accomplish anything. It¡¯s not a skill, right? It¡¯s just one of my basic stats. So how did she actively apply it to anything? A glance at her illusory companion quickly proved that the apparition wasn¡¯t going to be any help. The look Lilith gave her was a pretty clear ¡®You need to figure this one out yourself. Zoe furrowed her brow. One step at a time. Keep climbing. Focus on hearing their conversation. Lilith had really emphasized the idea of intent earlier. Come to think of it, she hadn¡¯t used any other words for it. Zoe needed to intend for something to happen¡ªwhich meant that trying to force something into her ears was the wrong approach¡ªit was completely backwards. I need to start with what I want. The intent is about the end result, not any particular way I could try accomplishing it. Due to your insight, Perception has increased by 10. The unexpected intrusion from the system shattered Zoe¡¯s concentration, but that wasn¡¯t to say it was unwelcome. Hell yeah! Zoe didn¡¯t even know which was more pleasing¡ªgetting a free stat increase or just the fact the system itself confirmed she understood it. Awesome. Now let¡¯s keep going. The increase itself didn¡¯t change things too much for the present challenge, as the relative increase from eighty to eighty-five was good but not exactly staggering. That being said, it did help¡ªin more ways than one. Having the stat increase at the same time she was so focused on it helped Zoe understand what having a higher number was actually doing. So far, she¡¯d been thinking of it as entirely sensory. But it was a whole lot more than that. When she¡¯d read the basic system information on it while still in the ruins the day before, she concluded that it encompassed things like mental clarity and focus in addition to her physical senses. If perception helps with focus, does focus help with perception? How could she focus? She was already focused on her intent to hear better and figuring out how the stat worked. Is it even possible to force yourself to focus? Might as well try. Zoe closed her eyes. Only then did she realize she had already stopped walking¡ªshe then focused on blocking out everything else. Only hearing¡ªno, only hearing their conversation. Only perception and hearing them. Zoe finally realized how much she could actually hear. Without the distractions of climbing, looking at the steps in front of her, by filtering out all the other noises¡ªshe could hear the soft shuffling of feet still some distance above her. Multiple people breathing as well. That¡¯s it! Filtering. Part of perception is being able to effectively filter¡ªbut you first have to know how to make use of that. Due to your insight, Perception has increased by 10. Perception has reached 100. Due to reaching 100 in Perception while at Rank F, you may now awaken and bind an element and skill to this stat. Zoe¡¯s eyes shot open as she blinked in surprise. Even Lilith looked somewhat surprised at that. Zoe re-read the message. It raised some important questions¡ªlike what does it even mean to awaken an element? 19 - Darius Loch Due to your insight, Perception has increased by 10. Perception has reached 100. Due to reaching 100 in Perception while at Rank F, you may now awaken and bind an element and skill to this stat. Zoe re-read the last system notification. This looked important, and it was obviously something she should ask Lilith. The apparition had seemed fairly surprised, which made it even more interesting. ¡°What¡¯s surprising isn¡¯t that you¡¯ll awaken an element. What¡¯s surprising is the way you did it, as well as how quickly.¡± There were a lot of questions Zoe wanted to ask, but she held her tongue as she continued her ascent. Interrupting her helpful little Demonic encyclopedia would probably just make it take longer. ¡°The number one determinant of power is your rank. The gaps between adjacent ranks are far bigger than the gaps between each level. Also, the two are somewhat independent, so it is possible to be high level and low rank, or vice-versa.¡± That made sense, and it fit with what Zoe had already assumed and observed. The obvious next step would be to ask how you increased your rank if it was independent from level. Which is exactly what Lilith answered next. ¡°To increase your rank, you first need to create a new binding for each of your five core stats. That¡¯s why your status labels that section ¡®stats and bindings,¡¯ by the way. Anyway, what you actually have to bind depends on what rank you¡¯re moving to. For F to E, it¡¯s awakening an element for each stat. But from E to D, it¡¯s binding skills, and so on.¡± Zoe slowed to a stop as she made it onto the final platform. It was basically empty, being little more than an empty circle with a few doorways leading to what must be the outer railing. To get to the actual control area or whatever, there must be another way even higher up. Because I¡¯m pretty sure Arthur and Millie didn¡¯t just disappear. ¡°Is that what those elemental awakening gems are for?¡± Zoe asked as she finally spotted a set of simple rungs leading straight up the outer wall. They were cool to the touch, and a little rusty. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a good thing you already have a few of those. You could go ahead and use one of them now, if you wanted to. Elemental bindings aren¡¯t too difficult.¡± Not too difficult? There was some kind of implication there that Zoe was sure she¡¯d find out sooner or later. Also, she didn¡¯t think it would be a good idea to immediately go and choose one without getting a better sense of her options and abilities first. It¡¯s literally still just my second day. She did, however, bring up that section of her inventory. /Misc Valuables/Magic Crystals/Awakening Gems > Cold > Ice > Shadow > Empty x4 Cold, Ice, and Shadow. Those were her three options¡ªwell, at least the ones that she could pick right now if she wanted to. She did wonder what the difference between cold and ice was. Well obviously they¡¯re different concepts, but separating them for elemental magic seems a bit weird. Ice could totally be useful though. Zoe had barely seen what Lily could do with it, but what she had seen was already impressive enough. Also, ice seemed like the sort of thing that hit a perfect balance of being easily conjurable but also, you know, solid. Zoe was pretty sure that was a pretty useful combination. Shadow, though, shadow was just way too edgy. Lilith finished up her basic explanation as Zoe finished climbing the final rungs. ¡°The empty ones are actually even more useful, because that means you can create your own¡ªprovided you already have a mana crystal with the element you want. And we already have a bunch of those.¡± That was true. Zoe went ahead and pulled up her inventory list for the mana crystals as well. /Misc Valuables/Magic Crystals/Mana Crystals > Cold > Fire > Ice > Light > Metal > Shadow > Stone > Water > Wind > Wood > Empty x6 It was interesting that there were duplicates for all three of the awakening gems she already had. Maybe having one of those is useful for stuff you might do after you¡¯ve already awakened the same element. Clearly, the cultist chief had intended for her to awaken both shadow and cold or ice¡ªif not both of the latter two. And that means he would have, if the Outsider title didn¡¯t let me break his control over me. Despite all the subsequent hardships, Zoe was still glad she made the decision to run away.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°So when I awaken and bind an element for all of my stats, is that when I rank up?¡± If that was the case, Zoe should probably focus on just getting all of her stats past one-hundred. Well, and actually figuring out all my random skills too. It was pretty obvious she should understand her abilities before deciding on particular elements. Lilith grinned, and Zoe didn¡¯t think she liked that. ¡°No. That just makes you eligible. To actually rank up¡ªthat¡¯s when we¡¯ll need one of those advancement techniques.¡± Ah. Those. Zoe had a couple of those as well, so that was good. It was just a shame she couldn¡¯t actually read them. But that was something to worry about later. She¡¯d finally made it to the interesting part of the lighthouse, and Millie waved her over to where Arthur was poking at a giant, complicated-looking metal device with a stick. Yes, the archmage was poking and prodding the giant magical beacon with a thin metal stick. As he tapped it again against a curved plate of what looked like brass, a glowing rune flared to life under the tip. Zoe blinked in surprise. ¡°Maybe you should reserve judgment on the expertise of mages until you understand some basic magic yourself.¡± Zoe glared at her illusory companion. Just because the ghost was right didn¡¯t mean that Zoe was at all interested in hearing it. But she couldn¡¯t stay irritated for long, because more runes were lighting up on the concave dish under Arthur¡¯s touch. They looked a lot like the glowing symbols on the sarcophagi, actually. The ones in the deep inner chamber where Zoe herself first woke up. There was something that felt slightly different about them, though. Not that Zoe would remember the exact shapes and colors from yesterday, of course¡ªand fundamentally, they seemed the same. A different¡­ vibe, perhaps? The final symbol lit up with a deep navy hue. Zoe didn¡¯t understand how it was possible for something to glow navy, but it did. She could tell it was the last one because it was in the center, and Arthur dramatically took a step back. ¡°If this thing still works, we should be able to get the message to Lord Loch within an hour. Then we just have to hope he decides to actually come.¡± Lord Loch. Zoe giggled a little. What a funny-sounding name. It would have been funnier too, had she not been rather concerned by several different things the archmage just said. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Millie shared an equally concerned glance with Zoe before continuing. ¡°What do you mean, if this thing still works?¡± A shrug was all they got. ¡°I think it¡¯s rather self-explanatory. Though it does appear to be working.¡± It was definitely moving, at least. The convoluted hunk of dull-golden metal made a sudden jerk, several gear-like bits spun, and then the whole apparatus swiveled around to point the rune-covered disk in a very specific direction. Not that there was anything unique about it, aside from how precisely the device oriented itself to such an otherwise meaningless spot. ¡°See? It works.¡± Aside from it moving¡ªno, Zoe didn¡¯t really see. But she still had a more important concern. ¡°Well that¡¯s good, but I was more concerned with what you meant by if he decides to actually pick us up.¡± Now it was Millie and Arthur who shared an uncomfortable glance. ¡°Lord Loch is a¡ªvery capable man, and it is a great honor for all of us to tutor under him. That being said, his methods, while effective¡ª¡° ¡°He¡¯s a dick.¡± Arthur sighed and Millie shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s true. No use not saying it how it is. I¡¯m plenty grateful to him, but he¡¯s still a dick.¡± Zoe had some additional¡ªquestions¡ªbut she didn¡¯t get a chance to ask them yet. A crystal-clear chime rang out from the beacon, followed by a faint distortion in the surrounding air. ¡°Ah, we¡¯ve made contact.¡± Arthur cleared his throat. ¡°And please let me handle this one.¡± _____ Lord Darius Loch, widely known as a former Rank A soldier and current director of Norvask¡¯s alchemists¡¯ guild, was in the middle of a very important private meeting when a courier nearly took the foot-thick set of oak doors off their hinges with the intensity of his knocking. He and his subordinate shared a quiet glance. ¡°It appears someone is under the impression their message will be very important to you.¡± Darius was inclined to agree. ¡°Yes, though I can¡¯t say whether I¡¯d prefer them to be right or wrong.¡± The couriers within Verdanport were always quite professional. For one of them to behave like this¡ªit didn¡¯t just mean the sender considered their message to be of utmost importance. People operated under such assumptions far too often, in the former soldier¡¯s experience. No, this also meant that the courier agreed with the assessment as well. And good things rarely happen fast. ¡°Right, what is it?¡± The young lad had already performed a full salute and delivered a courier¡¯s authentication slip within the space of time it took for Darius to open the door. Professional even under pressure, yet practical enough to skip through the formalities. Darius appreciated the boy¡¯s attitude far more than he appreciated the ensuing message. ¡°Is that all?¡± The alchemist mentally cursed as the young courier nodded. Under most circumstances, he would have let the students survive on their own. The added difficulty of the challenge would neatly fill in for the punishment for interrupting matters of such great personal concern. But these were not ordinary circumstances. ¡°You have my permission to make the required reports of suspected cult activity within the frozen wastes. You do not have my permission to relay this information in any other capacity.¡± The courier nodded once, sharply. ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Darius took the authentication slip and handed the boy an eighth-piece of silver in return. ¡°That is all, you may be dismissed.¡± And with that, the aging lord turned his back to the closing oak doors. The one other person present arched an eyebrow as the heavy doors thunked shut. ¡°Interesting timing.¡± Darius really didn¡¯t have the energy to spare on a witty response. He just returned to his desk and began sorting through the relevant records. ¡°Yes, it is. I think you understand why we will be cutting this meeting short.¡± The adventurer before him smirked. Somehow, that was far more irritating than any form of protest. ¡°Yes, I certainly do. Have fun taking care of the kids.¡± And with that, the high-ranking adventurer swept himself, his cape, and his ego out of the chair and out of the room. Darius shook his head. He only had so much tolerance for the man¡¯s personality¡ªand most of what he did have was only due to the man¡¯s usually high degree of competence. Quite effective, for someone a full two ranks below the former soldier himself¡ªnot that this was ever a reasonable comparison. At least his actions carried a great deal more professionalism than his attitude would imply. The next step¡ªafter getting a few personal items in order¡ªwould be to get Stella to ready his smaller manaship. Lord Darius was confident he could be docked at the lighthouse within an hour. That being said¡ªit really wasn¡¯t the added time that made him so unhappy about all of this. There might be one positive outcome of this. His students stumbling onto blighted infernal cult activity in the midst of their survival training was not something that ever should have happened. Yet on the upside¡­ The courier¡¯s message did briefly allude to someone he was very interested to meet. 20 - Skill Testing Arthur had sent Zoe, along with Millie, back down to the town square right after he finished stating their message. Apparently the other end was linked to some kind of courier office, not this ¡®Lord Darius¡¯ specifically. That did make more sense in retrospect, given how big and sophisticated the communication device on their end looked. Zoe found it hard to imagine you could find one of those in every home. As it turned out, the other half of the team had been much less successful. They hadn¡¯t found anything, basically. Lily said there were signs of fighting, and a lot of the ruins right around the area did look more recently disturbed. But Sean said his notes¡ªZoe didn¡¯t expect him to have notes for some reason, but either way they indicated that was still normal. Andric agreed, as their Rank C alchemist was the only one who had ever been to the frozen wastes before. ¡°So, does that mean we¡¯re just going to sit around down here and wait to be picked up?¡± From the way Lily said it, Zoe got the idea that the noblewoman wasn¡¯t particularly enthused by the idea. Which was unfortunate, because that turned out to be exactly what Sean decided. ¡°Yes.¡± Heaving himself down onto the one half of a crumbling stone bench that was still standing, the hallowed warrior slumped down in his armor. He looked more tired right now than Zoe had seen him so far. It was almost uncanny, how different it was from his usual, nearly robotic posture. ¡°We¡¯ve seen enough. Nothing that¡¯s an immediate danger. Not more than we¡¯d expected I mean. And that¡¯s already enough for us to fulfill our duty here, given our collective ranks.¡± Huh. Zoe didn¡¯t expect that, for several reasons. Studying the prospective paladin from her position sitting cross-legged on the frosty cobbles, she tried to re-evaluate her understanding of the world. The first thing was that she had increasingly gotten the feeling that Rank C was actually fairly powerful, and that these people were like the equivalent of a few ultra-gifted kids on a special scholarship. But for, you know, leveling up by killing things. The second thing was that the big guy who was their official leader, and who was also named Sean of all things, was literally a paladin-recruit. Like, his primary class that Zoe could see when she used identify on him was literally Acolyte of Faith. Zoe¡¯s first thought would be yeah, it doesn¡¯t get much more ¡®self-righteous defender of The Church¡¯ than that. And whatever The Church was, it ought to look vaguely Catholic. Shouldn¡¯t he be proclaiming the imminent death of these ¡®blighted heretics¡¯ and leading them out in a blindingly holy crusade against the cultists and ghouls? So basically, him deciding that what they¡¯d done was ¡®good enough¡¯ and they should just sit around waiting for help¡ªit seemed kind of weird to Zoe. ¡°You¡¯re half right about both of those things,¡± Lilith said within Zoe¡¯s mind. The apparition wasn¡¯t an apparition anymore, having returned to the tiny little chibi-plushie form she used once before. That was during the crazy fight with the way stronger paladin, Zoe remembered. ¡°That being said, there¡¯s a bit of nuance here you¡¯re probably missing.¡± Nuance? That might be a good point to be honest. Zoe did have to concede she wasn¡¯t always the best at nuance. ¡°So first, yes, you¡¯re actually¡ªhey, what are you¡ª?¡± ¡°There, much better.¡± Zoe nodded to herself as she set the miniature Lilith down on the ground about a foot and a half in front of her lap. The disembodied Demon, however, didn¡¯t seem nearly as pleased. ¡°So ignoring the rudeness of inflicting that indignity¡±¡ªZoe snorted, which made Millie look up and give her a weird look. Oops. ¡°¡ªyou¡¯re very right that hitting Rank C is a major achievement and a significant tier of power. It¡¯s honestly really impressive for someone as young as that alchemist body-guard seems to be. Like, extremely impressive. As in, it¡¯s already a rare accomplishment for two of the others to even be Rank D. And moving up to Rank C is infamously one of the biggest¡ªand most difficult¡ªadvancements.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± That was pretty good to know¡ªon multiple levels. One, it was obviously another thing for future Zoe to take into serious consideration. I¡¯ve been adding a lot of those lately, haven¡¯t I. The other thing was that it pretty much confirmed her perception that these were a small group of special uniquely talented uber-gifted wonder-kids. Not to mention that it makes this Andric fellow into a total monster. Monster as in terrifyingly quick at advancing, not in the ¡®sprouting literal horns and claws¡¯ way. ¡°Antennae.¡± Looking back at Lilith, the confusion must have been clear on Zoe¡¯s face. Because ¡°Not horns. They¡¯re your antennae, remember?¡± Zoe frowned. She kind of forgot about that. Not that she felt anyone could blame her, seeing as how Lilith was explaining it at the same time Zoe literally fainted from exhaustion and soul-strain. Also, it¡¯s still weird. But not actually dumb, if she thought about it. It did make a lot more sense than, like, actual goat horns. No, the dumb thing was the name of another physical trait she had in her status¡ªher claws. Seriously, who thought ¡®Demonite¡¯ was a good name for literally anything? It sounded completely ridiculous. ¡°So ignoring any stupid complaints about the system anyone might happen to have¡­ yes, you¡¯re right.¡± Lilith hopped back up to Zoe¡¯s shoulder, using the rags they¡¯d wrapped Zoe in to help her climb. ¡°He is definitely a monster.¡± The Demonic plush-doll paused. ¡°Although, he might be at least a little bit of a monster in the other way too.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Then Zoe remembered. It was one of several things that she¡¯d found particularly notable back when she first encountered the group and used identify on all of them. In the case of Andric, it was specifically¡ªno, not specifically. Literally three out of four of the sections have something questionable on his status. Zoe went ahead and used identify on him to double-check. [ALCHEMIST] Level 50+ | Rank C A modified Human adept in the manipulation of substance. -Alignment- > Infernal > Life -Strengths- > Acuity > Perception -Weaknesses- > Hallow If the weakness to hallow and the infernal alignment weren¡¯t enough, the system even described him as a modified Human. There¡¯s no way there¡¯s no something suspicious about that. Lilith cleared her throat. ¡°Well, actually¡­ that¡¯s pretty normal for an alchemist. Combat oriented ones especially, since a lot of their power ends up coming from enhancements they make to their own bodies.¡± Zoe blinked. What. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s kind of a big part of what most alchemists do, right? Like a health or stamina potion is modifying the body too, it¡¯s just that it¡¯s temporary.¡± Huh. That¡ªmade a surprising amount of sense to Zoe. It was something that was happening far too often, actually. Lilith would tell her something weird, and then the explanation would somehow make any other possibility seem idiotic. ¡°So is it like he¡¯s constantly under the effects of a health potion or something?¡± That seemed like it would be really powerful. ¡°Well, not really, actually¡ªbut also yes, it basically is. And it¡¯s a whole lot more than just that. For a Rank C alchemist, let alone whatever kind of prodigy this guy is¡­ he¡¯s probably mimicking the effects of at least half a dozen or so highly potent elixirs just by existing.¡± ¡°Holy shit.¡± Alchemy immediately skyrocketed in Zoe¡¯s valuation. She¡¯d been wondering about how fighting as an alchemist worked for a while now, but this was way better than anything she¡¯d previously imagined. Though that wasn¡¯t saying much, because she¡¯d mostly just imagined toxic gas clouds and bombs. ¡°Well yes that too,¡± Lilith admitted, ¡°but that¡¯s why alchemy classes are actually fairly common for both soldiers and adventurers. In a sense, you could maybe think about it as sacrificing having many active skills for being able to constantly stack a bunch of different powerful passives. So you end up not activating a bunch of flashy spells, but you¡¯re also just really strong and fast¡ªand often frustratingly hard to actually kill.¡± That¡ªdid sound useful. It still begs the question of what¡¯s up with his infernal alignment, though. If alchemists modified their own bodies, and he used some kind of infernal magic¡ªwas that why he was vulnerable to hallow? Because of the way he¡¯d modified himself. Lilith hummed to herself for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s not unlikely.¡± Zoe was going to ask more questions¡ªonly for her attention to be drawn away just like all the others. Arthur had joined them. I thought he was supposed to stay in the tower in case anyone in Verda-wherever tries to contact us back? The archmage didn¡¯t look like he¡¯d been in any hurry though. He was just leaning on that thin metal staff of his with a bored or maybe resigned look on his face.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Standing up, Zoe moved to a better position to observe at the same time as Sean stood up with a frown. ¡°You got a message?¡± Oh. Zoe thought he¡¯d abandoned his post for some reason, but obviously he¡¯d have to leave if he did actually get a new message. That was the whole point in the first place, after all. Actually, why did we come down here instead of all moving up to the tower? That was something Zoe didn¡¯t understand. But for now she just listened. ¡°So, the good news is that Lord Darius has decided to grace us with his own presence at maximum haste.¡± ¡°Huh, that¡¯s new.¡± Millie looked mildly surprised, though her expression darkened a little. ¡°So what¡¯s the bad news?¡± Sighing, the archmage slumped down onto the edge of the empty fountain and rested the staff by his side. ¡°Someone stole all the non-empty mana batteries for his ship.¡± And with that, distraught groans erupted from literally everyone. Well, not Andric, but the alchemist did at least rub his head in his hands. ¡°Seriously?¡± The scowl Lily wore could rival her own ice for the intensity of its chill. ¡°Who is even both stupid and well-equipped enough to do that?¡± Arthur shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s Verdanport. You don¡¯t get much crime, but the criminals we do have are slick.¡± Good to know, Zoe thought. Low crime overall sounded good, except it meant no criminal underbelly perfectly suited for aiding and abetting a Demon like her. Or maybe that¡¯s just me having read too many novels. Also, Zoe didn¡¯t actually know what a mana battery was¡ªbut the general idea was also fairly obvious. But before Lily and Arthur could get into it with each other¡ªsomething it looked like they were about to do¡ªAndric physically stepped in front of his ward, much to her shock and then frustration. ¡°What else? Is there anything else?¡± Clearing his throat, Arthur clearly tried his best not to look around the stern alchemist. ¡°Yes. The slightly better news is that he had Stella pay for a regular ferry to depart for here immediately. I¡¯m fairly certain they said he¡¯s also trying to find a compatible battery.¡± All four of the others visibly relaxed at that. Millie grinned. ¡°Oh, so that just means we¡¯ll be spending the night.¡± Lily, however, seemed less happy. ¡°I think I¡¯d rather not spend another night in this shithole. One was more than bad enough.¡± Turning around finally, Andric shook his head. The bodyguard still looked stern, but Zoe thought she caught a hint of mirth in his eyes. ¡°Come now, my Lady. How bad do you really think one night can be?¡± _____ It took Zoe nearly a quarter of an hour after sunset to finally sneak out of their makeshift camp. She knew that she¡¯d be missed, but that was something for future Zoe to worry about. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission was a motto that had carried her surprisingly far¡ªand no one had noticed her absence yet. Mostly because they were all freaking out about Lily going absent instead. Zoe took note of the priorities. ¡°To be fair, you weren¡¯t even missing yet at the time.¡± Floating some feet before her, Lilith lectured Zoe from her cartoon doll form. ¡°Though I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she¡¯s basically doing the same thing we are.¡± Zoe couldn¡¯t help but smile a little as she hopped down over the other side of a half-rotten barricade. So far she¡¯d avoided the ghouls with a combination of mirage, her own high perception, and a technique called ¡®run really fast in a straight line and don¡¯t worry about it.¡¯ Not that it wasn¡¯t working so far. ¡°You know, for some reason or other I don¡¯t think she snuck out to figure out what a whole bunch of her skills actually do.¡± Which was exactly why Zoe was doing this. She had become too impatient to wait any longer to do a bunch of experimentation. Whether that was by doing something potentially destructive or going around killing things. Maybe I could even try combining both. Granted, the flying plushie did have a point. While Zoe was reasonably confident the noble ice summoner understood at least the fundamentals of most of her skills¡ªshe had expressed a lot of frustration about not being able to practice anything interesting. Zoe kind of wanted to see what kind of drama would happen whenever the other girl did get back. Rounding a corner of the swiftly-darkening streets, Zoe took a moment to just stand still and listen. With the combination of her quite-high perception and the encroaching dark, learning to make better use of her ears made the most sense. Ghouls up ahead¡­ small group, I think. Zoe wasn¡¯t going to pretend she could even begin to identify specific numbers at this point. Even determining the difference between ¡®one¡¯ and ¡®a few¡¯ was something she considered a big achievement. And I haven¡¯t been able to hear anything from the camp for a few minutes now. ¡°Guess that means it¡¯s show-time.¡± Zoe cracked her knuckles with a grin. Or tried to, because that wasn¡¯t something she ever did. How do you even crack a knuckle? And of course, Lilith just had to go and make the whole thing even worse by pointing out something reasonable. ¡°They¡¯re all a lot higher-level than you, so there¡¯s a good chance at least one of them can hear farther.¡± Zoe sighed. It was a good point, but also¡ªI¡¯ve waited long enough, and also I¡¯ve been running for a while now. Plus what if I actually get in trouble and need to call for help or something? Transforming from a small chibi-avatar to a full-sized illusion of a Human, Lilith scoffed. ¡°Right, because that¡¯s definitely the reason.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± The ghouls in the darkness ahead of her were moving in the opposite direction. And while part of Zoe wanted to just run up and go crazy with blood whip¡ªthere was a whole list of other skills she needed to test. As in, she¡¯d literally made a list. -Test Skills- > Cloak of Scorn 1 (Rank E) > Blood Magic 1 (Rank E) > Rending Touch 1 (Rank D) > Surgeon¡¯s Eye 1 (Rank E) > Unarmed Combat 1 (Rank F) It was a handy feature she¡¯d accidentally discovered¡ªsomething similar to the way she could organize her inventory into folders. Actually, it was in a way just an extension of how she could bring up only specific parts of her status if she willed it. The only downside of these ¡®system notes¡¯ was that she couldn¡¯t just write random stuff in it herself. But regardless, she¡¯d already tested out blood whip fairly extensively on the carnivorous rabbits. In fact, four out of the five skills on the list were ones she was pretty sure she¡¯d never even activated once. And most conveniently¡ªI¡¯m pretty sure I can use all five of them together. What was that thing in science called? Only testing one variable at a time? That was lame, so Zoe wasn¡¯t going to do that. She was a busy woman with undead monsters to kill. Cloak of Scorn! Blood Magic! An icy wind seemed to envelop Zoe as she activated the first skill. It was like cold shadows slipped away from their stationary posts, cloaking her in a lightly swirling dance of¡ªyeah I have no idea what. But the freezing night air no longer felt quite so biting, and the cool darkness now felt far more inviting. As she hastened her pace to catch up to the pack of ghouls, it felt almost as if her footfalls were oddly muffled. Like how it sounds to wake up after a snowfall. So that was all good and well, but was it more than just another stealth skill? Zoe supposed she would soon find out. As for blood magic, that one did just about nothing. Which meant that there was probably a particular way Zoe needed to use it¡ªshe just didn¡¯t know how. Lilith, as she sometimes could be, was strangely silent on the issue. Whatever. The ghouls showed no sign of reaction as Zoe finally caught up to them. Whether that had anything to do with cloak of scorn or was just because she still had mirage active. Surgeon¡¯s Eye! Information about the ghouls flooded Zoe¡¯s mind. None of it seemed particularly useful for fighting these four creatures right now¡ªbut that didn¡¯t stop her from nearly squealing with joy. When she¡¯d first gotten the idea of using the diagnosis skill as some sort of vulnerability-highlighting predator vision, she¡¯d unfortunately doubted it would actually work. Turns out, it sort of did. The main difference was that it was far closer to feeling their bodies than seeing them¡ªbut that was alright with Zoe. The only shame was that she had to first know where her target was to activate it. No wall-breaking hunter-sight for me. Zoe sped up to push into the very center of the shambling group. That finally got the four undead¡¯s attention¡ªso Zoe activated her final two skills. Unarmed Combat! Rending Touch! A quick parry of one ghoul¡¯s swipe, a kick behind and two short punches one after the other. All four monsters sort of exploded. What. Mirage has reached level 3! Cloak of Scorn has reached level 2! Surgeon¡¯s Eye has reached level 2! Unarmed Combat has reached level 2! ¡­ Unarmed Combat has reached level 5! Rending Touch has reached level 2! Blood Magic has reached level 2! You have leveled up four times! You are now level 12. +60 stat points. +44% core progression. ¡­ Zoe just stood there for a few seconds, probably in shock. What just happened? She didn¡¯t know which was more surprising¡ªthe monsters just erupting in a spray of foul and rotting guts, or the slew of unexpected system messages. Level up¡­ FOUR times?! And what was with all the skills? It had taken her ages to even get blood whip to level up once, and mending touch hadn¡¯t done it at all even after nearly fainting from healing so many different minor wounds. A suspiciously guilty cough echoed in her mind from behind. Zoe turned to see Lilith rubbing the back of her neck while half-avoiding eye-contact. Zoe narrowed her eyes. ¡°About that¡­¡± Zoe glared. ¡°What did you do?¡± Shrugging, the apparition seemed to regain a bit of her usual composure. ¡°I¡¯m not the one who didn¡¯t do anything. You just happened to kill four monsters a whole rank above us.¡± Zoe¡¯s eyes narrowed again. She had forgotten to use identify¡­ but she had a strong instinct that accidentally taking on a too-strong opponent yet somehow winning wasn¡¯t the main reason. ¡°Well, you might finally be getting the full portion of our collected system-energy now. You know, since I¡¯m done using it to fix our soul damage, and uh, a few other things.¡± ¡°The fuck?!¡± Zoe couldn¡¯t even manage to be angry¡ªyet. I knew I shouldn¡¯t have trusted this Demon. Although, there was an obvious and more specific question. ¡°What other things?¡± Had that been the real reason Zoe was progressing so slowly? She had a parasite siphoning off all of her gains? But then, why would she tell me? That wouldn¡¯t make sense. It was a few seconds before Lilith finally cleared her non-existent throat. But she didn¡¯t actually answer when she spoke. ¡°Chill out, I¡¯ll explain soon. But first, uh, you might want to check our system.¡± Check our¡­ Zoe pulled up her status. Nothing else looked to have changed. She then pulled up her latest notifications to double-check that it matched. Oh. ¡°Well, shit.¡± Your Nascent Fiend Core has reached 103% development. Your core evolution is now in progress. Do you wish to proceed? [WARNING: Delayed Evolution] Delaying your evolution carries a high risk of adverse or lethal effects, increasing with the duration of the delay. Do you wish to proceed? Zoe swallowed. I don¡¯t have much of a choice, do I? 21 - Evolution Zoe at least made it inside a more intact-looking building before stumbling into a corner and collapsing. Your Nascent Fiend Core has reached 103% development. Your core evolution is now in progress. Do you wish to proceed? She stared at the system message for a few seconds longer. There was a pressure building inside her¡ªa small knot of tension in her lower chest straining itself with a conflicting push and pull. Right where her core was. It felt like it was clenching itself¡ªand it was still growing worse. Lilith was sitting next to her, the apparition hugging its knees as it watched her with an unreadable expression. Zoe pushed herself up with a wince. ¡°Anything I should know before I start?¡± Shrugging, Lilith then shook her head. ¡°Not really. Just¡ªdon¡¯t try to be clever, and you should probably just go along with what seems obvious. Oh, and lie down.¡± Zoe was happy to oblige. Staring up into the darkness, she pulled open her system again. Don¡¯t try to be clever. Do what feels obvious. While that sounded a bit simple and uselessly vague¡ªZoe also got the feeling it was really important advice. The kind that makes perfect sense once you see for yourself. Do you wish to proceed? There was nothing else for her to do¡ªand Zoe wasn¡¯t keen on finding out what complications could arise from delaying it. The system itself had given her a warning, after all. Yes. Proceeding with core evolution. Having experienced multiple level-ups and now the experience of a ready-to-evolve core, Zoe expected an explosion of energy. That was sort of the case¡ªbut only barely. The unclenching of her core was slow. It seemed to take a whole minute for the energy to reach the farthest tips of her body¡ªand then a minute after that as the thrumming power grew and stabilized itself. Then the system returned. Your skill: Mana Resistance (Rank D) has become a new trait: Mana Resistance (Rank D)! Your skill: Mental Resistance (Rank C) has become a new trait: Mental Resistance (Rank C)! ¡­ You have gained the Rank E trait: Cold Resistance! There was no pain, or anything like it, but there was a sense of urgency behind the system messages. The only time it had felt this way before was during her second class selection¡ªwhen something tried to screw with her own choices. Zoe hoped that wouldn¡¯t happen again this time¡ªbut she didn¡¯t have much time to worry. The following traits can be merged to form a new trait at a higher tier: > Light Resistance (Rank E) > Wind Resistance (Rank E) > Cold Resistance (Rank E) Do you wish to form the Rank D trait: Elemental Resistance? Cold resistance? Zoe supposed that did make a lot of sense¡ªshe just felt it would have been a whole lot more helpful a day ago. As for merging it with the other resistance traits¡ªis there a downside? It sounded a lot like a pure upgrade. Not only was the fusion a rank higher¡ªelemental resistance implied that it would cover all of the possible elements¡ªnot just these three. The urgency continued to build as more messages flashed by. And while it still didn¡¯t hurt exactly, an impulse to do something was growing strong enough to nearly block out any other thoughts. Another of the messages caught Zoe¡¯s eye. The following trait can be transformed by the Tierless skill: Hallowed Touch to form a new trait at a higher tier: > Light Resistance (Rank E) Do you wish to form the Rank C trait: Hallow Resistance? Looking between the two different options, Zoe tried to think things through. If she chose to form hallow resistance, would it prevent her from still being able to form elemental resistance? But then again, hallow resistance was a whole two tiers higher, not just one¡ªand Zoe was now a Demon. Hallow resistance seemed more relevant to her particular strengths and weaknesses right now. And also¡ªassuming it just took three different elemental resistances to merge them¡ªZoe could probably get it again with her next evolution. But there was no guarantee that she¡¯d be able to get light resistance specifically again. It was getting hard to focus on anything. Every fiber of Zoe¡¯s body was twitching and tensing at her to do something and choose.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Hallow resistance, I choose hallow resistance! You have gained the Rank C trait: Hallow Resistance! The urgency lessened¡ªif only slightly. Even more notifications had bombarded Zoe in the time it took her to finalize her decision. One down, no idea how many to go. So which should she focus on next? The following trait can be transformed by consuming the Rank F skill: Unarmed Combat to form a new trait at a higher tier: > Demonite Claws (Rank F) Do you wish to form the Rank E trait: Natural Weapons? Uh¡­ While that wasn¡¯t necessarily an obvious thing to have happen, it did seem like an obvious thing to just go ahead and pick. But it said it would consume her skill¡ªscrew it. Lilith¡¯s only advice had been to just do the obvious thing and not try to be clever. And at this point, Zoe was already behind on following that. Yeah sure, give me the natural weapons. You have gained the Rank E trait: Natural Weapons! The relief of tension wasn¡¯t nearly as great this time. However, it seemed Zoe made up for it by not waiting around to come to a decision. She felt like she was starting to get the hang of this. The following traits can be merged to form a new trait at a higher tier: > Wind Resistance (Rank E) > Cold Resistance (Rank E) > Hallow Resistance (Rank C) Do you wish to form the Rank C trait: Greater Elemental Resistance? Holy shit! It looked like Zoe definitely made the right choice earlier¡ªbecause ¡®greater¡¯ had to mean ¡®better,¡¯ right? It had to, given the difference in tier from just regular elemental resistance. Taking the new version was beyond obvious. You have gained the Rank C trait: Greater Elemental Resistance! Hell yeah. In all honesty, Zoe probably would have hesitated if not for the ¡®greater¡¯ thing. It would, in a sense, be reversing her earlier decision to choose hallow resistance. But this? Obviously adding that specific trait into the mix did something different. Not that Zoe understood specifically what¡ªbut this was no time to complain. The still-mounting pressure eased up just a little¡ªonly to crash back down with renewed weight as a new option appeared. And¡ªof course¡ªit was related to the resistance traits. Again. The following traits can be merged to form an alternative trait: > Greater Elemental Resistance (Rank C) > Mana Resistance (Rank D) Do you wish to form the Rank C trait: Magic Resistance? What next, after this I fuse something into everything-resistance? It really said something that Zoe was able to manifest sarcasm under the bizarre strain her evolution caused. But this one was clearly different as well. It doesn¡¯t say higher tier¡­ it just says ¡®alternative.¡¯ The implication there was pretty clear. It wasn¡¯t a direct upgrade¡ªmore like horizontal movement rather than vertical. Zoe readily understood it as exchanging her current option for a related one of roughly equal value. So which is better? Zoe leaned fully into Lilith¡¯s advice this time¡ªshe went with her gut. You have gained the Rank C trait: Magic Resistance! Logically, sticking with what she already had seemed like a better idea, if only marginally. By proceeding with the merger, she didn¡¯t just exchange greater elemental resistance¡ªshe actually lost mana resistance too. Without knowing the details of either, covering both aspects with two different traits seemed smarter than trying to combine them into something else. But Zoe had already done it, and she was ultimately putting a small degree of trust in Lilith by not getting too ¡®clever.¡¯ Her initial reaction was that magic resistance sounded like a more valuable path in the long-term. So that¡¯s what she chose. Right, what¡¯s next¡­ The following trait can consume the Rank E skill: Surgeon¡¯s Eye to form a modified trait: > Vital Antennae (Rank E) Do you wish to form the Rank E trait: Vital Antennae? Zoe stared at this one for far longer than she should have. Not because she was struggling to come to a decision¡ªher thoughts were more along the lines of that sounds absolutely stupid. Combining surgeon¡¯s eye with her horns¡ªahem, arcane antennae¡ªsounded bizarre and unintuitive to begin with, and she probably wouldn¡¯t pick whatever the result was. But this particular result? It was just bad. She would lose a useful skill, just to¡ªwhat, turn a useful essential feature of my biology into the same thing but restricted to something more specific? Everything about it seemed like a pure downgrade. Yeah no, please don¡¯t do that. The message disappeared as the system moved on. Zoe hadn¡¯t expected that. She anticipated some sort of double-check or even just confirmation first. Eh, doesn¡¯t really matter. Skimming through the remaining messages, Zoe realized most of them were entirely irrelevant¡ªa large portion of which was because of notifications related to things that had already happened. It ended up leaving only a few actual decisions to make¡ªand only one of them had any merit. The rest were more garbage like ¡®vital antennae.¡¯ Like seriously, why would I ever want something called ¡®scornful constitution?¡¯ That wasn¡¯t just stupid¡ªit sounded downright insulting, even if it was hard to imagine what it could actually mean. Alright, time to wrap this up. Zoe went back to the single remaining useful message. The following traits and skills can be merged and consumed to form a new trait at a higher tier: > Blood Magic (Rank E) > Regeneration (Rank E) > Infernal Constitution (Rank E) > Lesser Vampirism (Rank F) > Bloodlust (Rank E) Do you wish to form the Rank C trait: Bloodshaper? It was¡ªvague. Zoe honestly couldn¡¯t say she knew what to make of the name of the new trait. Sure, it was pretty obvious what the theme of the whole thing was, but that still left quite a few degrees of freedom for the result. This was especially true with how little she still knew about magic or even her own abilities. At least two¡ªand probably three¡ªof the abilities she¡¯d be combining had already proven quite useful. Merging them all into an unknown result was a genuine risk. Even blood magic, which had been useless so far, was probably really important for the whole theme she had going right now. The urgency was starting to grow, well, unbearable. For the first time, it started to hurt. Zoe knew with instinctive certainty that she couldn¡¯t delay the last decisions any longer. The process was going to complete itself regardless of whether she was ready or not. Zoe might not always be the most cautious person¡ªbut this was a bigger risk than even she was willing to take. This wasn¡¯t a game, not for her. This was her life now, her world, and she needed to make sure she survived. Which meant the way she used to approach things no longer applied. Zoe had already stolen the Demon core that got her to this situation. The old way of deciding was for a past version of Zoe. And here, the only way out is forward. Do you wish to form the Rank C trait: Bloodshaper? Now or never. ¡°Yes.¡± You have gained the Rank C trait: Bloodshaper! Full core evolution is now in progress. 22 - Corpses Your core evolution is now complete. Your Rank A Nascent Fiend core has advanced to become a Rank A Juvenile Blood Fiend core. ¡°Well that¡¯s uh, pretty cool.¡± Zoe panted as she regained awareness of her surroundings¡ªdark, cold, and gloomy surroundings. She was quite fortunate no ghouls had happened upon her while she was so¡ªindisposed. Quite fortunate indeed, now that she thought about it. After a few more moments to collect herself, Zoe sat up just to be in a better position to glare at Lilith. But that was mostly spoiled by her surprise at not being drenched in sweat. It had felt like she was on fire, after confirming the final option her evolution had given her. ¡­Which was exactly why she was mad at Lilith. ¡°I think I could have used a little more warning, you know.¡± Turns out, the intense decision-making process was only the start of it. Just picking toppings from the menu while the chef prepares the grill for the omelet. A weird analogy, maybe¡ªbut Zoe certainly did feel thoroughly scrambled. ¡°Are you¡­ not going to check our new status?¡± Hearing Lilith speak for the first time since completing the evolution made Zoe realize something. She still hadn¡¯t caught sight of the Demon. Whipping her head around, Zoe couldn¡¯t help but frown. Just where are you hiding? ¡°Your head. It¡¯s pretty cozy in here.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t yelp, but she did jump. Shit! Even though the apparition¡¯s voice had always been directed at her mentally¡ªsomething about it coming purely from inside was even worse. And to make it even worse, not getting any external visual feedback was a new layer on top. ¡°I decided it would be better for us to get you used to this. We can¡¯t form a habit of you reacting to things that aren¡¯t there. It¡¯s pretty obvious, you know.¡± Okay, that might have been a good point. But still¡ª¡°And that means zoning out randomly and talking to myself is better?¡± A pause¡ªthough a short one. ¡°Well yes, obviously. And we can fix the second half of that easily enough. Just use your mind-words. I¡¯m fairly certain we¡¯ve already established that using your flesh-ones is uncouth.¡± ¡°Fucking hell.¡± Zoe said that out loud just to be petty. But seriously, she thought privately to herself as she stepped back onto the cold and empty street¡ªa literal Demon sharing my head is bad enough. I don¡¯t think I can handle lessons on psychic etiquette. No reaction¡ªwhich Zoe hoped meant the other Demon couldn¡¯t read her mind if she didn¡¯t want it too. But now that she was prowling around the streets again, there was a different habit that would be important to build. Lesser Disguise! This was one particularly sneaky Demon who was not going to be caught lacking. ¡°Are you actually going to open our new status now? I don¡¯t know about you, but most people who¡¯ve gone through an evolution think it¡¯s pretty important.¡± Yeah, Zoe had been meaning to get around to it. Let there be no mistake, however¡ªthe delay wasn¡¯t because she forgot. On the contrary¡ªshe was so excited and energized with anticipation that excitement transformed into anxiety. That had always been one of Zoe¡¯s quirks. Her mother, for instance, had never understood how child-Zoe was easily willing to sit still for a shot but refused to open birthday presents. Is a Demon-core evolution like a birthday present? Zoe hoped so. Status. [ZOE BLACKWELL] Level 12 | Rank F Demagogue, Bloody Devotee Higher Demon of Disdain -Alignment- > Infernal > Disdain > Blood -Active Quests- > Claim Your Right > The First Harvest (68 / 250) -Active Titles- > Outsider > Usurper > Humanitizer > No Love Among Fiends -Stats and Bindings- Power 80 Perception 100 Acuity 80 Durability 80 Vitality 164 -General Skills- > Identify 4 (Rank C) > Hallowed Touch (Tierless) > Mana Channeling 2 (Rank F) -Primary Class Skills- > Acting 1 (Rank D) > Persuasion 1 (Rank B) > Mirage 3 (Rank E) > Lesser Disguise 2 (Rank C) > Cloak of Scorn 2 (Rank E) System Display Privileges (Sys-Tier) -Secondary Class Skills- > Rejuvenate 1 (Rank F) > Mending Touch 2 (Rank D) > Rending Touch 2 (Rank D) > Surgeon¡¯s Eye 2 (Rank E) > Blood Whip 2 (Rank E) [JUVENILE BLOOD FIEND CORE] 3% Developed | Rank A -Traits- > Natural Weapons (Rank E) > Arcane Antennae (Rank E) > Bloodshaper (Rank C) > Heart of Alchemy (Rank B) > Personal Inventory (Rank B) > Magic Resistance (Rank C) -Effects- > +60 Power, +60 Durability, +82 Vitality > Infernal Alignment > Disdain Alignment > Blood Alignment -Available- > 83 stat points Well, some things certainly had changed. There were the changes Zoe had already chosen before the full evolution, of course¡ªbut there were some other interesting changes as well. Moving from the top, it looked like she was no longer a lesser Demon. Lesser higher Demon. Now she was just a higher Demon. That was definitely good, because it was probably better to be the default than to be lesser. Also, ¡®Lesser higher Demon¡¯ was just plain confusing to think about.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Moving on, she¡¯d also gained a new alignment. Blood. That was a pretty obvious one, considering how many of her skills were thematically related to it in some way. But why did she gain it now specifically? ¡°It¡¯s not infrequent to gain new skills, traits, or so on when you go through a major advancement. Remember how we gained cold resistance during the evolution? We¡¯d basically already unlocked it¡ªso to speak. The evolution, and other major advancements, are often just the final catalyst needed to push a bunch of other stuff over the edge.¡± Well, that did make at least some sense. But what were the other major advancements? ¡°Those would be class evolutions¡ªwhich are the equivalent of core evolutions for non-monsters¡ªand advancing to the next rank, which is for everyone.¡± That was simple enough. Wandering through the chilly streets with no particular direction in mind, Zoe tore her attention away from her new status just to be sure there wasn¡¯t something else she needed to be aware of. The answer looked like it was ¡®no.¡¯ There weren¡¯t many ghouls at all now¡ªZoe was only able to spot two shuffling around in the darkness of what might have been an inn of some sort¡ªand another one trying to climb a dumpster in a nearby alley. It was a far cry from the numbers they¡¯d had to deal with upon entering the dead city. Was this area just less populated? Zoe couldn¡¯t remember if they¡¯d passed through here on the way in. She was lost in the sense that she didn¡¯t know exactly where she was, but she wasn¡¯t lost in that she knew which way to take to get to the beach. Or maybe they were less active at night? That seemed wrong, for fairly obvious reasons. Keeping herself quite still, Zoe watched as the dumpster ghoul gave up and began lumbering off. Well, lumbering towards her. Had it seen her? She hadn¡¯t been using mirage. Zoe tensed up slightly as the ghoul stepped out of the alley and into the street. But then the putrid creature seemed to go through a moment of surprise itself¡ªbefore lurching forward, rotten arms raised to strike. Shit. Stepping to the side, Zoe called on one of the more fun skills she¡¯d gained. Blood Whip! The conjured weapon formed in an instant, lashing out to entangle the lumbering ghoul almost on reflex. The result was the monster slamming to the ground face-first, and Zoe being very surprised. It hadn¡¯t been that easy to use the first time. It also didn¡¯t feel like just the result of it leveling up once. That was a day ago, after all. Could it have been her core evolution? Lilith was silent¡ªwhich was okay with Zoe. For now. She opened her status back up as the monster thrashed at her feet. [JUVENILE BLOOD FIEND CORE] 3% Developed | Rank A -Traits- > Natural Weapons (Rank E) > Arcane Antennae (Rank E) > Bloodshaper (Rank C) > Heart of Alchemy (Rank B) > Personal Inventory (Rank B) > Magic Resistance (Rank C) -Effects- > +60 Power, +60 Durability, +82 Vitality > Infernal Alignment > Disdain Alignment > Blood Alignment Skipping all the way down to the core section, Zoe landed on the line that might have something to do with it. Bloodshaper. The last choice she¡¯d gone with, and one that had been a big risk. Blood Whip was made out of blood¡ªshaped out of it. Did this Bloodshaper trait have something to do with improving it? That seemed¡ªrather likely. It was unfortunate, then, that Zoe couldn¡¯t get any additional description on her traits like she could with skills. Even if the skill descriptions were never particularly helpful. There was another thing to think about here, though, which Lilith so helpfully brought to attention a moment later. ¡°It looked like the ghoul was surprised to see you before it attacked. Which means¡­¡± ¡°¡ªthat it wasn¡¯t me that got its attention in the first place.¡± Zoe looked down at the pitiful, blight-infested monster struggling still at her feet. You know, something tells me I¡¯m not going to get very far with interrogation tactics here. The ghoul grunted. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s enough.¡± Zoe raised her foot to mash its skull in¡ªand then she realized she still didn¡¯t have proper boots. Her feet were still wrapped up in little more than fantasy duct-tape. This, in turn, meant that mashing the ghoul¡¯s skull in would get her even more wet and filthy. Well, shit. This¡ªleft things at a little bit of an impasse. Zoe didn¡¯t want to just leave the thing. It would be irresponsible to leave a bloodthirsty undead monster around just for it to kill someone else later¡ªcertainly not when she already had it restrained. Also, a supplementary reason was that it would be a waste of progression towards the next level and all that. A trickle of amusement brushed against her consciousness from¡ªwherever it was that Lilith¡¯s mind existed. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s the ¡®supplementary¡¯ reason and most definitely not the main one.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t have time for this. She could do the same thing she did with the other ghouls right before her evolution. If she remembered correctly, it seemed to be a combination of unarmed combat and rending touch that made them all sort of explode. But she didn¡¯t want to get more gore on herself¡ªnot to mention she didn¡¯t technically have unarmed combat anymore. She¡¯d merged it to form natural weapons. ¡°Are you still talking to me with your mouth just because I told you not to?¡± Rather than smug and amused, Lilith sounded a bit more, perhaps¡ªvaguely incredulous now. Zoe shrugged as she unraveled the blood whip a little to be able to take a few steps back. ¡°Yes. I am. Now be quiet, I need to concentrate.¡± Ignoring the resulting indignant whining being sent her way, Zoe focused on the feeling of her own magic extending out of her hand, through the whip, and all the way to the squirming ghoul. Let¡¯s see if this works. Rending Touch! There was the smallest delay as the activated skill transferred down the length of blood. Then the ghoul twitched, bits of softened flesh and congealed fluids spraying outwards as if a dozen crooked blades had sundered its flesh. ¡°Huh.¡± Releasing her whip entirely, Zoe stepped forward to get a better look. The ¡®explosion¡¯ hadn¡¯t been as dramatic this time¡ªwas that because she¡¯d forced the skill to activate through another one at a distance? Lilith reappeared beside her in a flash of crimson light and bent down. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s a likely explanation.¡± They both peered at the mutilated corpse for a few seconds. Corpse¡ªdoes it count as a corpse now, or was it already a corpse before? How does the whole ¡®corpse¡¯ concept work when it comes to undead creatures? Zoe felt like that was a fascinating line of linguistic exploration to be pursued later. Actually¡­ Identify! [BLIGHTED Human CORPSE] Most corpses do not retain prior system-maintained effects while dead. This one did, and it¡¯s still Blighted. Huh. It was interesting to see how the system expanded on the normal corpse description in such a smooth way. It was almost like the ¡®normal¡¯ description was actually a truncated version of this one, and served as a sort of hint or warning. Pretty neat. What was also neat was what rending touch had done to it. Zoe¡¯s first interpretation of it had been something along the lines of ¡®explosion.¡¯ But it was really much closer to being hacked away at with some sort of blade¡ªseveral times at the very least¡ªfrom the inside out¡ªand also all at once. Lilith seemed to agree, as the specter commented on the resulting damage while being very careful not to ever touch it herself. Which was a bit weird, Zoe thought, since the Demonic creature was currently only a projection of her own imagination. Which is still weird by the way. ¡°So?¡± Zoe felt like it was time to get moving and investigate the source of the larger disturbance that was drawing away all the ghouls. Even if studying mutilated corpses was also pretty interesting. ¡°What¡¯s the verdict?¡± Rising to her feet, the apparition gestured around at the unmoving corpse, as if they hadn¡¯t both gotten as good a look as they could without touching it. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty nasty skill. Especially for us still only being Rank F.¡± Zoe nodded. ¡°Oh yeah, no doubt about that. It sure is pretty gnarly.¡± A drawn out pause followed. ¡°What?¡± Then Lilith just shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Come on, let¡¯s go find out what¡¯s gotten all these ghouls so riled up. It has to be something interesting.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Part of Zoe wanted to take more time to investigate all of the changes to her status, now that she¡¯d finally gone and opened it all up. But also, she could do that along the way. The entire reason for sneaking out in the first place was to test a bunch of her abilities out on the shambling, foul monsters. So she set off in the direction she¡¯d last seen a ghoul headed, all while looking at the stats part of her status. -Stats and Bindings- Power 100 Perception 80 Acuity 80 Durability 80 Vitality 164 There had certainly been a big change to one of them in specific. Her vitality had obviously doubled itself. And Zoe was pretty sure that it had been doubled specifically¡ªbecause eighty-two was a bit of a weird number, at least compared to how the system had been doing things so far. [JUVENILE BLOOD FIEND CORE] 3% Developed | Rank A ¡­ -Effects- > +60 Power, +60 Durability, +82 Vitality The same bonuses to power and durability had been there before. Sixty was also pretty reasonable, considering how she now gained fifteen points with each level. But eighty-two? Yeah, that¡¯s a flat increase that came from doubling what I already had at the time. Definitely something to note, as well as the fact that vitality was the one it picked. It made sense though, what with the whole blood magic theme. Also, she had eighty-three free stat points. It might be a good idea to start planning how to distribute those. And also, she could now awaken an element for vitality like she could with perception. That was something to think about too, as she activated mirage and cloak of scorn to sneak after the departed ghouls. But there was an even more interesting question to settle first. Zoe turned to the side, where her imaginary¡ªacquaintance was following beside her. Hey Lilith? And she even asked it in her mind this time. But that was mainly just because she was trying to be stealthy anyway. ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s up?¡± Zoe pursed her lips in thought. How to approach this¡­ ¡°So I¡¯ve been thinking, since I killed that last ghoul. How does the concept of a corpse¡ªor being dead¡ªwork when it comes to undead?¡± 23 - The Root Of The Problem Lord Darius Loch frowned as he took his first step onto the chilly coast of the frozen wastes. It looked like he had beat the ferry, and the former soldier didn¡¯t know quite how to feel about that. On one hand, it was a bit annoying that he¡¯d still arrived first despite spending over an hour haggling other merchants for a short-notice replacement. As usual, other merchants were quick to raise their demands as soon as they suspected he was in a hurry. On the other hand, there was no small sense of satisfaction from beating the ferry anyway. Thus, Darius decided he would go ahead and choose both¡ªpride in his own victory and dissatisfaction with the ferry service for not doing better. Oh, and there was another minor reason for him to frown. It looked like only three of his students were accounted for. Had the other two died? The Rank A alchemist¡¯s frown deepened. That would be a bit inconvenient. Either way, it wouldn¡¯t stop him from enjoying a leisurely stroll across the rock-strewn beach and up towards the town square. If they weren¡¯t dead, they were fine, and if they were dead, there was nothing he could do about it. So there was little point in worrying¡ªat least now that he was already here. _____ There was most definitely something actively drawing the ghouls¡¯ attention. This made Zoe rather pleased, as it made the ghouls rather easy to kill with impunity. She¡¯d racked up quite the kill-streak on her way towards¡ªwherever it was they were all converging. After cutting another of the undead in half with her blood whip, she pulled up the quest she was currently interested in. [THE FIRST HARVEST] As a newly minted Higher Demon, you now have the power to accelerate your own advancement with the blood of others. Ordinary Humans can actually do that too, but having thrown away your mortal shell first makes it feel significantly more dramatic. A humble suggestion¡ªslaughtering 250 monsters of the same core type might be a good start. -Rewards- 1 Elemental Awakening Core (Rank E) -Progress- 68 / 250 Damn. That was disappointing. Zoe was hoping to make progress on completing the quest and getting another elemental awakening core. Having more options would definitely be useful for when she eventually decided to bind her stats, which was part of how she would advance to the next tier. Unfortunately, the wording of the quest pretty obviously meant that she couldn¡¯t just kill 250 monsters¡ªshe had to kill 250 monsters of the same core type. It was obvious because the quest said ¡®250 monsters of the same core type.¡¯ The result was that she had killed less than sixty-eight ghouls so far¡ªthat number was still from the bunny slaughter just over a day ago. Zoe did make sure to store all of the cores¡ªjust in case¡ªand she was pretty excited for when the number would finally tick up to sixty-nine. She had been worried about the quest being difficult to complete just because of having to find that many monsters¡ªbut the ghouls here weren¡¯t giving her too much trouble on that end. ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you by the way.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t bother to actually give Lilith a scathing look. She was a little too preoccupied for that, what with darting between abandoned buildings and gutting blighted monsters in near total darkness. So instead of giving Lilith said scathing look, Zoe just thought the intent of it really hard. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare give me that look!¡± It seemed like it worked. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that not all Demons take to violence this quickly. Though they always catch up eventually. That or they die first.¡± Zoe honestly couldn¡¯t tell whether her twin Demon buddy was being completely genuine¡ªor if she was still trying to tease her for some reason. But it didn¡¯t really matter, because she still had at least 182 more ghouls to kill. She didn¡¯t have time to spare for banter. ¡°I promise I¡¯m not mocking you¡ªthis time¡ªbut why are you so focused on this? I don¡¯t mean to complain, but your sudden drive here is¡­ interesting?¡± Ducking into a side alley to rest for a moment and recover some mana, Zoe thought about it for a few seconds. Mostly she was thinking about how to manage the cost of all her different skills though. A lot of them used mostly blood instead of mana. That was pretty sweet when she was massacring a bunch of stuff¡ªexcept for things like ghouls which didn¡¯t actually have much usable blood. That was currently a bit of a problem. Also, it could be a problem for when she wasn¡¯t in the middle of killing things. She¡¯d already experienced one form of that earlier that day. She felt like she¡¯d almost passed out from using so much of her own blood to keep healing everyone else. Then there was also the difficulty of recovering mana. She had plenty of other skills that only used mana, and that ran the risk of soul strain. Zoe was unfortunately well-acquainted with that¡ªnot even mentioning the incident of self-inflicted soul damage. Ironically though, managing her mana had become less of an issue since escaping the ancient temple turned cultist lair place. She just had to devour a few monster cores from her personal inventory every now and then. According to Lilith, it was ¡®like a renewable source of mana potions but they don¡¯t make you sick.¡¯ Which¡ªyeah, that sounded pretty good to Zoe. Having scarfed down a couple more cores¡ªfrom the ghouls this time¡ªZoe darted back out onto the increasingly-crowded main streets. There wasn¡¯t much she could do about the blood issue right now though, so she¡¯d just be sure to keep it in mind. Oh wait. Lilith had also asked her a question, hadn¡¯t she. What did she ask? It was something about why Zoe was currently so focused on slaughtering every ghoul she could find. Fortunately, the answer to that was simple. I want my elemental awakening core. Zoe swore she could feel Lilith laughing at that. The sensation bugged her a little bit, so she went on to explain herself. So I really don¡¯t want to struggle to complete the quest just because I can¡¯t find 250 of the same thing, right? Well there¡¯s definitely at least that many ghouls packed in here, and so far they haven¡¯t been giving me much trouble. A casual activation of rending touch blasted a too-close ghoul apart at the same time as her blood whip decapitated two others¡ªcase in point. And the system seemed to agree. Blood Whip has reached level 6! Rending Touch has reached level 4! You have leveled up! You are now level 15. +15 stat points. +2% core progression. A pleasant side-effect of the quest was the massive uptick in leveling up both her skills and her¡ªlevel. Although¡ªZoe did suspect it had a lot more to do with whatever it was Lilith had been doing up until her evolution. She was still going to have a talk with Lilith later about that. But still, on the upside, surgeon¡¯s eye had also risen from level two to three, and mirage and cloak of scorn had both leveled up twice¡ªbringing them to levels five and four respectively. Also, she¡¯d now saved up over one-hundred stat points.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. -Available- > 128 stat points Taking another pause in a moonless alleyway, Zoe pulled up her stats. -Stats and Bindings- Power 80 Perception 100 Acuity 80 Durability 80 Vitality 164 Vitality was now a little bit high, but there was little point in trying to catch everything else up to it right now. So instead Zoe just added ten to perception and thirty to everything else¡ªexcluding vitality of course. Power increased to 110! Perception increased to 110! Acuity increased to 110! Durability increased to 110! -Available- > 28 stat points A literal jolt stabbed through Zoe¡¯s body upon confirming the changes. ¡°Oof!¡± It felt good and bad at the same time, but mostly bad¡ªbut in a way that would probably end up feeling mostly good in a few moments. Does that make any sense? ¡°Yes, it does,¡± Lilith confirmed rather helpfully, ¡°and that is exactly why you don¡¯t apply several different large stat increases all at the same time. At least, not when you can avoid it. I¡¯m pretty sure we could have avoided it in this instance.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± It took Zoe longer than she¡¯d like to admit to get her bearings. It would have been very easy for a ghoul to get the jump on her in the meantime¡ªso it was a good thing none of them actually did that. Probably because they¡¯re all so focused on getting closer to wherever it is that they¡¯re going. Zoe frowned. At first, she¡¯d thought something was just drawing their attention somehow. But this¡­ The way they were all converging with single-minded focus was unnerving. Unnatural, even. Popping into existence in her tiny doll form right in front of Zoe¡¯s face, Lilith looked around as well. ¡°I¡­ have to agree. Something is calling to them. Something infernal. Something we can feel too.¡± Wait, what? Creeping forward, Zoe thought about it. Could she feel anything? Well, that was way too vague of a question. Could she feel anything from the direction they were headed? Something other than the icy wind? Cloak of scorn alleviated a lot of that particular sensation¡ªbut the way it brushed around her horns still made them tingle in an annoying way. ¡°Holy fuck, that¡¯s not the wind, dumbass.¡± Zoe wanted to protest and ask what it could be then, but Lilith didn¡¯t give her a chance to get a single word in. ¡°That¡¯s literally us feeling the magic that¡¯s calling the ghouls. For the last time, they are antennae, not horns. Like holy hell, why did I have to awaken as such an incompetent, foolish, blighted MORON?¡± Zoe¡ªdidn¡¯t know what to say to that. The only thing she could think of as she increased her use of mirage and picked up her speed again was¡ªwow. It was a good reminder that Lilith wasn¡¯t her friend and didn¡¯t always have her best interests in mind. Zoe thought back to the confusing¡ªand terrifying¡ªexperience she went through right after stealing the core and first becoming a Demon. How the thing she¡¯d come to call ¡®Lilith¡¯ had tried to reshape her body and take over her mind. The only thing that had prevented it from being successful was Zoe¡¯s outsider title. If Zoe hadn¡¯t gotten that frankly overpowered title from the system right away¡­ ¡°I am you and you are me and¡ªall you did was separate us from ourselves.¡± Lilith tried to settle onto Zoe¡¯s shoulder, only for Zoe to snatch the scheming plushie and toss her back into the air. ¡°No, we¡¯re not.¡± Zoe stopped again. She was stopping in alleyways far too often for her liking these past few minutes. But this was important. ¡°We are not the same. I am a Human from earth. I don¡¯t care that the system calls me a Demon, I don¡¯t care if I have stupid antennae-horns. And you are some sort of Demonic spirit haunting me.¡± The thing floating in front of her vision tried to interrupt her. Zoe didn¡¯t let it. Outsider. To her slight surprise, lightly drawing upon the title for a short moment worked. It shut Lilith up, and Zoe continued¡ªspeaking out loud still. ¡°Let¡¯s not pretend that you wouldn¡¯t immediately switch our places if you could. You¡¯re only helpful to me because you¡¯re stuck with me.¡± A deep breath. ¡°And you are helpful. So I¡¯m willing to work with that. Hell, I¡¯m even willing to figure out ways to give you more of your own freedom at some point. But I need you to be open with me. And to cut the bullshit.¡± Silence. Zoe expected some kind of response. The lack of one was a bit unnerving, but she wouldn¡¯t allow it to get to her. Then, the imaginary doll nodded. It settled back on her shoulder¡ªand Zoe let it this time. ¡°As you wish.¡± Well¡ªthat¡¯s a start, at least. Now, it was time to hurry up and see what all the fuss was about. After all, Zoe couldn¡¯t imagine that Lily also sneaking out of the camp was a simple coincidence with whatever was up with the ghouls. Identify revealed that the elemental summoner had an infernal alignment after all. So with that taken care of, Zoe broke into a sprint. Having just boosted herself with a total of one-hundred stat points made streaking through the increasingly dense flow of shambling undead rather easy. Zoe didn¡¯t even have to use a single skill to effortlessly weave between them at a speed she probably couldn¡¯t have achieved in a straight line back on earth. Having higher stats is fun. Also, the ease of it¡ªalong with Zoe¡¯s decision to hurry towards the center of the action and not waste time picking off the monsters on the outskirts¡ªit let her divert some attention to something else. The sky. At first, Zoe just thought the near-total darkness was due to a lack of artificial lighting. She was used to cities on earth, after all. But here? The dead coastal town didn¡¯t even have a single lantern. But now, Zoe came to a new realization. The darkness wasn¡¯t just due to a lack of artificial light¡ªthere was a complete lack of light coming from the sky as well. It probably took her a while to notice the utter lack of stars or a moon for the same reason she didn¡¯t question the darkness¡ªshe was used to big cities where light pollution meant you couldn¡¯t see any stars anyway. But here, in this dead town with not a single lantern¡­ ¡°Lilith¡ªwhy aren¡¯t there any stars?¡± _____ Darius couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at both the sorry state of the supposed ¡®camp¡¯ and at the panicked demeanor of the three students who were actually present. Well, technically speaking, he very much could help it. He just decided to let some measure of his disappointment slip through on purpose¡ªmostly because the reaction from the three before him was a bit funny. The first one he focused on¡ªbecause the boy was quite large and thus easily noticeable¡ªwell that would be none other than Brother Sean. The designated group leader¡¯s name wasn¡¯t actually ¡®Brother¡¯¡ªthat was just the typical term of address used within the Church. In this instance, the Church was shorthand for The Living Church of the Sixfold Hallows. But no one ever said that, because people in Norvask only ever meant one thing when they referred to the Church. That thing being ¡®The Living Church of the Sixfold Hallows.¡¯ Also, using every possible opportunity to address church people as ¡®Brother¡¯ and ¡®Sister¡¯ was one of those things you could use to annoy them without being called out on it. ¡°Brother Sean. What¡¯s going on?¡± The paladin-recruit coughed into his fist as he stepped up. ¡°Liliana ran away not too long ago, Sir. Likely to go running around killing things.¡± Ah. That would certainly explain two of the absences. Darius was not surprised that the troublesome young heiress of the Blodmanes had deserted the camp to¡ªas Brother Sean so eloquently framed it¡ª¡®go running around killing things.¡¯ Naturally, this would explain the absence of her minder Andric as well. The heiress¡¯s minder cared for little other than guaranteeing the protection and advancement of his charge. He was also the only one among them who operated at above a baseline standard of competence. That being said¡­ ¡°And what of the healer you encountered?¡± The former soldier had not forgotten that particular piece of the original message. Encountering a strange healer alone in the middle of the frozen wastes was one thing. Encountering said healer at the same time as infernal cult activity was definitely a second thing, and said healer disappearing at the same time as two Blodmanes of all things pushed it well past a third. They did not find a random healer who escaped from a cult ritual. They found a Demon that escaped from a cult ritual. It might still be a healer¡ªbut a powerful blood affinity was more likely. Either way, Darius did hope the Demon wouldn¡¯t run away before he could find it. Or worse¡ªdie. He knew of at least one Rank A lord who was interested in inspecting it while it was still alive. Brother Sean was still speaking, of course, and Darius spared at least a little attention to following along. All it really amounted to was that Liliana and the Demon had disappeared at around the same time. Unexpected, but not unsurprising. So after the hulking Templar recruit Darius had selected as the squad leader wrapped up, the aging alchemist clapped his hands together and nodded at all three of the students present. ¡°Right then. Let¡¯s go see what our local Von Gershenfeld is up to, and whether it also involves that missing Demon you all picked up from the supply cache.¡± Three mouths dropped open. Darius carefully schooled his expression into a serious neutrality. ¡°So are we going to get moving or what?¡± 24 - Its You! Arthur hurried to keep up with the others. Well, he hurried to keep up with Millie and Sean. Lord Darius had fallen behind all of them, the Rank A alchemist moving as if he were taking a midmorning stroll through a park and not hurrying to save the two others from a blighted Demon. The fact that the former soldier was more than capable of reaching the others within the minute only made it worse. Their patron¡¯s usual antics were one thing¡ªhell, even the recent incident of the alleged ¡®supply cache¡¯ was still one thing. Leaving two of his own students to be gutted by a Demon¡ªa higher Demon by all probability¡ªArthur nearly froze. Does he know something we don¡¯t? Resuming his own chaotic jog, the archmage decided that the answer to that was ¡®nearly certainly.¡¯ Lord Darius Loch always knew things the rest of them didn¡¯t¡ªsuch as, well, figuring out that the supposed ¡®healer¡¯ they¡¯d rescued from an infernal cult was, in fact, the Demon itself. So given that Arthur himself suspected he was the only one in the group who was aware of their ¡®Von Gershenfeld¡¯s¡¯ true heritage¡ªit wasn¡¯t much of a stretch to conclude Lord Darius was perfectly aware as well. Which means¡­ It meant that the Lord thought Lily had things under control. Or if not her, then at least Andric did. The sudden realization did a lot to assuage Arthur¡¯s anxiety¡ªto the point that the archmage started looking forward to the encounter more than anything. On the one hand, he already wanted to get closer to Liliana for his own research ambitions. And on the other hand, walking in on her and Andric doing¡ªwhatever it was they were doing, with none other than Lord Darius himself at his side? Things could certainly get rather interesting. At this point, realizing that the supposed ¡®healer¡¯ was really a Demon was just the garnish to top it all off. Arthur was most definitely fascinated to see how exactly this one was going to play out¡ªfor multiple reasons, of course. So engrossed was he in his excitement that Arthur failed to notice Millie falling back to run beside him. That was, until she elbowed him in the side, quite nearly causing the slender mage to trip and stumble. ¡°Told you so,¡± she muttered. ¡°Seems like this backwater simpleton has a head good for something or other after all.¡± Of course she would take this as an opportunity to bother me. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly recall you predicting that it was a Demon, of all things. And I¡¯ll also have you remember that I already agreed with you.¡± Just because the arrow-slinging enchanter was right didn¡¯t mean that she had any right to act superior to him. There were still firmly-etched lines which the archmage was not willing to have crossed. ¡°Sure, sure. And if you remember, I¡¯m still the one who suggested it.¡± A disinterested grunt was the only thing such a bothersome pest deserved in response. Arthur then sped up a little to put some distance back between them. Millie, of course, just sped up¡ªand she was faster than him. But that just meant he had to let her think she was winning, and then he could slow back down and enjoy some peace and quiet. All according to plan. Said plan was interrupted when they realized Sean stopped in place some distance ahead of them. The towering paladin¡ªtechnically just regular Templar, he wasn¡¯t a paladin yet¡ªwell either way, he had taken to simply standing still to survey the streets. Why? Arthur was more than a little out of breath when he caught up, so he appreciated Millie for asking the question for him¡ªif little else. Sean¡¯s answer took both of them by surprise. ¡°What happened to the undead?¡± But he was right. Having been so caught-up in the news Lord Darius dropped on them, Arthur hadn¡¯t considered the strange lack of ghouls everywhere around them. Had they even passed a single one? ¡°You know, I¡¯d wanna say that this is pretty lucky,¡± Millie started to say, ¡°but something tells me this just means there¡¯s something worse.¡± All three of them shared a lingering look. It was clear both Arthur and Sean were thinking the same thing¡ªshe was probably right. ¡°She is probably correct,¡± Lord Darius intoned from behind all of them. ¡°A conspicuous lack of undead in places where they ought to be implies an excessive density somewhere else.¡± The archmage blinked. Was that supposed to be a problem? ¡°Where do you think they went, sir? And what brought them there?¡± It looked like Sean went and asked the obvious question. Stepping ahead of them, Lord Darius removed his noticeably long and slender hands from the pockets of his long, deep-blue coat¡ªonly to place them right back where they were. Just, on the outside this time. He made a drawn out show of surveying the way ahead before he spoke. ¡°For your first question, I find it likely our ghouls have run off to the same place our wonderful Liliana has. As for the second¡ªI suppose we can ask her that ourselves when we get there.¡± A pause¡ªand then the Rank A alchemist slowly pivoted back around to face them. For all that the man presented himself with an attitude of indifferent understatement¡ªhe really was far too fond of theatrics. ¡°Or perhaps one of you three could provide an explanation?¡± He ended that last part by staring straight at Arthur. Well, damn. Not only did their patron know at least as much as Arthur did¡ªhe knew that the Archmage knew too. Nevertheless, the others didn¡¯t. Arthur wasn¡¯t going to go and spoil that. He pursed his lips. Arching an eyebrow, Lord Darius inclined his head. ¡°Perhaps I can offer¡ªmmm¡ªsay, fifty pounds tender for the first correct answer?¡± Arthur¡¯s eyes widened, but Millie quite literally jumped forward before the archmage could fully register what he¡¯d just heard. ¡°All the ghouls are in the same place as Lily because she got impatient and ran off to go level up by doing something arrogant and stupid!¡± Arthur wanted to slap his forehead upon hearing that. Lord Darius smirked. ¡°While that is technically correct, it is not quite the answer I am looking for. Perhaps someone could be more specific? After all, I fail to see just how Lady Gershenfeld could draw the attention of so many monsters in such a vast area.¡± The mocking emphasis on the name Gershenfeld couldn¡¯t have been more obvious¡ªand as if that weren¡¯t enough already, the Rank A sadist was back to looking directly at Arthur with that signature, faintly smug look. It was almost necessary to suppress a groan. Fifty pounds was a lot of money¡ªso all of this nonsense readily distilled down to Lord Darius bribing Arthur to spill the beans in front of everyone. But why would he¡ªwell, he would do it because he was rich and thought it was funny. There was no need to read into it when the answer was simple enough. A deep breath, and Arthur stepped forward. ¡°It¡¯s because she¡¯s not a Gershenfeld at all. Her real name is Liliana Von Blodmane.¡± Three surprised gasps at that, and only two of them might be at all genuine. ¡°There¡¯s no doubt she has access to methods which can draw infernal creatures to her. I¡¯m sure she could manage at least that for something as simple and low-level as these ghouls.¡± The difference in reactions upon finishing was¡ªinteresting, honestly. Sean wore a conflicted¡ªbut firm¡ªlook as he pondered the massive revelation. Darius pretended to look thoughtful, but Millie¡ªwhy did she look so angry? ¡°Seriously? Are you really gonna give him fifty pounds for that? I answered first, you know! You said I was right! You said!¡± _____ It came as quite a surprise to Zoe that the question ¡®why aren¡¯t there any stars¡¯ turned out to be really, really important. Like¡ªthis information is pivotal to the politics, culture, and history of this entire world. Oh and it also related especially closely to Zoe¡¯s particular circumstances, of course.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The answer also turned out to be fairly simple. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. There used to be stars and stuff, but then the Elder Gods did something bad and now there aren¡¯t any stars anymore.¡± Lilith said it like it was obvious, common knowledge that explained everything. And she probably would have been right, if Zoe were literally anyone other than herself. As things were, however¡­ I feel like there¡¯s a whole lot of, uh, context that we¡¯re glossing over here. Mind elaborating a little bit? To Zoe¡¯s immense surprise, Lilith was able to fill in the necessary details in about a single minute. Not that Zoe was counting¡ªshe was too busy dodging ghouls and following the tingle of her horns¡ªantennae¡ªtoward the source of the infernal magic. She had to rely on her antennae now because the undead weren¡¯t useful for directions anymore, what with how densely packed they¡¯d become. So let me make sure I have the basics down. There used to be stars and a moon¡ª ¡°Two moons,¡± Lilith interrupted. ¡°Technically there were two moons. But only one of them was like a normal moon you¡¯d think of. The other one was apparently really small and dim and took way longer to move across the sky.¡± Right. So there was a normal, largish moon vaguely similar to the one orbiting Earth. Then there was also a tiny moon¡ªprobably more like a large asteroid¡ªthat was caught in an eccentric orbit much further out. Or at least, that¡¯s what Lilith guessed, based on the apparition¡¯s confusing mixture of fantasy-world knowledge and Zoe knowledge. But either way, Zoe didn¡¯t think that astronomical precision was the most important thing here. ¡°I mean, you did literally start by asking about not seeing stars, so¡­¡± Ignoring the possibly true remark, Zoe went back to reviewing the salient information. So there were a couple moons and normal stars and shit, probably other planets too. Lilith didn¡¯t say anything, so she probably had the right idea. Then, give or take three thousand years ago, the gods fought against¡ªsome sort of apocalyptic monsters which were really bad. Then everything in the sky except the sun¡ªfor some reason¡ªvanished. Also a bunch of unnamed but probably really powerful civilizations fell apart, some sort of other disaster happened, and uh¡­ Oh yeah, now literally everything still related to the dead gods in any way is terribly cursed and no one should touch it. While Lilith wasn¡¯t currently visible, Zoe got the emotional impression of a nod and a pleased smile. ¡°Yeah that¡¯s mostly correct. The gods did have actual names though, but no one knows what any of them actually were. They just have a handful of vague titles people use to refer to them now. There¡¯s also a set of symbols associated with them. The symbols do come from actual ancient ruins and stuff, so they¡¯re probably mostly accurate. Yeah, that was all good to know. What was also good to know¡ªbut also uncomfortable to dwell on¡ªwas that the underground temple Zoe first woke up in was one of those elder ruins. To make matters worse, it was an elder temple¡ªyou know, a temple to the dead gods that had terrible curses on everything connected to them. Shit. Lilith¡­ those symbols, are they the same symbols that were on the floor of the inner sanctum I woke up in? ¡°Eh, no idea!¡± Zoe¡ªdidn¡¯t really know if that made things better or worse. ¡°I don¡¯t have any knowledge of what the god-symbols are supposed to look like¡ªwhich is honestly pretty annoying right now.¡± Yeah, Zoe could imagine. Or maybe she couldn¡¯t. Nevertheless, the likely conclusion seemed¡ªlikely. There was another way to approach it, though. Do you know how many gods there were? Turns out, Lilith did. ¡°Yeah that one¡¯s easy. Three. Well, sort of. There were three gods, but also nine¡ªsort of. Like, there were supposedly nine distinct people who had divinity, and there were nine different names. But they were also all in trios, with each trio sharing the same underlying divine whatever-it-is.¡± Zoe frowned. Like the Christian trinity? ¡°Yeah, like that, except if there were three different ones and not just one ¡®three-in-one¡¯ trinity thing.¡± That was both mildly interesting and probably also good to know. What was a lot more important though was how it fit into what Zoe remembered from the sealed chamber back within that temple. There had been nine symbols arranged around the central star. A nine-pointed star made out of three triangles. Each tip of that star had pointed to one of the nine different sarcophagi. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s kind of obvious when you put it that way,¡± Lilith hummed more to herself than to Zoe. ¡°Also definitely explains what was up with that whole ¡®scion¡¯ thing.¡± There was also that too, Zoe recalled after Lilith mentioned it. It only took Zoe a moment to find it in the history of her system messages. Welcome, Scion of . Oh yeah, and there¡¯s also a quest. It was the first quest Zoe had gotten, and she was still nowhere closer to completing it. Then again, it had been like a day and a half. Also, if everything that had to do with the gods was terribly cursed¡ªZoe wasn¡¯t sure she wanted to complete it. [CLAIM YOUR RIGHT] As the Scion of , you alone now possess a divine right to this temple. The other inhabitants might disagree. Prove them wrong. -Rewards- Divine claim to the Temple of . Zoe read through it twice. Yeah¡­ how about ¡®no.¡¯ Even without the looming threat of divine curses, Zoe had already witnessed firsthand how dealing with the so-called ¡®other inhabitants¡¯ could go. Zoe¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by Lilith poking her¡ªmentally¡ªto get her attention. ¡°I think we found the thing we were trying to find!¡± Looking around, Zoe¡ªdidn¡¯t really see anything. It was just more darkness, ghouls, falling-down buildings, and cold air. She couldn¡¯t actually see either the cold or the air, but it was the thought that counted. Actually¡ªthe ghouls were all cramming themselves against a taller building straight ahead. It looked like they were trying to force themselves inside¡ªthe result being that they were literally crushing each other inward from every direction. More were arriving by the second, so Zoe needed to retreat and figure this out¡ªotherwise she¡¯d end up immobilized and crushed to death by festering, cannibalistic zombies. Not a fun way to go. So with that decided, Zoe backtracked to another nearby building that still had multiple stories standing. To her relief, there didn¡¯t seem to be any ghouls inside it¡ªprobably because they were all crushing themselves against the other building. Lucky, because it made finding the stairs, realizing the stairs had collapsed, and subsequently clawing her way up to three stories to the roof significantly easier. Not that it was easy. Even with her hundred-plus stats boosting her basic abilities far beyond what should be possible for an average Human, it was kind of hard to scale sheer rock walls. So difficult in fact that Zoe was forced to drop all of her active skills¡ªincluding lesser disguise. In fact, that was the most important one. Not only did it free up her energy and focus¡ªit made her fingers go from being actual fingers to being those hard, sharp, segmented claws. It still wasn¡¯t easy, but being it so she could literally dig her fingertips, or claws, about a quarter inch into the stone. The claws on her feet also ruined her not-duct tape ¡®boots,¡¯ but that was going to happen soon enough anyway. Reaching the roof, Zoe was pleased to find that it was mostly intact¡ªor it at least looked that way. She really hoped it wasn¡¯t going to suddenly collapse on her and send her plummeting. Near death experiences from falling three stories really shouldn¡¯t happen more than once a week. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re tempting our fate to me.¡± ¡°Shut up Lilith.¡± Walking to the edge of the roof, Zoe looked down at the mob of ghouls. They were starting to finally flow into and up the other building. Flow, because it was more like hungry, undead paste being squeezed upwards excruciatingly slowly than distinct creatures entering. But what was it they were moving towards? Moving her gaze upwards, Zoe scanned the opposing roof. But she didn¡¯t see anything¡ªmaybe it¡¯s inside on the top floor? Then the sound of a door banging open rang out, and someone rushed up the stairs and out onto the roof proper. Lily looked rather frantic as she ran around the roof, like she was trying to find a way to escape. Did she do this herself? Even if it wasn¡¯t technically an infernal alignment, she did have a weakness to hallow, after all. But realizing that she was now just standing out in the open in her raw Demon-form, Zoe started pondering whether to reactivate lesser disguise. Glancing back towards Lily, she met the ice-mage¡¯s eyes. Zoe blinked. Had the elemental summoner seen her? It was so dark¡ªthe only thing that let Zoe herself see anything was her high perception. But then again¡ªshe was still only level fifteen. Lily blinked several times. ¡°Zoe?!¡± Shit. A shimmering bolt of icy magic shot across the gap between the roofs. The small, glittering projectile let out a faint tinkling noise similar to the Frostburn magic used by the cultist Zoe killed. But Zoe also remembered how painful it was when that same magic burned out one eye and nearly killed her¡ªso she dodged the attack and prepared to run. As it turned out, it wasn¡¯t exactly an attack¡ªunless you counted sudden light exposure to be a form of assault. As soon as the tinkling bolt hit the roof beside her, it bloomed into a field of gentle, pale-blue light. It wasn¡¯t even that bright, but Zoe was also right beside it. There was no doubt it illuminated her well-enough¡ªand she¡¯d forgotten to actually activate lesser disguise. Lily¡¯s mouth dropped open. Shit. Even across the empty space, Zoe could just make it out as Lily muttered a curse in disbelief. 25 - Whats A Little Heresy Among Friends? Lily looked like she wanted to run away, but the closest other building was the one Zoe was on¡ªand she couldn¡¯t head back down to the ground, for obvious reasons. Zoe frowned. Am I really that scary? Lilith hummed in response. ¡°Yeah, probably.¡± Well that was just fantastic. Deciding that getting on the good side of a powerful noble was likely a good thing, Zoe made the decision to try helping the other girl. Also, doing so would increase the likelihood that Lily would actually survive. That sounded like something that was the right thing to do. It also helped that Zoe¡¯s building was just slightly lower than Lily¡¯s. There was also a thick railing around both¡ªbut said railings were crumbling in places. If Lily could get a good running start, leap off an intact section of her wall, and aim for a gap in Zoe¡¯s¡ªshe could probably make it, potentially. Zoe then had the bright idea to voice the idea. ¡°Hey! Lily person! You could try running up and leaping off the railing. There¡¯s a section that way where there¡¯s a gap on this one.¡± Zoe paused to take a breath. She wasn¡¯t used to raising her voice much. ¡°Oh also I have a skill that might have a possibility of being able to catch you if you miss.¡± Laughter bubbled up through her bond with Lilith. ¡°You¡¯re using a whole lot of hedge words there¡­¡± That may have been true, but Zoe would rather hedge than make promises she couldn¡¯t keep. Although, it wouldn¡¯t really matter if she broke the promise if Lily died¡ªwould it? Actually¡ªthis was the specific sort of circumstance where she should make the other person feel confident. That would improve the chances of Lily following through and the plan actually working. And if she dies, at least I tried. That was supposed to count for something, right? The other girl wasn¡¯t looking too sure about it, though. She hadn¡¯t said anything back either, which made Zoe feel a bit awkward¡ªsocially speaking. ¡°I think she¡¯s less worried about making the jump and more worried about dealing with the Demon on the other side.¡± Oh, right. Lilith brought up a good point there. Dismissing any ideas about pretending to not be a Demon, Zoe committed to embracing it. Being honest was good for building trust, right? ¡°Yeah, and it¡¯s already pretty obvious¡ªto someone like her, at least.¡± Zoe wasn¡¯t entirely sure what Lilith meant by that, but she could ask later. ¡°Just be sure we don¡¯t reveal anything about being connected to the gods or being an outsider.¡± Sure, Zoe could manage that. She¡¯d be asking about that later as well. Zoe inhaled deeply before shouting again. ¡°Okay yeah, so I¡¯m actually a Demon apparently, but don¡¯t worry because I¡¯m pretty sure saving some kind of noble is useful for later. So I won¡¯t be killing you because I kind of want you to live.¡± A moment of silence¡ªthen the other girl stepped backwards, braced herself, and took off straight towards the railing. Wait, that worked? Zoe didn¡¯t expect convincing her to go so smoothly. ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t think so either. There¡¯s a difference between being honest and doing whatever that was.¡± ¡°Yeah but it worked, so¡­¡± Zoe trailed off as the ice mage reached the edge, pushed off, and careened into the open air on a trajectory that was definitely going to miss. ¡°Well we can¡¯t be having that happen,¡± Zoe muttered to herself. While the elemental summoner would probably cover most of the distance¡ªyeah, she¡¯s definitely going to fall short. Luckily, Zoe had a skill for that. Technically, she had a skill that had a non-zero chance of being useful for that. Blood Whip! There were two main things Zoe needed to accomplish here. The first was to actually snag the girl as she fell. The second was to make sure the whip itself didn¡¯t kill her. She would be pretty pissed if she managed to grab the ice mage, only for her own skill to kill Lily anyway. It took less than a second after activation for a writhing tendril of coiling blood to leap from Zoe¡¯s forearm off into the night. Unfortunately, she missed¡ªbut it was close enough that Lily was able to grab it¡ªwhich the girl thankfully had the good sense to do. Half a second later, and Zoe had her prize firmly secured. Not willing to trust Lily to hold onto it for an extended period of time by herself, Zoe lengthened the whip further and looped around and around to form a crude harness. All that remained was to haul said prize back up to the roof. ¡°Your prize?¡± Lilith chuckled. ¡°I wonder how she¡¯d react if you called her that to her face.¡± Bah. Zoe didn¡¯t intend to do that, so it didn¡¯t really matter. What did matter was that she didn¡¯t actually want to haul over a hundred pounds of woman like twenty feet straight up with her own strength. Having 110 in her power stat didn¡¯t change her aversion to weightlifting. So instead of using her muscles, Zoe used her brain and started lowering Lily back down to the ground. _____ Lily¡ªdid not know what to think of the recent developments. The strength of the Rank F undead caught her terribly off guard once they¡¯d reached sufficient numbers, so she hadn¡¯t prepared for such a hasty retreat. The alleged healer they¡¯d picked up revealing herself to be a blighted Demon was¡ªpretty surprising, even with the benefit of hindsight. Now, said Demon was lowering her back to temporary safety after saving her from a pretty nasty fall. With all of this happening on top of the weirdness of the town square being unequipped and someone stealing a manaship battery from Lord Darius¡ªLily wasn¡¯t certain what to think of things anymore. Honestly? The only thing I¡¯m certain of is that Andric is totally going to kill me. It didn¡¯t help that between the two, Lily would rather deal with this frighteningly stealthy Demon than with her guardian when he was angry. The ground startled her when it finally touched her feet. Lily regained her focus quickly, however, and she slipped away the moment the Demon¡¯s bloody vine released its grip on her. But what now? The ghouls weren¡¯t going to stop chasing her¡ªnot for another hour at least. The mark she¡¯d placed on herself wasn¡¯t going to just go away. She¡¯d already tried. She also had a higher Demon to contend with¡ªa higher Demon that could easily hide itself from both her and Andric¡¯s infernal skills and Sean¡¯s hallowed ones. And that¡¯s not to mention the shapeshifting and fully faked identify. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Whatever this thing was¡ªit had to be fairly powerful. But while that was bad, it was also kind of good too. It meant that the Demon truly had no intention of harming them¡ªnot yet. Either way, Lily hoped that Andric would be able to handle it¡ªyet a cold feeling filled her after that thought. Where is he? Lily had already been wondering what was taking her glorified watchdog so long to hunt her down. His absence alone was a bit concerning¡ªbut with this Demon? Lily didn¡¯t doubt that the creature was Rank C at least. _____ Zoe grumbled to herself as she chased after the runaway ice mage. She hadn¡¯t expected the woman to make a break for it the very moment she released her blood whip¡ªbut it made sense in retrospect. She just hoped she could keep up. Not fucking fair! How am I supposed to keep pace with a full Rank D when I¡¯m only Rank F myself?! The answer to that was quite simple¡ªat least according to Lilith. ¡°Just run faster.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t think that advice was at all helpful¡ªbut she followed it anyway. What else was she supposed to do? ¡°Yeah, exactly, which means it¡¯s good advice.¡± Zoe actually snorted. No, it¡¯s still terrible advice. Being true doesn¡¯t make it useful. Either way, she was definitely not moving fast enough. Her perception was high enough that she could see the distance between them widening¡ªbut her power and acuity weren¡¯t high enough to change that. The other girl was probably going to get away. ¡°Is that such a bad thing?¡± Zoe frowned. Yes? She didn¡¯t understand the question. No, she understood it, but she thought it was stupid. She was literally chasing Lily. Zoe was confident that someone getting away when you wanted to catch up to them was bad by definition. Like, that¡¯s literally the concept of chasing something. Lilith went silent for a moment. ¡°Okay, but do we actually need to catch her? We¡¯d just be returning to the camp anyway. Although¡ªthat might be a bad idea now, since she knows what we are.¡± Skidding around a corner¡ªand nearly slipping on a thin patch of ice¡ªZoe couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes. Yes, which is why I want to catch up to her. If I can just talk to her alone first, there¡¯s a chance I can do something better than just show up in front of everyone or run away. Lilith didn¡¯t say anything in response, which Zoe took as a sign that she made a convincing point. The best option was definitely to talk things out first, given what she already knew about Lily¡ªand what it implied. There was a big problem with that plan though. She needed to catch up to her first. _____ Andric was not having a good time. Granted, the Rank C alchemist rarely had what most would consider to be ¡®a good time.¡¯ That being said, on most days he found himself bored, frustrated, or perhaps marginally entertained. The rest of the time he was too focused to experience any of the other three. However, most days did not lead to him locked in a life-or-death battle with a Rank C Demon while his most important charge had run off to do something undoubtedly idiotic. How a Rank C Demon had found its way so close to the edge of the frozen wastes, he hadn¡¯t the faintest idea. The only reasonable assumption was that it had something to do with the newly-discovered infernal cult activity in the area. Landing in a crouch a dozen or so paces away from the Demon, Andric took a few moments to study the creature. It wasn¡¯t like anything he¡¯d ever heard or read of¡ªlet alone seen. It looked as if someone had taken a monkey, turned it inside out, and then juiced it up with so many elixirs that it should have dissolved into a puddle of sizzling red goop. Granted, it was bleeding noxious, fuming blood from nearly every part of its body. That didn¡¯t have much to do with Andric, actually. It was already doing that when it first attacked him. Also, the horrid thing was clearly tainted with a pretty nasty strain of corruption. Every second, tumorous pores continued to cough up more foul, oily black sludge to mix with the rest of the¡ªfluids. Which is just lovely. Even ignoring how downright disgusting the Demon was, the sight of the corruption more than convinced Andric that he did not want to touch it. The moment was broken when the abomination released a gurgling screech, before leaping across the rubble straight towards him. Andric was fast enough to avoid it with relative ease¡ªwhile the creature was quite fast on its own, its attacks largely amounted to charging straight at him and swinging its appendages wildly. This should have made things very easy for the alchemist¡ªbut instead, he found himself grinding his teeth together as he continued to run circles around the rampaging fiend. While it was a fair bit slower than him, it was still fast enough that it could follow him if he just ran. That would just end with him leading the Demon straight towards Liliana. And while Andric was fast enough to dance circles around the monster, his ward most definitely wasn¡¯t. Talented as she may be, the heiress had not built herself for speed. Andric was not keen to see what would happen should one of the Demon¡¯s wild strikes land on her. Gritting his teeth even harder, the alchemist rolled backwards down a slab of fallen brickwork while releasing a stream of condensed Frostfire point-blank into what used to be the Demon¡¯s face. The monster didn¡¯t scream, but the sounds of gurgling flesh and fracturing ice said plenty. Finally, something might actually work. As a battle-focused alchemist, Andric was best suited to close combat. Immense speed, strength, and resilience usually helped with that¡ªbut they were less useful when he was avoiding any chance of touching the opponent. It didn¡¯t take the Demon long to recover. If it even needed to recover at all¡ªit probably continued charging straight through the attack. Resigned to his fate, Andric drew deeply from the well of latent Frostburn suffusing his flesh like blood. While the alchemically-distilled substance was an integral part of his magic, he tried his best to avoid throwing large amounts of it around. Doing so was essentially wasting power. Most of his magic consumed some, sure, but that was in small amounts that quickly regenerated. Taking it outside his body was a bit risky, so he usually restricted that for forming small blades or some of the more costly spellforms. Neither of those was going to work here. There shouldn¡¯t be anything nearly as strong as this Rank C Demon anywhere nearby¡ªand his ward was in danger. After another hop back to avoid the abomination¡¯s flailing arms, Andric pulled his Frostburn tight¡ªand released it straight towards the crazed Demon. There was no need to activate a skill¡ªit was an extension of his own body. The downside there was that the alchemist staggered beneath the weight of an immense wave of pain. The Demon fared a bit worse, though. A jagged spike of glittering Frostfire erupted from Andric¡¯s body, skewering the corrupted horror straight through the chest and shattering its core. The spike of magic was close to fully crystallizing by the time its glistening tip came to a stop a full two meters out the Demon¡¯s backside. Granted, the creature was dead long before that. Its corrupted, blood-soaked flesh wasn¡¯t, though¡ªso Andric patiently waited to make sure the corpse fully froze over. He only allowed himself to sink to one knee when he got the system notification. You have leveled up! You are now level 73. +1 Power, +1 Durability, +1 Vitality. +5 stat points. Andric decided to save all five of his free points for now. It was always a good idea to have a small amount of buffer as needed, especially once you started reaching higher levels. Also, he had a tingling feeling that things were not going to proceed as expected. After allowing himself another few seconds to regain his energy, the alchemist stood, stretched, and darted off in Liliana¡¯s direction. Using up so much of his internal Frostburn took a lot out of him¡ªafter all, it was now an integral part of his physical body just as much as his magic. He¡¯d just have to hope there wouldn¡¯t be any more corrupted, Rank C Demons roaming around. Don¡¯t count on it, though. When one strange and highly inconvenient thing happened, others usually followed. And to make matters worse, that fiend was clearly artificial. Identify had listed it as a ¡®Corrupted Blood-Crafted Simian of Wrath.¡¯ Andric had seen quite a few Demons in his time¡ªmore than most warriors his age, and that even included the Templars. Thus, he felt confident in his assessment that the Rank C simian was decidedly not a naturally-occurring creature. And with suspected infernal cultists now operating in the area? That removed any doubt that might have been left over. No one within the Blodmane estate had warned him of this either¡ªand they would have, had they known. They probably wouldn¡¯t have allowed Liliana to come. This was, needless to say, bad. But as Andric¡¯s mind turned away from the broader implications, he found himself only growing more worried. It would be pretty bad if he allowed Liliana to die. The fact that she ran away by herself didn¡¯t make it better. It only increased the temptation for him to kill her himself. 26 - Its Called Kiting Zoe was not able to catch up to Lily with speed alone. The other girl was simply much faster than her. However, the girl might have had less stamina, or maybe she was less determined. The latter seemed a less likely explanation though, considering she was probably running for her life. Not that Zoe was going to judge. But regardless of the reason, the result was that the ice mage slowed down at some point, clearly assuming Zoe had lost her. That was an incorrect assumption, because Zoe did have a perception high enough to handle the job. Catching up to the elemental summoner in the near total darkness was surprisingly easy¡ªespecially once Zoe learned how to better rely on her antennae. Yeah, antennae. Lilith may have won that particular battle after all. Zoe still thought they looked like horns though. She also thought they could end up being a bit of a nuisance anywhere that had low doorways. All in all, it only took about three minutes for her to catch up. Also, Zoe approached things a little more intelligently this time¡ªnamely, she made sure to activate both cloak of scorn and mirage. She still wasn¡¯t too sure about what all the former of those did, but she felt like it might have been vaguely helpful for stealth the times she¡¯d used it before. Also, it made her feel less chill. Which is a little odd, because it literally makes everything around it cold. Not that Zoe was one to complain. The one thing she left out was lesser disguise. Even with her stupid Humanitizer title, the skill still came with a significant strain on her magic. Lily already knew she was a Demon, so there was no point in wasting effort that could be better directed elsewhere. Alright. Found the noble. Now what? Zoe may have caught up to the girl, but she still didn¡¯t have a good idea how to approach things. No one had ever told her she was great at dealing with people. ¡°Just use our demagogue class, silly. It literally comes with a Rank B skill called persuasion.¡± Oh. That was a pretty good point. Zoe¡¯s highest-tier skill was literally called persuasion. She¡¯d also barely used it, even when dealing with the cultists. She¡¯d used acting a lot more¡ªoh right, I have that too. She kind of forgot that her entire primary class was about manipulating people to get what she wanted. Even though Lilith wasn¡¯t even physically present¡ªif you could call an imaginary phantom present¡ªZoe somehow got the distinct feeling of a face-palm. The intent behind Lilith¡¯s reaction was crystal clear. Yeah, yeah, I know I know. Give me a break, yeah? Literally my second night here and there¡¯s been a lot of insane shit going on. Zoe was still nervous, but she did what she usually did with unwelcome feelings¡ªshe convinced herself feeling it was lame, followed by pretending it didn¡¯t exist. Then she stepped right in front of Lily and dropped all of her active skills. Lily screamed. Well this isn¡¯t going well. Zoe had hoped for a marginally better reaction, but she wasn¡¯t completely unprepared. In fact, she had enough foresight to have a few skills ready to go. Acting! Persuasion! Surgeon¡¯s Eye! The last one had been a last-minute afterthought. Zoe wanted to see if she could get better at reading people by detecting changes in how their body was, well, doing normal body stuff. Kind of like a polygraph or whatever those lie-detector things were called. It was a bit of a long-shot though. Zoe recalled that lie detectors were hardly reliable¡ªand that was assuming she could even pick up on the same cues. Anyway¡ªLily was still freaking out. ¡°Holy hell, can you please shut up? Just calm the fuck down.¡± Zoe¡¯s eyes widened a bit as she said that, and Lilith made a choking noise¡ªmentally, of course. Zoe didn¡¯t have any idea why she shouted at her, or why she shouted that specifically. Her intention had been to lean on the persuasion skill and then just do whatever felt right. ¡°Actually, it looks like it worked.¡± Lilith was right. Lily had stopped being so loud and was now facing Zoe eye to eye with a much calmer expression. Maybe not calmer¡ªmore collected was more accurate. The ice mage did take a few cautious steps back, though. Well, if channeling persuasion and blurting things out works¡­ If it wasn¡¯t broke, why fix it? Unconventional was fine if it got the right results. ¡°I know that you know that I could kill you if I wanted to.¡± What? Zoe definitely couldn¡¯t actually kill her¡ªbut realizing that Lily¡¯s behavior implied the other girl believed that was interesting. ¡°Also, I could have killed you earlier, which would be a lot more convenient. Like, convenient if I wanted to kill you. Which for the most part I don¡¯t.¡± Seeing the ice-mage¡¯s eyes going wider, Zoe hesitated for a moment. Am I making this worse? It did seem like a pretty intimidating thing to say, and not something that was good for calming people down. But Zoe didn¡¯t have any better ideas, so she decided to just go along for the ride. ¡°Also, I¡¯d be really annoyed if I saved you and then you just ran away to get killed or something.¡± Lily blinked. And that was it. Zoe narrowed her eyes. Is she still not going to say anything? But what could Zoe say next? This was getting even more awkward. Speaking didn¡¯t feel right though¡ªbut was that feedback from her skills, or was that just anxiety getting to her? Then the other girl relaxed a bit¡ªmostly her shoulders slumped. The rest of her posture shifted too, giving an overall impression that she was no longer planning to fight or run. It looked like Zoe made the right choice by listening to her gut there. Lily tilted her head as she met Zoe¡¯s eyes. ¡°Why?¡± Zoe frowned. Why what, she thought. The obvious interpretation was ¡®why would you help me¡¯¡ªbut instead of clarifying that or simply answering, Zoe tilted her own head to match. Clearing her throat, Lily gestured around helplessly for a moment¡ª¡°I mean, why would you help me?¡± Then she interrupted herself before Zoe could give an answer. ¡°Like okay, I don¡¯t trust you, but I do believe that you aren¡¯t going to kill me. But I want to know why you¡¯re helping me.¡± Oh, that¡¯s simple. Zoe wouldn¡¯t have needed any of her demagogue skills for that. ¡°Easy, I¡¯m new here, and you¡¯re a rebellious young noble. I doubt it would be controversial to say making friends with you is a good idea.¡± Lily pursed her lips at that. ¡°I see.¡± Then she sighed. ¡°So you want to use me for my influence and status.¡± ¡°Uh, yes.¡± Zoe thought that exceedingly obvious. ¡°It seems you¡¯ve figured me out.¡± She hadn¡¯t, actually, but Zoe wasn¡¯t going to let the ice-mage know that. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s literally our reason for doing this,¡± Lilith remarked, ¡°I¡¯d say that she¡¯s figured us out.¡± That was true, yes, but not the full picture. Not that Zoe bothered to explain as such. But, to her surprise, Lily deflated even further at that. Rather than scared, the noble girl looked depressed. It was kind of pathetic. ¡°Well that¡¯s great,¡± she mumbled. ¡°I¡¯m sure any other noble would be just thrilled to make your acquaintance.¡± Would they? Zoe didn¡¯t think so. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t think so. In fact, I think you¡¯re being rather sarcastic.¡± An arched eyebrow¡ªand was that a smile she had to restrain. ¡°Really?¡± No, it wasn¡¯t a smile¡ªLily¡¯s mouth twitched with the barest hint of a smirk. ¡°Really? What gave it away?¡± ¡°It was mostly the tone of voice,¡± Zoe admitted. ¡°That being said, you are not most nobles. Well, probably. I don¡¯t think most of them have infernal and blood alignments.¡± Lily¡¯s eyes widened¡ªand Zoe smirked. Got you with that one! While identify didn¡¯t say that Lily had an infernal alignment¡ªjust a blood one¡ªAndric did. It wasn¡¯t much of a stretch to guess that Lily had at least some familiarity with the infernal as well. Also, persuasion and acting were still helping her. Those skills were also part of how Zoe realized Lily was looking past her. Wait, was it something else that surprised her? Zoe turned around. ¡°Huh.¡± There were a whole lot of ghouls coming towards them. Not nearly as thick as they had been surrounding the building earlier¡ªbut calling it a stampede might be underselling it. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look good.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Lily nodded once, sharply. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s probably not good.¡± She glanced back at Zoe as a trickle of magic flowed out of her¡ªZoe could feel it with her horns. Antennae. ¡°Uh, what do we do now?¡± Lily asked. That was a good question. The ghouls had closed the distance faster than Zoe expected¡ªthe tide of undead was quite nearly upon them. She rubbed the back of her neck. ¡°We should probably run.¡± _____ ¡°So just making sure I¡¯m understanding this correctly,¡± Zoe started, ¡°you have a skill that applies a curse on a single target to make infernal-aligned monsters target them?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Lily confirmed. The two of them were still running down the main boulevard of the dead city in no particular direction. Well, that wasn¡¯t quite accurate¡ªthey¡¯d been running straight in the exact same direction for several minutes now. The expansive, two-sided through-way made doing so relatively easy. It was also a decent strategy, because they were both faster than most of the ghouls. Trying to lose the still-growing horde in the side streets wouldn¡¯t work, and it would make something ambushing or cutting them off a whole lot easier. ¡°Okay, so then you went and applied that curse to yourself, because you were tired of having to run around all over the place to fight them?¡± Zoe wouldn¡¯t say it aloud, but she did have to admit to herself that it would have been clever¡ªhad the ice-mage understood the true scope of the monster population. Although, it only worked in the first place because these specific undead happened to have some infernal influence on top of the blight. ¡°It would have also worked better if she didn¡¯t get herself trapped in a building that they could surround,¡± Lilith chipped in. ¡°If you¡¯re going to actively farm for levels like that, you should be prepared enough to hold out on your own.¡± Yeah, that sounded like a good point too. Zoe relayed it back to Lily, who then had the nerve to glare at her. ¡°That was literally the entire point of staying in the building,¡± the elemental summoner explained. ¡°I knew that there were going to be a lot of them, so I thought I could use the right kind of building as a kind of fort. It made a pretty good framework for conjuring extra fortifications from ice.¡± Oh¡ªwas that something the other girl could do? It made a decent amount of sense. Zoe had already seen the ice-sword, and she¡¯d also already thought about how ice could be a good element for quickly creating solid stuff. The name of Lily¡¯s primary class continued to throw her off, though. With a name like ¡®elemental summoner,¡¯ Zoe expected, well, summons. Creatures made out of ice with ice powers. Instead, the noble had been using a lot of ice powers, but Zoe hadn¡¯t seen her actually summon anything. ¡°You¡¯re confusing the concept with the elementalist class,¡± Lilith chimed in. ¡°An elemental summoner isn¡¯t a proper summoner like you¡¯d imagine. Although those do exist by the way. Elemental summoner is more like a middle area between the two. Compared to elementalists, elemental summoners typically focus more on persistent constructs and more complex effects.¡± That did actually explain things. Zoe pondered it for a moment, thinking back to everything she¡¯d seen Lily do so far. Constructs¡­ so would that be things like that sword she makes? The answer, according to Lilith, was a definitive yes. But with that out of the way¡ª¡°Okay, so let me just ask this one more time, just to be clear.¡± Zoe knew the answer, but it was always good to double-check¡ªand she might also want to rub things in a little. ¡°You applied the curse to yourself, but you can¡¯t remove it yourself?¡± ¡°I mean, I can¡¯t remove it from other targets either,¡± Lily said. ¡°We¡¯re just going to have to wait it out.¡± Zoe opened her mouth, but Lily must have predicted her next question. ¡°Probably about another half-hour now.¡± Damnit. That was way too long. Sure, Zoe was confident they could survive for another half hour¡ªbut she didn¡¯t want to keep running for that long. Maybe I could just ditch her. A gleeful cackle resonated within her mind in response to that thought. ¡°I love the way we think,¡± Lilith crooned, ¡°but that sounds like a waste of some easy levels.¡± Easy levels? Zoe glanced back at the swarm of ghouls ever on their heels. They couldn¡¯t stop, because then they¡¯d get overrun. But since they were being chased, it was hard to actually kill any of them. Only a few of the undead monsters were fast enough to catch up to them. Then one of them would splatter it, and it was back to impromptu cardio. ¡°We could try running backwards.¡± Zoe blinked. That¡¯s¡ªactually a good suggestion. They were already faster than the ghouls, and the boulevard was long and straight. What was the worst that could happen? It would certainly make things more interesting. Also, the ghouls weren¡¯t after her specifically. They just tried to kill her every now and then because she was there¡ªa would-be victim of convenience. I guess I¡¯ll go ahead and try it. Pulling ahead of Lily a little bit¡ªjust to have some room in case she fucked up and fell or something¡ªZoe twisted around and started running backwards. It actually worked, to her moderate surprise. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Lily called out to her. Glancing over her own shoulder, the ice-mage checked to make sure Zoe wasn¡¯t reacting to something new happening. Evidently seeing nothing, she then just looked confused. Zoe, meanwhile, was feeling quite pleased with herself. Running backwards was a whole lot easier than she¡¯d expected. It was only a bit slower and took more focus. A small price to pay, when the upside was getting to actually look at the things she was trying to fight. Oh wait, Lily asked something, didn¡¯t she? ¡°Yeah,¡± Lilith confirmed, ¡°she wanted to know what we were doing. You know, by running backwards like this.¡± Oh, that was easy. Zoe grinned. ¡°It¡¯s called kiting!¡± That really was the best word for it. Sure, it was mostly a videogame thing, not something that happened in real-life¡ªexcept Zoe was literally doing it now. Sort of. She had yet to find out if it would ultimately work out like she hoped¡ªshe needed to start using some of her more offensive skills for that. ¡°Kiting?¡± Lily scrunched up her forehead in confusion. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Kiting! You know, you have a whole bunch of shit chasing you, but if you run normally it¡¯s hard to attack anything. But if you stop then you¡¯ll get overwhelmed!¡± Lily did not look any less confused. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s literally what¡¯s happening right now. What do you propose we do about it?¡± Grinning, Zoe called on a skill which was quickly becoming a trusty standby. Blood Whip! The sanguine coil materialized in her hand instantly¡ªbut she didn¡¯t unleash it just yet. She wanted to be just a bit more dramatic about this. After all¡ªshe was still trying to make a certain kind of impression on the other girl. With that in mind, she also activated acting again. Acting! Then she flashed her signature grin¡ªthe cocky, self-assured badass variation, to be exact. ¡°Yep! We can¡¯t not run, but that also makes it hard to fight. So I¡¯m gonna try kiting!¡± It looked like Lily was trying to do a cold, skeptical raised-eyebrow thing¡ªbut running for her life while sweaty and out-of-breath mostly ruined it. ¡°Which is?¡± Zoe smirked. ¡°You run backwards.¡± Lily just stared. She was probably going to say something, but that wasn¡¯t what came next in Zoe¡¯s script. No¡ªthat would be obliterating ghouls. Zoe unleashed the whip. So far, Lily had only seen her use the whip on its own¡ªand only ever on one ghoul at a time. But that wouldn¡¯t do here¡ªZoe needed to make a statement. She might still only be Rank F¡ªbut she also had the perfect skill for that. Rending Touch! Acting entirely on impulse, she also attempted to overload the skill combination with the help of her bloodshaper trait. It might have worked, because she suddenly stumbled. It felt like the combination of skills had taken nearly half her blood for that single activation. Regaining her footing was easy, but she feared it made her look a whole lot less cool in the process. That fear turned out to be ill-founded. Upon connecting with the first rank of ghouls, the whip¡ªdidn¡¯t exactly stop. Stretching out dozens of meters more, the lashing, sanguine magic continued carving deeper into the horde. It was less like a whip at that point and more like a bloody scythe. By the time the attack reached its limit and snapped back to Zoe¡¯s waiting hands, Zoe had reaped a full five-or-so ranks of undead. Those that weren¡¯t immediately bisected found themselves irrecoverably lacerated inside and out. That was mostly due to the combination with rending touch¡ªbut blood whip still did more than enough damage on its own. Even with glancing hits. Then the notifications came. Blood Whip has reached level 7! Blood Whip has reached level 8! Blood Whip has reached level 9! Rending Touch has reached level 5! Rending Touch has reached level 6! You have leveled up! You are now level 16. +15 stat points. +10% core progression. New Quest! [LET¡¯S GO FLY A KITE] You know what kiting is, but knowing isn¡¯t the same as doing. And they say you know something if you can teach it¡ªlet¡¯s see if you can teach Lily to fly a kite. -Rewards- 1 Magic Kite (Rank E) (Upgradeable) -Progress- > Successfully kite: > Convince Lily to try kiting: > Successfully kite the ghouls with Lily Quest Update! [THE FIRST HARVEST] As a newly minted Higher Demon, you now have the power to accelerate your own advancement with the blood of others. Ordinary Humans can actually do that too, but having thrown away your mortal shell first makes it feel significantly more dramatic. A humble suggestion¡ªslaughtering 250 monsters of the same core type might be a good start. -Rewards- 1 Elemental Awakening Core (Rank E) -Progress- 151 / 250 That¡¯s a lot of stuff. Zoe didn¡¯t think she could complain about running from the ghouls anymore. Well¡ªshe could, but it would be bad form¡ªor something like that. These were some pretty good rewards. She¡¯d walk away from this happy, even if she didn¡¯t end up succeeding the quest. If only cardio routines back on Earth had been this engaging. Of course, there were a whole lot more ghouls that Zoe hadn¡¯t killed. While impressive, her little stunt had only made a small dent in their numbers¡ªand it had cost her close to half her own blood. Not exactly sustainable¡ªprobably. Lily, though? She looked impressed. That was good, because it meant she was more likely to keep taking Zoe seriously¡ªand more importantly, she was also more likely to let Zoe complete the new quest. She clearly hadn¡¯t committed to the running backwards thing, though, only taking increasingly bold potshots over her shoulder. That¡¯s not going to do. Zoe wasn¡¯t going to get her quest reward if things continued like that. And while Zoe had no idea what a magic kite was or what it was used for¡­ I know I really fucking want one. 27 - Two Alchemists, Twice The Trouble By the time the ghouls started visibly thinning out, Zoe was more interested in playing with her new kite than actually fighting anything. That left Lily to do the majority of the work¡ªwhich was fine. It was the ice-mage¡¯s idea to fight the undead in the first place. Also, Zoe was still advancing at a delightfully rapid pace. Surgeon¡¯s Eye has reached level 4! Rejuvenate has reached level 3! You have leveled up! You are now level 20. +15 stat points. +1% core progression. ¡°Five more levels, and we might get a decent class evolution,¡± Lilith said. ¡°That¡¯ll be interesting to see.¡± Zoe blinked. A class evolution? Popping into ¡®existence¡¯ right in front of Zoe¡¯s face, the doll-version of Lilith sighed. ¡°I thought we already talked about that. It¡¯s sort of the equivalent of core evolutions for people who have the class system.¡± Yes, Zoe already knew that. What she didn¡¯t know was that she was already super close to doing one. That seemed¡ªa little quick, honestly¡ªbut she had already done her first core evolution. ¡°It¡¯s not normally this quick,¡± Lilith added. ¡°Our case has been¡­ somewhat unusual, so far. But also, it¡¯s more common to do your first class evolution at level fifty. It¡¯s possible to get the option at level twenty-five, though¡ªbut it¡¯s not always a good idea.¡± Zoe couldn¡¯t help but frown at that. ¡°What do you mean it might not be a good idea?¡± Clearly sensing Zoe¡¯s apprehension, the flying plushie was quick to reassure her. ¡°It could also be a really good thing, and just getting the option doesn¡¯t ever have any downsides. It¡¯s just, you¡¯re better off waiting until the normal level fifty if none of the options seem that good to you.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± That was more or less intuitive enough. The system might give her an early-bird option, but that option wasn¡¯t necessarily good. If it was good, though, taking it then would probably make her advance even faster. ¡°Yep,¡± Lilith added in response. Thinking it over, Zoe landed on a fairly obvious question. What if I don¡¯t get any good-looking upgrades at level fifty? Do I keep waiting then?¡± A shake of the doll¡¯s head. ¡°No. You don¡¯t. At that point, you just have to accept whatever you think you can work with. It would kind of suck, but you should always have one choice that¡¯s at least a marginal improvement. You won¡¯t be getting anything new if you don¡¯t make a choice at level fifty.¡± That meant¡ªwait, so assuming I get a choice at level twenty-five, will I still have those choices available if I wait until level fifty?¡± Lilith¡¯s answer was ¡®yes¡¯¡ªwith an asterisk, it seemed. ¡°You should, yes. There might be some weird edge-cases that cause some obscure issue¡ªbut the chances of that happening are probably astronomical.¡± The cartoon-like doll held up a finger to shush Zoe. ¡°And yes, even for someone like us.¡± Well, that just meant that taking a class upgrade at level twenty-five was a true gamble. If you would have all the same options later¡ªplus some¡ªthen doing it early was purely for trying to advance faster by getting stronger earlier. That sounded like the kind of risk for people who were either overly-confident¡ªor desperate. ¡°Perhaps,¡± was all Lilith said to that. Zoe couldn¡¯t get a read on the apparition this time. She genuinely could not tell whether the plushie approved, disapproved, or was just plain uninterested. Either way, it literally doesn¡¯t matter. Zoe was happy to squeeze information out of the thing¡ªbut she had little desire to stick to its advice. So instead of figuring that one out, she felt like now was a good point to check the condition of her full status. [ZOE BLACKWELL] Level 20 | Rank F Demagogue, Bloody Devotee Higher Demon of Disdain -Alignment- > Infernal > Disdain > Blood -Active Quests- > Claim Your Right > The First Harvest (229 / 250) -Active Titles- > Outsider > Usurper > Humanitizer > No Love Among Fiends -Stats and Bindings- Power 120 Perception 120 Acuity 120 Durability 120 Vitality 164 -General Skills- > Identify 4 (Rank C) > Hallowed Touch (Tierless) > Mana Channeling 2 (Rank F) -Primary Class Skills- > Acting 3 (Rank D) > Persuasion 3 (Rank B) > Mirage 5 (Rank E) > Lesser Disguise 2 (Rank C) > Cloak of Scorn 5 (Rank E) System Display Privileges (Sys-Tier) -Secondary Class Skills- > Rejuvenate 3 (Rank F) > Mending Touch 2 (Rank D) > Rending Touch 6 (Rank D) > Surgeon¡¯s Eye 4 (Rank E) > Blood Whip 9 (Rank E) [JUVENILE BLOOD FIEND CORE] 26% Developed | Rank A -Traits- > Natural Weapons (Rank E) > Arcane Antennae (Rank E) > Bloodshaper (Rank C) > Heart of Alchemy (Rank B) > Personal Inventory (Rank B) > Magic Resistance (Rank C) -Effects- > +60 Power, +60 Durability, +82 Vitality > Infernal Alignment > Disdain Alignment > Blood Alignment -Available- > 63 stat points It was looking pretty impressive, Zoe couldn¡¯t help but think. While the overall structure remained roughly the same, she had definitely come a long, long way from the near-death fiasco that was the cult ritual. Lilith remained silent¡ªZoe took that as an implicit sign that her Demonic head-mate agreed. Aside from completing the kite quest¡ªand getting a kite¡ªZoe had gained five levels and quite a few stat points. Forty of those points went to actually boosting her stats¡ªwith the exception of the still-ridiculous, she¡¯d bumped them all to exactly 120. That left sixty-three. She didn¡¯t have any intention of spending those, because she had been gaining them fast enough that anything under one-hundred felt like a reasonable buffer to have. Also, she¡¯d gained quite a few levels in her skills. Both acting and persuasion had increased from level one to level three over the course of the night¡ªentirely due to her interactions with Lily. After her explosive first attack against the mob of ghouls, blood whip and rending touch had remained at levels nine and six respectively¡ªbut that was already a good amount of improvement. Aside from surgeon¡¯s eye and rejuvenate, cloak of scorn had leveled up once. It was now at level five.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Zoe still didn¡¯t understand much about what it did, but levels were levels. Also, she¡¯d only leveled up rejuvenate twice by spamming it on Lily. At this point, using it on herself was practically a net loss. The amount of magic it drained took more time to recover than it took her body to recover passively with the bloodshaper trait. The most important development, though, was definitely the kite. ¡°Woo-hoo!¡± Zoe cheered as the kite did a 720-degree spin, plummeted down just inches away from the ground, skating just above the surface, and arched back upwards into the moonless night. It wasn¡¯t that impressive¡ªbut it was also harder than it looked. Zoe had never actually flown a kite before. ¡°It might help that it¡¯s a magic item and barely requires any wind,¡± Lilith remarked rather dryly. ¡°I doubt we¡¯d be so skilled with a normal kite.¡± The fact that it was true only made Zoe even more pleased to have gotten the kite as a quest reward. A magic-filled new world could be all fighting, killing, and growing stronger. Zoe would have to ask for a refund if that were the case. ¡°Are you going to help me, or are you just going to keep flying your stupid kite?¡± Lily was currently struggling to fend off four especially fast and agile ghouls at the moment. She was doing alright so far¡ªbut it was a bit of a stalemate. One of the ghouls had already lost an arm, but that didn¡¯t stop them from continuing to hound the elemental summoner from all sides. It was bad enough that the ice-mage had stopped running backwards and was now moving in the ordinary forwards direction. ¡°If you can spare the attention to complain at me, you can handle it yourself,¡± Zoe fired back. ¡°I¡¯m busy too, you know. A little tied-up here.¡± ¡°Yeah, tied up with a fucking kite,¡± Lily snarled. Lunging to the side, she relieved a ghoul of its leg. While that didn¡¯t kill it, it left the monster unable to keep up with the pace of the pursuit. One down, two and four-fifths to go, Zoe thought. When Lilith asked what she meant by that, Zoe explained that it wasn¡¯t entirely accurate to say there were three ghouls left if one of them was missing an arm. It¡¯s not going to bleed out or anything, so taking out an arm is a decent chunk of progress. It¡¯s like those enemies in games that have multiple components with different health bars. Zoe¡¯s logic was flawless, but Lilith didn¡¯t seem convinced. ¡°That has got to be the stupidest way to count something I¡¯ve ever heard.¡± Uh, no it¡¯s not! Zoe knew for an absolute fact that wasn¡¯t true, because Lilith had all of her memories. Remember that time in ninth grade when we thought we could count cards but also thought that the face cards were worth eleven, twelve, and thirteen? That was pretty stupid. ¡°And embarrassing,¡± Lilith added. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me of that. Maybe we¡¯re just bad at counting things.¡± That was probably true, Zoe had to admit. Either way, she still thought you couldn¡¯t say you had a whole ghoul if it was missing an entire arm. _____ Lily decided right then and there that this shitty Demon was just as bad as Lord Darius. Sure, the whole ¡®kiting¡¯ thing had worked out pretty well¡ªup until the Demon pulled a literal kite out of nowhere and started dicking around. Honestly¡ªthe elemental summoner didn¡¯t know who that reflected poorly on¡ªthat this Demon carried on in a similar way to Lord Darius, or that Lord Darius was as bad as a literal Demon. If anything, that just made it worse¡ªand Lily couldn¡¯t help but feel like it was closer to the former. As she bisected a particularly daring ghoul with her sword of winter¡¯s edge, Lily¡¯s thoughts turned back to the question of where Andric was. It was frankly quite odd that the minder sent by her biological parents hadn¡¯t caught up to them yet. Despite how frustrating it was to be constantly under his watch, Lily felt real worry. It wasn¡¯t like him to let her disappear for long¡ªespecially in an area as dangerous as this. The most likely thing the ice-mage could imagine was that something else had delayed him¡ªor worse. It was still nearly unthinkable¡ªbut what other explanation was there? It was also rather concerning. The alchemist was the most combat-capable member of their expedition by far. ¡°You look deep in thought about something.¡± Lily made a short yelp as the Demon spoke from right beside her. She hadn¡¯t noticed the creature approaching. Frowning, the Humanoid Demoness moved away slightly. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to spook you.¡± Skewering three ghouls with a single spike of ice, Lily shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± The Demon¡ªit called itself ¡®Zoe¡¯¡ªwas really quite Human-seeming. The mostly Human appearance it had chosen, combined with its bizarre attitude towards everything, made it somehow more unsettling. Lily had encountered a few higher Demons before¡ªand more than a few lower¡ªand none of them had been anything like this. Then again, the elemental summoner thought as she ran forwards again to regain some ground¡ªall of the higher Demons were pretty different from each other. This one could simply be following the pattern of being predictably unusual. ¡°You seem worried about something,¡± it said again, ¡°and I get the feeling it¡¯s not me this time.¡± Well, you¡¯re only mostly correct about that, Lily thought. But what should she say? Screw it. I¡¯ll just tell it the truth. Ironically, that was often the best approach when dealing with the more intelligent Demons. It was actually a major part of the Blodmane approach to dealing with infernal monsters. Avoid lying¡ªbut you should never be fully open with them either. ¡°I¡¯m just wondering what¡¯s taking Andric so long. The alchemist who was with us. I expected him to show up a while ago.¡± ¡°Are you worried something happened to him?¡± Lily shook her head. Technically, she was just a little bit¡ªbut she was mainly worried that something had simply delayed him considerably. Either way, it definitely wasn¡¯t good. ¡°He¡¯s always annoyed when I slip away¡ªbut if something serious ended up holding him up for this long¡­¡± she trailed off. ¡°You¡¯re worried he¡¯s going to kill you.¡± The Demon said it more like a statement than a question¡ªand the Demon is probably correct, Lily thought, her eyes narrowing and her gaze darkening. ¡°The Demon is correct.¡± Both of them froze upon hearing the terrifyingly familiar voice. Spinning around, Lily came face-to-face with a pissed off alchemist. No¡ªhe should have been pissed off. Instead, his face was a cold, flat mask. Lily audibly gulped. That¡¯s bad. Pissing him off enough that his cool demeanor slipped was already bad enough. Pissing him off so much that he circled back around to stoicism was even worse. _____ Zoe looked back and forth between the two, her eyes moving like the pendulum of an old grandfather clock. They¡¯d moved to a nearby rooftop to have their little chat¡ªshe and Lily had thinned out the ghouls enough by this point that the idea of a defensible fortification actually worked as intended. Also, the curse Lily put on herself was supposedly about to wear off. ¡°I would be considerably more irate with you had this Demon decided to kill you upon making your acquaintance. As it is, I suppose I¡¯ll have to thank you for accidentally getting Zoe here to reveal itself.¡± Andric¡¯s eyes roamed up and down Zoe¡¯s body much in the way the chief cultist¡¯s had. She couldn¡¯t help but shiver a little. Why were all the guys here looking at her like that? She didn¡¯t know if the clinical, power-hungry appraisal was better or worse than the lust she was much more familiar with. Also¡ªCan everyone please stop calling me an it? That was getting annoying. It was insulting, actually. Just because I¡¯m a Demon doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m a thing. I¡¯m a very nice and respectable formerly-Human woman, thank you. ¡°And you.¡± Andric addressed Zoe directly. ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Thank you for your assistance.¡± Oh. That was unexpected. Then again, a lot of things were unexpected recently. That¡¯s why Zoe wasn¡¯t surprised, even though she didn¡¯t expect it. ¡°Thank you for thanking me.¡± That wasn¡¯t how you normally said that, but it was probably fine. Honestly, Zoe wanted to just ditch these two and go play with her kite. That wasn¡¯t much of an option, though. Not that anyone said she couldn¡¯t¡ªbut Zoe got the idea that she shouldn¡¯t run off right now. ¡°That¡¯s probably for the best,¡± Lilith said. ¡°It would be a shame to do all that work getting Lily on your side, only to run away with nothing but a magic kite.¡± Yes, that was exactly what Zoe was thinking. The kite was a definite bonus, but ingratiating herself into the group was still the main point. She didn¡¯t think Andric would chase her down or anything¡ªit would just be counterproductive. It was just another one of those awkward interpersonal moments you had to suffer through. Just, in the context of a lot more high-stakes violence than usual. Zoe¡¯s attention snapped back into focus as the alchemist clapped his hands together. ¡°Good. Now that the explanations are finished, I suggest we move on.¡± He looked at Lily first. ¡°You.¡± Lily gulped again¡ªZoe could hear it. ¡°We¡¯re going back to the buddy system at least until we return to Verdanport¡ªno, not that. Until we return to the Gershenfeld estate in Verdanport and after everyone who needs to discuss this incident is satisfied.¡± Buddy system? Zoe raised an eyebrow. What¡¯s that supposed to mean? The only thing she could think of was that thing for children where they had to each hold the end of a short rope when you sent them off in pairs. It was like a scouting thing. If that¡¯s what Andric meant here¡ªyeah that sounds pretty humiliating. Judging by how the already-pale woman paled several impossible shades further, Zoe suspected her assumption was close enough. ¡°And you, Demon.¡± Zoe¡¯s gaze flicked over to meet the alchemist¡¯s eyes far too quickly. She couldn¡¯t help but curse herself for reacting to that particular¡ªform of address so automatically. Lilith laughed, but Zoe ignored the vile fiend. ¡°I suggest you resume whatever you were doing to conceal yourself. Most people aren¡¯t going to take the revelation as well as we have.¡± Zoe started to nod. ¡°While that is certainly true, I¡¯m afraid that by now they are all well-aware.¡± All three of them spun around to face an unfamiliar voice. Unfamiliar to Zoe, because her current two companions clearly recognized the aged gentleman who had just emerged onto the rooftop. A complex mixture of emotions crawled across both their faces. ¡°Good evening, Lord Darius,¡± Andric greeted him after a moment. During that time, Zoe took the opportunity to study the man. Despite his elderly appearance, he was quite handsome¡ªtall, sharp-jawed, and still possessing a full head of thick¡ªif snow-white¡ªhair. He wore a long, deep-blue coat over some sort of old-fashioned suit and a matching pair of slacks. Well, it looked old to Zoe. That could just be the current style here. She did also notice he was completely clean-shaven. He definitely could have pulled off a fantastic gentlemanly beard¡ªnot that he needed it. As she continued to examine the man, he pulled out a silver pocket watch from within his vest. ¡°I believe it should be ¡®good morning.¡¯ Ah, well¡ªgood morning Andric. And good morning to you, Lady Gershenfeld¡ªand to the unnamed Demon standing next to you.¡± Based on the reactions around her, fragments she remembered from conversations earlier¡ªbut most of all, from the way Lord Darius carried himself and spoke¡ªZoe knew instinctively that he was powerful. ¡°I would advise treating him in the same category as the cultist chieftain or that paladin,¡± Lilith cautioned her. ¡°¡­if not higher.¡± Still, he kind of pissed her off. Being called ¡®unnamed¡¯ on top of being repeatedly referred to as an ¡®it¡¯ was crossing a line. It did help that Lord Darius had said that last bit in a cheeky tone, though¡ªas in, it helped Zoe feel confident lashing out, not making it less irritating. ¡°Not knowing my name doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t have one,¡± Zoe scowled. ¡°And I¡¯m a she, not an it.¡± Several other people clambered up the stairwell at the same time. Lord Darius arched an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? Have my students offended you? I don¡¯t recall ever using that particular pronoun for you.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t know how to react anymore, so she just decided to let this play out¡ªwhatever this was. From the wary and half-defeated looks of Andric and Lily, she suspected she wasn¡¯t alone. ¡°Ah! But the name!¡± Zoe tried to answer, but the strange man interrupted her before she could. ¡°No no! Let me guess¡­ let¡¯s see¡ªEsilyn?¡± ¡°No.¡± Zoe did answer, but she was paying more attention to the three people who¡¯d stepped up around Lord Darius. She recognized them of course¡ªthat enchanter Millie with her bow, the archmage Arthur with his thin metal staff¡ªand most worrying, the dollar-store paladin Sean. Strangely, they all looked more exhausted than angry or confused. ¡°Oh, not Esilyn? Then maybe it¡¯s Grace.¡± Zoe blinked at that. Wasn¡¯t that the name she made up for the cultist chief¡ªwhat was his name again, Basil? That would be a weird coincidence. A bit wary herself now, she slowly shook her head. Then Lord Darius snapped his fingers. ¡°Oh, silly me. I get it now.¡± The slight smile creeping across his features looked slightly predatory. Like a playful cat, Zoe thought. ¡°I know¡ªit was Zoe Blackwell, wasn¡¯t it.¡± Zoe¡¯s eyes widened. If he had only guessed the first part, she could assume one of the other three party members had told him, and he was just messing with her. She¡¯d already told them her name was Zoe. But¡­ I never gave any of them my last name. 28 - Verdanport As Zoe was still reeling from her shock, everyone else was busy dealing with this whole messy revelation as well. ¡°Wait, how did you all figure out she was a Demon?¡± Lily asked. The answer turned out to be rather¡ªlame. ¡°Lord Darius told us,¡± Millie grunted. ¡°No idea how he figured it out, though. By the way he was talking he figured it out before he even arrived.¡± Lily turned to the old, hideously smug-looking man. ¡°How did you figure it out?¡± ¡°I guessed.¡± What? ¡°What?¡± Lily looked incredulous. ¡°How in the damned abyss did you guess?¡± Shrugging, Lord Darius started ticking some points off on his fingers. ¡°So one of you is an Acolyte of Faith, and he detects a strong infernal presence that suddenly disappears. Then, a strange, blood-covered woman passes out in the same room as you, revealing herself from some form of invisibility in the process. Let¡¯s see¡ªshe says she was a victim of an infernal cult, but she escaped¡ªsomehow.¡± Pausing, Lord Darius raised an eyebrow. ¡°None of you thought anything of this? When you also found her in a barren, uninhabited wasteland full of infernal-aligned monsters?¡± At this point, Lily¡¯s mouth was just hanging open. If anything, Andric looked frustrated¡ªand the aforementioned acolyte of faith Sean had a ponderous look that was hard to read. As for Millie and Arthur though¡ªthe enchanter and archmage almost looked pleased. ¡°Told you so,¡± Millie whispered as she elbowed Arthur in the side. Then she faced Lily. ¡°I had no idea you were actually a Blodmane.¡± And with that, the tension that had been steadily draining skyrocketed to record levels. Arthur and Sean both groaned, Andric looked angry, and Lily¡ªLily looked like she had frozen stiff. Zoe could practically see the loading icon spinning above her head as the ice-mage failed to process the statement. Zoe didn¡¯t have any idea what that actually meant¡ªbut all the different reactions told her it was some sort of big deal¡ªand that means I should pay attention. She tried her best to note each and every one of their reactions¡ªincluding Lord Darius, who seemed to be holding back a smirk¡ªalmost successfully. That confirms it, Zoe thought, this guy is an absolute troll. She¡¯d have to watch out for any disasters he could wreak upon her without warning. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯d be able to stop him,¡± Lilith commented, ¡°at least not anytime soon.¡± Yes, Zoe was well aware of that. She hadn¡¯t even bothered to try using identify¡ªthere was no point to repeat the pain she remembered from failing to identify the cultist chief. By watching out, she meant being prepared for shit to go sideways because of him. Inevitability did not preclude the ability to handle things with grace. Arthur was the first one to try to speak¡ªand Lord Darius leapt in the very instant he tried. Zoe¡¯s eyes widened a bit. He was literally waiting for when he would try to explain something. ¡°Arthur here revealed that little secret to us,¡± Lord Darius said, his tone far more serious than the faint sparkle in his eye. ¡°I admit I found myself surprised, but I fail to see how such a revelation could change the dynamics of our arrangement.¡± He raked his gaze across each and every one of them as he said that. When his gaze settled on Arthur, the archmage did nothing to hide his own glare. ¡°Well he looks pretty pissed,¡± Lilith remarked. ¡°I wonder what that¡¯s all about.¡± _____ Arthur was pissed. He stuck close by Millie on their retreat back to the coast¡ªif only because getting too close to anyone else would be worse. Lily was still all distraught-looking, Andric looked like he wanted to kill him, Sean looked oddly conflicted, and the other two were blighted Demons. The ¡®healer¡¯ they¡¯d ¡®rescued¡¯ turned out to be a shape-shifting, status-obscuring Demon of disdain, which was pretty fucking fun. Worse than that though, their technically-Human sponsor proved once again to be a sadistic psychopath hell-bent on the advancement of Human suffering. Hell, at least the real Demon bothered to actually heal us. With that thought, the archmage snuck yet another glance at the Demon. The form she took was¡ªquite pretty. Arthur didn¡¯t normally think that way¡ªbut that aspect was exceptional enough in this case to warrant particular notice. It was to the point where he would have worried about it, had she been a Demon of joy. Disdain, though? Arthur could work with Disdain. The archmage smiled to himself¡ªif Lord Darius is going to ruin my plans for Liliana, maybe I should get closer to this Demon after all. It had been far too long since he¡¯d made meaningful progress in his research. _____ Zoe was pretty sure that the archmage guy had been eyeing her for a while. That was annoying, but she was more focused on the unexpected quest reward. [ELEMENTAL AWAKENING CORE¡ªBLOOD] She¡¯d forgotten about the quest until she killed a ghoul and got notified about it. They were currently all trekking back towards the beach¡ªbut no one seemed like they were in a mood to talk. Well¡ªthat guy Arthur looked like he might be interested in talking to her about something. Zoe didn¡¯t want to talk to him though. She wanted to congratulate herself for her lovely reward. The core was an asymmetric, flat-cut gem. It was¡ªsurprise¡ªa deep, blood-red color. About the size of a walnut, it would have easily fit in a pocket. Fortunately, it instead went straight into her internal inventory. Zoe didn¡¯t have any real pockets right now. ¡°I do kind of wonder what the deal with that archmage is,¡± Lilith said. ¡°Maybe we should go ask him.¡± Don¡¯t care, Zoe thought back. She didn¡¯t want to talk to people under ordinary circumstances¡ªso she definitely didn¡¯t want to talk to someone who wanted to talk to her. Especially when that person is a wizard who has been eying me weirdly ever since everyone found out I¡¯m technically some kind of Demon. ¡°You know, that sounds like exactly the time you should figure things out by talking,¡± Lilith pointed out. And the imaginary nuisance did have a point¡ªbut Zoe still didn¡¯t care. Okay so how do I use this awakening core thing? I want to bind it to vitality. That seemed like the extremely obvious thing to do. Zoe¡¯s entire¡ªeverything was related to blood, and vitality was like the stat for that. It was so obvious Zoe almost worried she was missing something and then started over-thinking it. But¡ªnope, I¡¯m pretty sure this is literally the best thing to do here. Otherwise she¡¯d be really stupid. Wait, am I being really stupid here? Laughter resonated throughout her mind. ¡°By over-thinking things, yes. The correct path towards advancement is typically obvious, once revealed. The most certain way to screw up your advancement is to doubt yourself and over-think things.¡± Ah, that was good to know. Zoe would go ahead and bind the gem to vitality. Reaching her mind towards its place in her inventory, she prepared to start¡ªthen paused. Wait, is this going to be an intense thing like the evolution was? It wasn¡¯t. Lilith assured her that the first four elemental awakenings were quick and painless. ¡°The fifth is the one to be prepared for,¡± the apparition lectured to her while floating in the air ahead. Right then. Zoe extended her mental touch. She wasn¡¯t sure how to go about it, not at first¡ªbut the gem responded to her touch. No¡ªit wasn¡¯t her touch¡ªit was her intent. A spark of power sizzled where her mind, spirit, or whatever it might be brushed against it. You are eligible to awaken the element: Blood. Do you wish to proceed? Yes. A new message from the system arrived as Zoe confirmed that she wanted to continue. 5 core stats are eligible for elemental awakening: Perception Power Acuity Durability Vitality Choose a core stat with which to awaken the element: Blood. Zoe selected Vitality.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. You have chosen to awaken Vitality with the element: Blood. Do you wish to proceed? Zoe nearly rolled her eyes at having to repeatedly confirm her choices here¡ªbut thinking about how important this probably was made her rethink that. It could be a lot worse for the system to commit to permanent changes without asking. Still, she went ahead and willed her answer to be yes. Your Vitality has awakened to Blood. Zoe blinked. There was a brief sensation of something rippling down towards and back out from her core¡ªit was faint, and the vibrations dampened to silence before she¡¯d fully registered them. Is that it? ¡°Well yes, but¡ªno, not really, to be honest. It¡¯s finished, and we won¡¯t have to do anything more than that,¡± Lilith explained. ¡°But you¡¯ll slowly notice some big changes to our skills the next time we use them.¡± That made Zoe want to immediately test everything out. But she was a mature, self-disciplined young woman. She was fully capable of controlling her impulses. The mad cackling of a would-be body snatcher echoed against the walls of her mind as she thought that. Zoe tried to push the mind-reading Demon she¡¯d been saddled with away. There was nothing funny about that¡ªbut for some reason, the cruel phantom only laughed harder when she tried to protest. _____ ¡°I sense that you¡¯d like to ask me something.¡± Zoe thought for a moment. ¡°Yes, I do.¡± It was almost dawn, and she was standing at the front of the ship with Lord Darius beside her. The bow? Zoe knew that starboard was right and port was left, but she didn¡¯t remember what was the front and the back. She could probably ask the man beside her¡ªbut that wasn¡¯t to know right now. ¡°Why are you helping me?¡± She thought it was a sensible question. For all his cruel trickery, the lord she¡¯d since confirmed to be a wealthy Rank A alchemist had been a net benefit towards her. He certainly could have killed her for being a Demon. There was nothing she could do to stop him. Lilith was of the opinion that it was a combination of a power play with a larger ambition they had yet to understand. ¡°Casually helping us at the same time he blatantly reveals our nature is a message,¡± the apparition claimed. ¡°To him, we¡¯re a piece on the board of a game far bigger than us¡ªand he¡¯s telling us to play along.¡± Just what that game might be¡ªwell, neither of them had any idea. There was another possibility, though. Maybe he just thinks dragging a Demon around is going to be funny. Lilith didn¡¯t think that was very likely, but Zoe did. He seems like the type to do that¡ªespecially with how untouchable he seemed. Now though, as the small yacht skipped southward over the black waves and away from the frozen wastes¡ªwell, this might be just the time to find out. Glancing down at Zoe, the elderly alchemist let loose an undisguised smirk. ¡°Because it¡¯s probably going to be really funny.¡± Zoe blinked. Then she grinned. Ha! I told you so! She still didn¡¯t trust this guy¡ªbut screwing around under the protection of a strong, wealthy, and influential sponsor sounded like a sweet deal. ¡°He could literally just be lying to us, you know.¡± Lilith, ever the voice of negativity, did not sound too convinced. Zoe thought that was a bit silly though¡ªeither he killed her or he didn¡¯t. There wasn¡¯t much point in worrying about his long-term ambitions right now. That being said¡ªshe should still fish for a little more information here. But how to ask? Eh, screw it. ¡°Care to elaborate?¡± she asked. ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡± Removing both hands from the pockets of his royal-blue coat, Lord Darius leaned forward on the deck railing. ¡°I¡¯m a well-known Rank A. You can count the number of us in Norvask on two hands. Most of them are weaker. It¡¯s been a long time since I reached that rank, and I¡¯ve done, seen, and been a lot of things since then.¡± It sounded like he was having a deep, emotionally vulnerable moment here. Zoe was particularly interested in what he said about the number of Rank A people though. Less than ten in this ¡®Norvask¡¯ place they were going¡ªthat wasn¡¯t many. She didn¡¯t know how big of a place it was, but either way that was still exceedingly rare. ¡°Yes, not many people hit Rank A. Those who do are almost always well-known by name in a region,¡± Lilith supplied. ¡°And before you ask, I have no idea what Norvask is. From what we¡¯ve heard though¡ªand factoring in the direction we¡¯re going and all that¡ªI¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s going to be a small, rich, coastal kingdom.¡± That sounded like a weirdly specific thing to be able to guess¡ªZoe supposed they would see if Lilith was right soon enough. It was nearly dawn, and Darius¡¯s mana-powered yacht was clipping along far faster than Zoe thought it had any right to. There was something deeply insulting about high-speed ships in the same world as sword-wielding assholes in full-plate. _____ Sure enough, the first visible buildings of Verdanport crept over the horizon just a half hour after the sun had properly risen. Zoe didn¡¯t end up sleeping at all. She physiologically couldn¡¯t, since becoming a Demon. Sure, she could meditate or something stupid like that¡ªbut she was a bit wound up from the events prior. Everyone else, aside from Lord Darius, had allegedly slept for at least a couple hours. They¡¯d apparently entered Norvask almost exactly at sunrise. And it looked quite different than where they¡¯d come from. While the air wasn¡¯t exactly warm, it wasn¡¯t exactly chilly either. Trees along the coast looked lively and green¡ªit looked pretty much like a northern, temperate coastal region back on Earth. Did we really travel that far? As for the city itself, Verdanport looked big. It was hard to grasp the true size, even though they were now approaching straight towards a dock area. The main port was situated within a medium-sized bay¡ªwell, Zoe thought it looked like a rather large bay, but Lord Darius called it medium while briefly pointing out some of the landmarks. One of those landmarks was a spindly tower spearing high, high above everything else nearby. While the tower looked quite thin, it probably wasn¡¯t. The impression came from the combination of it being comparable to modern Earth high-rises, and everything else in the area being blocked off by the first row of buildings on the shore¡ªnone of which rose higher than four main stories. When Zoe asked what the ridiculous tower was, Arthur jumped in to inform her it was ¡°the Tower.¡± Zoe thought he was being deliberately obtuse until everyone else confirmed everyone called it that. Well¡ªLord Darius explained it was formally ¡°the Bronze Aerie,¡± and more formally ¡°the Bronze Aerie of the Blossom Circle.¡± But even he admitted the former name was only used in official contexts and the latter name was just pretentious. He also let on that even the important people with business there called it the tower¡ªand that those people included him. When Zoe asked if she could go there, the answer was ¡°it depends on what you mean.¡± When she asked what exactly went on in it, she was told she could find that out herself if she bothered to go there. That would have been a lot more suspicious, had she not gotten the feeling he just didn¡¯t want to bother explaining it at the moment. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s pretty obvious why it¡¯s called the Bronze Aerie,¡± she continued as various dockworkers secured the ship. ¡°But what¡¯s the Blossom Circle?¡± All seven of them had formed a cluster on the port side of the ship at this point, and it looked like Lily was barely restrained herself from hopping across the gap even as the last ropes went down. She, along with Millie and Arthur, were the antsy-looking ones. Sean and Andric looked exhausted. ¡°Technically, Archie is a part of it,¡± Lord Darius said. ¡°Mind explaining it to Zoe?¡± ¡°I do if you¡¯re going to start using that stupid nickname too,¡± the archmage grumbled. ¡°But fine. It¡¯s just the traditional¡ªwell, historic really, name of the official council in Norvask.¡± Zoe perked up at that. ¡°There¡¯s a mage council?¡± Arthur¡¯s brow crinkled. ¡°Of course there is? But it¡¯s nothing to write home about. It¡¯s mainly just bureaucracy. A long time ago it was an actual council of a smaller number of powerful wizards who wanted a dedicated space to congregate for discussions without killing each other. It¡¯s a lot more organized and boring now.¡± Multiple people chuckled at that, Zoe included. Leave it to Humans to turn a genuine wizard council into a lame professional association, Zoe thought. It was equal parts hilarious and depressing. ¡°Actually, wait,¡± Arthur continued as they all disembarked. ¡°Why does it make sense that it¡¯s called the Bronze Aerie?¡± Oh, that was simple. ¡°Because it¡¯s a really high place and it¡¯s covered in bronze?¡± Zoe didn¡¯t really understand the question. Much like the other statelier buildings she could see, the colossal tower was fully decked out in the matte green verdigris signature to copper roofing. ¡°Like, all the verdigris is super iconic.¡± They were already halfway down a bustling main street by this point, but everyone stopped to look at her. Even Lord Darius looked interested. Zoe tilted her head. ¡°What?¡± ¡°They have bronze roofing in Hell?¡± Arthur looked genuinely interested. He also should think about being a little more quiet, judging by the looks everyone else gave him. ¡°Yeah yeah, sorry, we don¡¯t talk about Zoe¡¯s, uh, condition,¡± he whispered in an extremely non-subtle way. ¡°But like, do they?¡± Zoe was still dressed up like a ragged, duct-taped mummy, but she¡¯d shifted back to a fully Human appearance with lesser disguise. Lord Darius insisted they keep her identity a secret¡ªmuch to Sean¡¯s visible discomfort. Screw him though. Zoe wasn¡¯t going to listen to the opinion of a paladin-recruit. But Arthur¡¯s question raised an interesting point. They all thought she was summoned. That might sort of be the case¡ªdepending on what actually happened with Zoe mysteriously waking up in a sarcophagus in this world after a medically-induced coma. But she was pretty sure Earth wasn¡¯t hell¡ªeven if it felt like it sometimes. She¡¯d become a Demon after she woke up, and that was by stealing a core someone else created. She wasn¡¯t going to let any of that on right now, though. Giving the few people who were in the know a misleading idea seemed smart. ¡°Yes,¡± she confirmed. ¡°We do. We¡¯re also quite fond of terra-cotta roofings, as well as tile floorings with matte finishes.¡± She tapped a finger to her chin. ¡°Though hardwood has been undergoing a bit of a resurgence as of late.¡± Everyone stared even harder. Zoe blinked innocently, not giving away even the slightest indication of how much she was screwing with them. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s quite enlightening,¡± Lord Darius mused. ¡°I suppose we should be getting on though. I suspect many of you are tired, but there is still much to be done.¡± Multiple sighs could be heard as they resumed their trek deeper into the city. It was really quite large and lively¡ªZoe was honestly expecting a shitty, dirt-paved, colorless town with a gloomy castle. On the contrary, Verdanport was much closer to feeling like modern-day Italy. Just, with horse-drawn wagons and stuff. One of those wagons screeched to a stop right in front of them, quite nearly bowling Lily over before Andric yanked the noble heiress out of the way. ¡°Darius!¡± The round-faced driver exclaimed, heedless of the injury he quite nearly caused. ¡°I meant to catch your arrival.¡± ¡°You nearly did,¡± their Rank A leader drawled. ¡°And nearly flattened one of my students as well,¡± he noted a second later. ¡°Ah, sorry, sorry. Everything¡¯s just been so hectic, you see? What with the whole city in an uproar after High Templar Alexander left and someone in the temple leaked the news.¡± Wait, what? High Templar¡­ could that be the paladin who interrupted the cult ritual? Zoe couldn¡¯t remember if she¡¯d ever heard his name. He certainly seemed strong enough to have a title like ¡®high Templar¡¯¡ªand the timing was fairly conspicuous. For his part, Lord Darius only frowned. ¡°No, I can¡¯t say I have. When was this? I departed post haste this prior evening.¡± ¡°Oh, so you haven¡¯t heard.¡± Bending down, the round, balding man¡ªZoe still had no idea who he was¡ªleaned in as if to whisper. ¡°Rumor is, when Brother Alexander returned from some solo mission, he went straight to the council and revealed that a large infernal cult had taken root in the frozen wastes¡ªand that he¡¯d failed to stop them from summoning a higher Demon!¡± The man¡¯s already-pasty complexion went ever whiter as an excited tremor ran through his reedy voice. ¡°And get this¡ªit turns out Prelate Cassia had been detecting ripples of elder magic building up in the north for the past two weeks! So when Alexander comes in and reports about the cult and the higher Demon, the council went and mobilized the entire Inquisition!¡± Leaning back on the wagon, the man rubbed his neck. ¡°Well, least that¡¯s what I heard. They even sent Alexander flying way off overseas to that big ¡®ol desert cathedral to report to the Pope there. The Pope!¡± Zoe was getting increasingly distressed as he continued speaking. Looking around, she saw she wasn¡¯t alone. Everyone aside from Lord Darius had a grave expression of some kind¡ªand they were all clearly trying not to keep glancing directly at her. ¡°So yeah¡­ whole church and now the whole city is all stirred up. What with the Inquisitors starting to move out in full force and all.¡± A chuckle, and the man shook his head. ¡°Can¡¯t say I suspect we¡¯ll have much of a problem, though. I happen to know they finished activating the last wardstone about an hour and a half ago. So none of you youngins need to worry¡ªif any Demon tries to enter Verdanport now, someone in the Inquisition will know. They¡¯ll just have to find it.¡± Laughing, he gave them all a friendly wink. ¡°Then you just have to make sure it doesn¡¯t get to you before they find it.¡± 29 - Manor Of Blood, The Blood Manor - The Part Where Zoe Visits The Blodmane Estate Is this the part where I run for my life? Zoe was doing her damnedest not to show any reaction. She was failing pretty badly though. I¡¯m not the sort of person who¡¯s supposed to get rounded up and executed by an inquisition! That was reserved for films and news stories! Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t the only one showing an uneasy reaction to the balding man¡¯s words. Hell, the only person who wasn¡¯t was Lord Darius. And that wasn¡¯t even to say he didn¡¯t react¡ªhe just vacillated between looking genuinely serious and like he was trying not to giggle. Do it fucker, I dare you, Zoe projected at him telepathically. It was a damn shame that the only person who could respond to her thoughts was Lilith. ¡°I take objection to that,¡± the annoying Demon said, doing little to disprove the point. ¡°Ah, well¡­¡± rubbing his hands in a nervous gesture, the man leaned back. Zoe still didn¡¯t know who or even what he was, which was annoying. ¡°I suppose I shouldn¡¯t have ruined your return with that particular bit of gossip. Everyone¡¯s already astir enough as-is.¡± Everyone else looked at Zoe. Fucking hell, you idiots! Stop doing that! Zoe glared back. How much more obvious could you get? That was close to the worst thing you could do, unless you were trying to discreetly spill the beans. Wait¡ªwhat if that¡¯s exactly what they¡¯re doing? Lily and Andric might have been sort of on her side previously¡ªbut Zoe had no idea about the other three. They¡¯re probably only putting up with this because Lord Darius told them to. It was Lord Darius who then came to the rescue. ¡°Now now, there¡¯s no need to worry about any of that. After all, these five were supposed to be stuck dealing with waist-deep snow for another week at least. They¡¯ve already gotten off easy.¡± Giving a very convincing but definitely fake chuckle, the aged alchemist rested his arm against the carriage. ¡°Have we no Faith? Even if this alleged Demon were to enter the city, certainly our beloved Templars and Inquisitors would put a swift end to the loathsome creature.¡± Zoe took note of how he flashed a brilliant smile to Sean there. She narrowed her eyes. It might have sounded like reassurances and looked like a silent compliment¡ªbut Zoe was naturally fluent in the language of petty social games. The statement had been crystal clear. Sean certainly picked up on it as well, as the acolyte of faith shuffled his feet in evident discomfort. But, Zoe noted with admiration¡ªLord Darius didn¡¯t overplay it. The moment was passingly brief, and he¡¯d already moved on. ¡°Now then, who¡¯d like to claim a seat on Mister Donovan¡¯s lovely carriage?¡± Zoe eyed the dirty cart. It didn¡¯t look very lovely. ¡°He might not admit it¡±¡ªLord Darius winked¡ª¡°but I know he¡¯s just itching for an excuse to take the lot of you back to your respective lodgings. Mighty kind of him, as I myself have additional business to attend to.¡± Donovan opened his mouth, then paused. He glanced at the five ¡®students¡¯ and closed it. ¡°Actually,¡± he began to say¡ª ¡°No, I don¡¯t have time to listen to you deny it. Go on, all of you. It would be rude to decline the ride Mister Donovan offered you on his carriage.¡± Zoe arched an eyebrow. Despite the looming threat of capture and execution, she couldn¡¯t help but be amused. Or maybe it was because of it. There was a nonzero chance she was starting to cope by simply ignoring the problem and thinking about other things. Mister Donovan was not able to sufficiently protest as Sean and Millie both immediately hopped up. Arthur took a moment longer, but the archmage did carefully hoist himself onto a rear bench¡ªif semi-reluctantly. In stark contrast, Lily crossed her arms and quite visibly curled her lip. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go on the cart.¡± Donovan¡¯s irritated expression morphed into a scowl. ¡°It¡¯s not a cart, girl, it¡¯s a carriage.¡± Zoe blinked. ¡°There¡¯s a difference?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Donovan insisted. ¡°Carriage denotes a certain aspect of dignity and stateliness.¡± ¡°¡ªwhich Mr. Donovan¡¯s cart most certainly does not possess,¡± Lily finished. They glared at each other. ¡°Well then,¡± Lord Darius announced with the air of someone who was about to leave, ¡°I shall be going now. As I said, I have additional business to attend to.¡± Zoe flinched as the tall, self-assured man took her arm and very much pulled her away from the rest of them. She barely saved herself from releasing a surprised yelp. ¡°Oh, and Andric? A word with you for but a moment.¡± Zoe couldn¡¯t do much to resist as they swept away into the shade at the edge of an uncrowded alley. That was the one upside of being dragged around¡ªthey¡¯d been blocking a large amount of foot traffic while speaking with Donovan. Speaking of whom¡ªZoe took the opportunity to fire off a quick identify. [OILED FENCE] Level 75+ | Rank C Familiar with his well-lubricated sword and a necessarily slippery trade, let no one accuse this Human of sticky fingers. -Alignment- > Oil > Shadow -Strengths- > Stealth > Speed -Weaknesses- > Cold > Blondes That was¡­ you know what, I¡¯m going to do my best not to think too deeply about any of that. The system could be oddly silly at times, but so far nothing had actually been a joke when it came down to it. If anything, that just made this more concerning. So Zoe wasn¡¯t going to think any more about it. ¡°So?¡± Andric¡¯s voice spooked Zoe a little. The Rank C alchemist had snuck up on her and Lord Darius. Well¡ªthe Rank A alchemist probably hadn¡¯t been startled. Zoe¡¯s perception might be high, but she couldn¡¯t imagine any of her stats would be even close as just a Rank F. ¡°You would be correct,¡± Lilith stated, sounding rather bored. ¡°I will be taking our lovely little Zoe here to your estate,¡± the Rank A in question answered. ¡°I will personally negotiate the matter with Victor, so feel free to continue escorting Liliana.¡± Wait, what? Had Zoe understood that correctly? She was lacking a little context, but¡ªit really wasn¡¯t very hard to understand. Why am I going to their estate and not, like, wherever everyone else is going? ¡°Well,¡± Lilith mused, ¡°I presume this means we will be going to the same place as two of them, in the end. And I also suppose it only makes sense to lodge the Demon with the rich people who have experience working with Demons.¡± Well, when you put it like that it really did sound obvious, didn¡¯t it. Zoe still didn¡¯t know much about these ¡®Blodmanes¡¯¡ªor anything about nobility and politics in general¡ªbut she¡¯d gathered that they were an influential noble family most notable for their focus on ¡®evil sorcery.¡¯ No one else used that phrase¡ªthat was how Zoe might put it. The issue was that there wasn¡¯t exactly a specific kind of magic or whatever else that you could define it as. Necromancy, Demons and other infernal magics, curses, soul and mind magics, all of that lovely stuff. Why was everyone okay with a powerful noble family running around summoning Demons and doing necromancy? Well, everyone acted like those things really were sketchy, taboo, and possibly illegal¡ªso frankly Zoe had absolutely no idea. It looked like she might be about to find out. _____ It took them around forty-five minutes to reach the Blodmane Estate. After Andric had left to rejoin Lily and the others on the cart, Lord Darius first took her to a clothing store. That only took about ten minutes, because he wasn¡¯t getting anything tailored or even buying her a usable wardrobe. No, he and the owner took her to the back and slapped a whole lot of fabric on her until she looked ¡®passably presentable.¡¯ Zoe was a bit worried about why she needed to look ¡®presentable,¡¯ but that part wouldn¡¯t come for¡ªanother forty-five minutes. At least she did have actual shoes now. He might be a jackass, but Lord Darius was kind enough to get her some fitting, ankle-height boots.Stolen story; please report. His helpfulness was still concerning, Zoe thought. It also ended when he said how long the walk would be, and Zoe asked if he usually walked everywhere. After all, it was a decent sized city even in comparison to modern-day earth. Forty-five minutes to walk was really rather close if you zoomed out fully. Then, when he explained he used the ¡®mechanical carriage¡¯ of his own invention for the farther distances¡ªand Zoe asked if they could ride¡ªhe laughed cruelly and said no. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasant day and I do think I¡¯d fancy a stroll,¡± he¡¯d said. The worst part was that she could hardly resent him for it. It truly was a nice day, and she was pretty sure he was being genuine this time. He really did want to take a stroll, not just torture her. Walking up to the main gate through the walls of the Blodmane estate, Zoe felt more than a little nervous. At least it wasn¡¯t a ¡®mortal peril¡¯ flavor of anxiety. She¡¯d had more than enough of that. This was just regular old fish-out-of-water mixed with meeting new people. It was a small relief that Lord Darius did all of the talking to the people stationed at the gate. It would probably have been good for her to listen in as well¡ªbut she was too focused on thinking about when she would have to start talking to pay any attention. It was probably just a basic exchange of formalities anyway. Then the set of wrought iron gates swung inwards with a faint, entirely ordinary groan. It wasn¡¯t very dramatic. I feel like it should be more dramatic, Zoe thought. That feeling was amplified when they strode forward into a perfectly-ordinary rich-person garden. Where were the fountains of blood? The sickly purple fires blazing in obsidian basins? The garden path wasn¡¯t even properly shaded, for fucks sake. This doesn¡¯t really feel like the home-turf of the Demon-summoning bad guys. ¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯s not,¡± Lilith chimed in. ¡°It¡¯s the estate of a legitimate noble family who might also summon Demons sometimes.¡± Right. Zoe was still disappointed, even as Darius led her deeper and deeper in. They spent most of their time outside, to her surprise¡ªthe place was less like a giant mansion surrounded by a wall and more like a gated community. Many of the garden ¡®paths¡¯ were really more like roads passing between multiple discrete buildings. This made it much larger than Zoe had even expected. Hell¡ªit looked like one of the stately halls was serving as their own private restaurant. A dining hall and personal chef was one thing. But just what kind of person decides they need their own damn private restaurant? ¡°Well,¡± Lilith said as they finally entered the most imposing building Zoe had seen yet. ¡°I have to assume that the Blodmanes are far larger than a typical extended family unit back in the United States¡ªlet alone the standard nuclear family. I¡¯d wager they¡¯ve even divided themselves into a hierarchy of different ¡®branches,¡¯ with a primary line of succession at the top.¡± Judging by just what she¡¯d seen so far¡ªZoe had to agree that sounded like the right conclusion. The alternative would simply fall well beyond even the realm of ruling-class excess. But even then, it was still a lot. The building they¡¯d finally entered continued both the extensive use of verdigris roofing characteristic of Verdanport and the rather Gothic style the Blodmanes seemed so fond of. That was the one saving grace of their aesthetic choices. Even if the estate was all sunshine, blooming flowers and pearly stone, they¡¯d at least shaped the stonework to be gloomy and ominous. Also, this building took things further. While it certainly had appeared big from the front, it actually didn¡¯t strike Zoe as the biggest. What it did surpass the rest in was the sheer quality and stateliness of it. That was a hard thing to quantify, but it had immediately struck Zoe as something special. Older, certainly¡ªricher, no doubt¡ªand possessing a care and devotion to craftsmanship qualitatively beyond the rest. The inside also looked classy and expensive as hell. Zoe almost felt bad about dirtying the practically silken, crimson carpet as they ascended an immensely wide set of marble stairs¡ªbut then she remembered the weekly maintenance budget would be higher than her entire old-life savings. When they finally stopped at the entrance of what could only possibly be the equivalent of a palace throne room, Zoe asked a question that had been bothering her. ¡°Why did we just walk straight into their house without telling anyone or even knocking or anything?¡± That was literally what they¡¯d done. Lord Darius hadn¡¯t spoken to a single person since the guards at the gate¡ªthough a few people had nonverbally greeted him along the way. Then he just led her inside the current mansion and up the interior steps. More than rude, that seemed like it was bordering on breaking and entering. ¡°Because Victor already knows we¡¯re coming,¡± Lord Darius answered. ¡°Were you not listening when I informed the guard? No matter. It would be a sorry look indeed if the head of the Blodmanes could be caught unaware of an approaching low-rank Demon.¡± Huh. So the guards at the gate had a way to communicate across the estate? ¡°Oh there¡¯s no doubt about it,¡± Lilith informed her. ¡°Those kinds of enchantments aren¡¯t cheap, but a noble house can certainly afford the luxury¡ªand certainly for a link between the head of the house and the main entrance.¡± That was quite good to know, but Zoe couldn¡¯t blame Lilith for not telling her this time. It was one of those little pieces of ¡®common¡¯ knowledge she could only reliably learn by encountering it. I feel like there are going to be a lot of those in the coming weeks. Returning her attention to Lord Darius, Zoe saw that he was still just standing around in front of the gold-adorned and surprisingly small doors. He didn¡¯t look like he was waiting for her, though. ¡°So what are we waiting for now?¡± ¡°For Victor to let us in,¡± he replied. ¡°Expecting us or not, even a man with far less courtesy than I possess would not dare to see himself into another¡¯s chambers.¡± Courtesy? Zoe found it hard to believe the man beside her possessed much courtesy. The outward appearance of it, maybe. ¡°So if I tell the guards I¡¯m going to see the house head and they let me in, I can just walk all the way into their house?¡± Jerking his head back a little, the alchemist looked down at Zoe with confusion scrawled across his aging features. ¡°What? No, of course not. Why-ever would you think such a thing?¡± What? Is that not literally what you just said? Zoe was confused now too. ¡°But that¡¯s exactly what we just did.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Chuckling, her Rank A companion stuck his hands back in his coat pockets. ¡°Well your name isn¡¯t Lord Darius Alister Von Loch, is it now?¡± That¡¯s¡­ Zoe grasped for anything she could say in response, and that¡¯s when the doors opened. Despite a bit of nervousness, Zoe was curious to get her first look at Victor Blodmane. There was a certain fascination in first glimpsing the head of a wealthy, politically powerful noble estate in the flesh. Especially one known for pursuits in the ¡®dark arts.¡¯ The man behind the doors was dressed more¡ªsimply than she¡¯d expected. Oh, his dark, silken jacket, silver-white gloves, and similarly silver sash were all more than fine. She¡¯d just expected something more¡ªflashy, and possibly colorful. Unlike Lord Darius, Victor Blodmane had very little hair. Precisely, he had none at all¡ªnot even eyebrows. It was a bit creepy but Zoe would do her best not to let it show in the way she acted around him. ¡°It is a pleasure as always to receive you, Darius,¡± Lord Victor began. Lord Victor, right? Zoe assumed that was how to address him, going by how most people addressed Lord Darius. ¡°And may it be a pleasure to receive you as well, young miss,¡± he said to Zoe. How polite, she smiled to herself. I just hope he¡¯s not a cheeky asshole like the other old noble guy here. ¡°The pleasure is mine, Lord Victor,¡± Zoe responded, dropping into a horrific attempt at a curtsy. That was a good response, right? She honestly had no idea, but she thought she had done well enough so far¡ª ¡ªonly for the cheeky asshole beside her to erupt in laughter. Eyes widening, Zoe whipped her gaze around to face him. Fuck, what did I do?! It didn¡¯t take a genius like herself to understand she¡¯d clearly done something horrifically wrong here. But what could it possibly be¡­? It was perhaps a small consolation that Lord Victor had a slight smile of his own as well. At least he doesn¡¯t look offended, Zoe decided. ¡°Your intention is much appreciated,¡± he hastily reassured her, ¡°but, I fear, I must confess myself to be estate butler Rudy.¡± Oh. Zoe¡¯s face was quick to heat up. Well that¡¯s only mortally embarrassing. ¡°Well look on the bright side,¡± Lilith piped up, ¡°a laugh goes a long way towards getting others to remember you.¡± Zoe wasn¡¯t so sure this was how she wanted to be remembered, but that was beside the point right now. ¡°Will Victor be receiving me in the domain as I requested?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Rudy confirmed. ¡°House Blodmane shall receive you now.¡± Well that sounded oddly ceremonial, Zoe thought. Stepping aside, the butler revealed¡ªa curtain? It was a darkened crimson¡ªalmost black¡ªand it really just looked like an ordinary curtain. That sure is a curtain, Zoe thought. Do we walk through the curtain or something? That feels uncharacteristically sketchy for this place. The curtain seemed to shimmer. That got Zoe¡¯s attention¡ªand sure enough, the curtain now shimmered like a portal into the void of space¡ªor like a dimly lit pool of blood, she realized. That¡¯s extra sketchy. It was also far more in-line with what she¡¯d expected of the Blodmane estate. ¡°Victor has created a sophisticated blood domain,¡± Lord Darius explained as they approached¡ªas if that explained everything. ¡°Feel free to use some of the blood if you like¡ªbut don¡¯t mess with the plants.¡± And with that, the alchemist melted through the rippling blood. It was really quite disturbing, actually. It wasn¡¯t like he walked through¡ªit was like the man was also made of liquid, and the puddle of disconcertingly dark blood had slurped him up. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± Lilith assured her. ¡°The boundaries of domains are often strange. They seldom have much bearing on what you¡¯ll find once you¡¯re actually inside.¡± Well, if that were the case¡ªZoe took a breath. Well I think it¡¯s fairly safe to assume there will be more blood, she mused, but I have no idea what he meant about the plants. Closing her eyes, Zoe stepped inside. 30 - Blood Domain The blood domain was full of plants. Wow! Zoe thought. That is a real shocker. I¡¯m really surprised by that. Who would have thought it? Technically, the answer would have been ¡®not her,¡¯ had Darius not made that last offhand comment. Aside from the sheer novelty of entering a room inside a building and emerging in a massive underground jungle¡ªthe place was still absolutely bizarre, beautiful, and hands-down the most fantastical thing Zoe had experienced yet. The jungle was dark and thick. Had it not been for the way forward being excessively obvious, Zoe wouldn¡¯t have known which way to go. As it were, the plants contorted themselves into an insultingly perfect circular tunnel winding deeper in. It was also lit by a trail of drifting golden motes. Everything else was pretty much an impenetrable leaf wall, and there was a big slab of rock right behind the spot where she¡¯d appeared. I sure do wonder which way Lord Victor wants me to go. That might be a bit unfair on Zoe¡¯s part. It was certainly better to be handed a path that she was physically incapable of screwing up than to try finding her own way through the place. As she walked, she couldn¡¯t help but try to catch one of the drifting golden lights. But they avoided her touch, lazily floating along unseen currents¡ªup until her fingers drew close. Wait a minute¡­ Those weren¡¯t fingers¡ªthose were claws. The fuck? Zoe knew one-hundred percent that she¡¯d had lesser disguise on, and she hadn¡¯t activated the skill again to cancel it. ¡°It¡¯s the domain. At Rank A, this ¡®Lord Victor¡¯ is comparable to a god within his own domain boundaries.¡± Zoe stopped. A god? ¡°Relative to us, yes. At Rank F, there is little meaningful difference between facing a god and facing a Rank A individual within a domain even half as sophisticated as this. For someone like Lord Darius¡ªwho is also Rank A¡ªentering the domain isn¡¯t remotely so extreme. It¡¯s just a strong disadvantage, should they meet each other in combat.¡± That made sense¡ªbut there was a problem she needed to bring up. I thought the gods were all gone, she thought back while resuming walking. And it looked like she was getting close to her destination¡ªthe jungle might be smaller than it had first appeared, as she could see a larger clearing up ahead. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. The lack of knowledge of the elder gods does not preclude us from recalling the general scope of their power. But more importantly, it was a comparison I thought we would both understand.¡± That was fair enough, Zoe decided. It also didn¡¯t do much to make her feel more comfortable about being there. Also, why hadn¡¯t she appeared in the same place as Lord Darius? Little things like that heightened her sense of unease. Less than a minute later, Zoe stepped into a lovely little garden. It was a bit weird to describe a part of what was already a jungle as an open garden, but that¡¯s how it was. While the roughly-circular area wasn¡¯t nearly so dense as the rest of the place, it was still full of plants. A ring of thick, twisting oaks delineated where the precise boundaries were, with several other of the circular tunnels opening up between them. Zoe was pretty sure you didn¡¯t usually find old oaks in a jungle. Within the ring, it was less like a full clearing and more of a looping knot of different paths, each close enough that you could see through to the others. The vegetation between the trees was also much more varied, with different flowerbeds, vines with suspiciously glowing fruits, and even parts that were actually little rock gardens. Zoe knew when she¡¯d stepped into the very center. Lord Darius was waiting for her¡ªas was a youthful woman who Zoe guessed was the gardener. She could tell because of the work gloves and that pickax-like hoe-thing gardeners sometimes used. ¡°Uh, hi,¡± she said as she stepped fully into the true clearing. ¡°This place is pretty cool.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Lord Darius cocked his head and adjusted his long blue coat. ¡°I find it quite balmy.¡± Be careful with how you use slang, Zoe noted. Rather than drawing attention by correcting it, she just repeated herself differently. ¡°Either way, it¡¯s kind of awesome.¡± ¡°Ah, you like it?¡± The gardener smiled. Zoe nodded in response, noticing she¡¯d set her tool down somewhere. ¡°Well I¡¯m flattered. Few ever get a chance to appreciate my work here, and even fewer remark on it.¡± That made sense to Zoe. The estate as a whole definitely had some kind of master gardener overseeing things from what she¡¯d seen, though this woman looked a little young to be filling that role. Regardless, it would be a bit annoying to pay extra special attention to the boss¡¯s private area without anyone else getting to come see it. But¡ªwhere¡¯s the boss? ¡°Where is Lord Victor?¡± Zoe asked, her eyes moving between Lord Darius and the gardener, who was on the opposite side of the central pond from them. And lo! The worst possible thing occurred. Lord Darius released a cruel bark of laughter¡ªand the other noble jackass joined him with a vicious giggle. A mounting horror rose up from the depths of Zoe¡¯s gut. It fought for supremacy over the burning anger and shame radiating from her face and chest¡ªuntil the two feelings mixed into some secret, unnamed third thing she never ever wanted to experience again. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t look so mortified,¡± cheeky asshole number one said as flicked a stray leaf off his coat. ¡°I¡¯ve always known Lady Blodmane to be the understanding sort, and not one to get caught up in the little formalities of high society.¡± ¡°Yes, you needn¡¯t worry,¡± cheeky asshole number two reassured her. ¡°And believe me when I say I rarely receive guests in such crude work clothes. Yet when Darius told me about your little interaction with Rudy, I simply had to break the usual standards of attire, you see.¡± Zoe¡¯s jaw nearly dropped open. The last scraps of her dignity worked overtime to keep it closed and not make her look like an even greater imbecile. Then she rounded on Lord Darius. ¡°You fucking jackass! Is the entire reason you go dragging a bunch of kids around just to fuck with them? Sadism isn¡¯t the only way to address boredom, I¡¯ll have you know.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a fan of sadism then?¡± Saying that was a big mistake on Victor¡¯s part, because now Zoe rounded on the other jackass here. ¡°That¡¯s not what I said, lady. I said it¡¯s not the only way to relieve boredom. And before you ask, no. I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m always against it, but I am if you¡¯re talking about doing it to me.¡± It was probably a stupid idea to snap on the head of a noble house like that, a worse idea to do it to a Rank A one, and an even worse idea to do all of that while within her own domain. That being said, Zoe¡¯s level of being pissed off had now exceeded the ¡®giving a fuck¡¯ threshold. Any fallout sounded like a great problem for future Zoe to deal with. There was also the fact that Victor¡ªZoe decided she¡¯d make a habit of skipping the ¡®Lady¡¯ from now on¡ªwell Victor seemed like she wouldn¡¯t outright murder her for it. ¡°That¡¯s not the sort of thing we should count on,¡± Lilith cautioned. Not that Zoe cared. ¡°Too bad then, I¡¯m already doing it and I¡¯ll do it again even harder if you give me shit about it,¡± she snapped back within her own mind.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°So sadism is okay, but only when it¡¯s okay with you.¡± Victor smiled. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect any less of a Demon. Now.¡± She returned her attention to Lord Darius. ¡°So, Darius, would you please be so kind as to explain why you brought a Rank C Demon into my estate? And without prior notice, I might add?¡± ¡°Lily found it.¡± Zoe failed to see how that had anything to do with what Victor just asked, and it seemed like the noblewoman agreed. ¡°Setting aside your neglect to address any part of the question¡ªhow did my granddaughter find a Rank C Demon? And why did you bring the Demon here?¡± Granddaughter? What? Lily was Victor Blodmane¡¯s granddaughter? That was¡ªyes, that was, in fact, surprising. She hadn¡¯t known precisely how important the elemental summoner was within House Blodmane, but that wasn¡¯t the main thing. The main thing was that they looked basically the same age. The conversation carried on with little regard to Zoe¡¯s internal pondering. ¡°Well I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d have to explain that second part,¡± Lord Darius enunciated slowly¡ª¡°I want you to keep it for me.¡± Wait, what? Keep¡ªZoe didn¡¯t like that word. No, she didn¡¯t like it at all. ¡°And why would I do that?¡± Lord Darius paused and scratched his chin. ¡°Because I asked you to?¡± Zoe noticed Victor¡¯s eye twitched. She was a bit astounded herself¡ªincomprehensible noble politicking aside, that was just rude. But while Victor clearly agreed¡ªthe Lady of House Blodmane ultimately relented. ¡°Fine. You still haven¡¯t told me how my granddaughter met her.¡± ¡°Just ask her yourself.¡± That one came close to making Zoe choke. But all Victor did was raise a judgemental eyebrow in response to the sheer disrespectful boldness. ¡°Which one? My granddaughter or the Demon?¡± And finally, something she said took the asshole alchemist by surprise. Only for a moment¡ªand Zoe¡¯s eyes narrowed as he collected himself. ¡°Well I was going to say your granddaughter¡ªbut it could be either one, I suppose.¡± Ah, I see how it is then, Zoe thought to herself. Didn¡¯t even think anyone would want to ask little old Zoe anything, did you. The fleeting glance Victor gave her showed that the noblewoman was both aware of what she was thinking and sympathized with her for it. Now, Zoe wasn¡¯t going to forget what Lady Victor did with the gardening tools¡ªbut she did note how the woman was the only person so far to not launch into calling her an ¡®it.¡¯ Though it¡¯s a bit sad that ended up being an issue in the first place. ¡°Alright,¡± she finally said, ¡°tell me why you want me to house a Rank C Demon.¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to, and if neither of us does it then the Inquisition will find and execute her within hours at best.¡± Holy shit! First, that was an absolutely terrifying thing to know. Zoe didn¡¯t expect evading inquisitors to be easy, but that was downright frightening. They could find her that quickly? That was insane. The implication that they¡¯d kill her on the spot didn¡¯t help either. Also, Lord Darius was just going to drop her on someone else and then go fuck off? She knew he was a bit narcissistic and took joy in the suffering of others, yes¡ªbut that was just cold. Victor turned out to be a bit upset too¡ªfor a different reason, it seemed. ¡°I know that she¡¯s the Demon they¡¯re looking for, jackass. Why do you want her alive? Yes, I¡¯m not going to ask why you won¡¯t do it yourself, save your breath.¡± Yeah, things were getting a little tense, and Zoe didn¡¯t like it. And then the arrogant and stubborn look washed from Lord Darius¡¯s face. It was sudden, and he now spoke in a way which was deeply, totally, and unambiguously serious. ¡°Talk to me privately after this, and you¡¯ll know exactly why I want her alive. And you¡¯ll know why you will want her alive too.¡± Wait¡­ what? Now Zoe was interested. Okay, I was already interested, but like, more. She really wanted to hear what was going to come next. But what was that about privacy? Surely Lady Victor¡¯s personal domain was privacy enough. ¡°What?¡± Victor glanced between them. ¡°Okay, then spill it.¡± She waved her hand, and then Zoe¡¯s entire vision was blocked by a thicket of brambles. The bloody, thorn-covered cocoon blocked out both sight and hearing¡ªsuperHuman perception was useless. Fuck! That was not what Zoe wanted to happen! Were they seriously going to share all the super special secrets without her? That¡¯s cold. The secrets were literally about her, for heaven¡¯s sake. Zoe was poised to start beating her own way through the prickly bushes. A second later¡ªand it was gone. Sound returned, and Zoe noticed Victor looked even more pissed now. ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll talk later then. Now let¡¯s get on with it. I know better than to underestimate the Inquisition¡ªbut I don¡¯t understand why you believe they¡¯d manage to locate a Rank C individual with an obvious stealth focus quite so quickly. I would expect you to have a chance of escape, at least.¡± The last part was addressed to Zoe. Zoe was more interested in why they hadn¡¯t talked about whatever it was though. Lord Darius, for his part, smirked. Great, he¡¯s back to being an arrogant asshole. ¡°Because she isn¡¯t Rank C.¡± Wait, everyone still thinks I¡¯m Rank C? Victor¡¯s gaze snapped back to Zoe, implicitly confirming it. Right¡ªthe demagogue class has that ¡®system display privileges thing.¡¯ It was handy that it was still automatically updating things for her¡ªbut Zoe decided she should play around with that sooner rather than later. It was kind of important for her to understand. But Victor didn¡¯t look surprised. Rather, it was a hint of consideration¡ªand a smaller amount of irritation¡ªthat flicked across her eyes. ¡°So I see. Yes, that does change things.¡± She looked back to Lord Darius. ¡°And I understand better now why you are interested in handing Miss Blackwell here to me.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think you do,¡± the alchemist mused. ¡°But we¡¯ll discuss that soon enough. First, I¡¯d like to give our lovely little Demon the chance to ask any questions of her own she might have.¡± Victor was clearly irritated by that. The control she forced upon herself as she faced Zoe was impressive¡ªand did little to make Zoe less uncomfortable. ¡°Well then. I¡¯m sure you do have questions, though many of them can likely be answered later or by people other than myself.¡± Yeah, she¡¯s definitely irritated. Unlike how she felt before, Zoe decided it would be best to appease the woman a bit here. It might have helped that Lady Victor had never called her an ¡®it.¡¯ ¡°I do, but it¡¯s fine. You can go ahead and continue your discussion with Lord Darius first. Would it be okay to talk to Rudy?¡± ¡°Mmm, yes, I suppose you may.¡± And with that, she waved her hand and Zoe appeared back outside the curtain. Zoe blinked. That was sudden. She¡¯d expected more warning would come before being ejected from the domain. Not that I¡¯m complaining. She was more than ready to get out of there, despite how fascinating the forthcoming discussion might be. Now that her surprise was wearing off, she studied her new surroundings. The curtain was still there¡ªwhat would happen if she stepped back through? Well, Lady Victor would probably be pretty angry, she decided. ¡°We can¡¯t.¡± Huh? ¡°We can¡¯t step back in,¡± Lilith clarified. ¡°You can¡¯t just walk into someone¡¯s domain if they don¡¯t want you to. Look.¡± Looking at the curtain, Zoe realized it looked like an ordinary curtain again, not a dark wall of rippling blood. Guess I can¡¯t go back, huh. Aside from the curtain and gilded wall panels, there wasn¡¯t much to look at¡ªespecially now that Rudy wasn¡¯t there anymore. Which was a bit awkward¡ªwas she just supposed to stand around in here, or was she allowed to wander off and go looking for someone? The answer to that became apparent soon enough. The first sign of something happening was a large bloodstain unexpectedly seeping up through the carpet, covering a roughly meter-wide spot in a sticky puddle. It also started to bubble a bit. Zoe found herself alarmed by this. Her alarm skyrocketed as the bubbling intensified and a shape rose from within it. Then the shape stretched, condensed, and shifted into the form of estate butler Rudy¡ªsuit and all. He nodded politely¡ªand Zoe blinked. The man had just¡ªcreated a random bloodstain and then stepped out of it. Well that¡¯s one way to make an entrance. Pretty dramatic, which did fit in with the aesthetic she first expected of this place. ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s trying to be dramatic,¡± Lilith said. ¡°At higher ranks, those sorts of short range, slow activation, and easily countered teleportation skills are fairly common. And like this one, they usually have an obvious correspondence to the user¡¯s own alignment. In this case, that alignment is clearly blood.¡± Got it. That was, in fact, good to know¡ªand she¡¯d ask more about it later. Right now, she had more important questions to ask. ¡°Lady Blodmane said you might have some questions I could help you with,¡± Rudy said. ¡°Oh yeah, I sure do.¡± That was a bit of an understatement, really. ¡°A whole lot. So like, first off¡ªwhy does she look the same age as her literal granddaughter, and why is she named Victor?¡± 31 - Dinner And Books Zoe didn¡¯t get a very satisfactory answer. ¡°Lady Blodmane looks how she wants to look,¡± Rudy said, ¡°and I don¡¯t know why her name is Victor. I hesitate to speculate.¡± That¡ªwas a weird response. Not that there was much she could do about it, though. She¡¯d resolve to ask Lady Victor herself when she had a chance. From there¡ªwell, Zoe didn¡¯t really have any other questions¡ªnot ones that she felt comfortable asking the butler, more accurately. So they decided to go to that restaurant she¡¯d seen. Rudy readily agreed to the decision, and they departed Victor¡¯s mansion within minutes. The Butler did advise her to disguise herself again. Zoe was fine with that¡ªshe was planning to anyway. He took it further than she¡¯d expected, though. Rather than just removing her nonHuman features, Rudy had her completely change her entire appearance. He also switched out her shawl and topped her off with a big hat. The walk to the restaurant was weirdly nice. Zoe enjoyed the movement, the fresh air, the greenery¡ªand just the lack of worry. The Blodmane estate was really quite nice. She was better able to appreciate it now that she was going out to eat and not meeting with the big boss. Rudy himself was a refreshing change in company. He was the first person in this entire world who Zoe actually felt at-ease around. Sure, that¡¯s kind of his job¡ªbut Zoe didn¡¯t want to ruin it by analyzing things too hard. The butler talked a bit about different parts of the estate they passed along the way. It was mostly surface-level stuff¡ªbut if it was a rehearsed tour-guide script, Zoe couldn¡¯t tell. She didn¡¯t even have to ask questions for him to pick up on what was most interesting to her. Sure, you could manage that by just paying attention to the other person¡ªbut most people didn¡¯t really do that. When they arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later, Zoe was relieved by the lack of a wait or a line. And why would there be? While the place was far from empty, it was also one-hundred percent exclusive to the estate. Not only that, but the larger manors all had their own staff, and this wasn¡¯t even the only restaurant. Just how big are the Blodmanes, Zoe wondered. It was starting to feel less like a large noble house and more like the world¡¯s smallest ethnostate. As for the restaurant, it felt weirdly modern. It could easily have been a place back on Earth. The biggest tells were the varying ways people were dressed and the lighting. Rather than electric lights, the interior illumination came from glowing, origami-like paper constructs floating about close to the ceiling. Zoe was sorely tempted to jump up and grab one of them. "Do it," Lilith urged her. "You know you want to." But Zoe was a rational and mature young woman with an adequate amount of self-control. She was not going to grab one of the paper lights. "Coward," Lilith snickered as she materialized in Zoe''s vision. Using her miniature, cartoon-like doll form, the apparition zoomed up to fly around at the level of the magic lights. Zoe¡¯s eye twitched when the Demon poked one of them and it wobbled. In almost all instances, Zoe¡¯s unwanted passenger appeared to be totally incorporeal. Yet there were a few instances, like this one, that suggested things might be a bit more complicated than that. Zoe would just have to keep an eye on it. She didn¡¯t know what else to do¡ªand she doubted asking directly would get her anywhere. The waiter¡ªor greeter, whatever he was, led them up to the second floor and onto the outside balcony overlooking the street. This pleased Zoe, because it was exactly the area she wanted to end up in. It probably helped that I explicitly asked for it. ¡°So,¡± Rudy began after they were both seated, ¡°what do you think of the estate?¡± _____ Zoe ended up doing most of the talking that evening. It was a bit surprising, even to herself. She fully expected to ply the butler for endless questions about the estate and the world in general. That did happen¡ªbut mostly she ranted incoherently to him about random things she¡¯d noticed and wondered about. The upside was that the man took it upon himself to address a lot of the implicit questions that arose through her rambling. He could have just as easily sat back and drained her for information, so Zoe appreciated it. For instance, he wasn¡¯t at all surprised that she had no idea how money worked. Well, he did laugh for a few seconds at the idea of a gold being worth a hundred silver, which was worth a hundred copper, and so on. Zoe couldn¡¯t even be mad, though. That was pretty stupid. Fortunately, his knowledge that she was a Demon was helpful for explaining her lack of knowledge about the most basic things. Lilith remained deeply insistent that she do nothing to reveal she was from another world. Zoe needed to know why¡ªbut that could come when they were alone. Anyway, about money. For the most part, you didn¡¯t convert the metals yourself. Things that were listed in tin you paid in tin¡ªthings that were listed in gold were paid for in gold. At first, Zoe thought that was weird and confusing. It became less confusing when Rudy explained the unwritten conventions for retail transactions¡ªand how the banks worked. If you were haggling, bartering, or otherwise trading with someone, you just did that. There wasn¡¯t much need to be exact about exchange rates since you were already bartering. For retail, there was a general understanding of which metals to use to set the prices. Small, everyday purchases were mostly dealt in tin, with some copper for the bigger ones. For more expensive items, they mostly used silver. Once you got bigger than that¡ªeither in value or just sheer scale¡ªwell that¡¯s the point where you already made contracts and more formal agreements. And if you were haggling at that level, then you probably had the time or the people to do the math for the current market exchanges accurately. There was also the way the banks played into all of this. According to Rudy, the banks measured most things against gold. If you wanted to exchange your carrying money for another metal, you went to a bank and they did it for you. And you could trust they wouldn¡¯t cheat you, because it wasn¡¯t actually that hard to publicly audit those exchanges. Trying to screw over the average commoner wasn¡¯t remotely worth the scandal. By this point, Zoe was starting to wonder if there was even something like a credit or debit card. The answer was ¡®technically yes, but basically no.¡¯ It could be accomplished with mana signatures and linked enchantments, but no one ever got comfortable enough using it for it to catch on. Zoe didn¡¯t reveal how much money she had. While she obviously didn¡¯t know the current exchange rates, let alone the relative value of goods in this world, she picked up enough to understand she was already rich. How rich? No idea. Enough that she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about money in the near-term if she didn¡¯t blow it all like a moron¡ªbut probably a lot less than a smaller noble house or wealthier merchant. That was a pure assumption based on how she¡¯d gotten it. It was a large portion of the goods from the storage ring the cult leader had given her. For various reasons, Zoe doubted even an absolutely loaded cultist would literally toss her a lifetime fortune. Even Lord Darius didn¡¯t seem like he¡¯d do that¡ªif he would even carry that around in the first place. When she asked Rudy if Lord Darius was particularly wealthy, he laughed. ¡°Only one of the two richest merchants in Norvask, girl. And don¡¯t let this kingdom¡¯s small size fool you¡ªNorvask is a wealthy place. Expensive to live in, too. Comes naturally with intellectual talent and a willingness to trade.¡± Zoe mulled that over as she chewed her steak. She¡¯d never liked steak before¡ªany big cuts of meat, really. But Lilith had convinced her to get it, and the pesky Demon was right. Zoe was kind of pissed off that the whole stupid Demonic ascension thing gave her a taste for hefty slabs of rare meat. On the other hand, it tastes really good, so maybe I shouldn¡¯t complain about that one. Anyway¡ªNorvask. A small, coastal kingdom high up within a temperate latitude. One that was generally wealthy, fairly peaceful, and one built on an economy of information and trade. Getting some real uh, innocent little western-European colonial power vibes here. ¡°Got any colonies?¡± She asked as she set down her fork. ¡°You know, primitive places you go to with boats and pillage and enslave for riches?¡± ¡°In a way, yes,¡± Rudy replied without an ounce of hesitation. ¡°Norvask itself is one such colony¡ªor it was. There was a little scuffle for independence one hundred sixty odd years ago.¡± Ah¡ªso it¡¯s like a budding United States? ¡°No, not a war,¡± Rudy corrected when she asked. ¡°It was barely even a battle. Oh, they say there was a whole lot of hot air blowing around leading up to it. In the end, it was more like a half-effective pirate raid and fifteen years of petty prisoner-exchange negotiations.¡± Huh. That was even less intense than the American Revolution. It was pretty ironic that Norvask was also a former colony on the east coast of the northern part of a western landmass, though. ¡°So which side were the pirates?¡± ¡°We were,¡± Rudy said. ¡°A few ships went and raided some islands that are closer to us than to them. They tried to steal a weapons shipment from under their noses, as well as a couple hundred gallons of whiskey. Well, two out of the four main ships got blown up, but they made away with the whiskey.¡± ¡°But not the weapons.¡± ¡°But not the weapons,¡± the butler confirmed. Yeah, that sounds pretty American to me, Zoe thought. The butler then moved on to talking about their current colonies. While the total land area controlled by Norvask was extensive, the most valuable colony was a small cluster of islands to the south. The islands were rich in a variety of alchemical resources, mines, and fertile soil. Frustratingly, Zoe still didn¡¯t know if they had slaves. Either way, this is some classic 18th century style imperialism. There was technically a difference between foreign exploitation and slave-taking, though. She also found out what was up with something she¡¯d basically forgotten from her adventure in the temple-turned-cultist lair. Well, not really an answer. Norvask itself was a foreign colony, and thus there was already a native population. She vaguely recalled someone thinking she looked ¡®native,¡¯ and she hadn¡¯t understood that at the time.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. She still didn¡¯t understand it, but at least she had more context. When she asked Rudy what features about her gave that impression, he was no help at all. Why do I look ¡®native?¡¯ ¡°You just do¡± was all she got for an ¡®answer.¡¯ _____ ¡°This is where you¡¯ll be staying for the coming days.¡± Zoe looked up at the guest house. It looked pretty nice. It was far better than anything she¡¯d been expecting, really. It was an actual house. Like, a free-standing house with its own fence and a tiny little yard. Is this normal? ¡°Here¡¯s your key,¡± Rudy continued, depositing a disappointingly ordinary key in her hand. ¡°The guest house is already stocked with some basic amenities¡ªbut should you find yourself out of anything, don¡¯t hesitate to contact someone. You¡¯ll also find a note from Lady Victor in the office. I don¡¯t know what it covers, I haven¡¯t read it. I¡¯m only to inform you that it is there.¡± Huh. Zoe didn¡¯t expect that. The note could only have been written after her meeting with the head of the Blodmanes¡ªbut the butler had been with her the entire time. How did he know about the note, then? She decided to ask him. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be much of a head butler if I didn¡¯t have means of such communication, now would I?¡± He gave her a wry smile. ¡°Now. I have no desire to treat a guest poorly¡ª¡° uh oh. ¡°¡ªbut I would advise you to remain inside from now until someone comes for you in the morning. Not everyone in the estate knows who you are¡ªand I¡¯m sure you understand why they shouldn¡¯t.¡± Yeah¡­ that might be a good idea. Zoe nodded. She had no right to complain about it anyway. These ¡®accommodations¡¯ already seemed excessive. ¡°Thank you.¡± The estate butler walked off, and Zoe unlocked the guest house and made her way inside. The inside was about as nice as she expected¡ªwhich meant far nicer than she felt she deserved. It was also a bit hard to see since all the rooms were completely dark. Being a Demon might do a little to improve her night-vision, but it was still inconvenient. After stumbling through the entire first floor vainly searching for a light switch, Zoe gave up and reached into her inventory. A magical, floating paper lantern materialized above her palm, casting a pale glow across her immediate surroundings. If anyone else saw it, they would say it looked remarkably similar to the lanterns from the restaurant. If they questioned Zoe about it, though, they¡¯d learn it was just a coincidence. She would probably have trouble recalling precisely where she did get it¡ªmaybe it was just from the cultist chief like most of her current possessions. One thing was certain, though. She most definitely did not snag it from the restaurant on her way out when no one was looking. Zoe was a responsible young woman who respected private property. Snagging the lantern before it could rise out of reach, Zoe made another circuit of the first floor before climbing the stairs. She didn¡¯t find anything that looked like an office, so the note from Lady Victor was probably upstairs. The office was upstairs. There were also two bedrooms, a second bathroom, and a casual lounge area. Pretty comfy, Zoe decided. The first room she checked was the bathroom, of course. It had a shower and a bathtub. Hell yeah! There was also something that looked basically like a toilet, just¡ªdifferent. Either way, an immense burden eased off Zoe¡¯s shoulders at the confirmation of sophisticated indoor plumbing. If it had turned out she was supposed to just go out and shit in the woods, she would have had to learn to man up and hold it. ¡°Hold it for the rest of our immortal life?¡± ¡°Uh, yes.¡± Lilith didn¡¯t look convinced, but Zoe was deadly serious. After that, she went to the office. The note wasn¡¯t very hard to find, seeing as it was the only thing on the plain, wooden desk. She hoped it was something important and not pointless formalities that any regular guest would get. Picking up the note and holding it beside the enchanted lantern, Zoe¡¯s brow furrowed¡ªand her heart stopped. God fucking dammit. Scanning back over the fairly short paragraph of text, Zoe failed to fully suppress a groan. She¡¯d prepared her mind for a lot of things¡ªbut the words before her proved that it could always turn out worse. I should have considered this¡­ but I kind of thought it was taken care of based on how things went when I spoke to everyone. That assumption was false, and the truth wasn¡¯t ideal. Are you seriously telling me I¡¯m going to have to learn how to read? _____ It was a quiet evening in the Blodmane Estate¡¯s main archives. The main entrance was already locked up for the night, which meant that Walter could finally get started on re-cataloging the mess of news-records from when he knocked over the crate they were stored in a full two weeks ago. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult in the slightest, and the archivist would hesitate to even call it time-consuming. He¡¯d just been so busy dealing with poorly-timed requests that he¡¯d never gotten the chance to finish it. But now, it looked like he¡¯d get his chance. By the grace of¡ªwell, Walter wasn¡¯t one to believe in the grace of anything. But by a stroke of fortune, he¡¯d managed to hustle every last patron, client, and tourist out of the building a quarter hour ago. With the archives closed and no official work until morning, he could finally get those news clippings sorted out. And really, it shouldn¡¯t take him more than an hour total. After that was finished, he¡¯d have all the time he needed to continue his personal research into advancement techniques. It was about time he completed his advancement to Rank C, the archivist thought. It was just as Walter retrieved the fallen crate that someone entered the restricted section. You¡¯ve got to be shitting me. Now that was just obnoxious. Of all the times some noble brat could decide to snoop around where they shouldn¡¯t be, it had to be now. For a good thirty seconds, Walter considered just ignoring it. Since neither the main wards nor any of the real juicy restricted areas had signaled a breach, this person had a borderline legitimate way to get in after hours but not authorization for anything but the basic public levels. That in turn meant it was a noble kid from one of the side branches having a go at it. Probably looking for forbidden advancement techniques or the like. Just the usual stupidity. The only actual danger was that the brat would knock something over or end up afflicting themselves with some obscure curse. And that¡¯s exactly why the majority of forbidden techniques are forbidden in the first place, Walter scoffed. They had an almost unnatural appeal to children, though, who seemed to for some reason equate ¡®forbidden¡¯ with ¡®powerful.¡¯ The archivist was sorely tempted to simply let them fuck around for tonight and then find out why they shouldn¡¯t have. But then he looked back at the crate in front of him. Damn it. He would be unfathomably pissed if the kid fucked up something even remotely important anywhere. _____ ¡°I told you someone would come!¡± Zoe wasn¡¯t in the mood to indulge Lilith with the usual banter. After the indignation over her newfound illiteracy had calmed down, it hadn¡¯t taken Zoe very long to find the library. Archives, technically. While she had no idea where they might be¡ªif they even existed¡ªshe decided she could just ask someone. That went well enough, but then she found out it was closed down for the night¡ªand worse, locked. Instead of breaking in like a moron, she realized that there must be a whole bunch of people who had some sort of key. Specifically, she realized that after finding what was essentially a VIP entrance while poking around while trying to break in. From there, she found a random drunk guy and threatened him in an alley until he got it across to her that all of the noble branches could get in. When she asked how, she learned that like a whole lot of other stuff on the estate, it was keyed to their blood. All of this implied that being part of the Blodmanes and living on their estate didn¡¯t make you a noble. Also, even the nobles weren¡¯t all part of the main branch, and at this point Zoe was thoroughly confused. She¡¯d figure it out eventually. So then she found the nearest noble branch house place, knocked politely, and asked for some of their blood. This went shockingly well, actually. Even though the guy who opened the door was high enough rank to give her a headache when she failed to identify him, he was really nice and hurried to help her out. It might have had something to do with Zoe using lesser disguise to make herself look like Lady Victor. Actually, that was interesting too. When Zoe tried to check her system display privileges thing to see what it showed the guy, it wouldn¡¯t let her see it¡ªbecause she herself wasn¡¯t able to identify the Rank A woman. But it showed the random noble guy what he expected to see, so like¡­ that¡¯s pretty interesting. But regardless, that all led Zoe here¡ªrunning around the library trying to not get caught by the night guard or whoever he was. The only reason she wasn¡¯t caught yet was because of how much she was drawing on mirage. ¡°No, I think the reason is that he¡¯s not trying very hard. It kind of looks like he¡¯s more worried about you knocking something over than actually getting you.¡± Either way, it was getting annoying. And I don¡¯t need your advice, Lilith. ¡°Fair enough. If you had listened to my advice and not tried to go into the restricted section, we wouldn¡¯t be trying not to get caught in the first place. Lilith did have a point there. Zoe even knew that it was stupid at the time¡ªbut in my defense¡ªwho wouldn¡¯t want to go take a peek in the restricted section of a magic library? That was like, exactly what you were supposed to do. ¡°If you were supposed to do it, I don¡¯t think it would be warded to alert the workers if someone tries it,¡± Lilith pointed out. _____ Walter was getting increasingly irritated. It was one thing to break the rules and disrupt his work¡ªand it was quite another thing to lead him around and around the shelves like a runaway toddler. At least you can actually see toddlers most of the time, the archivist muttered to himself. Whichever wayward teen had snuck in this time had some kind of stealth skill that was just good enough to make them frustratingly slippery. Come out already, damn you. What was even the point of carrying on like this? At first he¡¯d expected them to try to escape¡ªand then he would have been keeping an eye out in case they thought they were clever and tried again a few minutes later. But no. This cheeky brat was practically toying with him. ¡°Looking for someone?¡± Walter spun around. They¡¯d somehow gotten all the way behind him, and also chosen to reveal themselves. About time. The only problem was that it wasn¡¯t a self-entitled teen who faced him, but Lady Blodmane herself. Walter just narrowed his eyes. ¡°Consider me impressed by whatever skill you¡¯re using¡ªit¡¯s convincing, I¡¯ll give you that. But you¡¯re not Lady Blodmane.¡± The imposter opened her mouth. Walter noticed that even the way she carried herself was similar to the posture and gait of the house head¡ªbut he still knew better. ¡°And if you think you¡¯re going to convince me with some kind of fake status, I can¡¯t identify Lady Blodmane anyway.¡± The mouth closed. Damn, she has a skill that can fake statuses too? That was possibly even more impressive than such realistic shapeshifting. Walter would have been more impressed by this kid if they had the sense not to break into the archives. ¡°If you¡¯re looking for a forbidden advancement technique or some other rubbish like that, save your time and just leave. Most of those aren¡¯t good anyway. They¡¯re forbidden because they do bad stuff like put curses on you.¡± The fake Lady Blodmane arched an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? That¡¯s actually good to know, thank you. But that¡¯s not what I came here for.¡± Yeah, right. Walter¡¯s eyes could hardly get any narrower. ¡°Then what are you here for?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± a flush of shame crept through her pale cheeks¡ªsomething that wasn¡¯t there before. ¡°I was trying to avoid meeting anyone, but now that you¡¯re here¡­ can you teach me how to read?¡± 32 - Concerning Developments Lady Blodmane¡¯s morning began with a concerning series of disparate reports of strange goings on across the estate in the night prior. She would have been far more concerned, had the likely connection between the seemingly unrelated occurrences not been already known to her. By far the most concerning were the rumors concerning Victor herself. Namely, that she¡¯d called upon Damian¡¯s branch at some unholy error to demand the branch leader¡¯s blood. Victor had done no such thing¡ªyet the Rank A mage had no doubt that someone looking very much like her had. Still, this was troublesome. It was troublesome that the Blackwell Demon was brazen enough to attempt such a thing¡ªlet alone that she succeeded. But what was more troubling was that now she¡¯d have to reassure Damian and put a stop to any rumors. Rumors that are already spreading, given how she herself found out in the first place. Less concerning by far was the drunken report of another drunkard being shaken down for information in an alley nearby in the residential areas. That sort of thing wasn¡¯t exactly normal, but it wasn¡¯t uncommon. The only thing noteworthy was how close in both time and place it occurred to the impersonation and blood request. Aside from that, there were the numerous reports of ¡®suspicious activity,¡¯ followed by an alarm going off from a tripped ward in the archives. As Lady Blodmane stepped out of her manor and into the open air of the estate, she decided that would be the first place to go. Knowing everything that she did, Victor suspected she¡¯d find the common cause of all this terrorizing the archivists. It only took the house head several minutes to reach the archives. She could have done so far, far faster¡ªbut she took the route that didn¡¯t use skills and did necessitate the use of her feet. Walking was, in some circumstances, more dignified¡ªnot to mention better suited for a healthy combination of planning and procrastination. I really don¡¯t want to deal with Damian right now. It was hard not to notice that the archives were still closed when she arrived. That was never supposed to happen, and it seldom did. I¡¯ll take that as another indication our guest has remained on the premises. The only thing that could make one of the master archivists tardy was if they were still tied down with wrangling the Demon. And, as was often the case, Lady Blodmane¡¯s predictions proved correct. In the very center of the main common area, surrounded by heaps of assorted scrolls and books, Master of the Archives Walter sat¡ªby no choice of his own, as the poor man was at the mercy of a higher Demon. The tormented creature¡¯s head snapped up at their arrival¡ªas did the Demon Zoe¡¯s. Relief, then confusion, and lastly an uncertain cocktail of dread and hope flickered behind the archivist¡¯s haunted features. In contrast, the Demon wore a facade of sheepishness¡ªas well as Victor¡¯s own face. ¡°Please tell me you¡¯re the real Lady Blodmane and you¡¯ve come to save me.¡± Victor quite nearly burst out in laughter at that. Just what did she do to him? He didn¡¯t look injured or sick¡ªless an exhaustion of body than of mind and perhaps spirit. ¡°I¡¯m the real Lady Blodmane and I¡¯ve come to save you.¡± She paused. ¡°Although, I do hope you won¡¯t mind me asking what I¡¯m here to save you from.¡± The archivist¡¯s joyous expression faded as he froze. Victor could almost see the thoughts churning. He wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, he didn¡¯t want to admit everything, and he thought she already knew¡ªbut he had little choice but to speak. ¡°Of course, Lady Blodmane. This evening¡ªerh, I mean last evening¡ªI detected someone entering the restricted section not long after the archives were closed. At first I assumed it was one of the younger members of the current noble generation hunting for forbidden techniques or the like. But uh.¡± He scratched his head. ¡°It was actually some kind of shape-shifting monster¡­¡± Master Walter trailed off a bit, shifting a bit further away from Zoe and giving her a wary look. Victor had to make an explicit gesture to continue, and he cleared his throat. ¡°Well anyway, it wasn¡¯t acting violent and it just wanted me to teach it how to read, so that¡¯s what we¡¯ve been doing.¡± ¡°Ah. I see.¡± That was only half true. While the explanation was both clear and enough to explain most of the incidents during the night, it raised a few new questions. For how fluent the Demon was, Victor assumed she was equally literate. She wouldn¡¯t have left a written note otherwise. And while most higher Demons were good at communicating with mortals of any linguistic background, the ways they accomplished that were different from speaking. For that, even archDemons had to learn new languages the hard way like everyone else. Given just how fluent Zoe was in the Veyrse tongue, it wasn¡¯t much of a leap to think she¡¯d spend a considerable amount of time in the region already. If that were the case and she hadn¡¯t learned how to read the language yet¡ªwhat was the rush? Victor didn¡¯t ask directly. She would find out eventually¡ªand in the meanwhile, it confirmed how much Darius was still hiding from her. He wouldn¡¯t even explain how or why this Demon is connected to the elder artifacts we¡¯ve uncovered. Victor couldn¡¯t blame him for it¡ªshe would most likely have done the same. I¡¯ll just have to stay extra vigilant. It helped that the alchemist considered her an ally trustworthy enough to place such a critical piece of the puzzle entirely into her care. But enough of that. There¡¯s much to be done yet¡ªand I¡¯m sure poor Walter could use a rest. ¡°That was very good of you, Master Walter. I¡¯ll see to it from here, though. I have business of my own with Ms. Blackwell here¡ªmay you take the next few minutes to finish up?¡± For the first time in their second meeting, Zoe Blackwell¡¯s face lost its amused confidence. The Demon looked a little¡ªnervous. That was understandable, but there was truly no need for her to worry. As for Walter¡ªVictor had hardly seen the archivist happier.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. _____ Zoe was not happy. Not only did the librarian guy call her an ¡®it¡¯ like everyone else¡ªhe called her a monster. A monster! That was beyond insulting. It¡¯s deHumanizing! Literally! Did the people of this world not understand the concept of respect? ¡°You do realize we aren¡¯t Human, yes? We are also quite literally a monster.¡± Be that as it may, Zoe was not pleased. Sure, point about not being Human taken¡ªbut one, you can have guy monsters and girl monsters and so on¡ªand two, monsters can also be people. Lilith already explained how higher Demons were the kind of being that the system classified as both. So really, I think I¡¯m more than justified in being upset by this. Lilith didn¡¯t have anything to say to this¡ªnot that Zoe would care either way. She had more important things to think about. For instance, what business did Lady Victor have with her? She hoped it didn¡¯t have anything to do with her activities during the night. ¡°I think that might be too optimistic.¡± Lilith didn¡¯t sound nervous, which meant the pesky Demon was just messing with her. Lady Victor led her back to the guest house. That¡ªwasn¡¯t a good sign, but it didn¡¯t have to be a bad one either. When they entered the main receiving area, though, the Rank A noblewoman sent a pointed look towards the lantern still floating along the ceiling. Zoe replied to the look with her most innocent smile. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re wondering why I brought you here.¡± Zoe nodded. She was wondering that, yes. Why bother asking? That was the sort of thing villains said, not actual people. ¡°I am going to tell you what I intended you to read in my note.¡± Victor looked at the enchanted paper lantern again. ¡°As well as some other things¡ªnow that they¡¯ve come up.¡± Uh oh. Zoe swallowed. I think I might be in trouble. ¡°First, before you steal things, please consider asking for them first. Even if you intend to get something by stealing if necessary, asking is more polite. It makes things easier when the answer would be yes. I could have gotten you a proper lantern.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t know how to feel about that. ¡°Are you implying I can steal things?¡± The look she got in response was devastating. ¡°You may not steal things that I do not allow you to steal. If you can steal something, I won¡¯t be stopping you by definition.¡± It took Zoe an embarrassingly long time to parse what Lady Victor meant by that. It seemed simple when she figure it out, though¡ªit bordered on a tautology. She wasn¡¯t allowed to steal things, but if she was able to steal them, Lady Victor wanted her to ask normally first. ¡°Okay, understood. That¡¯s fair enough, though I usually ask for forgiveness, not permission.¡± ¡°Yes. You are a Demon.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t know if she should feel insulted. She already thought that way before the whole Demon thing¡ªbefore she¡¯d arrived to this entire world. Perhaps to her surprise, that robbed the noblewoman¡¯s statement of its weight. And yet, was the lost weight not replaced by the implication her very personality was Demon-like? ¡°Being a Demon is hardly a bad thing.¡± Zoe rolled her eyes at Lilith¡¯s interjection, much to Lady Victor¡¯s momentary confusion. ¡°It¡¯s quite good when you think about it.¡± It would be more persuading to hear an argument for that from someone who wasn¡¯t a magical parasite trying to consume Zoe¡¯s identity. Piss off, Zoe directed at her, the adults are talking. She did want to hear what else the leader of the Blodmanes had to say. ¡°Regardless of whether you choose to steal, I will not tolerate impersonations of my likeness. I suggest you refrain from using me as material for your abilities.¡± Ah. That was understandable. It looked like she wasn¡¯t going to get in trouble for doing it once already, just judging by the current tone of conversation. Zoe would do well to keep the noblewoman¡¯s feelings on the matter in mind, though¡ªshe had to remember not to impersonate Lady Victor in any circumstances where the information could get back to her. ¡°So we¡¯re still going to do it and just try not to get caught?¡± Did Zoe need to reevaluate Lilith¡¯s intelligence? The answer to that should be obvious. Granted, Zoe didn¡¯t intend to go running around looking like an influential Rank A individual without a good reason. ¡°With that out of the way, I¡¯ll summarize what I meant for you to know last evening. I¡¯m not going to be babysitting you personally, so I¡¯ve recruited a younger relation of mine to the task. He¡¯s Rank B and an adventurer. I¡¯ll tell you this now¡ªhe¡¯s not happy about it. He¡¯s the most competent house member who has enough of my trust and the necessary time to take it on. To that end, you might want to prepare yourself for threats, mockery, and general cruelty.¡± Zoe gulped. What kind of ¡®babysitter¡¯ was this? Every one of those things was worse than the last. ¡°But for all his talk, he won¡¯t let you come to any real harm, and you shouldn¡¯t be in danger with him.¡± Victor paused. ¡°Perhaps I should say you won¡¯t experience grievous harm and he probably won¡¯t put you in mortal danger.¡± She frowned. ¡°If he stays with you.¡± Nice job trying to be reassuring. Could Lady Victor possibly make this worse? Grievous harm? Mortal danger? And what was that about ¡®if¡¯ he stays with me. Zoe didn¡¯t miss the subtle indication her supposed ¡®babysitter¡¯ might just give her the slip. But given the picture painted here¡ªmaybe that wouldn¡¯t be such a bad thing. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be going now. I suggest you stay here. There¡¯s a chance you might leave the estate later today, so we need to get you more presentable. That includes a way to disguise your nature that doesn¡¯t rely on your own skills.¡± Oh? Zoe perked up at that. Something like that could be useful, given how taxing it became constantly maintaining lesser disguise. ¡°Everyone should arrive here within the next quarter hour. I find it difficult to imagine anyone taking pleasure in hunting you down across the entire estate, so find a way to entertain yourself that doesn¡¯t involve leaving the guest house.¡± The noblewoman paused at the threshold of the door. ¡°And that doesn¡¯t involve excessive property damage.¡± The door swung closed, leaving Zoe standing in the same spot she¡¯d been all along. Excessive property damage? All she¡¯d done was ask for directions, borrowed some blood, and made use of the public library. She had no idea why Lady Victor felt compelled to say such a thing. It¡¯s just because I¡¯m a Demon, isn¡¯t it. Lilith chuckled. Zoe got the feeling it was at her expense¡ªbut for what? _____ Meanwhile, in another part of the city, an armored Templar stood before the Verdanport Temple steps, cold sweat pooling in the gap between his gauntlets and his hands. He steadied himself. The prospective paladin debated all night whether to obey the instructions of Lord Loch. He¡¯d come to a decision. Sean hurried up the temple steps. The young Templar had important information to report first. 33 - The Living Church Of The Sixfold Hallows The temple was big. That was both expected¡ªand an understatement. As the de facto central branch of the Church in the entire Western Frontier, it shared more similarities to the larger noble estates than to a typical temple¡ªarchitecturally speaking. In terms of function and purpose, it was a unique chimera. Part place of worship, part fortress, part academy, and part a hub of logistics and command¡ªand that was without mentioning the myriad other services and buildings. Well, maybe a comparison to a small city would be the most apt. As the morning sun solidified its position in the day¡¯s sky, the activity within the great Hallowed walls reached the summit of its mounting crescendo. Templars trained, priests attended to all manner of rites, and all the other subdivisions of the Prelacy took to their innumerable tasks with dedication and efficiency. There were even those from the greater public who were not ordained in any of the three orders¡ªthe Order of the Templars, the Prelacy of the Hallows, and the Inquisition. The last group accounted for by far the fewest¡ªeven counting those of the general public. That we can see. Chances were that you didn¡¯t identify an Inquisitor when you saw one. It wasn¡¯t a secret that most Inquisitors held secondary positions within the other branches. Those that weren¡¯t could readily be identified by their gold and black dress¡ªand by their curious blindfolds. But even then, Templar Sean glimpsed more than one gold and black uniform as he cut through the sea of faces. In fact, there were far fewer than was normal¡ªa symptom of the same circumstances on which Sean was to report. Could they have found her so soon? It seemed more likely than not. Sean had a healthy level of Faith in his brothers and sisters¡ªand so it was tempting to remain silent. Surely the Inquisition was capable of locating a single Demon within the heart of Human territory. His fellows would prove their capability, and Sean could uphold his promise to his patron and mentor, Lord Loch. Surely too, the renowned war hero and alchemist had his reasons. Sean allowed those feelings. He allowed them to run through him, to flow from his mind until they pooled throughout his body and spirit. He allowed them, he accepted them, and he denied them of their power. He acknowledged these thoughts as he solidified his resolve to not act on them. It was a technique his instructor and commander with the Templars had been emphasizing to him of late. It was a notable departure from the usual methods Templar Captain Hardy employed. Sean had been skeptical of cultivating an acceptance of malformity. Skepticism turned to surprised appreciation as the Captain¡¯s encouragement produced results. The training recently had been far more¡ªpeaceful than usual, but the understanding Sean gained in that time put his initial worries to rest. Now, his worry was what the Captain had in store now that he¡¯d made sufficient headway with the method. It was Captain Hardy he sought out now. _____ It was no surprise to find the Captain in the metalworks. If the grizzled old Exalt of Justice wasn¡¯t needed elsewhere, that¡¯s where he would be. This was the sole reason the smiths allowed Sean into their precious sanctum without prior notice. And without his relationship to the Captain, they¡¯d no doubt make him fight to the tooth even if he was sent there by a Councilor themselves. Even then, they refused to let him so much as breathe on anything. Sean complied. He behaved himself so well in their eyes that they¡¯d switched all the way to trusting him not to screw something too important up. Playing nice with the temple smiths had eventually gotten him his current armor¡ªsomething that most of his fellows couldn¡¯t expect before at least one promotion. To be blunt, full metal plate meant you were either rich or highly valued. Sean was neither. If any of the smiths ever worried he might have the audacity to steal¡ªand granted, their crudest raw material alone was exceedingly valuable¡ªthey simply gave it away to him in the end. As the Captain always said¡­ ¡®It pays to be nice.¡¯ Said Captain looked up from the small wire-spool he was tinkering with as Sean approached. Copper, specifically¡ªand enough that it was likely worth more than both of their monthly pay combined. Sean had no idea what the man was doing with it. So he decided to ask. ¡°Replicating some experiments. We might be onto a whole new field of magic.¡± Sean hadn¡¯t really come to talk about his commanding officer¡¯s hobbies¡ªbut that raised his interest. It was enough for at least an eyebrow raise. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really. Do you think I¡¯d lie about that.¡± Sean shrugged as he moved closer. ¡°No, not really. It just sounds a little¡­ big.¡± He gestured at the wire-spool and the tube-like apparatus accompanying it. ¡°And it looks a little¡­¡± ¡°Junky.¡± The grizzled old metal-mage grinned. ¡°I know what it looks like. And before you ask, what it¡¯s supposed to do won¡¯t look very impressive either.¡± Despite what the Captain just said, Sean watched on in interest as he put the whole thing together. While Captain Hardy was notable for achieving the evolution tier of Exalt with his Exalt of Justice class, his other class was perhaps equally notable¡ªand it was the one the old warrior had swapped to his primary more often than not. Ironsoul Knight. A vanishingly rare, Rank B class that even Sean barely understood. The only reason he knew the specific name of it was that Captain Hardy had grown fond enough to tell him. Virtually any class oriented around metal was valued¡ªwhich gave the Captain even more leverage to do what he wanted. Mostly, that was experimenting with metals. As Sean continued to watch, Captain Hardy retrieved a small elemental mana crystal. Sean would have guessed it was lightning if asked, and it didn¡¯t look even half full. The affinity of lightning for metal was fairly well known¡ªso what was the Captain trying to demonstrate here? Not much happened¡ªuntil he waved some kind of glass bulb in the air near a section of the coil. As it passed, the bulb lit up with a faint glow. ¡°A linked enchantment?¡± ¡°No.¡± The Captain set down the bulb¡ªand grinned. ¡°There¡¯s no enchantment at all. This bulb here? Just metal and glass.¡± Before, Sean had been curious. Now, the apparatus had his full attention. ¡°Then how¡­¡± ¡°Another time.¡± Winking, the Captain removed the mana crystal and scooted his chair back. ¡°None of it is useful right now¡ªthe enchantments with traditional methods are simple enough¡ªand do it better. This is just one experiment reported by some mages back on the old continent. It gets a whole lot more exciting when you start considering the implications of what might be an entire new branch of magic.¡± Yeah, Sean thought, I think I get what you meant now. ¡°But you didn¡¯t come just to check in on your poor old mentor, did you? You¡¯re off official duty for the next two weeks.¡± Part of Sean wanted to deny the statement and join his mentor within the Templars in replicating these experiments. That same part whispered to just listen to his other mentor¡ªLord Loch¡ªand to forget the whole thing about gaining an audience before the council. He allowed the feeling to pass. ¡°You¡¯re correct about that, Sir. I¡­ I needed a way to speak before the Council.¡± It was a rare thing for Captain Hardy to show surprise. Even now, it took the form of a mere head tilt and grunt before he got right to the point. ¡°Why?¡± Sean swallowed. ¡°I¡­¡± The sweat between his hands and gauntlets was coming back now. ¡°I just need to speak to someone on the Council, Sir.¡± For a dreadful moment, the young Templar expected the older officer to press him on it. The Captain¡¯s eyes were serious¡ªstern, perhaps, but also searching. Another grunt was his first response. ¡°I will trust you have your reasons, then. I can¡¯t promise you¡¯ll get an audience, but I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± He paused. ¡°What kind of deadline is there on this?¡± Once again, Sean swallowed. ¡°I can¡¯t say I know, Sir. But I think it would be best if I could see them now.¡± _____ Sean didn¡¯t ask how Captain Hardy got the two of them through to see the Council. What mattered was that he did. Granted, the attendants stationed between the public and private sectors of the Temple Courts emphasized that the council was not in session and none of the Councilors were guaranteed to be on court duty. And if they were, there was no guarantee anyone would see them. A quarter hour later, and it was looking like that was going to be the case. Most of the offices they¡¯d been allowed near were empty, and those that weren¡¯t had given them a form and a promise for an appointment at an indeterminate time later. At least they¡¯re actually willing to see me. Sean had only met a Councilor personally once, and that was during his formal initiation. He found it empowering to see all of them making an effort to hear out the little guys, even if they were otherwise engaged at the moment. The downside was that it did little for his stress. And so a quarter of an hour after that, the young Templar and the grizzled old Captain Hardy found themselves on a simple bench after filling out each form. Not that the Captain was old. He was only fifty. Sean thought of him as old only because the man had a full gray beard¡ªand had a penchant himself for playing it up.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Kid, you¡¯re handling this well. I¡¯m impressed. Though I¡¯ve got to say, those forms weren¡¯t nearly half as bad as I expected.¡± Sean laughed. A nervous laugh, though genuine. Captain Hardy was one of a few people from whom being addressed as ¡®kid¡¯ didn¡¯t feel like an insult. From the Ironsoul Knight, it was encouraging and endearing, a far cry from the usual patronizing. ¡°Well as you say, Sir, those forms weren¡¯t all bad.¡± They were all close to identical. A single page¡ªif that¡ªasking his name, rank, affiliation, and purpose. The last could have presented a serious challenge, had the creators lacked the foresight to include a box for anything marked ¡®sensitive.¡¯ A few others included an option for a superior, sponsor, or representative, or the like. Captain Hardy signed for all of those. While Sean was also tempted to put down Lord Loch, doing so didn¡¯t feel quite right in this specific circumstance. The two Templars looked up as approaching footsteps echoed from around the corner. A pair of them, as it sounded like¡ªand as it was confirmed, when two full-fledged Inquisitors walked into sight. Both sported the full dress and insignia befitting their branch and their ranks. They marched straight towards him and Captain Hardy¡ªboth of whom knew something was up even before the pair stopped. They both gave a quick gesture of acknowledgment to the Captain. A polite, upturned extension of the hand, as if this were an event and they were indicating his turn to speak. Sean recognized it as the Inquisitorial equivalent of the Templars¡¯ fist-to-chest and the simple bow of the Prelacy. ¡°Captain.¡± Captain Hardy acknowledged for them to continue without speaking himself. ¡°Templar Sean?¡± The rightmost Inquisitor may have intoned it as a question of identity, but Sean knew they already knew who he was and were being polite. ¡°At your service.¡± The two gold-and-black trimmed youths nodded in sync. And they were young¡ªlikely around the same age as him. Mercifully, neither of them had their eyes obscured by those curious blindfolds. ¡°The High Inquisitor will speak with you now.¡± Sean blinked. What? He didn¡¯t say anything, but he doubted he¡¯d done a good job at concealing his immense surprise. Sharing a glance with his Captain, he realized he wasn¡¯t alone. I don¡¯t think the High Inquisitor was one of the Councilors we submitted a form to. In fact, Sean didn¡¯t even know how to contact the High Inquisitor in the first place. No one knew the identity of the High Inquisitor¡ªor if they did, they were very high up and wouldn¡¯t tell you that they knew. All that most people knew about the High Inquisitor in Verdanport was that the city did have one. It was possible that there was more than one¡ªbut there was one at the very least. The only other real information was that the High Inquisitor was also privy to the Council¡ªbut that didn¡¯t say much, because any High Inquisitor anywhere was privy to the region¡¯s Councils, as a right of their position. Could one of the Council members in the Court right now be the High Inquisitor? Sean¡¯s mind pondered this and other questions as he stood and followed the two Inquisitors. Captain Hardy stayed behind¡ªthey hadn¡¯t called for him. The three of them stopped after turning a corner. One of the two¡ªthe woman¡ªspoke. ¡°Before we continue, you must allow us to use a skill on you. It is harmless and only intended to conceal the route we take and the location of our destination.¡± Huh. That¡ªmakes sense. It explained why there seemed to be so few facilities dedicated to the Inquisition within the Temple¡ªthey were simply kept secret. Compared to the summons itself, this was hardly a surprise. ¡°Of course,¡± Sean said. ¡°Go ahead.¡± The woman nodded, and her partner raised his hands. A quick gesture and a mere second later, the world twisted into a near featureless hallway that ran straight and without end in either direction. It was the same as the court passageway they were already in¡ªonly, if someone had stretched the most plain segment of it onward and onward until nothing else in the whole world remained. ¡°Weird.¡± The male Inquisitor chuckled. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a bit strange isn¡¯t it. Come. The way isn¡¯t far, but there¡¯s no need to delay your meeting.¡± _____ The man hadn¡¯t lied. The way wasn¡¯t long at all. It took less than two minutes for the interminable expanse to be interrupted by a lone door on the left side of the otherwise barren walls. After a brief knocking and a brief wait, the door opened. The two Inquisitors shuffled him inside. The room beyond was a small office. Sparse¡ªbut cozy¡ªit was well-lit by beams of sunlight. This was curious, given that there were no windows. Sean was so absorbed by the strange, slanted holes through which the light of day entered that he failed to notice either the departure of the Inquisitors or the figure seated at the desk before him. ¡°Clever, are they not?¡± Sean¡¯s eyes snapped down to who could only be the High Inquisitor. Unlike the other Inquisitors with their crisp, buttoned uniforms, the person before him wore a gold-patterned, woven black shawl over what appeared to be simple wrappings of dark cloth. And also unlike the two preceding Inquisitors, a white and silken blindfold obscured any glimpse of their eyes. ¡°The slits allow sunlight to pass as if through a window, without the usual transparency. Even if you were to look straight up through them, neither you nor anyone on the outside could see through. There is a bend, where the light strikes a deliberately clouded mirror.¡± Sean nodded as he digested the explanation. It was clever indeed. ¡°Sit, Templar. I would like for us to have a discussion, not for you to make a report.¡± As he took his seat across the smooth but unfinished wooden desk, Sean had a moment of panic as he struggled to formulate an acceptable term of address. He hadn¡¯t the slightest idea whether the figure before him was male or female. Their pale, unblemished skin and wild red hair conveyed a likely deceiving impression of great youth¡ªbut that was all. Their voice, figure, and partly-obscured face made them entirely indeterminate. ¡°Thank you, High Inquisitor,¡± Sean managed at last. He hoped that he hadn¡¯t already offended them. If he did, they didn¡¯t show it. ¡°You are nervous. Do not be. Nothing you can reveal to me today will endanger you.¡± Just having a discussion, yeah, sure. Sean wasn¡¯t sure if the High Inquisitor already knew something about what he intended to report to the Council, or if he had only caught their attention due to all the inquiries he¡¯d just made. Yet either way, any thoughts of concealing information vanished. Even if the High Inquisitor was not already in the Council, Sean wouldn¡¯t dare hide anything before them. He took a quick breath. The High Inquisitor continued before he got a chance. ¡°I have long known of you, Templar Sean. You have no need to worry. If you should flee from my office at this very moment, I would only thank you for your evidence.¡± The High Inquisitor¡¯s words didn¡¯t do much to assuage Sean¡¯s anxious thoughts¡ªuntil the end, which confused him. ¡°Evidence, High Inquisitor?¡± ¡°Yes, evidence.¡± The High Inquisitor leaned forward. ¡°Let me paint you a picture. A High Priestess divines potent ripples of elder magic from the far north. Not soon after, a High Templar returns from the Frozen Wastes, having failed to thwart the movements of a powerful new cult¡ªand bearing news of a higher Demon they successfully awakened.¡± Sean¡¯s nervousness faded away as he followed along. There were a lot of pieces here¡ªand he felt the High Inquisitor was just getting started. ¡°And then, not wholly two days later, who arrives back in Verdanport but Lord Darius Loch, and who is with him? His usual students, of course¡ªyet also a wild, hitherto unknown woman whom he promptly escorts to the Blodmane estate.¡± The High Inquisitor¡¯s lips stretched into a grin. ¡°Lord Loch meets with Lady Blodmane herself, by all accounts¡ªand his departure occurs with a distinctive lack of his prior companion. A companion, you might note, who arrived in the city on the very same morning our wards detected the ingress of a higher Demon.¡± ¡°And then.¡± The High Inquisitor leaned back, their entire bearing returning to an indifferent air of relaxation. ¡°And then, come morning, imagine my complete and utter lack of surprise when Templar Sean¡ªone of those regular five students I mentioned¡ªwhen Templar Sean arrives at the temple seeking an audience with any Councilor who will hear him.¡± Sean wasn¡¯t nervous anymore. No, he was nothing but embarrassed. The whole thing was so thrice-damned obvious, yet he¡¯d needed the High Inquisitor¡¯s borderline patronizing explanation to understand it. ¡°I¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°Your analysis is correct, High Inquisitor.¡± ¡°Of course it is.¡± The Inquisitor¡¯s smile this time was still at his expense, and perhaps self-indulgent¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t mocking. Despite their words, it was clear they felt flattered. ¡°I could hardly deserve the title of High Inquisitor otherwise. What do you think we do all day?¡± Only the tone told him that the joke there was friendly and not meant to be insulting. I suppose a lot of people who interact with the Inquisition go through something similar. It wasn¡¯t very often you saw them do anything, even though that was the point. ¡°Well. Now that you understand your position here, would you care to add anything? You mustn¡¯t now assume my own abilities¡ªthough augmented as they are by those of my fellow Brothers and Sisters¡ªto be so comprehensive as to foresee everything.¡± ¡°Ah. Right.¡± Sean might be having a little trouble staying on track now, but he could hardly blame himself. ¡°The Demon is named Zoe¡ªor at least, that¡¯s what she calls herself. None of us were able to detect her true nature. She had some ability that was highly effective at concealing herself. Not even our Rank C comrade from the Blodmane¡¯s was able to see through it.¡± Sean paused. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think he did. Only Lord Loch was able to¡­¡± ¡°Understood.¡± That was all the High Inquisitor said, but Sean got the feeling he was supposed to keep going¡ªeven if they were no longer looking in his direction. As if they were ever looking¡ªthe blindfold could be just ceremonial or even a trick, but¡ªI don¡¯t think it is. ¡°But uh, Lord Loch brought her back to Verdanport instead of killing her. He was also very clear that none of us were to reveal anything. Even though I knew he must have some good reason¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you sought out the Council, then.¡± Sean nodded. The High Inquisitor made a quiet hum. ¡°Good. And you haven¡¯t revealed this to any others by intention?¡± ¡°No,¡± ¡°Good. You did well, Templar Sean. You are correct that Lord Loch has his reasons. You clearly possess an amount of wisdom. Henceforth, I suggest you maintain your silence.¡± Then the High Inquisitor stood. Sean was left sitting, which was a bit awkward¡ªwas he about to be dismissed? ¡°Said wisdom is noted. I will see to it that my favor towards you is known, despite the necessity of obscuring the circumstances. If you don¡¯t have anything left to add¡ª?¡± Sean stood. ¡°No, High Inquisitor¡ªthat is all. Oh and, thank you.¡± As he made his way to the door¡ªwhich had opened to reveal the same two Inquisitors waiting in the strange corridor outside¡ªa disturbing feeling washed through him. The colossal weight of an immense gaze pressed down¡ªno. Not a weight. Something vast, strange, and so horrifyingly distant beheld the entirety of his being. It didn¡¯t bear down on him. It just looked. An Aspect of the Hallow witnesses you. Through the presence of a Hallowed Chosen, you have been touched by an Aspect of the Hallow. ¡­ The feeling shifted, mutating¡ªand then it vanished. Sean blinked. He was still standing at the doorway. ¡°Is something wrong, Templar Sean?¡± He shook his head. ¡°No¡ªno. Everything¡¯s fine.¡± As he stepped into the hall, Sean tried to dismiss whatever had just happened. Being witnessed was¡ªintense, but he would have assumed it was just the power of a High Inquisitor. If not for the second message that came after. ¡­ An Aspect of witnesses you. You have been witnessed. 34 - Fine Young Demoness Zoe had, thus far, survived murderous cultists, hazardous architecture, snow, aggressive wildlife, and lastly, the looming threat of a Demon-hunting Inquisition. None of it could compare to the terror that gripped Zoe in the face of her latest mortal enemy¡ªthe maids. Her first mistake was allowing them entrance to the guest house. Her second mistake was trying to run away upon realizing the full scope and nature of their intentions. That had resulted in her being chased, surrounded, and dragged away to the cruel dungeon in which she now found herself. If she had elected to remain in her own quarters, they would have had to make do with only the torturous instruments they could carry¡ªand not the full array of their dreadful and extensive stock. Who knew that the fashion industry of this world had evolved far enough to rival the advanced cosmetics arms race still unfolding back on modern-day Earth? ¡°This wouldn¡¯t take so long if you¡¯d just hold still.¡± Zoe twitched her head a little just to be spiteful. By itself, the movement was slight. But her horns were long, so the slight rotation translated into a significant displacement. It helped that her horns were what they were working on now. ¡°Eep!¡± The little yelp of the girl busy working on them made it worth it. ¡°Quit moving. The faster she finishes up on your horns the sooner this is over.¡± Zoe leveled the head-maid¡ªor whoever the oldest woman with them was¡ªwith a cold glare. ¡°They¡¯re antennae,¡± she spat, taking a page right out of Lilith¡¯s book. ¡°Yes, of course they are, dear. Now please sit still, we¡¯re almost finished.¡± Zoe glowered. Fine. She would tolerate the next few minutes¡ªif only so she had less time before she could get started on her revenge. A haunting fear suggested that she wouldn¡¯t be seeing the last of these wicked tormentors¡ªbut they wouldn¡¯t be seeing the last of her either. ¡°I think that¡¯s how it usually works, yes.¡± Zoe¡¯s glare pivoted onto Lilith. The smug apparition was lounging in a chair across the room, completely free from the ministrations of villainous attendants or that deranged stylist. You know very well what I meant by that. It¡¯s about the spirit, not the literal meaning. If Zoe were honest, the last part¡ªwhere they attended to her claw-hands, scaly forearms, and antennae should have been welcome. It was all designed to let her walk around freely without relying on maintaining lesser disguise. Being a Demon was no good¡ªbut Demons were hardly the only kind of monsters. Lilith started explaining how normal Humans could sometimes develop a monster core and start on all kinds of different evolutionary paths. Zoe was confused at first, until her Demonic encyclopedia went on to point out how monsters were magically mutated plants or animals, and Humans were just an especially smart kind of animal. That being said¡ªbased on what she¡¯d picked up from both Lilith and the maids, Human monsters weren¡¯t broadly liked or even treated equally. Forming a core was avoided, and it didn¡¯t make you more powerful, as it precluded your ability to gain skills and classes. As a higher Demon, Zoe was now the one known kind of creature to get the benefits of both¡ªwhich she¡¯d therefore have to conceal while pretending to be any kind of monster other than a Demon. And, to top it all off, the formation of a physical core and accompanying transformation into a monster was universally avoided in all ¡®civilized¡¯ societies. Zoe had a suspicion that the real reason for this alleged statistic was that any societies which didn¡¯t adhere to that practice were excluded from the list of those deemed ¡®civilized.¡¯ But either way it did nothing to help her. The solution? Put this clay-like substance all over the more monstrous parts of her body, sculpt it a little, and then paint. The idea was to make it look like real horns and not the arcane antennae of a Demon. They also stuck fur all on the back of her hands and forearms. Zoe would have said it was totally stupid. In fact, she did. Her opinion on the efficacy of the technique changed as things progressed. Before her eyes, the shitty smear of clay experienced a sudden transformation into a disguise so convincing it even looked real to Zoe herself. ¡°Like it?¡± Zoe¡¯s attention returned to the maid finishing up the touches of paint to her left palm. ¡°I¡­ it¡¯s impressive, I¡¯ll admit.¡± She got a wry smile in return. ¡°We do have our talents, you¡¯ll come to find.¡± Yeah, yeah. Monster cosmetics was one thing. Zoe wouldn¡¯t expect anyone to guess that the estate maid staff were entirely capable of wrangling a kicking and flailing Demon into a medieval salon chair. Yes¡ªwhen she said they¡¯d dragged her, she meant that in the most literal sense. An involuntary shudder passed through her upon recalling the wild eyes and twitching fingers of that devilish stylist. ¡®You don¡¯t just have to look convincing,¡¯ another of their number had admonished her, ¡®you must also look presentable.¡¯ Zoe groaned. Multiple promises within the past five minutes assured her that this was the very last part of their session¡ªfor today. After that, she¡¯d be meeting with that Rank B adventurer Lady Victor told her about earlier. Zoe sighed. Despite all that sketchy stuff Lady Victor said about him¡­ after two hours of this, there¡¯s no way he can do anything to make this day worse. _____ Frustrated, exhausted, and looking far prettier than she had before, Zoe stumbled through the front door of her guest house. She had but a few minutes before the adventurer guy was supposed to arrive. She intended to use them to relax and compose herself. It had to say something that she felt a need to get herself in a state where she could receive someone¡ªafter enduring close to three hours of cleaning, cutting, styling, sculpting, and assorted painting. I swear I felt more refreshed after killing and eating a bloodthirsty rabbit monster.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. It turned out that the guy she was supposed to be waiting for was already there. In her house. She realized this when she saw him leaning against the kitchen counter, examining a giant cleaver. She also realized she already knew him. Your encyclopedia has been updated! Strikingly Handsome Cult Leader -> Basil Von Blodmane [BASIL VON BLODMANE] Level | Rank B A strikingly handsome cult leader, adventurer, and Human¡ªdespite his recent and ritual efforts. -Strengths- > Anything you can do, > but better -Weaknesses- > Getting his work stolen by a Rank F moron > Facing enemies who can fly away really fast while above ground Properly identify this target to gain more information. Alternatively, continue to collect more information through alternative means. I think I should run. ¡°I suggest you don¡¯t attempt to run,¡± he drawled, eyes never leaving the cleaver. Zoe ran. She was not operating under the illusion that she had any chance of escaping him. She couldn¡¯t outrun him, hiding wasn¡¯t likely to work even if he hadn¡¯t already been waiting for her, and trying to fight him would be comedic at best. No, Zoe¡¯s strategy here was to get outside and hope there were enough witnesses around to dissuade him from carrying through. She never made it to the door. Zoe slammed to the ground as something slapped across her backside. She rolled sideways¡ªonly for the same something to coil around her legs and hoist her upwards to hang like an indignant plucked chicken. Oh, I think this is the same skill I got my blood whip from. It wasn¡¯t remotely comparable to blood whip, though. Zoe¡¯s handy-dandy all-in-one weapon, lasso, and grappling hook might look impressive¡ªunless you¡¯d already seen this guy¡¯s evolved version. It wasn¡¯t even originating from his body this time¡ªthe thick strands of crimson-stained shadow tethered her to the ceiling, the floor, and three different walls in a chaotic web of magical bindings. Seeing no chance of bodily escaping this, Zoe swallowed her dignity¡ªand screamed. Basil¡¯s reaction was fast¡ªbut not fast to prevent her from releasing what sounded more like a startled yelp. Then she could do little but wriggle and spit into the gag of magic wrapped over her mouth. The cultist approached. He set down the cleaver, which was good¡ªup until he conjured a jagged blade of blackened, crystallized blood in its place. Is this the part where I die? ¡°This,¡± he said, his voice soft, ¡°is where you beg my forgiveness.¡± Ah. That was worse in terms of principles¡ªand better in terms of not dying. He does realize I can¡¯t exactly do that with this gag though, right? Zoe¡¯s eyes widened. Wait, is this one of those things where that¡¯s the point and then he kills me anyway because¡ª The blade came down diagonally across her chest in one fluid motion. It both severed the bindings and tore a gaping gash through her clothing¡ªand also her skin. Zoe plummeted to the floor in a bloody, wheezing, immodest mess. Basil dragged her up by the horns. The fuck? It didn¡¯t hurt, but something about it was more humiliating than her entire chest and midsection being bleeding and exposed. That being said, Zoe had a moment of horror where she thought he was reaching to touch her¡ªand he did, but not in that way. He stuck his finger over her core, next to the bleeding gash¡ªand the wound sealed up as a foreign magic pumped into her. ¡°Are you going to behave yourself now?¡± Zoe glared. Okay¡ªso he wasn¡¯t going to kill her¡ªmaybe, for some reason¡ªand he also wasn¡¯t a total creep¡ªalso maybe. Now what? He sighed. ¡°You¡¯ve already tried running once. Do you want to go through it again? You don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll bother to heal you next time.¡± Zoe relaxed¡ªand shifted her feet in preparation for a sudden move. Basil¡¯s eyes narrowed¡ªand she lunged for his throat. The cultist was so surprised he failed to stop her from slamming into him¡ªand it turned out advancing to Rank B didn¡¯t make you preternaturally heavy, as Zoe¡¯s momentum sent him tipping backward. She wasn¡¯t really going to attack him¡ªZoe wasn¡¯t that insane. The strategy was still to flee. The tactic had merely changed to an unexpected direction for purposes of surprise. It worked. Up until he dragged her down with him and they started rolling around on the floor. Zoe lost more of her already-ripped clothing, Basil got a few claw and bite marks, and really, the whole thing was like a frustrated veterinarian fighting to contain an unruly and bloodthirsty kitten. A very large kitten. Zoe was the kitten here because she wasn¡¯t capable of breaking his Rank B skin if she tried¡ªwhich she very much did¡ªand also she was the one trying to do the skin-breaking. From Basil¡¯s perspective, the real challenge was to keep things under control without hurting her. ¡°You are making me re-consider the wisdom of not just damn killing you.¡± Zoe head-butted his chin in response. They¡¯d somehow rolled all the way onto the rug when the front door opened. Basil was damn near choking her at the moment¡ªand meanwhile, Zoe had gotten one leg hooked around him for leverage and the other was pushing against the ground with her knee up. Lady Victor cleared her throat from above. ¡°I uh, was operating under the assumption that you were a Demon of Disdain¡­¡± she chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll catch you two later then.¡± Basil was too shocked and mortified to muster a reply¡ªand Zoe couldn¡¯t say anything due the gag meant to stop her from screaming for help. Basil leapt off of her the moment the door shut. The man nigh reached the ceiling in his frantic attempt to distance himself. Zoe sat up, her single-minded determination to escape his clutches now forgotten. Thanks for the mortally-awkward timing there, Victor. But what was with this reaction? Zoe couldn¡¯t fathom it. It¡¯s annoying and embarrassing but are you going to tell me this guy is really so squicked out by the idea of¡ª Her eyes widened. Then they rounded on the wary cultist eyeing her from all the way across the lounge. ¡°You think I¡¯m disgusting?¡± Basil blinked. His mouth opened and closed. ¡°I¡­ what?¡± Zoe pouted and crossed her knees to her chest. She was still rather exposed at the moment. ¡°So it¡¯s okay to try to mind control and enslave me, ambush me, trap me, possibly kill me, but the mere implication that you¡¯d fuck me is too much for your conscience to bear?!¡± ¡°I¡­ what? Yes.¡± Zoe¡¯s mouth dropped open. Her mind couldn¡¯t register this¡ªlet alone that the cult leader had retrieved his giant cleaver. Then she did notice it, and a small amount of mortal-terror supplanted a sliver of the mounting indignant pride swirling within her. ¡°Wait, what are you doing with that?¡± Basil frowned. ¡°What do you think? And quit shaking like that, it will hardly kill you. I just need a little time, and you need to cool yourself. The time it takes to regrow should be enough for¡ªdon¡¯t look at me like that! It¡¯s not like the lack of a physical brain will diminish your current capability much anyway.¡± Wait, is he insinuating something about my¡ª Zoe had the distinct feeling of being in two places at once. They were close, but very much not how they should be. Then the smaller one vanished¡ªand so did her sight and vision with it. The last thing her shrinking, thickening consciousness registered before being stuffed away and slowed down to a crawl was Lilith sighing. ¡°Well at least we won¡¯t have to regrow the whole damn body¡ªa lot easier if we just have to do the head.¡± _____ Zoe woke up pissed. 35 - What? Zoe woke up pissed. Or it might be more accurate to say that she regained a Human level of intelligence and self-awareness to find herself pissed. The sudden memory of her experience in the time between now and the last time she was a full person was as disconcerting as it was disorienting. In like, at least three different ways. In chronological order, she could now remember what it was like to have your mind downsized and compressed like a shitty mp3, what it was like to continue on like that, and then what it was like for something about equivalent to a wolf to become Human-like again. ¡°You know, I think a wolf is an accurate comparison there.¡± Upon hearing the disembodied voice, Zoe had to wonder if Lilith also experienced the personality reduction from being stuffed into her core. ¡°Not really,¡± was the answer that followed. ¡°Maybe you wouldn¡¯t either, if you hadn¡¯t gone and severed us from ourselves.¡± Zoe wasn¡¯t in the mood to deal with that again. She didn¡¯t have a real understanding of what Lilith meant¡ªand she didn¡¯t want to. What she wanted to do right now was confirm that she was okay¡ªand then figure out where she was. ¡°Hey you. You¡¯re finally awake.¡± Zoe was still a little fuzzy, so it took her a moment to pinpoint the speaker. In so doing, she realized she was shackled to the wall in a barren prison cell. That seems un-good. Bad, you could say. The speaker was a woman who was not Human. ¡°No, I¡¯m pretty sure she is.¡± Really? Zoe didn¡¯t get why Lilith thought that¡ªuntil she remembered that Humans were just smart animals¡ªand any animal could develop a core and make the jump to classification as a monster. Why am I different as a higher Demon, though? Lilith could probably answer that. ¡°Yes, I probably could, but I suggest we talk to this person first.¡± Zoe realized she had been staring like a creep. And yet, the wolf-like woman in the cell next to her looked disappointed rather than creeped-out. ¡°Yeah I¡¯m awake, evidenced by me being awake. Where are we?¡± ¡°Imprisoned.¡± Gee whiz, that¡¯s super-duper helpful! Zoe was smart enough not to say that out-loud. Also, the wolf-woman had already continued. ¡°Thank fucking fate you speak Veyrse, now I might actually have someone worth talking to.¡± ¡°I am speaking your stupid Veyrse also!¡± Zoe looked across the aisle to the guy in the cell directly across from the wolf woman. The guy in it looked suspiciously normal. Aside from being a bit gaunt and a little too soulless-looking, he was barely memorable. So I guess that means this isn¡¯t some kind of monster prison¡ªso, why am I here? A paper scroll unfurled itself in the air in front of her. Zoe blinked. What? Looking around, it seemed as if no one else noticed it. She focused on the scroll¡ªand found that she could read it. She¡¯d already made great leaps in her pursuit of literacy with that librarian guy¡ªbut that was over a single night. Even her raised perception and the natural language mastery system perk from her outsider title weren¡¯t enough to make her master it that quickly. Not that she hadn¡¯t made excellent progress. This scroll was different. It also wasn¡¯t anything like the Veyrse script she¡¯d been learning. Sounding it out in her head revealed it wasn¡¯t even Veyrse at all. ¡°It¡¯s a dialect of Demonic,¡± Lilith supplied. ¡°Which only requires study for non-Demons.¡± Zoe was dying to know how an entire monster type could automatically understand a common script¡ªbut that was for later, because the scroll was rapidly vanishing. Crumbling, really. She skimmed through it twice¡ªit wasn¡¯t long. To my lovely little Demon Brat, I told you your head isn¡¯t worth much. You are here because I deposited you here. Perhaps you will come to appreciate the reality of our world, little Outsider. I couldn¡¯t let you keep getting so lucky¡ªyou don¡¯t need it. With my immense Love and Affection, - Basil Von Blodmane PS please avoid dying. It would be considerably inconvenient. Zoe¡¯s mouth parted into a small -o shape as the scroll disintegrated. Then she dismissed the obnoxious cultist and returned her attention to her fellow prisoners. They¡¯d stopped talking and were both watching her. ¡°Okay, that hollow-looking guy sounds like he speaks our language, why not talk to him?¡± ¡°Look, yes! New girl is right. Why are not talking to nice Lodtvik?¡± The fully Human guy had a heavy accent, sure, but Zoe didn¡¯t see why that precluded effective communication. She had zero problems understanding him. Zoe said as much. But the wolf lady didn¡¯t look convinced. She just shook her head. ¡°Do not talk to the soul eater.¡± Wait, excuse me? Soul eater? Soul. EATER? Zoe stared at the only-barely-creepy guy. He was something called a soul eater? Zoe thought being a ¡®Demon of disdain¡¯ with the class ¡®bloody devotee¡¯ was edgy enough for a lifetime. This guy was a god-damned soul eater? ¡°Do not listen to hunter-forest-animal girl. I am not eating souls. I am using-again souls. I am artist of soul.¡± Hunter forest animal? Zoe supposed he didn¡¯t know the word for ¡®wolf¡¯ in the language and just resorted to getting the idea across. It worked pretty well, she would admit. Clearly, this guy didn¡¯t so much have an accent as he was just beginning to learn the language in the first place. Soul-eater or not, she could help it out there. ¡°Wolf.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°She is a wolf girl,¡± Zoe clarified while pointing to the wolf woman in question. She did make sure to double-check with identify first. Getting that wrong would be far too embarrassing. ¡°Ah, wolf girl, thank you.¡± He nodded his head knowingly with a smile. ¡°Wolf girl.¡± The identify information was useful enough but hardly fascinating. [CORROSIVE DEATH-Lycan] Level 31 | Rank E It¡¯s like a werewolf, but with extra emphasis on the killing you part and having been deep fried in battery acid. Do Not Touch. -Strengths- > Power > Physical Regeneration -Weaknesses- > Endurance > Enemy Affliction Resistance I think this is solid confirmation that the system descriptions are custom-made for me. Zoe found it hard to believe the system would use the phrase ¡°deep fried in battery acid¡± for people in a world with a distinct lack of batteries. It was nice to know the strengths, and weaknesses, no matter how basic they were. The ones listed here made perfect sense¡ªpower and a high degree of physical regeneration were classic for a werewolf. The low endurance was less obvious, but fit¡ªand the ¡®enemy affliction resistance¡¯ confirmed the implicit assumption from the ¡®corrosive¡¯ part of her monster type. Zoe also used identify on the other guy. [NICE ARTIST LODTVIK] Level | Rank Nice Artist Lodtvik is innocent and very nice and you should trust him.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. -Strengths- > Problem Solving > Active Leadership -Weaknesses- > Not Telling > Fuck Off Zoe blinked. That was¡ªinteresting, for sure. She raised an eyebrow at Lodtvik. It looked like she wasn¡¯t the only one capable of modifying what would be displayed from her status¡ªbut this guy wasn¡¯t so subtle about it. I don¡¯t even know which part is the best. Pretty much every section was great up until the ¡®weaknesses.¡¯ Those were rather mediocre. The wolf woman was trying to get her attention, so Zoe obliged. She wasn¡¯t interested in whatever the woman had been trying to talk about, though, so she decided to poke her more about her dislike for the Lodtvik guy. ¡°I still don¡¯t get why you don¡¯t like Nice Artist Lodtvik. The system told me he¡¯s nice, innocent, and that I should trust him.¡± The wolf woman¡ªwhose name Zoe realized she hadn¡¯t gotten¡ªscoffed. ¡°Yeah, right. Haha, very funny. What next, the system is going to give you a key to the core suppression shackles and you¡¯ll bust us out of here?¡± Wait, what? Was she supposed to not be able to activate any skills? Zoe tested it with something both discreet and especially magical in nature. Mana Channeling! The skill activated just fine¡ªbut that didn¡¯t make sense. What was the point of imprisonment in a world where individuals had superHuman powers in all different varieties? Unless there¡¯s a way to suppress that¡ªwhich Zoe assumed there would be, and that fit with the comment about shackles. So how can I still activate skills if¡ªZoe froze as a thought occurred to her. Monsters don¡¯t have classes or skills. Cutting off mana channeling, she reached into her inventory. She tried to. There was nothing¡ªnot even the sensation of the ability failing. It was a disconcerting feeling, the spiritual equivalent of reaching into your pocket for something and your hand going through a giant hole. Holy shit. That was scary. There must be shackles to suppress classes and skills, too¡ªbut if everything only had a monster core system or the class system, then why bother making shackles that did both? Zoe could only guess, but she assumed it wasn¡¯t something trivial to make. Zoe knew there was only one kind of being that had both¡ªand it was one Zoe had since come to understand was quite rare. A higher Demon. But while it was obvious Zoe was a ¡®monster,¡¯ she still had the durable cosmetics the maids forced on her. And if anyone bothered to identify her? They probably did¡ªand the status effect from her demagogue class would hide it. Zoe realized that Lodtvik was looking at her. Really looking at her. His expression was unreadable¡ªserious, maybe. ¡°You can identify me.¡± It was a simple statement, and it carried an immense weight. The as yet unnamed Lycan woman froze. Then she shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s not possible¡ª¡° ¡°She can.¡± Lodtvik didn¡¯t take his eyes off Zoe. ¡°You have class and skills, yes?¡± It was Zoe¡¯s turn to freeze. Then she nodded. She also made sure to look around at all the other cells¡ªshe wanted to make sure the entire place wasn¡¯t about to erupt in chaos. To her relief, it looked like Lodtvik and the Lycan truly were the only other ones who could speak the language at a usable level. Said Lycan¡¯s mouth hung open, exposing her appropriately enlarged canines. ¡°How?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t access my core properly,¡± Zoe touched her chest, ¡°but as your soul-eater friend said¡ªI still have my classes and skills.¡± It was a big enough revelation for the woman to forget her apparent animosity towards the aforementioned soul-eater. She stammered for a few seconds. ¡°But that would mean you somehow have both a fully developed core system and classes, but that¡¯s not possible except for¡ª¡° She cut herself off. Lilith cackled. ¡°Looks like someone finally put it together.¡± The wolf woman¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t get any wider. ¡°No¡­¡± Zoe couldn¡¯t resist the manic grin that threatened to split her face apart. You know, I¡¯d be a lot more on-board with this whole Demon thing if everyone reacted like this. Lilith made a mental snorting sound. The Lycan started mustering herself to ask a whole lot of questions¡ªZoe could see that just by reading her expression. She wasn¡¯t in the mood, though, no matter how much the positive attention pleased her. She was going to figure out their escape. Yes, the unrestricted access to both classes and all of her skills was great, but she was still shackled to a stone wall with thick metal cuffs and bindings. For all that she had an advantage, she was still only Rank F. Someone was talking with great animation¡ªthe still-unnamed Lycan, there was no doubt¡ªbut Zoe was too focused on the puzzle. Looking over her status, she narrowed things down to three options. She also noted that her ¡®juvenile blood fiend core¡¯ section was all ¡®grayed out,¡¯ so to speak. But that wasn¡¯t important here. Shapeshift out of it with lesser disguise, try sheer strength from her core stats, or use one of her deadlier skills to cut her hands and feet off one-by-one then heal them back. Zoe wasn¡¯t too keen on trying that last one. Lesser Disguise! The skill worked just fine. What didn¡¯t work was using it to shapeshift out of the bindings. Zoe had already established that it wasn¡¯t a mere illusion¡ªthe skill really changed her in some material way. The problem she encountered now was the evident limitation on the extent of the shift. While she was able to shrink either her hands or feet by a good bit, it was nowhere near enough to let her slip through. And not for lack of trying¡ªZoe tried very hard, putting so much force of spirit behind it that she depleted roughly a third of her mana and started feeling that damned soul strain again. ¡°Well, shit.¡± The skill just wouldn¡¯t let her push beyond the limits of ¡®typical adult Human.¡¯ And, if she were honest, she did push past those limits at the end. Yet still, going into the realm of young child hands felt impossibly beyond her. That¡¯s a good thing to know about the skill, I guess. The wolf-lady grunted from the next cell over. ¡°Not working?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Zoe took a moment to rest a little and recover some mana. ¡°I have another way to do it¡­ I just really didn¡¯t want to. I was hoping for something less, uh¡­ messy.¡± ¡°Messy?¡± ¡°Yep!¡± Her neighbor cleared her throat. ¡°Uh, what do you mean, messy¡­¡± Zoe didn¡¯t answer. She was too busy psyching herself up for what came next. There were a couple ways to go about this. She settled on trying rending touch first. If she could focus it on a smaller area with more precision, it could do it quite quickly. The other main option was sawing it off with blood whip. That sounded¡ªless palatable, even. Here goes. Zoe slapped her right hand onto her left wrist. Rending Touch! Someone yelped in alarm, or surprise¡ªZoe wasn¡¯t sure. She barely registered the sound at all. She was too occupied with enduring the pain of having close to half her arm obliterated. Tears welled and clouding her vision¡ªa mercy, as the short glimpse she got of her arm shredded like a popped balloon from the mid forearm down was enough. God fucking DAMN IT. Rending touch has reached level 7! Thanks, system. Clearly, that was far too much power. Her attempt at containing the skill within a focused area didn¡¯t quite pan out. Rather than enhance the precision and decrease the affected area, forcing it into one little spot made it explode outwards with all the more violence. Still, a burst forearm was preferable to acute internal bleeding affecting her whole body. Mending Touch! Aside from the debilitating pain, there was the real danger of bleeding out. She was losing a lot of blood¡ªalready, the growing puddle had spread to wholly surround her. The activation of rending touch¡¯s counterpart skill drew even more blood¡ªbut that same blood was moments from leaking out anyway. This at least stopped the outflow, and had the convenient bonus of dampening the largest share of the pain. Mending touch has reached level 3! Breathing hard, Zoe wiped her tears with her remaining hand. She then took a moment to marvel at her freshly healed-over stump. She released a weak laugh. ¡°Guess I can shapeshift into an amputee.¡± Someone cleared her throat¡ªand the noise came from within her mind this time. ¡°You do realize we could already do that with lesser disguise? Do you really think we couldn¡¯t copy someone with a missing limb? You only tried shrinking our hands¡ªnever mimicking a stump.¡± Zoe¡¯s mouth fell open. She was distantly aware of the Lycan woman pelting her with rapid-fire questions and Lodtvik laughing his ass off like a madman. Wait, why is he laughing? He can¡¯t hear what Lilith says. WAIT. That was right, she was supposed to be angry right now! Why the fuck didn¡¯t you mention that?! ¡°Uh¡­¡± Zoe felt she wasn¡¯t going to like Lilith¡¯s answer here¡­ ¡°Well I thought it was going to be funny?¡± Zoe couldn¡¯t even be mad. It was as if her rage had reached such hitherto unseen heights that it became some new, unexplored other thing. She shook her head. That was something to deal with later. Lesser Disguise! It didn¡¯t take her as long to free the remaining three limbs from their restraints. Then she was back on her feet and back to normal¡ªaside from one missing left hand¡ªand ready to begin her epic prison break sequence ahead of schedule. It was impressive that she¡¯d kicked it off before seeing a single guard, let alone meeting the local big bad face-to-face. But how to get out of the cell? Everyone had their full attention on her now¡ªand there were a whole lot more monster-people than just her, wolf-girl, and Lodtvik the alleged soul-eater. Speaking of which, the one Human-looking guy had far more restraints than anyone else, she now realized. He was so strapped down he could only move his head a little. And if that weren¡¯t enough, the adjacent two cells were not only empty¡ªhis cell definitely looked extra ¡®high-security.¡¯ Huh. There had to be an important reason for that. But with the rising chatter of a dozen or more people in at least half as many languages, Zoe knew she needed to act. Someone was going to come checking in on them soon. None of her skills had an obvious way to get through the bars¡ªbut Zoe was no longer limited to just skills. Reaching into her inventory, she brought out something she¡¯d wanted to play with a few days earlier. [DEMONIC ICE SICKLE] Rank E Is it a spear? Is it a war-scythe? Who knows, but it¡¯s obviously made of ice! Also, it¡¯s an infernal weapon, so the ice probably has something to do with the frozen essence of cold, unrelenting Hate. But, with zero mana-cost and a high likelihood to inflict stacking levels of both Chill and Despair¡ªwhat¡¯s not to love instead? -Attributes- > 85% Efficacy at Rank E > 115% Affliction Efficacy at Rank E > 51% Quality Let¡¯s see if this is useful for anything. The sickle materialized in her hands. Someone gasped. Zoe just grinned. The weapon was shockingly light in her hands, and made of a frosty pale-blue material. Like literal ice, but not quite. It also looked like a regular, basic scythe¡ªjust with the blade rotated to point straight out. A blade which was both gleaming sharp and positively thrumming with baked-in mana. Zoe didn¡¯t know what was going on here or why that dick Basil dropped her here¡ªbut she didn¡¯t really care. Not when there were guaranteed levels, loot, and fun ahead of her. Zoe swung. Crackling sparks burst from her weapon where it sliced across the bars. One more swing, and the sound of metal hitting stone echoed down the aisle. ¡°Right then. Who¡¯s ready to get out of here?¡± 36 - The Part Where They Escape Things started out going well. Zoe cut through the bars of her cell with an ease that surprised even her. By this point, anyone who wasn¡¯t invested in the unfolding events was either unconscious or dead. There were a few of those. The next step was to figure out what her next steps were even supposed to be. Zoe didn¡¯t have a plan other than ¡®get out of the cell and then start an escape.¡¯ It might have been wise to think about that before causing a large commotion. As always, Lilith was more than happy to help. ¡°I suggest we free a couple of the more useful-looking ones. Then we use some of the less useful ones as cover and prepare to ambush some guards.¡± Zoe was happy with that. She didn¡¯t have a better idea, so she went ahead and cut her way into the cell with the Lycan woman. And after that, what do we do? Cause a bunch of chaos and hope we don¡¯t die? She set about cutting the woman out of her shackles. ¡°That¡¯s pretty much the plan, yeah.¡± Lilith¡¯s confirmation was good enough for Zoe. If the apparition had a clever plan, she would undoubtedly have heard it by now. The wolf-lady was calm as she sat in silence. Once her shackles were fully off, Zoe pulled her to her feet. The woman wobbled for a bit¡ªbefore a sudden strength rushed through her. Something to do with getting the abilities from her core back, Zoe surmised. ¡°Alright, I don¡¯t actually have much of a plan here, so¡­¡± The woman peered out of the cell. Everyone except Lodtvik was now clamoring for Zoe¡¯s attention. The Lycan woman shook her head. ¡°If they weren¡¯t already alerted by this racket, you cutting through those restraints would have set off an alarm.¡± She looked back at Zoe. One of her fuzzy little wolf-ears twitched. ¡°You got any more weapons where that one came from?¡± Zoe paused. Do I? She did, but most of them were corrupted. Only three weren¡¯t, and only two of those were usable by someone who was Rank E. Giving one up¡­ ¡°Yeah sure,¡± Zoe decided, reaching into her inventory and searching for the right choice. /Weapons/Uncorrupted > Scythe of Loathing > Embittered Venom Strike > Scepter of Disdain The Lycan woman could only use the first two¡ªthe last one required Rank C to wield the actual magic baked into it. Regardless, the choice was obvious. Zoe tossed her new friend the Venom Strike. The weapon was a nasty-looking spear that quite literally sizzled with dark, noxious mana. The Scythe of Loathing looked more like something Zoe would end up using, as it was not only an infernal weapon but also matched her sub-variety of Disdain. For a ¡®corrosive death-Lycan?¡¯ The poison spear was the clear choice. ¡°Thanks.¡± The woman didn¡¯t wait to start setting other prisoners free¡ªit looked like they came to the same natural conclusion. ¡°What¡¯s your name by the way?¡± The woman didn¡¯t pause to reply as she melted her way into another cell. ¡°Sasha. You?¡± ¡°Zoe.¡± After she freed her second prisoner, Zoe took a moment to strategize. Sasha was far from the strongest person here, that much was clear. The reason she went for the Lycan first¡ªand loaned her a weapon¡ªwas that they could speak the same language. In terms of usefulness, that counted for quite a lot. But who next? Zoe¡¯s eye landed on the one guy who wasn¡¯t obviously inHuman¡ªand also the only one who was both conscious and totally relaxed. Granted, he couldn¡¯t move if he had wanted to¡ªbut he could talk, and he wasn¡¯t pleading for her attention like everyone else. He just smiled at her. ¡°Do not free the soul-eater.¡± Zoe glanced at Sasha. Why not? The man was clearly the most powerful person here. The fact that he¡¯d obscured his status would have made that harder to guess¡ªZoe was only Rank F, but she could do that too. No, what made it clear was how he was in the one cell that had ¡®extra high security¡¯ written all over it. Well not literally. But it was still clear. ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t free the soul-eater,¡± Zoe called out as she made her way over to free the soul-eater. That¡¯s when the solid-metal door to the sector flew off its hinges. The dented slab of metal screamed through the air mere inches away from Zoe¡¯s face. Had she been but a second faster, she would have experienced her second decapitation that day. Not one to squander her good fortune, she dove forward just in time to avoid the following barrage of magical death. Others weren¡¯t so lucky. There were some screams and maybe someone died. Zoe wasn¡¯t paying attention. She had a job to do. ¡°You seem quite intent on freeing me, you know.¡± Zoe was so confused for a moment that she forgot to make progress on getting into his cell. She also took a scorching ray of light to the shoulder. Hissing in pain, she gave up forcing her way into the cell in favor of reaching a blood whip through the bars to get him out of the shackles first. Not without hissing in pain from her cauterized flesh, first. ¡°What the fuck happened to your accent?¡± The soul-eater, Lodtvik, blinked as Zoe¡¯s whip sawed through the first of his bindings. ¡°What you are asking? Lodtvik is still learn to speaking your Veyrse.¡± Uh huh. ¡°Yeah, sure, say what you want,¡± Zoe muttered. ¡°I¡¯ll pretend I didn¡¯t hear that little lapse if you help me out of here, yeah?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± And with that, he was out. Out of the shackles. He was still imprisoned in the cell, as the bars wouldn¡¯t give under Zoe¡¯s strongest assault. That was saying a lot, as her lovely Demonic Ice Sickle carved through the rest of the cells¡¯ bars with ease. She¡¯d leave her second new partner to deal with it. Now, it was her turn to deal with the guards, who continued pouring into the aisle from up ahead. Also, Zoe now realized why she¡¯d been able to focus on the task without someone just killing her with another light ray.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The answer was simple. They were all bunched up and occupied by cutting their way through the press of angry and violent bodies closer to the entrance. In the time it took Zoe to decide to free Lotvik and then actually do it, Sasha had been busy¡ªand so had the other inmates she freed. It was like a chain reaction of freedom. All but two or three prisoners had exited their cells¡ªand most of them were dead now. The highest rank Zoe saw among the guards was ¡®only¡¯ Rank D¡ªbut that was higher than most of the prisoners. The same held for their respective averages. Even so, the combination of unexpected chaos and sheer numbers worked in their favor. The first major problem from here on was that there was exactly one exit¡ªand said exit was currently plugged up with mutilated bodies, violent monster-people, and armed killers. The second problem cropped up just as Zoe contemplated attempting a mad charge straight through the flesh-mass and leaning on her healing to survive the passage. Namely, the evident guard-captain whom identify told her was Rank C. Rank D was already leagues ahead of Zoe¡ªRank C was enough to take on¡ªand take down¡ªevery other person here at once. And unlike that alchemist Andric, Zoe was only able to get this guy¡¯s rank. Not even his class or level range were visible. Which means he¡¯s even stronger. Fuck. And in the space it took Zoe to do that, he¡¯d already slaughtered his way through the bulk of the opposition. Shit. ¡°Hey hey, hand me that almost-dead guy, would you?¡± Tearing her gaze away from the approaching juggernaut, Zoe looked to Lodtvik, and then to where he was pointing. ¡°Yeah, that one.¡± Uh, okay. Zoe didn¡¯t get it, but it wasn¡¯t like she had anything else to do. She just had to hope that Lodtvik could do something useful with the almost-dead guy before the guard captain got too close. Said captain was, at the moment, being delayed by some kind of plant-guy. The Rank D Dryad still held his ground¡ªbut not for long. Zoe locked eyes with the Rank C guard just as she tossed the bleeding man over to Lodtvik¡¯s cell. The captain¡¯s eyes widened. Ignoring the dryad entirely, he sent a jagged spear of shimmering white air screaming towards them. Zoe prepared to heal herself back from the brink of death¡ªbut the blow never came. He wasn¡¯t aiming for me¡ªhe was aiming not for Lodtvik either but instead the wounded prisoner between them. This was good, because the twisting spike of condensed air tore the man apart like confetti. Gross! What was worse than the blood splatter were all the little bits of flesh that sprayed over Zoe. Shit. Now what? The guard must have foiled whatever Lodtvik was doing, as he sent another blast of wind ripping through the vines of the dryad. Zoe needed to reevaluate her plans for escape. She stepped back into one of the cells. Almost all of the action had been taking place in the central aisle¡ªbut with the exception of Lodtvik¡¯s cell, her sickle could cut a path through them. Just have to hope I¡¯m fast enough. She wasn¡¯t fast enough. The last prisoner between her and the guard captain fell, and the Rank C killer¡¯s eyes pivoted to her position. Fuck. It seemed a few people had been able to slip past him in the chaos¡ªbut not Zoe. Basil, you better get your ass in here now¡­ I mean you said dying would be inconvenient, right? ¡°Hey, so word of advice¡ª¡° Zoe¡¯s and the captain¡¯s attention snapped back to the one other living person in the room. ¡°If you¡¯re close enough when the soul departs, it doesn¡¯t actually matter if you killed it yourself.¡± Even as Lodtvik continued speaking, the Rank C guard redirected his last attack¡ªthe one intended for Zoe. But the seemingly nondescript man didn¡¯t even flinch as the violent magic streaked towards him. He didn¡¯t even dodge¡ªhe just flicked his hand towards the captain. There was no visible magic or skill activation to go with it. Yet the screaming wind magic never quite reached him. It dissipated in a chaotic blast of air, rather than the deadly spire from before. But that wasn¡¯t all. Zoe knew she should take the momentary advantage to flee¡ªyet she couldn¡¯t help but stare as the captain staggered and clutched his chest, as if struck by some invisible force. He staggered again, and then twitched, his limbs spasming as his eyes went wild in a silent struggle. And then he went still. No, he didn¡¯t collapse¡ªhe just froze, as if all the force animating his muscles just ceased. Finally, Zoe managed to start moving again¡ªthough she kept half her attention on the events still unfolding before her. With the indifferent expression of a man used to such things, Lodtvik flicked his fingers¡ªand the guard captain regained animation. Only, he now lurched over to the cell with all the grace of a jerky puppet. His eyes remained glassy and dead, not so much looking at his hands as he retrieved a key and slammed it into the lock. The door swung open. Zoe swallowed. What the fuck was that? Lilith sounded¡ªnervous. ¡°Some kind of soul-magic. Very nasty at that¡ªand this is pure speculation, but I¡¯d guess he created a parasitic soul-construct out of the soul from the monster we tossed him. That would explain whatever ability he used to do¡­ this.¡± Zoe¡¯s mouth went a bit dry. That¡¯s fucked up. Uh, is that normal for spooky soul magic? Somehow, the true answer was worse than what she feared. ¡°No. Not at all. As I said¡ªspeculation. I¡¯ve little knowledge of anything like this¡ªand I imagine it would take an immense degree of skill to execute at all. Let alone within seconds during an ongoing battle.¡± And that¡¯s how Zoe came to feel she was in even more danger after the captain was¡­ defeated. Guess we know why Sasha didn¡¯t want us to free this guy, now. But what was done was done, and Zoe might as well press the advantage. ¡°So, got any plans after this? I know we just met and all, but I certainly wouldn¡¯t mind getting to know each other a little more.¡± ¡°Are you seriously propositioning him?¡± Zoe didn¡¯t understand why Lilith sounded so incredulous. Uh, yeah? Not as a romantic partner, silly. I mean as a killing people partner. ¡°Ah.¡± And with that, Lilith was satisfied. Of course she was. Lodtvik himself seemed partial to the idea as well. ¡°Of course, if you¡¯d like. I¡¯d be remiss to spurn the graces of the young lady who assisted me¡ªlet alone those of a higher Demon.¡± Nice. Neither said anything else as they joined up in the middle and set off for the rest of the prison. Zoe didn¡¯t need her high perception to pick up on the din of battle and explosions shaking the stone walls from further out. Looks like enough people made it out to continue the chain reaction. Seems like they¡¯d have better measures in place to prevent something like this, though. Zoe then shrugged at that. It wasn¡¯t exactly her problem. What was her problem was that there was no sign of that wolf-lady, Sasha. Zoe gave that particular woman her venom strike spear for a reason, yes¡ªbut it was a rental, not a gift. I want my spear back. ¡°Say,¡± Lodtvik drawled from beside her¡ªall traces of his former ¡®accent¡¯ gone. ¡°I hesitate to ask more of you so soon¡ªyet I can¡¯t help wondering about those weapons you¡¯ve conjured.¡± Ah. Zoe got the hint. If you can even call that a hint, she mused. She didn¡¯t mind giving the ¡®soul-eater¡¯ a weapon in principle¡ªrather, the issue was which one. She wasn¡¯t giving him the scythe of loathing, because that would be too useful for her when she finally reached Rank E. She couldn¡¯t give him the scepter of disdain, either¡ªthe reason was identical, save for that it would be when she reached Rank D. All that was left, then, was her extensive stash of corrupted weaponry. Zoe might not have much idea what corruption was¡ªin fact she had zero idea¡ªbut she knew it couldn¡¯t be good. The system was cheeky, but it didn¡¯t play around. You shouldn¡¯t touch something whose very description said not to touch it. But what was the harm in asking? ¡°Well,¡± she chewed her lip, ¡°¡ªwhat do you think about corrupted weapons?¡± Lodtvik¡¯s response surprised her as they stepped out of the ruined doorway and into the wider prison. He grinned. ¡°What would you say to a practical Demonstration?¡± 37 - A Fun Outing With Nice Artist Lodtvik Liliana Von Gershenfeld did not know why her biological uncle Basil Von Blodmane had dragged her hundreds of leagues down under the earth after kidnapping her. She did not care to know either. She only cared about getting home and getting revenge. At least her Uncle only put her inside a storage closet in a slave-holding facility and not in a cell. Is this about his stupid politics? Despite what she told herself about not caring, Lily was very much trying to figure out just what was going on here. She was well aware of her Uncle¡¯s radical opinions¡ªand it wasn¡¯t like she disagreed! So what was the point of kidnapping her to ¡®see the evils of enslavement¡¯ firsthand? And why now? So irritating. At least nothing was going disastrously wrong yet. That was how Lily consoled herself, as she roamed the back hallways while searching for an excuse for why she was here. Because someone would find her, and ¡®my insane uncle deposited me in one of your storage rooms¡¯ wouldn¡¯t work. That was another strike against her uncle, Lily decided. You end up having to come up with lies that are more believable than what he¡¯s actually done. Turning the corner from one dismal stone corridor to another, she thanked Fate that he hadn¡¯t been so rash this time as to incite something violent. Lily flinched as the whole hallway shook. Chips of stone and bits of dust fell from the ceiling as a series of explosions shook the complex somewhere deep below. ¡°Fuck.¡± Lily hastened her pace. She had no idea what he¡¯d done this time¡ªbut she did know that she didn¡¯t want to remain anywhere close to it. _____ ¡°Hasta la bye-bye, dumbass!¡± Zoe cheered as she yanked another prison mook off the ledge and into the yawning abyss below with her blood whip. It was not unlikely that she¡¯d have been less cheerful with killing, had the endeavor not come with delicious levels and skill gains. Blood Whip has reached level 10! Blood Whip has reached Tier II. +5 Acuity, +5 Vitality Case in point. She¡¯d also gained three levels overall, bringing her just two away from possibly gaining an early class evolution option. That came with an additional forty-five stat points¡ªin addition to her buffer of sixty-three. Zoe dumped them all into power. Power increased to 228! Zoe staggered from the shock of the singular stat damn-near doubling. Except rather than stumbling and perhaps falling, her jerky movements sent her rocketing sideways into a wall. Lodtvik turned to look at her¡ªat which point Zoe realized they¡¯d defeated all the opposition in this area. By which she meant Lodtvik had, and she¡¯d taken advantage of it to take a few by surprise. ¡°Are you okay there?¡± Zoe coughed. She tried to get control over her diaphragm. Even breathing felt like it had far too much force behind it. Really suffering from success here. But she just gave the soul-eater a thumbs-up. ¡°Yeah, all good here.¡± Lilith popped back into existence as Zoe pulled herself upright, wobbling as she did. ¡°We are very much NOT ¡®all good,¡¯ like seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?¡± Zoe paused¡ªboth to think and to get her balance sorted out. Do you want an annotated list? That might have been the wrong response, but it was also funny. Not that Lilith thought so. ¡°Every time I make peace with being bound to such a blighted moron, you just go and prove why things can always get worse.¡± Zoe exercised her immense wisdom by choosing to take that as a compliment. Anyway, let¡¯s go catch up with Lodtvik. She also took the moment to go back over her recent skill gains¡ªeven as her newly-empowered muscles launched her across the stone floor. Aside from the levels to rending and mending touch while still in her own cell¡ªand from the tenth level to blood whip just now¡ªshe¡¯d gained one more level in rending touch, another two levels in mending touch, a whole five in rejuvenate¡ªand lastly, two in surgeon¡¯s eye. Rending Touch has reached level 8! Mending Touch has reached level 5! Rejuvenate has reached level 6! Surgeon¡¯s Eye has reached level 6! The increases in rending touch came from simply using it more, while the ones in surgeon¡¯s eye were more meaningful. They were seemingly based on Zoe making a point to understand how she could use it to spot vulnerabilities in her opponents. But the bulk of the gains, those in the healing-type skills mending touch and rejuvenate¡ªthose came near-exclusively from patching up the guard captain Lodtvik was still using as his personal attack puppet. She didn¡¯t know why her ally was so insistent they keep that specific minion alive¡ªand he was alive, not a type of undead like Zoe first assumed. Her healing wouldn¡¯t work properly otherwise. Yes, he was strong as a Rank C¡ªbut most of that was lost to the soul-eater doing whatever it was that gave such full control. Zoe had seen the man fight before, and he was a shadow of his former capacity. The main benefit was that he was still sturdier than most, allowing Lodtvik to send him hurtling into the fray, corrupted sword swinging. Yes, that was how Lodtvik ended up using the corrupted weapon. Zoe had to admit she was disappointed, no matter how much sense it might make. What was the harm in wielding a corrupted weapon if you weren¡¯t really the one wielding it? At least she got to see a corrupted weapon in action. He nodded at her as she came up beside him. ¡°Good. I wasn¡¯t going to wait much longer.¡± Yeah yeah. Zoe would have caught up to him anyway. It wasn¡¯t like he was moving through the prison that quickly. He was slowed down a bit by all the people trying to kill him in the way. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Lodtvik pointed at the door where the possessed captain was currently jamming his key through. ¡°We are going out.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Zoe nodded. That¡¯s very helpful information. Then she shrugged. It wasn¡¯t like she intended to do anything else. In moments, the door swung outward, just in time to let through a barrage of ranged skills. Zoe grimaced as a dozen different kinds of magic perforated their flesh shield. Said flesh shield stumbled out of the way, having largely served his purpose for the moment.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Zoe rushed over to his prone form as Lodtvik returned fire. This was why she grimaced upon seeing how thoroughly the guard captain got shredded. She was well aware of the drill by now¡ªher job here was to heal him back to fighting condition. At least I can cheat by using some of his own blood. The captain had a high natural regeneration. It was useful in concert with the blood-based cost of mending touch, the fact that the skill healed him, and the fact that he was still technically alive and using his own stats and passive skills. Zoe could, on average, fill two-fifths of the cost of healing him with his own blood. Then, he¡¯d regenerate it back in the time between that and the next use of the skill. That left Zoe to supply the remaining three-fifths, a cost she was likewise just barely able to recover. Really, it was quite fortunate that Lodtvik¡¯s version of a zombie was technically living. Mending Touch has reached level 6! About time. Zoe sighed. She wasn¡¯t doing anything special here¡ªjust the frequent and intensive activations were pushing her skill levels. But the system wasn¡¯t finished. You have leveled up! You are now level 24. +15 stat points. +1% core progression. Zoe smiled at that. Now she was a single level away from getting a class upgrade. Potentially. Also, it meant she had another fifteen stat points to spend. That was always nice. ¡°Please do not dump them all into power again, that was fucking moronic.¡± And, as expected, Lilith had to come in just to be a downer. ¡°Like what happened to that whole thing of keeping a buffer?¡± Zoe had not intended to do that again, because it had been impulsive and she already regretted it. That being said¡­ Perception has increased to 135! Zoe was very deliberate in how she ignored the unwanted tag-along in her mind as she and the guard captain rose back to their feet. Lodtvik had taken down the last of the nearby opposition with small rocks. Yes, small rocks¡ªaside from spooky, invisible death skills and siccing a mind-controlled juggernaut with a corrupted sword on people, she¡¯d mostly seen him throw small rocks. Small rocks became quite deadly when your telekinesis fired them off so fast the air sounded with a sharp crack. What was perhaps more impressive than the pebble death arts themselves was the source. There wasn¡¯t a whole lot of gravel lying around, so the soul-eater just ripped small chunks of stone out of the floor. With such powerful telekinetic skills, Zoe couldn¡¯t imagine why he didn¡¯t simply crush their enemies directly. ¡°I can imagine many practical reasons. Would you care for a list?¡± Zoe thought about it. Her first instinct was always to dismiss Lilith¡ªbut this might be useful. She could always stand to learn more about magic skills and close-combat tactics. Lilith explained her theories as they continued following Lodtvik and his puppets. He¡¯d gained a couple more from the last encounter, though he didn¡¯t seem nearly as protective of them. Case in point¡ªhe didn¡¯t so much as blink when the first of them was cut down. Meanwhile, the captain continued cutting through friend and foe alike with the dark, distorted form of the corrupted blade. Assuming the effect was due to the corruption and not something else¡ªwell, Zoe surmised she could visually identify what it looked like now. A dark miasma clung to the edges of the weapon, dark and murky but not leaving a visible trail. That wasn¡¯t quite true¡ªthere was a faint, shimmering haze it left in its wake, conjuring to mind visions of burnt air and noxious vapors. And where it struck, the murky, distorted weapon left sizzling gashes that bubbled and hissed and in some cases even swelled in tumor-like masses. Nasty stuff. ¡®Do not touch¡¯ indeed. ¡°First,¡± Lilith began, ¡°it could just be that he¡¯s found the pebble-shooting to be more efficient than bowling people over. That being said, it could also be something more specific to his own skills. For example, it might not be telekinesis at all.¡± Zoe frowned. What do you mean by that? She eyed Lodtvik as he ripped free two dozen more rocks. She also took the moment to cast rejuvenate on both him and his remaining two minions. Rejuvenate has reached level 7! She ignored the skill notification to continue paying attention to Lilith. ¡°It could be a force skill, but it could also be stone, for example. Anyway, another possibility is that it¡¯s limited in range. Sometimes manipulation skills are super strong at close-range but have a dramatic and steep fall-off.¡± Zoe considered that. Those were all good ways to look at things in general, and she was glad she¡¯d listened for this one. She ignored the feeling of smug vindication she detected after thinking that. What was far more important were the small ships ahead of them. Zoe hadn¡¯t noticed, but they¡¯d been working their way lower and lower through the sprawling complex. At this point the chaos must have spread to cover the entire prison-fortress equally, as there was no longer much variation in where they encountered guards or escapees. But now, Zoe realized that they must be on the coast somewhere. Lodtvik and his pet guards got them all the way to a massive and heavy gate on the lowest level¡ªone which led to a sort of underground docks. A cavernous tunnel stretched ahead of them, shrouded in darkness save where a single torch flickered off to one side. The docks themselves were lit by just a couple hanging lanterns, and two small craft sat at rest. As for the water, it was exceptionally still. Makes sense, Zoe thought, because it was contained in some sort of¡ªwhat was the word, grotto? With how dark it was, it must either be night¡ªor the tunnel was quite long. Even if it bent to block out the light, she couldn¡¯t see far enough to catch any sort of bend. Her night-vision had increased dramatically with both her stats and Demonic makeover, which meant she could see quite far down its length. She also saw why Lodtvik was so insistent on keeping the Rank C guard captain alive. The gate was locked¡ªbut he didn¡¯t open it with a key. Rather, the puppet of a man slammed his hand against the bars. Zoe squirmed as an intense tingling shot through both antennae. He must be channeling some kind of magic into the gate. Stepping closer and hoping for a better look, Zoe tried to make out what was going on. Her ability to perceive the arcane with her antennae was only good enough to detect that powerful magic was occurring. Or it was right now. Lilith acted like a Demon¡¯s so-called antennae were critical to their style of sorcery and represented a significant magical advantage. The magic surged to a crescendo. Tilting her head, Zoe was just able to make out how it raced outward through the network of metal bars like a pulsed wave. Then the gate swung open. You have gained the Rank C skill: Manasight! Yo! Zoe fist-pumped. That had to be the greatest gain from this whole prison escapade yet. Four levels? Double or triple that in skills increases? All the stats? Yeah, no. This was perfect. The memory of sitting exhausted in the freezing snow, trying to manipulate her own mana into forming a spark, that was still vivid in her mind. Why wouldn¡¯t it be? That was only a couple days ago now, even if the ¡®minor soul damage¡¯ she¡¯d suffered was healed up now. Zoe had not forgotten her goal of getting a mana manipulation skill and mastering magic. Sight wasn¡¯t manipulation¡ªbut this was no doubt a massive milestone. It was a Rank C skill too¡ªwhich meant it was both rare and really good. ¡°Yep,¡± was all Lilith replied. ¡°Hey, Demon-girl! You coming?¡± Zoe¡¯s attention returned to Lodtvik as he stepped onto one of the two craft. ¡°You did me well back there¡­ Do you have any plans for what to do next?¡± Zoe frowned. The smart thing to do would be to get on that boat and get out of here. Lodtvik was both strong and useful, and his company was the majority of the reason she¡¯d made it this far. That being said¡­ ¡°Uh, I wouldn¡¯t mind meeting up at some point if you stay around Verdanport? I need to go retrieve my spear though.¡± She hadn¡¯t forgotten the embittered venom strike spear she¡¯d loaned to that wolf-lady, Sasha. Wait¡ªshe should also take back the corrupted sword if they were to part ways now. ¡°Oh, yeah, can I have my sword back?¡± The lanky man shrugged. ¡°Sure.¡± Then the possessed guard captain stumbled towards her, and Zoe pulled it back into her inventory. She made sure not to touch it herself. She¡¯d started to notice how there was a faint necrosis spreading up the Rank C man¡¯s arms despite how often she¡¯d healed him. ¡°Thanks.¡± Then she turned to head back into the prison. She needed her spear¡ªand this was the most progress she¡¯d gained in one activity yet. Not to mention how quickly it happened. Murdering your way through a fortress of Rank E, D, and even a few Rank C enemies did the body and soul well. Lilith giggled at that. Well of course it does!¡± Lodtvik saluted her as he steered his craft out into the still water of the subterranean canal. ¡°I don¡¯t know where I¡¯ll go next¡ªbut if you¡¯re going to Verdanport, I have a feeling you won¡¯t be hard to find.¡± Zoe raised an eyebrow. What did he mean by that? ¡°Good luck finding your spear.¡± ¡°Yeah, see you later too bud,¡± Zoe laughed. ¡°And thanks.¡± As the strange man started a strangely quiet engine of some sort and pushed off into the dark water, an unexpected system notification flashed before her mind¡¯s eye. Quest Update! Hidden objective complete! Hidden objectives revealed! [GET OUT] Uh oh, a familiar cultist cut off your head and dropped you in some kind of prison! This is a bad situation¡ªif you¡¯re a guard. And what¡¯s worse than one escapee? A whole lot of them, of course. Assist someone in escaping and they¡¯ll surely be grateful. Being nice pays. -Rewards- > (Free Lodtvik) Elixir of Greater Soul Sight x3 > (Free Sasha) Cloak of the Hunter Forest Animal (Rank E) (Living Item) > (Free Liliana) Dubiously Legal Passkeys x3 That was nice and all but¡ªwait, what? Zoe¡¯s eyes lingered on the last line. Liliana? 38 - New Friends And New Upgrades ¡°Why hello there you look rather violent do you want to get out of here with me?¡± Lily prided herself on following through by sticking her hand out to the Lycan woman across from her. There was a dead body slumped between them in the blood-slicked stone corridor. It wasn¡¯t fully collapsed like all the others due to the conspicuous icicle sticking through the back and propping it up. The Rank E ¡®Corrosive Death-Lycan¡¯ glared at her. ¡°You stole my kill.¡± And with that the elemental-summoner¡¯s expression soured. ¡°I did not! He just got in the way of my icicle while he was busy killing you.¡± That was a half-truth. She¡¯d been aiming to skewer both of them. The wolf¡¯s expression soured as well. ¡°He wasn¡¯t killing me¡ªI¡ªhad it handled.¡± ¡°Yes, of course you did.¡± Lily stuck her hand out again. ¡°Anyway, do you wanna help me get out of here? I mean do you want to partner up to get out of here?¡± The woman stared at her hand like it was¡ªLily wasn¡¯t honestly sure what. It wasn¡¯t wariness and it wasn¡¯t disgust¡ªmore of a simple ¡®what is this?¡¯ So she wiggled her fingers a little. ¡°Come on. I¡¯m Rank D and rich. You¡¯ll have better chances and I can help you get away long-term if you¡¯re not too annoying.¡± She tilted her head. ¡°And I¡¯m a pure Human, so I can imagine you¡¯d find that useful under the current circumstances.¡± The woman took her hand in her paw¡ªit was really a hand, all things considered¡ªand shook, finally. ¡°Okay, sure. But like¡ªwhy?¡± What kind of question is that? Lily set off in the direction they¡¯d both clearly been heading as she formulated an answer. A question, in truth. ¡°What do you mean, why? I don¡¯t want to die here and you look passably capable and tolerably sane.¡± People always complained about how she was bad at working with others. That never made sense! She loved working with people and always did her best effort to team up. For some reason it just had a tendency of not working out, or they¡¯d just refuse her. Like, why though? ¡°Why are you here?¡± Oh. Well that explained it. That was, in fairness, a reasonable thing to ask. Lily wasn¡¯t a guard, yet she was purely Human. Yet she was also trying to escape. The logical conclusion was that she was¡ªwell, there wasn¡¯t a logical conclusion was there? This wasn¡¯t an ordinary prison. ¡°My insane uncle kidnapped me, stuck me in a storage closet here, and then ran off.¡± The truth was as good an answer as she could give this time. She continued while gesticulating at the air wildly. ¡°And then I presume he went and did something to cause all of¡­ this.¡± They went down a flight of stairs. Lily got the feeling her new Lycan friend had something to say, but had enough sense to wait until they saw if there would be any trouble waiting at the bottom. There wasn¡¯t. There was a young guard cowering behind a support beam. But Lily meant there wasn¡¯t a problem. She was going to just leave the Rank F coward behind, but her new pal took a brief detour to go eviscerate him. Fair enough, Lily thought. The two of them were a whole Rank apart, so the gain would be more worth it for her companion. This wasn¡¯t even factoring in the difference in what kind of progression the system awarded them, or their respective specializations. Also, she was the one actually imprisoned and soon to be enslaved by these people. ¡°I will not ask about this ¡®insane uncle¡¯ right now¡ª¡° Lily was thankful for that, though she heard a ¡®but¡¯ coming. ¡°¡ªbut unless your uncle also planted some sort of disguised Demon as a fake prisoner, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s responsible for the break.¡± Lily stumbled to a stop. Her blood ran cold¡ªand not from the ice mana looping through her veins. ¡°What.¡± The Lycan woman slowed to a stop too. She started trying to move again, but then realized how deadly serious Lily must have looked. She cleared her throat¡ªa sound fittingly reminiscent of a growl. ¡°Uh, just a few hours ago they brought a new prisoner into the cell next to me. She was unconscious for most of it, but then when she woke up she was able to break out of the suppression shackles and then start freeing us.¡± Lily suppressed a groan and forced herself to get moving again. ¡°Alright. And you said she was some sort of Demon?¡± Her companion shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know? But she was able to do magic even with the shackles, despite clearly being some kind of monster. So she would have to be a higher Demon, right? I mean unless the shackles were faked for some reason, but¡­¡± Hell fucking damn it. Lily scowled. ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t just me. He went and dragged her into it.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Lily realized she must have been muttering aloud when the wolf-girl asked about it. ¡°Went and dragged who?¡± ¡°No one. Let¡¯s just get out of here. If we¡¯re lucky, she¡¯s gone and we won¡¯t have to deal with it.¡± _____ You have leveled up! You are now level 25. +15 stat points. +1% core progression. Zoe was wrist-deep in a woman¡¯s chest when her eyes widened. The triumphant swell of a system notification soon followed. You have reached level 25 and are eligible for optional class upgrades. Would you like to view your available upgrade options? Zoe was close to jumping for joy, but she still had her hand stuck in a woman¡¯s chest. Uh, thanks system, I¡¯ll get around to that in just a minute. The notification disappeared from the front of her consciousness, allowing the gory scene around her to continue unimpeded.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Surgeon¡¯s Eye has reached level 7! Surgeon¡¯s Eye has reached level 8! Zoe didn¡¯t have her hand in a woman¡¯s chest to kill her¡ªthat was inefficient, as she could have accomplished an equivalent result thirty seconds ago. No, she was taking the opportunity to power-level her surgeon¡¯s eye skill. Her theory had been that physically digging around in someone in real-time would help a lot with getting a grip on the information skill. She was right. Her messy endeavor was already paying dividends, though she¡¯d had to expend a lot of blood healing her subject. Mending Touch has reached level 9! Rejuvenate has reached level 7! In fact, she¡¯d now gained three levels in her most potent healing skill for it¡ªalong with one in the other one. Let¡¯s see if I can push just a little bit further. Up to this point she¡¯d been fooling around with just the surgeon¡¯s eye skill and her own hands. But what about rending touch? That was another one of her most potent skills, and it was like reverse-healing. That could be useful to observe. Rending Touch! What was less useful was how near it came to just killing the unconscious woman. Shit. Zoe was forced to draw a massive amount of the woman¡¯s blood¡ªwhich was already running quite low. It was enough to sustain her body for an instant. The resulting death was visually anticlimactic. The system, however, would beg to differ. Surgeon¡¯s Eye has reached level 9! ¡­ Rending Touch has reached level 9! Rending Touch has reached level 10! Rending Touch has reached Tier II. +5 Power, +5 Vitality ¡­ Surgeon¡¯s Eye has reached level 10! Surgeon¡¯s Eye has reached Tier II. +5 Perception, +5 Vitality ¡­ Mending Touch has reached level 10! Mending Touch has reached Tier II. +10 Vitality ¡­ Mending Touch has reached level 11! Zoe flicked the blood off her claws as she stood up and looked around. Not seeing any immediate danger, she wicked the blood off entirely with a strange draw on her bloodshaper trait. It was something she didn¡¯t grasp all too well yet, but she did figure out how to reliably ¡®clean¡¯ herself with its influence. That¡¯s a lot of skill, uh, stuff. Not that she was complaining. Levels and stats and this new thing about getting skills to Tier II? That was delicious. Not to mention¡ªshe still had those class upgrade options she had yet to look at. So that¡¯s exactly what she would do next, as she continued searching for that Lycan Sasha¡ªbut first, she checked in on her status. [ZOE BLACKWELL] Level 25 | Rank F Demagogue, Bloody Devotee Higher Demon of Disdain -Alignment- > Infernal > Disdain > Blood -Active Quests- > Claim Your Right > Get Out -Active Titles- > Outsider > Usurper > Humanitizer > No Love Among Fiends -Stats and Bindings- Power 233 Perception 140 Acuity 125 Durability 120 Vitality (Blood) 189 -General Skills- > Identify 4 (Rank C) > Hallowed Touch (Tierless) > Mana Channeling 2 (Rank F) > Manasight 1 (Rank C) -Primary Class Skills- > Acting 3 (Rank D) > Persuasion 3 (Rank B) > Mirage 5 (Rank E) > Lesser Disguise 2 (Rank C) > Cloak of Scorn 5 (Rank E) System Display Privileges (Sys-Tier) -Secondary Class Skills- > Rejuvenate 7 (Rank F) > Mending Touch 11 - II (Rank D) > Rending Touch 10 - II (Rank D) > Surgeon¡¯s Eye 10 - II (Rank E) > Blood Whip 10 - II (Rank E) [JUVENILE BLOOD FIEND CORE] 31% Developed | Rank A -Traits- > Natural Weapons (Rank E) > Arcane Antennae (Rank E) > Bloodshaper (Rank C) > Heart of Alchemy (Rank B) > Personal Inventory (Rank B) > Magic Resistance (Rank C) -Effects- > +60 Power, +60 Durability, +82 Vitality > Infernal Alignment > Disdain Alignment > Blood Alignment -Available- > 15 stat points > Class upgrades (various) It was a staggering amount of progress for her short time in this new world. That was Zoe¡¯s opinion¡ªand one with which Lilith genuinely agreed. ¡°We are advancing rapidly,¡± the apparition remarked as she manifested as a tiny doll on Zoe¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It is unexpected. I can¡¯t imagine it will last, though.¡± Zoe nodded. Probably not. But slowing down wasn¡¯t that big a deal when you were slowing down from ¡®absolutely ludicrous.¡¯ Thinking back on the manner of it all, she decided the whole Demon thing wasn¡¯t so bad at all. ¡°Told you. We¡¯d have at most a third of the stats. And remember, a sizable portion of our power came from our experience fighting on behalf of Basil.¡¯ When Zoe said that, she didn¡¯t mean it as an invitation for her scheming and invisible companion to get all snarky and self-righteous about it. Also, she didn¡¯t like remembering the experience of being Basil¡¯s puppet. She could acknowledge now that Lilith¡¯s advice at the time was beneficial, sure. But the memory brought back uneasy feelings. ¡°Yeah yeah, get all touchy-feely with me, why don¡¯t you?¡± The little plushy flicked her in the ear¡ªa poor choice which resulted in Zoe grabbing the devilish thing and chucking it at the wall. ¡°Shut up. Let¡¯s look at those upgrade options.¡± Zoe returned to that very last line of her status. From there, the system conjured a prompt identical to the initial message from when she reached level twenty-five a few minutes prior. You have leveled up! You are now level 25. +15 stat points. +1% core progression. ¡­ You have reached level 25 and are eligible for optional class upgrades. Would you like to view your available upgrade options? Zoe smirked as she rounded a corner and ascended the stairs. There weren¡¯t so many people in this area¡ªjust a few crates among the wooden support beams and a few low-ranked guards. Most of those didn¡¯t even try to put up a fight. Would you like to view your available upgrade options? There was only one real option here. Yes. 39 - The Part Where They Escape, But For Real Both of Zoe¡¯s classes had upgrades. That was nice to see, even if she still didn¡¯t have any Rank S ultra special god-killing options. One day, she reassured herself with great confidence. Regardless, her options here were simple but far from bad. [SANGUINE DISCIPLE] Rank B You have embraced your nature as a creature of flesh and blood. Continue down your path of carnage to further awaken your Vital potential. -Effects- > +120 Vitality > Greater bonuses to all body, blood, and life skills. > Increased chances to earn blood, body, life, and death skills. > Grants Blood Siphon, Flesh Manipulation, Life Ray, and Reap > Guaranteed core-related skill at next core evolution. > May grant additional skills at further advancement stages. > Guaranteed evolution at next threshold. > Increases Carnage Alignment. The blood must flow¡ªunless you decide to magically clot it. The first looked like a direct upgrade to bloody devotee. Overall, quite solid, and the new skills included looked nice. Zoe did wonder what life ray did, because that sounded a little weird. Aside from that, there was the extension from just blood and body to also include life and death skills, and then the thing about a special skill related to her next core evolution. That had to be something Demon-exclusive¡ªit wouldn¡¯t make sense otherwise due to the dual monster core and class system thing she had going. I do wonder about how that stat increase works. Comparing it to her current class, it went from 60 to 120. Did that new boost get added on top of what she had, or did it replace it? Knowing her luck, it would be the latter. Zoe moved on to the next options. [BLOODRAGE BERSERKER] Rank D Taking as much damage as you inflict is fine if you heal faster than the other guy, right? -Effects- > +30 Vitality, +30 Power > Bonuses to blood, berserker, melee, and body skills. > Increased physical recovery. > Grants Blood Rage, Blade Cyclone, and Bloody Retribution. > Increases Carnage Alignment. You already tend to fight with bloody fury and little grace¡ªso why not get class bonuses for it? Yeah¡ªZoe wasn¡¯t interested. This was a straight downgrade. Even if she wasn¡¯t put-off by the drop from Rank B all the way to Rank D, the entire effects section left much to be desired. The skills Blade Cyclone and bloody retribution did sound cool and useful, particularly the latter. I think I¡¯ll still pass though. With that decided, Zoe moved on from the only two bloody devotee options. There were three for demagogue, and she read through all of them. [HUNTER OF THE SILENT STORM] Rank A Cloaked in shadow and ephemeral like the wind, dance with the secret truths and lies of the world¡ªsilent until you strike as lightning. -Effects- > +80 Perception, +50 Acuity, +20 Power > Bonuses to all deception, illusion, stealth, information, mind, lightning, shadow, wind, and weapon skills. > Increased chances to earn deception, stealth, mind, lightning, shadow, wind, and weapon skills. > Grants Hunter¡¯s Mark, Shadestep, Silence Aura, Wind Manipulation, Lightning Strike, and Dagger Mastery > Grants additional skills at further advancement stages. > Adds Wind, Shadow, and Lightning Alignments. Lightning is actually quite loud¡ªit¡¯s a good thing this one comes with a skill to enforce Silence. [WEAVER OF THE ENDLESS MIRAGE] Rank A This world is an illusion. Many are those to pierce its veil¡ªfewer are those capable of weaving it. -Effects- > +75 Perception, +75 Acuity > Extensive bonuses to all mind skills. > Bonuses to all spirit skills. > Grants Mind Manipulation, Light Needle, Create Illusion, and Soul Sight. > You can cast skills without expending mana. > Enables system privileges for displayed information. [INCARNATION OF THE WRAITH] Rank A Some are bound by the physical laws of this world. Others lack the means to affect material change. Take this opportunity to walk a path limited to neither. -Effects- > +50 Perception, +50 Power, +50 Acuity > Bonuses to all body and mind skills, all body and spirit skills, and all spirit and mind skills. > Bonuses to all shadow and metal skills. > Grants Mana Manipulation, Wraith Step, Spirit Conversion, and Withering Blade > Enables system privileges for displayed information. Becoming a Wraith is much better when you don¡¯t have to die first. Or would it be the second time for you? A few things really jumped out at Zoe here. First, all three options looked excellent, and they were all Rank A. The second big thing she noticed was how excessively mysterious and complicated they sounded. Names like this were supposed to be for when she entered her god killing phase, right? This was way too early. And despite how dubiously ¡®cool¡¯ they all might sound, she was left with a lack of concrete information. Not that it¡¯s any less than what any class description has¡ªit was simply that the overall ¡®vibe¡¯ communicated in the descriptions was harder to pin to concrete expectations.Stolen novel; please report. With that, Zoe decided to bank the demagogue upgrades for the present moment. Bloody devotee, however, could certainly use an upgrade. You have selected to upgrade your secondary class to the Rank B class: Sanguine Disciple. Do you wish to proceed? Uh, yeah. Zoe was used to the particular way the system did these things by now. Just like when she¡¯d first awoken the demagogue class back in that ancient, underground temple, nothing happened for a few seconds. Then the weight of the system slammed into her¡ªand vanished just as quickly. It left her blinking brilliant spots out of her eyes and stumbling to regain her balance. A bit unpleasant, but she¡¯d take this over what her core evolution had been like. You have successfully upgraded your secondary class. Primary class changed to Sanguine Disciple. Secondary class changed to Demagogue. Oh, huh. Zoe didn¡¯t expect that last part. She was aware that which class was the primary class affected things in some way. She didn¡¯t know that the system would automatically switch them like this, though. I can change them around if I want to, right?¡± Lilith had been oddly silent during the whole process, only to speak up once questioned. ¡°Yes. Though it is often an exhausting process when done manually. That being said, it has its uses, so we should practice doing it. The more you practice the easier it gets.¡± That was good to know. Zoe would keep things how they were for now. She didn¡¯t want to tucker herself out while still in this prison. And regardless, her blood-attuned class was the stronger one now¡ªdespite the remaining difference in rank. Zoe still had yet to encounter any more real enemies¡ªany enemies at all, actually¡ªso she checked her status. It had grown fairly long, but most of it was unchanged. The most notable changes were to her stats and one of her skill sections. -Stats and Bindings- Power 233 Perception 140 Acuity 125 Durability 120 Vitality (Blood) 249 Vitality had regained its place as her leading stat. Zoe would like to say she could feel a deep well of life-bearing energy coursing through her veins¡ªor something¡ªbut no, not really. Was she getting too used to stat increases? Maybe. At least she did feel pretty healthy. It was unfortunate that the extra 120 points from her new class were half fake. She only gained sixty. The other half seemingly replaced the original sixty that the preceding class gave her. Oh well. It was to be expected, and how could she complain about getting a whole sixty more points anyway? It was just a little scummy how the system presented it. The more interesting development was in her skills section, where her primary and secondary class skills had been all shuffled around. -Primary Class Skills- > Rejuvenate 7 (Rank F) > Mending Touch 11 - II (Rank D) > Rending Touch 10 - II (Rank D) > Surgeon¡¯s Eye 10 - II (Rank E) > Blood Whip 10 - II (Rank E) > Blood Siphon 1 (Rank D) > Flesh Manipulation 1 (Rank E) > Life Ray 1 (Rank D) > Reap 1 (Rank C) All those Tier II skills were looking quite sexy, Zoe couldn¡¯t help but think. There was, without a doubt, some special significance to that. Given what she knew of advancing to a higher tier and how the first advancement worked off elemental stat bindings, it had to be used for something. ¡°It is.¡± No matter how much she might complain, Lilith was useful for some things. I¡¯ll ask you more about that later, Zoe decided. She still had to find her spear. In the meantime, she could start getting a handle on these new skills. Which one first, though? Should she save the best for last or just go straight for the edgy-sounding Rank C? Remembering her very first investigation attempts with the system, Zoe took a secret, third route¡ªone which was almost anathema to her very nature. She didn¡¯t activate any of them. No¡ªshe pulled up the limited descriptions on each of them and began to read. _____ Sasha felt as if she should regret following the haughty ¡®pureblood¡¯ woman. There was a critical word there¡ªshould. She didn¡¯t regret following Lily because the ice summoner was proving to be useful. She was, Sasha had to admit, a fair bit stronger than her. She also fought with the casual precision characteristic of nobles who took themselves seriously. As opposed to the lazy useless ones, that is. Those were more common. But regardless, the practiced, honed skills of such noble-trained were notably distinct from the dirty, pragmatic combat of survival people like herself had to learn. That didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t willing to get dirty¡ªoh no, that wasn¡¯t the case at all, as Sasha was presently watching as her frosty companion checked to make sure the guards they¡¯d smoked to death were, in fact, dead. The difference was more of a feeling. Something you could tell with a small amount of experience and observation. ¡°You sure this is the right way? Because I feel like we¡¯re just boxing ourselves into a cave.¡± Sasha sighed. ¡°No, I¡¯m not sure, but I¡¯m betting my life on this too, you know?¡± Lily nodded. ¡°Fair enough. But we should be getting close now, right?¡± Yes, they should be. Sasha didn¡¯t know the layout of the whole prison¡ªhow would she? She did know that there was supposed to be a series of canals near the bottom levels that were a poorly kept secret among the guards. As in, most of the guards weren¡¯t even supposed to know, but they did, and they were loose enough about it that even most of the prisoners talked about them as an avenue of escape. She hoped they were all right. So they moved on. The opposition was dying down. Whether that was due to their own choice of direction or due to some indication that the prison was truly and totally overwhelmed, well, Sasha didn¡¯t care. She was content to let her mysterious companion lead the way by stabbing people. ¡°Haha!¡± The Lycan kept her distance as her companion skewered a cowering Rank F guard with a javelin-sized icicle. Multiple icicles, actually¡ªit was less of a stab and more of a pincushion situation. Nasty. Shaking her head, Sasha moved on. She almost ran into Lily¡¯s back, not having realized that the other woman had stopped cold at the edge of the next passageway. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± The woman raised a finger to her lips. She then pointed ahead, gesturing at the way ahead¡ªand all the mutilated bodies strewn around. ¡°Huh.¡± Sasha dropped her voice down to a whisper. ¡°Looks like someone came through here already.¡± Lily nodded. Together, they advanced. From that point on they encountered no more opposition. Where before it had been light, composed of the weakest guards and in small numbers, here they encountered none. Someone had killed them all. And in many cases, they¡¯d been quite messy about it. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of blood,¡± Sasha remarked. Lily nodded in silence¡ªa developing habit. The Lycan eyed the stirred-up chest of the woman in front of them with a bit of nausea. ¡®Stirred up.¡¯ That was what came to mind, like someone had reached in and, well, stirred it around a bit. Like a messed up batch of concrete that ended up setting. Only, recently deceased flesh instead of¡­ concrete. Freaky. ¡°Yeah, I hope we don¡¯t encounter whatever did this.¡± Lily sniffed. ¡°I¡¯d rather not deal with¡­ that.¡± It was Sasha¡¯s turn to nod. ¡°Yeah. Definitely one of those ones where like, even if you defeat it, the whole thing still just sucks.¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± Within a tenth of an hour they made it to the gate. And Lo! There truly was a water-filled canal with a single little boat docked at the edge. The whole area was quite sparse, though there was no sign of anyone there anymore. Whatever had fucked up all those dead people had definitely come this far¡ªperhaps it had left through the gate. It looked like there were spots for at least one or two additional boats. Together, they advanced to the gate. Sasha reached for it, but it refused to open. Damn it. Lily also tried, but it refused to budge. Frowning, the fancy lady seemed to activate a bunch of different skills to poke at it, but none of them did anything. They shared a glance. ¡°Do we just try to leverage both of our raw Power?¡± Shrugging, Lily looked around. ¡°I guess. If that doesn¡¯t work then I guess we both just start blasting.¡± A cough from behind them. ¡°Alternatively, you could simply pay the toll.¡± They spun around as one. Sasha yelped as she came face to face with a devilish creature. ¡°Hi. Remember me?¡± She calmed down a little as her mind put things back together. The beautiful, terrifying woman right in front of her was the same Demon who¡¯d set off the events that freed her. That only made her a little less nervous, yet a response was still in order. ¡°Uh, yeah. Uh, what¡¯s the toll?¡± The Demon grinned¡ªa little creepy, Sasha thought. ¡°I want my spear back.¡± Now she blinked. ¡°Oh. Uh, okay?¡± She went ahead and handed over the spear. Why not? She was the one who¡¯d borrowed it anyway. The whole ¡®appearing behind them¡¯ thing was weird, and so was calling it a toll, but maybe Demons just liked to be dramatic? ¡°Okay! Thanks!¡± Lily cleared her throat. ¡°Hey Zoe. Were you the one who¡ªtook care of all those guards?¡± The Demon¡ªZoe¡ªhad gone up to the lock in the middle of the gate after retrieving her spear. She stopped and looked back at them when she responded. ¡°Yeah, that was me. There was also that Lodtvik guy, but we took a different route to get here than you guys did. He left earlier though, so I¡¯ve just been waiting for you.¡± Waiting? Why? Sasha wanted to ask that, but she didn¡¯t. Lily, however, did ask what was on her mind. ¡°How did you know I¡¯d be here? I mean thanks for waiting, but¡ªwait, did Basil drag you into this too?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah, he did.¡± The Zoe-Demon finished fiddling with the lock, and the gate swung open. ¡°But no I didn¡¯t know he kidnapped you too. I meant the wolf girl. She had my spear, and I wanted it back.¡± What? That was easy enough to understand on a literal level, yet it befuddled Sasha. She just¡­ waited around in a dungeon prison just to get back a Rank E spear? What? Surely this Demon had to be far more powerful¡ªRank C at least, right? It was a few seconds before she realized she¡¯d been standing still, while the other two had made it all the way down to the boat. ¡°Hey hunter forest animal girl! You wanna come with us?¡± Sasha blinked. Hunter forest¡ªyou know what, never mind. Sighing, she hurried up to join them. ¡°Yeah yeah, I¡¯m coming. Don¡¯t leave without me.¡± She wasn¡¯t going to squander her only means of escape¡ªeven if she was starting to get the feeling that accompanying these two would get her into even more trouble in the future. They¡¯re a little odd¡ªbut they¡¯re not actually crazy, right? 40 - Parting Ways Zoe learned a lot more about her new skills by using them than by reading them, in the end. The system really was useless when it came to documentation. The upside was that she still had a sparkling new class, some nifty skills, and a funny little boat taking her and two friends out of that horrid place. What Zoe did learn was that blood siphon was exactly what it sounded like¡ªshe could siphon blood from things. ¡°Shocking,¡± Lilith had remarked. Sarcasm aside, that was still a great ability to have, in the context of the rest of Zoe¡¯s skillset. Flesh manipulation, meanwhile, was also basically what it sounded like. The main difference, aside from doing totally different things, was that it was broader and harder to get a specific handle on. So in addition to mangling up some corpses more than they already were, Zoe figured out she could jam up the gate lock with a small mass of undifferentiated Human tissues. It was gross¡ªbut it worked, and it was just as easy to discreetly suck it back out of the lock when Lily and Sasha weren¡¯t looking. Simple and clever, Zoe thought. She had already started thinking of other creative ways to use some of her lesser-used skills. Less fortunate was how little she learned about the other two skills that came with her upgraded class. Life ray fired off a barely visible ray of, well, some kind of life mana? Zoe wasn¡¯t really sure about much more than that. She was well aware of how deeply it pulled on her soul, though, devouring her spiritual energy to produce little observable effect. Equally disappointing was reap. Where life ray seemed to activate just fine, even if she couldn¡¯t figure out the purpose of its effect, reap failed to activate properly in the first place. Zoe could feel the Rank C skill start to spin up and engage¡ªbut then the metaphysical gears would get stuck, bits and bobs would go whirring and flying off, and she¡¯d be left with nothing but soul strain. She would figure them out eventually. As the three young women coasted over the dark, cool waters of the canals, Zoe shifted her focus to the other rewards she got for the whole endeavor. Quest Complete! [GET OUT] Uh oh, a familiar cultist cut off your head and dropped you in some kind of prison! This is a bad situation¡ªif you¡¯re a guard. And what¡¯s worse than one escapee? A whole lot of them, of course. Assist someone in escaping and they¡¯ll surely be grateful. Being nice pays. -Rewards- > (Free Lodtvik) Elixir of Greater Soul Sight x3 > (Free Sasha) Cloak of the Hunter Forest Animal (Rank E) (Living Item) > (Free Liliana) Dubiously Legal Passkeys x3 Zoe¡¯s personal quest system was back to pulling its weight. She still hadn¡¯t gotten to play with her magic kite as much as she¡¯d wanted to, and she suspected it was useful as more than just a toy. But that was old news, as right now she had three new goodies to look at¡ªor seven, depending on how you counted. [ELIXIR OF GREATER SOUL SIGHT] x3 Rank C A pure and potent distillation of the Mind and Spirit, temporarily granting or increasing the subject¡¯s ability to perceive the spiritual. -Attributes- > 1 hour duration > 100 Quality > +10 additional Perception during effect So it¡¯s a potion that lets you see souls. Zoe decided that this was an excellent thing to have, even if it wasn¡¯t immediately useful or good in a given emergency. Even though she¡¯d already gotten the mana sight skill as well as a class option with mana manipulation too, Zoe wasn¡¯t going to slack on her eventual goal of mastering magic. These potions would likely be useful there. If they weren¡¯t, they¡¯d be useful for something else. Who doesn¡¯t love soul magic, right? Setting those aside, Zoe skipped over Sasha¡¯s reward to first look at the keys the quest linked to ¡®rescuing¡¯ Lily. [DUBIOUSLY LEGAL PASSKEYS] x3 These may not be entirely legal, so you should consider going around sticking them in locks to see if you can get rid of them. Zoe read through the description three times. That was it. That¡¯s helpful, thanks. The system sure loved being sassy at times. But, as Zoe had noted previously, the sass had never been totally baseless or irrelevant thus far. There was usually at least some conclusion to be inferred. In this case, there was something up with the legality or even just cultural opinion on these keys. The whole ¡®dubiously legal¡¯ part could go multiple ways when you got down to the details. The other main thing was that she should try sticking them in locks to use them. That should be obvious¡ªthey were keys¡ªbut the system went out of its way to be ¡®sarcastic¡¯ about it. Zoe suspected she really should try them on things. As for the actual items, they were just metal keys¡ªslightly larger than the regular mass-produced ones back on Earth, and slightly less flat. Were the grooves in the sides different too? Zoe wasn¡¯t sure. That left her with one more item. [CLOAK OF THE HUNTER FOREST ANIMAL] Rank E The wolf is many things¡ªbut perhaps most of all, a symbol. What does it mean then, to bear the mantle of its hide? This cloak is no ordinary enchanted garment¡ªit bears not only magic within its thread but a living spirit to guide and grow with you.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. -Alignment- > Life > Cold > Earth > Wind -Stats and Bindings- Power 65 Perception 60 Acuity 50 Durability 100 Vitality 70 -Effects- > Lonesome Recovery > Winter¡¯s Embrace > Earthen Resilience > Howl on the Wind Huh. Zoe liked what she saw here. It was some kind of living item, so she didn¡¯t think the stats it had were bonuses that she would get directly¡ªsomething Lilith confirmed a moment later. Yet they were still important because they affected the rest of the item as a whole, such as the potency of whatever each of the four ¡®effects¡¯ at the bottom did. And because it was a living item, they would grow and evolve over time. This is definitely pretty neat. Zoe really, really wanted to put the cloak on then and there. She only didn¡¯t because of her present company. She wasn¡¯t worried about offending Sasha¡ªhonestly, that¡¯s probably one of those things where the implication of it thinking it¡¯s offensive is what would make things offensive. If that made any sense. No, the reason was she didn¡¯t want to reveal all her tricks¡ªor talk about how she was pulling items out of thin air. _____ The canals changed a lot as the hours stretched on. Yes, hours. Zoe thought they¡¯d coast out into the open ocean, sail away from some dismal rock of a tiny island, and head off back towards the continent. Nope! The whole thing was underground, and half of it was flooded. And not just underground¡ªa dungeon. This was not something Zoe was expecting, and it wasn¡¯t something she was prepared for, either. To summarize a rather lengthy conversation, the entire planet was one giant game-like dungeon. ¡®The Underworld,¡¯ they called it. No one knew how deep it truly went, though most sections were quite deep, at least a mile or so under the surface. The spots where the convoluted, tangled, magic and monster-filled tunnels rose all the way up in an underground dome of malevolent natural architecture were the ¡®dungeons.¡¯ Zoe thought that was a bit of a silly way to term things, but she had little choice but to accept it. Did that mean that the elder temple she¡¯d woken up in was connected to the giant world dungeon? Probably. Regardless, Zoe thought it was super cool, especially when Sasha remarked that the passages of the Underworld were notorious for trafficking bandits, refugees, and all manner of organized and unorganized crime. It looks like there¡¯s a criminal underworld after all¡ªquite literally. She was a lot less happy with it right now, because she wanted to be exploring the city, and also the nice cool water was transitioning to Human sewage. ¡°Gross!¡± Zoe yanked her oar away from a foamy, yellow-gray mass of¡ªmaterial¡ªas it floated by. Things were getting nasty enough that even touching them with tools made her feel violated. ¡°Well we know she¡¯s not a Demon of Revulsion.¡± Sasha guffawed as both Zoe and Lily wrinkled their noses. ¡°Come on, both of you had your fist in someone¡¯s chest at some point, quit acting like you¡¯re going to keel over and die.¡± Zoe wheezed as her lungs gave out and she was forced to suck in another noxious breath. ¡°Hey! My core is only attuned to one bodily fluid, and it is most definitely not liquid excrement.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The Lycan woman chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting way to say your core is attuned to a bodily fluid.¡± Zoe glared at her, but her patented death glare didn¡¯t seem to be working. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡ªthe liquid excrement would probably be Fear¡ªso if it were Sorrow, then tears maybe¡ª¡° Zoe shook her head. Is it not obvious? I mean she just talked about sticking hands in people¡¯s chests. ¡°I think she¡¯s just messing with us,¡± Lilith clarified. That was probably true, and the wolf-woman got a mischievous glint in her eye a moment later. ¡°Well, it couldn¡¯t be something as obvious as blood, and that would eliminate Wrath, and I don¡¯t know what would even go with Disdain, like what bodily fluid even goes with a feeling of pride? None of them, maybe?¡± For all that she was annoyed by the teasing, Zoe had little idea what she was talking about. What were all these names? Like what even was the ¡®Disdain¡¯ thing related to her Demoness? Like ¡®Wrath¡¯ would fit with the Catholic sins from Earth, but the others¡­ ¡°You should ask me,¡± Lilith suggested. And Zoe took her hallucinatory companion up on that offer, because it was at that very moment Sasha latched onto another class of bodily fluids¡ªand the ¡®euphoric and passionate feelings¡¯ that might go along with them. _____ Given that the flooded tunnels had been transitioning into clearly artificial sewer works, Zoe expected them to climb a ladder, lift up a manhole cover, and emerge in some back alley in the middle of the city. Instead, they emerged straight out into the afternoon light with the boat still beneath them. ¡°Huh.¡± Zoe discarded her oar over the side, garnering a sharp look from her two companions. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the ocean.¡± It was indeed the ocean. The calm, sunlit sea stretched outward before them, disappearing over the horizon as it met with the billowy shapes of fair-weather clouds. Behind them was a bit of sandy, scrubby coast, and not a hundred yards behind that was solid tree-line. Farther up the coast to the North, Zoe could make out the familiar spire of the mage tower. Verdanport was close, but they still had a ways to walk. If the ship engine still worked, they¡¯d just be using that, but it had given up shortly into their little escape adventure. Henceforth, they¡¯d resorted to the backup oars. Zoe¡¯s arms were exhausted, so she¡¯d rather stretch her legs for a turn by getting out and walking. ¡°Yessss,¡± she hissed as she stretched her arms and back. She yelped as the surf washed up over her feet. The next few seconds passed with Zoe making a mad dash farther up the beach and onto the dry sand to avoid further wetness. ¡°You guys coming?¡± Lily and Sasha shared a look. ¡°Uh, sure.¡± Sasha hesitated. ¡°Uh, where are you going?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going back to Verdanport,¡± Lily said as she hopped over the side and joined Zoe where the weeds met the pure sand. ¡°I have an uncle to murder.¡± Nodding sagely, Zoe voiced her agreement. ¡°Verdanport for me too, I think. I also have an uncle to murder.¡± She paused. ¡°Well I mean he¡¯s not my uncle, but he is an uncle. He¡¯s Lily¡¯s uncle.¡± Everyone laughed at that, even the annoying little ¡®person¡¯ tagging along inside Zoe¡¯s head. Why is that funny? That wasn¡¯t supposed to be funny. ¡°Whatever. Let¡¯s go.¡± She turned and trudged upwards through the scrubby weeds, up until she hit a paved road stretching along the coast. Zoe idly wondered where it would take her if she went South instead. She began heading North. The other two joined her but a moment later. ¡°Any plans on getting into the city?¡± Lily asked. Zoe stopped walking. Plans to get into the city? Oh right, the whole thing with everyone expecting a Demon and inquisitors or something everywhere. Zoe had forgotten about that. ¡°On second thought, I will not be going to Verdanport at this time.¡± And with that, she made an abrupt turn on her heel to start heading South. ¡°Fair enough,¡± she heard Lily call back over the sudden wind. Sudden gusts were picking up, but Zoe didn¡¯t mind. They were, for the most part, coming inland, so they didn¡¯t impede her progress. A bit of stormy, coastal wind while walking down a beachside road was a welcome change in scenery from the sewers. ¡°Mind if I join you?¡± Sasha had come up beside her. Zoe half expected that. It looked like Verdanport wasn¡¯t the most welcoming for either of them at the moment. It was disappointing, because it was a neat-looking place and Zoe still wanted to explore it. ¡°I don¡¯t mind. I do have to warn you though¡ªI have no idea where I¡¯m going, and I¡¯m also massively stupid.¡± ¡°Yeah, I could tell.¡± That remark earned the wolf woman a cutting glare. But she just smirked. Zoe scowled and shook her head. She was going to have a nice, relaxing stroll, and then she was going to find a nice little town and work toward hitting Rank E. It was hard to imagine how even someone as moronic as her could get a plan as simple as that to go too far sideways. But enough self-negativity, she chastised herself. Never underestimate the ingenuity of idiots. 41 - Breakthrough Things, by and large, did not go sideways. This was only if you didn¡¯t consider traveling West to be sideways movement, which Zoe wasn¡¯t sure about. Regardless, nothing bad happened, other than her legs getting as tired as her arms had. They walked until nightfall. It had been late afternoon, bordering on evening when they encountered a fork in the main road. The wider, straight option continued South right along the coast, while a slightly smaller but still paved road veered off to head inland West. They did the smart thing at that point, which was to take a little rest and decide on which way to go. It was fortunate that there was both a wooden signpost and that Zoe had terrorized that librarian into teaching her to read. It was unfortunate that she only got to practice once, because she wasn¡¯t at all good at it. ¡°I think it¡¯s probably Hockenfiel,¡± Sasha said after a painful thirty seconds of Zoe mashing her tongue against foreign pronunciation. ¡°I think that¡¯s a larger city? I¡¯m not sure, I¡¯m not familiar with this place but I¡¯ve heard people mention it a lot so it probably is.¡± Zoe nodded. That was a reasonable conclusion. She refrained from asking more about the Lycan¡¯s personal situation. The curiosity was not worth the emotional weight she expected from it, not right now. ¡°Then that¡¯s where we¡¯d end up if we keep going South. That makes sense for it to be a big city, if it¡¯s on the coast.¡± They decided to take the inland route. The trees were¡ªnot all that thick, really. They had a lot more variety and underbrush than the crappy dead forests further North in the Frozen Wastes did, though, and there were birds. Zoe was almost tempted to practice various skills on them as they flitted back and forth over the road, but she refrained. Just enjoy things without murdering everything. She got her chance to practice magic when they stopped at nightfall proper. _____ ¡°So you¡¯re sure you don¡¯t have anything that could help us start a fire in that storage ring of yours?¡± Zoe felt guilty for shaking her head again and acting like she didn¡¯t have something called a ¡®flame charge¡¯ in her personal inventory. But just a little bit. She only had one, and there was no way she was wasting it to start a single campfire they didn¡¯t even need. ¡°Nope, unless you think you can start a fire by stabbing the sticks hard enough.¡± She did have the good sense to have removed the actual storage ring she got from Basil and to put it on. She was still committed to the idea of pretending like she didn¡¯t have her special core inventory. It was definitely going to be useful for a dramatic heist one day. But only if it remained secret. ¡°What are you doing now?¡± Zoe cracked open an eye to glare at her talkative travel buddy. ¡°Learning fire magic.¡± She tried to close her eyes and get back into preparing herself for another go at using mana channeling. ¡°By sitting on the ground with your eyes closed?¡± Another squinted glare. ¡°Yes. Now shut up or make your own fire.¡± Then she willed her perception to tune out whatever nonsense Sasha would say next. ¡°Damn, so prickly¡­¡± Zoe steadied herself with a deep breath. There were four main components to this when it came to skills and traits. For skills, she¡¯d actively be using mana channeling and manasight, for rather obvious reasons. Likewise, from her traits, she¡¯d be pulling on arcane antennae and magic resistance. The latter half of this process was more active than it might first seem. Zoe had realized at this point that her core traits, while they were passive, in some cases very visual features of her own body, did respond to active intent and focus. Calling on her traits was a bit more than just deciding to make use of them in the way one would a limb. It was far less dramatic than a skill activation, but calling on a specific trait with the same force of will and the system did something. Manasight! Mana Channeling! The darkness lit up with the faint, muted colors of a blobby haze. There wasn¡¯t much to see, not at all, though she wasn¡¯t sure if that had more to do with the skill¡¯s level or what was around her. The trees and dirt weren¡¯t exactly overflowing with magic. But Zoe herself wasn¡¯t quite so dull. It¡¯s like one of those anatomical diagrams of the circulatory system, she thought. Similar, but not the same. Her body was a dense network of tangled strings of faint light. Some strings arced in great loops, while others drew taut. Some were thicker or thinner, and all converged in clusters of convoluted knots¡ªthe largest and most complex of which converged in her core. When she moved her arm, the threads in her arm moved with it. That was to be expected, so Zoe moved on to more interesting experiments. First, she amped up the amount of power she was pushing through the mana channeling skill. The total brightness of it all surged. As expected. But was it just brighter? Peering closer, Zoe observed how the increase wasn¡¯t uniform. The increase in intensity was strongest in the areas and threads that were already the largest, longest, brightest, or overall most significant. That¡¯s interesting.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The system must have agreed, because it chose that moment to reward her. Manasight has reached level 2! Mana Channeling has reached level 3! Zoe smiled. But she wasn¡¯t done. She cut off her use of mana channeling¡ªbut she left manasight active. This time, everything dimmed. And like the inverse of what happened before, the brightest sections dimmed the most. They were still the brightest by far, of course, but they had the most to lose. This would make sense if basic mana channeling had already been giving them extra emphasis. In the end, the mana in Zoe¡¯s body dimmed by quite a bit. It went from a brilliant tapestry of glittering magic to a muted cobweb with portions so faint she could hardly make them out. They were still there, just¡ªstrangely empty. Manasight has reached level 3! Zoe ignored the skill level. These threads were part of her soul, right? They branched out from her core, extending through her body to carry mana and magic. Lilith said her core was what truly contained her self now, and she could believe that after experiencing a full decapitation at the hands of Basil. Lilith? Am I right? Are these mana thread channel thingies like little soul tentacles? But the tag-a-long Demon proved her uselessness by remaining silent. Zoe knew she was listening. She could feel the creature¡¯s presence. You just want me to figure it out myself, don¡¯t you? Nothing, followed by a fleeting feeling of affirmation. Figures. Zoe sighed and opened her eyes. Sasha was busy rubbing some sticks in a vain attempt to get a spark the old fashioned way. A grin crawled across the Demon¡¯s lips. She would make a little game out of seeing who could get their respective method to work¡ªnot that she¡¯d admit she was putting them in a competition, of course. _____ The first light of dawn stabbed over the horizon, illuminating their fire-less campsite. Sasha had given up hours ago. Zoe had not. And while she¡¯d made excellent progress on both her arcane skills and her understanding of magic and the system in general, she had yet to produce a spark. Damn, it turns out teaching yourself raw magic is actually kind of hard. ¡°Wait, how long have you been awake?¡± Sasha blinked and stretched, raking her eyes over Zoe¡¯s extremely not-sleepy body. ¡°You look like you¡¯ve been up for a while.¡± Shrugging, Zoe stretched as well. ¡°Since I finished growing my head back yesterday, I guess. You rustle about a lot in your sleep, you know.¡± Silence. ¡°You watched me sleep?¡± And now this was getting annoying. It¡¯s hardly my fault you continue wasting a third of your life away like the pathetic mortal you are. She didn¡¯t say that though. She was mature and could be more diplomatic about it. ¡°I was not leaning over you the whole time taking notes, if that¡¯s what you mean. You¡¯re just noisy, especially on sticks and leaves.¡± As if in adherence to some universal harmony of comedy, it was at that instant a stick fell out of the wolf woman¡¯s wild mane. ¡°Come on.¡± Zoe stood up and kicked more leaves on her as she passed. ¡°Get up, I¡¯m bored.¡± ¡°Gee, talk about domineering,¡± someone might have muttered from behind her, but Zoe didn¡¯t put much weight in the opinions of boring people. ¡°Wait! Hey look at that squirrel!¡± And now Zoe was truly exasperated. Rounding on the fluffy woman¡ªwho still had yet to rise up on her own two legs¡ªshe let loose. Stale mana had been building up in Zoe¡¯s channels for a while now, though she hadn¡¯t thought it was much of a problem. But now it was boiling over, burning at her flesh like bubbling, sticking, hot syrup that she needed to get out. It was ridiculously uncomfortable, though she hadn¡¯t paid much attention earlier due to her deep focus. She was cranky and impatient and bored, and Sasha was holding her up over a damn squirrel. ¡°Are you seven?¡± ¡°Uh, seven what?¡± Zoe¡¯s eye twitched. That¡¯s it. The hot, cloying syrup roiled and grew turbulent. A searing heat so potent it felt icy shot down her forearms, stinging at her fingertips until Zoe swore she felt droplets of sweat pour down them. She could hear a roaring inferno building up in her ears. Her companion suddenly looked terrified, going so far as to raise her hands defensively. ¡°I just¡­ something about that squirrel looks odd, and¡± And with that, Zoe¡¯s steam all dissipated. Or it should have, but whatever rage she was feeling had become something far more than emotional. This was because she finally saw the squirrel, and it was actually kind of weird. Part of it was the weird lock of¡­ hair? On its head, but also the way it gulped and took a step back upon feeling the heat of Zoe¡¯s ire. Squirrels don¡¯t act like that. And maybe she should have been curious. But Zoe¡¯s unnaturally hot rage needed a target, and now she was just massively pissed that some stupid weird monster had the audacity to think it could play her for a fool. The anger and the painful, stale mana that accompanied it weren¡¯t just rekindled¡ªthey detonated. Burn. Zoe¡¯s mind didn¡¯t register what happened until after her white-hot mana baked straight through three different trees and left the surrounding forest floor a sweltering, charred pit. ¡®Pit¡¯ might be a stretch. Regardless, she¡¯d burned up all the leaves, and that left two other women dealing with some serious new burns in one case and trying to stop it from spreading in the other. Mana Channeling has reached level 4! ¡­ You have gained the Rank B skill: Mana Manipulation! ¡­ You have gained the Rank E skill: Hellfire Blast! You have gained the Rank D skill: Hellfire Eruption! Zoe did not know how to feel. Overjoyed at her accomplishment? She¡¯d gotten both mana manipulation itself and the fire magic she¡¯d initially aimed for. Concerned over the bizarre anger she¡¯d experienced in the process, and how it had all vanished? It left her feeling emotionally tired, though not physically, and that might be a problem to look into. Maybe she should also be concerned about preventing the whole forest from burning down, or maybe the fact that she¡¯d just given that archer and enchanter girl, Millie, some real nasty burns just now by accident. But thinking through all of that, Zoe decided she wanted to be annoyed again. Kneeling in front of the injured girl, she prepared to use her healing. But first, she could draw things out just a little bit, right? So she made sure to look real stern as she spoke. ¡°Why the hell were you spying on us by pretending to be a squirrel?¡± 42 - How To Win Friends And Bribe People ¡°I wasn¡¯t spying on you,¡± the wounded Human girl protested. ¡°I was just walking through the forest when I saw you and decided to come over and have a look.¡± Zoe wanted to make a show of sharing a skeptical glance with Sasha¡ªbut the third member of their impromptu trio was still busying herself making sure nothing else would go up in flames. ¡°Okay, so you just happened to be having a stroll in the exact part of the middle of nowhere that we happened to be in, and then.¡± Zoe lifted a finger before Millie could form excuses. She wasn¡¯t finished yet. ¡°And then, having miraculously chanced upon our location, you decided to pretend to be a squirrel to spy on us.¡± Millie opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then opened her mouth again. ¡°You are still a healer, right?¡± Zoe arched a brow at the blatant change of subject. Millie scowled. ¡°Okay, fine. I guess you could say I got a bit nosy when I saw you, but it really was just an accident at first! I was headed home for the equinox festival, well Verdanport is home too I guess but anyway I was heading towards Blossomfell¡ªis that where you¡¯re going too?¡± Zoe couldn¡¯t quite keep up with the deluge of unnecessary information, so she mostly ignored it as she relented and took to healing the burns she¡¯d unwittingly inflicted. Mending Touch! The freckled young woman squirmed and yelped a little as the skill took effect. Contrary to Zoe¡¯s expectations, mending touch didn¡¯t feel at all like a soothing warmth. It wasn¡¯t exactly painful either¡ªaside from the blood cost¡ªbut it could range between relieving and somewhat uncomfortable. Judging by Millie¡¯s reactions, healing over the burns itched her or something. The enchanter sighed as Zoe finished. ¡°Thanks. That¡¯s some good healing, definitely appreciate that.¡± Sitting up, she nodded to Sasha¡ªthe wolf woman was putting out the last flames by beating them with a rotten log. ¡°So who¡¯s the Lycan?¡± ¡°Her name is Sasha.¡± Millie looked between them with a questioning glance. Zoe knew she wanted her to say more¡ªbut Zoe didn¡¯t. Sasha was almost finished up. Zoe would let the other two sort out the introductions on their own. ¡°Alright, fire¡¯s out.¡± And with that, Sasha finished and sat down with them, completing their cross-legged triangle. ¡°So who the hell is the not-squirrel?¡± Millie looked at Zoe again. But Zoe just grinned and shook her head slightly. You¡¯re on your own for this one. Millie sighed and faced the Lycan. ¡°Just another backwoods Human lass with the misfortune of getting way too involved with terrifying and powerful people, and now apparently Demons too like Zoe here.¡± Hey. Zoe didn¡¯t know if she¡¯d be less offended if she hadn¡¯t been implicitly separated from the former list. ¡°Oh and yes I can turn into a squirrel, it¡¯s a pretty cool skill!¡± Millie¡¯s brightening smile wavered. ¡°Well, it takes a lot of mana though and it¡¯s not all that useful, but¡­¡± Zoe shrugged. ¡°Still sounds useful to me.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Sasha chimed in as well. ¡°Like, it¡¯s super useful for getting yourself cooked by a startled Demon!¡± ¡°Ha, very funny.¡± Millie cleared her throat. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m really not spying on you, but where are you going? Cause if you¡¯re going to Blossomfell too then I wouldn¡¯t mind traveling together.¡± A look between Demon and Lycan showed they were thinking the same thing. Zoe recalled the name being listed on the signpost back where the road forked off to the South and West¡ªbut there hadn¡¯t been much information. In fact, for all the names on the western route, it wasn¡¯t clear what was even a town and what was perhaps just a useful landmark or other useful area. ¡°That depends,¡± Zoe hedged. ¡°What¡¯s Blossomfell like?¡± _____ As it turned out, Blossomfell was not far at all. Millie claimed they had a chance to make it there before nightfall, and that encouraged the rest of them to move with haste. Whenever Zoe got too tired she just ate one of the many monster cores she still had stashed away in her inventory. They were wonderful refreshments, though she expected it would cause a whole lot of core progression whenever she next leveled up. Not that getting another evolution wouldn¡¯t be a good thing. Millie had been surprised to learn that Zoe and Sasha met during a massive prison break just the day before. She was less surprised to learn that Zoe started it, and even less surprised to learn that Lily¡¯s uncle was the true culprit. ¡°That guy is worse than Lord Asshole himself,¡± she¡¯d stated, ¡°and Darius sure is a real ass at times.¡± Zoe chuckled at that. It¡¯s true, she admitted. Lord Darius could be an ass, as she¡¯d learned in her brief time with him. And it was also true that Basil Von Blodmane was worse. Zoe did neglect to mention that Basil was also a cult leader who¡¯d kidnapped and murdered at least a dozen or so people for a Demonic ritual. That was certainly a big thing to leave out¡ªbut she was realizing now that no one seemed to know about it. Not even Lily acted like her Uncle was involved in anything that unsavory. He was just a cocky Rank B adventurer who happened to be in the main branch of House Blodmane, right? It certainly explained some things about various interactions Zoe had experienced, and she would keep it to herself for now. The reason being, maintaining silence would give her a great bargaining chip, should she ever need it. Blackmail is perfectly okay in self-defense. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The hours blurred together like the trees along the road as they hurried their way onwards towards Blossomfell and Millie¡¯s supposed home there. The forest was nice, but it was all pretty similar looking. Even as Sasha ran out of stamina and Zoe took to carrying her, the boredom grew¡ªso she went back to learning magic and practicing her skills. _____ Rejuvenate has reached level 8! ¡­ Rejuvenate has reached level 10! Rejuvenate has reached Tier II. +8 Vitality, +2 Perception Zoe fist pumped when she got the notification that another skill had gotten up to level ten and reached Tier II. It was the main one she¡¯d been practicing on the journey so far. She wanted to practice mana channeling and her shiny new mana manipulation, but her wisdom said to wait for a better time and place. She¡¯d get that soon enough. And while she was positively itching to screw around with the other newest skills¡ªhellfire blast and the higher rank hellfire eruption¡ªthat would be plain stupid. She wasn¡¯t going to slow them down or hurt someone because she was impatient to blow things up. ¡°Really? That sounds like something we¡¯d do, you know.¡± Lilith¡ªmight have a point there, Zoe conceded. But she was mature, and she would not do that. Not this time. But what should she train now? It needed to be something safe, something that was on the lower end of her current skill levels¡ªbut she also wanted something that wouldn¡¯t take too much energy or focus. Her new primary class, sanguine disciple, had the most skills, and it had all of the Tier II ones. Zoe decided to switch to shoring up her secondary class, demagogue. Let¡¯s see. What should she start with? Acting, persuasion, and cloak of scorn would be awkward in the case of the first two and dangerous to her companions in the case of the last. That left two options¡ªand one of them was both lower leveled and far more important. Lesser Disguise! _____ Lesser Disguise has reached level 4! Zoe only managed to raise the level of her invaluable shapeshifting skill twice before the waist-high, moss-covered outer stone wall of Blossomfell came into view ahead of them. It wasn¡¯t any surprise, as they¡¯d turned off the main road only a few minutes ago. The broad, leaf-strewn dirt track thudded beneath Zoe¡¯s feet as she ground out the last stretch of her jog to the finish. It was a good thing she¡¯d been practicing the disguise skill, because there were two guards lounging around at the gate. Zoe didn¡¯t understand why there was a gate at all when the entire wall could be scaled by an ordinary child. Probably just to get a look at people coming in from the road, she decided. Regardless, it was clear that they¡¯d spotted her¡ªso Zoe slowed down to a brisk walk, not wanting to seem alarming. This in turn allowed the other two to catch up from behind her. They were both panting from exhaustion, as Millie couldn¡¯t eat monster cores for a quick boost and Sasha just had low stamina. The Lycan could have eaten some of Zoe¡¯s cores, but she never asked. ¡°Yes, and you were very careful to be discreet about it,¡± Lilith added. ¡°Surely that had nothing to do with you not wanting to share?¡± Zoe ignored that. She waved to the guards, cheerfully. ¡°Hey! Do we actually have to talk to you guys or can we just go in?¡± The two guards shared a look, but neither moved to get up from their lounging positions. One was also clearly a bit older and better equipped than the other. New guy and mentor, maybe? The older guy squinted at all three of them. A flash of familiar recognition lit up his face when he saw Millie. ¡°That depends,¡± he said at last. ¡°Are you intending to stay for longer than two weeks? If so, we just have to record you.¡± Zoe chewed her lip. There was a decent chance she would be staying here for longer than two weeks, yes¡ªthough she wasn¡¯t entirely certain. But did she want to be listed? The whole point of coming here instead of Verdanport was to keep low. She could just lie, right? It was Millie who answered first. ¡°Yeah, and you already know me.¡± She turned to look at Zoe and Sasha. ¡°Don¡¯t take too long if you want me to wait for you.¡± And then she simply strolled past the low stone wall and into the quaint little town. Shrugging, Zoe stepped closer, until she was just in front of the still-seated guards. They looked bored and just barely curious. ¡°I won¡¯t be here for longer than two weeks. But let¡¯s say something changes and I do end up staying longer¡ªwhich I most definitely do not intend to. Is that a problem?¡± It was the younger, fresher-looking guard who spoke this time. ¡°Well, according to the official protocol the mayor¡ª¡° And he was promptly interrupted by his senior. ¡°Not a problem. Not a problem at all, as long as you don¡¯t cause trouble, and if you have the coin to afford our town¡¯s lovely services.¡± He glared at the younger guard to keep him quiet. Zoe thought she got the hint here. ¡°Alright, thanks. You two have been quite helpful, so how about a tip?¡± And with that, she reached into her inventory for a few silver coins. The guard grinned. Zoe remembered this time to act like she¡¯d taken them from the storage ring on her hand and not from the trait she had from her monster core. ¡°A most generous tip, madame. I hope you enjoy your stay, however long or short it may be.¡± Now grinning herself, Zoe beckoned for Sasha to follow her through. Well, that was easy. Having a big stash of cultist money sure was nice, not least when it turned out you could bribe people. Though she was a bit worried when the younger guard shot both her and his coworker a dark glare¡ªup until said coworker tossed him one of the silvers. That put a guilty smile back on his face. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that worked,¡± Sasha whispered to her after they had entered the town proper. ¡°Every time I¡¯ve tried to bribe guards it just makes the whole thing even harder. Although¡­ I¡¯ve never really had silver on hand to toss at random civil servants like that.¡± Zoe laughed. ¡°Well yeah, that¡¯s why it worked for me and not you. You don¡¯t get to bribe people if you¡¯re poor. That¡¯s literally how bribery works. Come on, let¡¯s go check out this town.¡± Zoe was more excited than she sounded. It wasn¡¯t a high energy excitement¡ªshe¡¯d had plenty of high energy. Really, she appreciated the prospect of a nice little town where she could take things easy while still training and leveling. Surely there had to be monsters in the area who were in need of someone to go around killing them. One thing was certain¡ªI¡¯m going to hit Rank E before leaving. There was a high likelihood someone would try to interfere with that. It was clear by this point that Zoe would need to get stronger. But there was something in this world she was already good at, and it made her new purpose quite clear: Level up through excessive violence. 43 - The Last Part Before Book 2 It didn¡¯t take Lily long to reenter Verdanport. Yet the heiress didn¡¯t go back to the Blodmane estate straightaway. Despite all the unwelcome excitement she¡¯d just experienced at the hands of her uncle, she could use a little extra pep. Only, excitement from screwing around in the city, not kidnapping and mortal combat. But screwing around in the city isn¡¯t very fun when it¡¯s only you, Lily thought to herself. Andric would find her soon enough, there was no doubt about that. But while she did count him as company, he was a unique kind, and not what she meant by the word in most cases. That left a great many others who could fill the role. So as the elemental summoner strolled through the hazy, afternoon marketplace, she mulled over her options. She had found herself at the heart of the most solidly mid-grade area of the main mercantile district. Such places were where one could most reliably find any manner of person¡ªfrom the dressed up nobles to merchants, artisans, street performers and urchins, and most of them making all manner of noise. Ignoring one of the more reputable-looking street vendors despite her stomach, Lily headed off in the direction of the Tower. The Tower, the Bronze Aerie. It was the only place in the entire city one could consistently find the quarry she¡¯d now chosen¡ªlittle Archie with his billowy robes and anemic-looking staff. Why him? Because he¡¯s a wimpy sourpuss and dragging him around is really funny. That was why. And also because Lily wasn¡¯t in the mood to compose herself for more demanding company. No, the ice mage wanted to be the one making things difficult. Being as close as she was to the Tower¡ªits elongating shadow now fell over the whole street as it loomed over the peaked, green-tinted rooftops¡ªthe trip should only take her a quarter-hour at the very worst. This estimate was not accounting for the time she spent to acquire her latest weaponry¡ªtwo spicy sausages, though that number would be reduced by the time she arrived. ¡°You look pleased.¡± ¡°Eh!¡± Leaping a foot into the air, Lily found herself tragically disarmed. In the momentary alarm caused by Andric¡¯s stealthy appearance, she seemed to have relinquished her hold on one of her weapons. ¡°Damn you, you fool, look what you¡¯ve done!¡± To his credit, the alchemist did look rather remorseful as he eyed the poor, still-steaming sausage that had split open on the muddy cobbles. ¡°I¡¯ll buy you another one. Where are you going?¡± Huh. Frowning, Lily caught up to her infuriating retainer as he entered the back of the two-person line. I expected him to ask where I was. ¡°The Tower. I¡¯m gonna see if I can find Archie.¡± ¡°Alright. I hope you don¡¯t mind if I join you.¡± Reaching into his coin-purse, he passed a few slivers of tin to the vendor. Yes, the man often carried a coin-purse¡ªdespite the perfectly functional storage ring on his finger. Lily never understood it. ¡°You¡¯re going to join me regardless of my thoughts on the matter.¡± Mustering as much noble haughtiness as she could spare at the present moment, Lily plucked her replacement sausage away from him. ¡°And I could hardly stop you.¡± ¡°Yes, which is why I said I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± The alchemist remained oddly quiet as they moved on. Not that Lily would complain¡ªit gave her time to think. She expected her half-brother to have dragged her back to the estate by now. Half brother, ha. She always laughed at that little joke of hers. He wasn¡¯t her half brother, he wasn¡¯t even adopted. When Lily said Andric was her half-brother, she meant that he felt half like a brother and half like an obsessive parent. He obviously wasn¡¯t her literal half brother¡ªbecause as far as anyone knew, she was a scion of the small but respectable Gershenfeld merchant family. They were just passing by one of Lord Darius Loch¡¯s larger storefronts when he started to gather himself to speak. ¡®Loch Alchemy & Enchanting¡¯ read the engraved wooden sign hanging from the second story. There was a bit more than just that to be bought there, Lily mused. But they didn¡¯t put it on the main sign, probably because it would be too wordy and ¡®Loch Alchemy and Enchanting¡¯ was already baked into the common lexicon. ¡°Where were you? I get the sense that disappearing so suddenly and so thoroughly wasn¡¯t your own idea. Though do correct me if I¡¯m wrong.¡± Ha. Lily chuckled at that. ¡°Do you really think I would correct you on that?¡± ¡°No, but I¡¯d rather force you to lie to me than give you such a trivial means of escape.¡± Fair enough. ¡°Well in that case, Basil did it.¡± The alchemist¡¯s brows furrowed, his gaze darkening¡ªand then he blinked. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Yeah, he kidnapped me¡ªforcefully, mind you¡ªand then dumped me in a storage closet in some secret monster prison in the underworld somewhere nearby. It was pretty fucked up, especially since he also brought the Demon too and then caused a mass break-out.¡± Noticing that Andric had stopped walking, Lily stopped as well. She turned back to face him. ¡°What?¡± The alchemist failed to find words several times. Then he found them. ¡°Seriously?¡± He shook his head as he started walking again. ¡°Holy hell, I will be discussing this with Victor. If she doesn¡¯t do something about that man, I will hasten my plan for reaching Rank B just to discipline him myself.¡± Lily laughed so hard she came damn close to choking on her sausage. That, combined with the spiciness, had her forming genuine tears. ¡°Oh that¡¯s great. Is it bad that I now want Victor to ignore you just so I can see that go down? That would be so hilarious. ¡®Yeah so I became one of the youngest people ever to hit Rank B ever just so I could beat up my friend¡¯s annoying Uncle sooner.¡¯ Oh man.¡± ¡°I do know how to make a joke, Liliana. But really, this is serious. And are you certain it was him who caused this mass outbreak?¡± Lily nodded. ¡°Oh yeah. For sure. I mean, I didn¡¯t see him start it, but who else could it be?¡± She paused as a thought struck her. This also allowed her to polish off the remainder of the sausage. ¡°It could have been the Demon I guess. Actually I think that¡¯s quite likely. But he¡¯s the one who brought the Demon there, so¡­¡± Andric cursed. They were almost at the Tower, just now emerging into the wide square around its already-wide base. ¡°This is serious. I shouldn¡¯t be surprised, but I really didn¡¯t expect him to do this again.¡± Now, it was Lily¡¯s turn to freeze. ¡°Wait. What do you mean by ¡®again¡¯?¡± _____ It had been two weeks since Sean¡¯s return to Verdanport. In that time, little had happened. Little of note, that is, aside from his meeting with the High Inquisitor. That was something that was definitely of note, but the young Templar had expected, well, more. For all that he¡¯d experienced, and for all the heightened activity of the Inquisition as a whole, Sean found his two week vacation to be remarkably mundane. He spent most of the time with either Captain Hardy or Magus Arthur. The irony there was that he engaged with the former as a friend and with the latter as a professional. The Captain was making good progress with replicating those experiments¡ªwell that¡¯s what the old warrior said, at least. The metal mage had grown increasingly enthusiastic about the whole thing¡ªbordering on manic, perhaps. Sean didn¡¯t understand why, but he knew Captain Hardy well enough to be optimistic himself.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The time he spent with Arthur was devoted to improving his understanding of arcane theory and honing his abilities with more nuanced, delicate magic. For all that the guy was both an apprentice himself and rather immature in many ways, it was no mistake that he¡¯d unlocked his archmage class. Despite being roughly the same age, Sean had come to believe that additional levels and a growing maturity would take Arthur¡¯s existing potential very, very far. I just wish he was a better teacher, Sean thought for the hundredth time. His ¡®tutoring¡¯ consisted of assisting his fellow apprentice with the crudest parts of his research. The only reason it was worth it was because the young Templar managed to squeeze some use out of the condescending, if correct, rambling and the frequent corrections. Yet all of this was normal. Standard, even. What wasn¡¯t normal was reporting back for duty in the morning and finding two decked-out Inquisitors waiting for you¡ªagain. Sean rubbed his eyes as he entered the stone courtyard. Surely this was a coincidence. But they were talking to Captain Hardy, and that didn¡¯t bode well. ¡°And there he is,¡± the Captain proclaimed as he finished his approach. ¡°He¡¯s a fine young lad and going to be a great Paladin, so I hope you¡¯re here to recruit him and not execute him for some profane act.¡± Both Inquisitors shifted with nervousness. Sean couldn¡¯t help but pity them. Neither was an officer, and certain kinds of obvious jokes could still be horribly awkward when you weren¡¯t well-acquainted already. ¡°Well if I¡¯m going to be executed I do hope it won¡¯t hold up my schedule. Captain Hardy here can attest that I¡¯m not one for ceremony.¡± Pitying the Inquisitors didn¡¯t mean Sean wasn¡¯t going to do the same to them himself. One of the Inquisitors glanced at the other. ¡°Would we be allowed to confirm with someone whether we were detaining them for execution?¡± He sounded new and very uncertain. ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­ but we probably just did.¡± The other Inquisitor gave Sean a sheepish grin. ¡°We¡¯re just here to bring you to someone bigger and scarier than us.¡± Sean shrugged and moved to follow the short man and his willowy-thin companion. The Captain grunted from behind them. ¡°Bigger, eh? Can¡¯t say that tells us much.¡± But Sean didn¡¯t pay attention to that. He was too focused on what the first Inquisitor was confiding to him in a low tone from beside him. ¡°We technically shouldn¡¯t say this, but honestly might as well. You¡¯re already some special Paladin recruit I hear¡ªso how do you feel about joining us as an undercover Inquisitor?¡± _____ Liliana frowned as Andric emerged from her grandmother¡¯s manor. He always looked serious, but at present his face had turned¡ªdarkly serious. It was the kind of look that resulted from a cool-headed, stiff-backed man experiencing the closest emotion he knew to what most people would express as seething anger. It made Lily nervous. ¡°I take it you didn¡¯t like what she had to say about Basil?¡± His curt nod told her all she needed to know. ¡°Figures. I guess I shouldn¡¯t expect anything less from the head of the legalized cult.¡± The alchemist stiffened at that, something which shouldn¡¯t have been possible. ¡°That is no way to speak about your own family. You are more a part of this ¡®legalized cult¡¯ than I am.¡± Ha. Am I? Lily wasn¡¯t sure. Her laugh became a bit bitter as she thought about it. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about that. Which one of us has a higher access level to main branch resources again? Please remind me. Oh, and which one of us is allowed to identify as a Blodmane in public? I seem to have forgotten.¡± ¡°She wants to speak with you.¡± Andric crossed his arms. ¡°You could say as much to her directly. There¡¯s a difference between displaying cowed humility and healthy respect.¡± He left her alone before she could retort. It was a shame, because she could have said something quite clever. He didn¡¯t actually address what I said, huh? Typical. Rising from the garden bench, Lily straightened her sleeves and marched back towards the manor. But maybe I can try executing on his advice. She expected to wait to be let into her grandmother¡¯s personal study. Instead, she didn¡¯t get to even enter the manor. Lady Victor was waiting for her around the corner of the path. Lily did nothing to restrain her scowl. ¡°You meant to eavesdrop on me, didn¡¯t you?¡± Lily hated the smirk she got back. It wasn¡¯t a smug smirk, no, it was a friendly, bemused smirk and Lily hated it. Her grandmother tilted her to the side, false confusion written across features that looked no older than her own. ¡°It is hardly my fault that Rank A perception diminishes the effect of such a short distance.¡± ¡°It most definitely is, because firstly, you are the one who advanced to that rank and distributed stat points, and secondly, it seems oddly convenient that you just so happened to position yourself there.¡± Her grandmother hummed for a moment. ¡°You are correct, I fear. But come, walk with me.¡± Lily obliged. They walked. It started with silence, and Lily feared that she was being forced to speak. But her fears were unfounded, for her grandmother began shortly. ¡°I will tell you what I imagine you are thinking.¡± Oh, well this is going to be great. Lily loved people deciding her own thoughts for her. ¡°You think most of the side branch families are rotten, you resent being forced to stand half in and half out of our world, and you think I¡¯m a callous bitch who allows anyone to get away with anything if it doesn¡¯t affect anything I care about personally.¡± Well that might be a hyperbolic way to state it, Lily thought, but yes, you are essentially correct. ¡°Well if that is indeed your assessment¡ªI admit I may be mistaken¡ªthen you are mostly correct.¡± What? Lily had a quick enough wit to remain upright and moving, though she did stumble a bit. Her mind froze over for the span of a breath¡ªand then exploded into a blizzard of activity. This is going to be some big, heartfelt monologue about her life story, her purpose and the role of the family in the kingdom, isn¡¯t it? That would be better than the usual lecture but still largely uninteresting. ¡°Your Uncle is a vile man. I don¡¯t care about his radical politics. In some ways his ideals might be correct, though in practice he is dangerous and unpredictable.¡± At that point, her grandmother stopped walking. ¡°No, I am referring instead to the infernal cult he has built and their increasingly bold actions.¡± What. Lily stared as the head of the Blodmane main branch nodded. ¡°Yes. A true cult, the illegal kind. Your uncle reeks of Disdain. But that is not the worst. He and his followers have taken to experimenting with Corruption.¡± Lily remained silent for what felt like multiple minutes. It was likely far shorter than that. ¡°You¡¯re serious. You¡¯re truly serious, aren¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Of course I am.¡± She shook her head with¡ªwas it sadness? ¡°Basil has gone down a path from which I fear there is no departure. Sacrifice-fueled ritual is far from his worst sin. I believe he has done these things for the worst reason of all. An obsessive drive for the pursuit of knowledge.¡± At this point a passion entered her grandmother¡¯s voice that Lily had never heard. It was disconcerting, perhaps more so than the revelations themselves. Lady Victor clenched her fist. ¡°A motivation of power, glory, revenge, spite¡­ all of these things are far less forgivable. But they are also less dangerous. A man who pursues the profane for the love of the pursuit itself can accomplish far greater horrors. Can, and likely will.¡± Lily could only nod. She understood what her grandmother was saying¡ªthought so, at least. But then¡ª¡°Why? Why allow him to continue? Basil is strong, but surely he couldn¡¯t stand against you.¡± ¡°No, he could not. But his ignorance of my lack of ignorance makes him useful. Liliana. Your uncle is not the only powerful individual meddling with things he shouldn¡¯t. Do you realize why that scheming mentor of yours saw it fit to rescue a higher Demon from the wastes? Why he would bring the girl to us? Why he would make hasty and extensive preparations for taking on not a sixth student, but a true apprentice?¡± Lily didn¡¯t. In fact, the last part was news to her. ¡°No, not really. I would just assume he thinks it would be entertaining. That¡¯s why he does basically anything.¡± But her grandmother scoffed. ¡°Liliana. You have much to learn if you think someone like Lord Loch does anything because he is simply bored. I do not know his true motivations with certainty, but I can guess. Lord Loch has discovered the same cluster of elder ruins that I have, that your uncle and his cult have, and that the Church doubtlessly has too.¡± Elder ruins?! This kept getting crazier and crazier. Lily felt like she would soon lose track of all the colossal revelations. ¡°He knew too that Basil meant to execute his own ritual of Demonic ascension. And when the team of students he sent into that very territory at that very time encountered a mysterious ¡®healer,¡¯ he deduced the greatest secret of all.¡± Lily waited for it, numbly. Her grandmother made sure to look her in the eye. ¡°Your uncle failed. He tried to incorporate the elder¡¯s strange arts into his ritual, and it did not go as planned. Some unexpected confluence caused by his profane intention summoned something. Or perhaps he simply awakened it.¡± ¡°The Demon?¡± Lily didn¡¯t know why the Demon, Zoe, was so special. Aside from being, well, a higher Demon, what did she have to do with all of this? ¡°Yes. But you are only half correct, because this ¡®Zoe¡¯ is only a Demon in form. Your uncle has awoken an elder-touched Outsider¡­ and Lord Darius Loch intends to claim and harness it.¡± 44 - Blossomfell ¡°Does it hurt here? No? Okay, what about here?¡± Frowning, Zoe jabbed her latest patient beneath the side of his ribs and was rewarded with a pained yelp. ¡°Ah, I think it hurts there.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d say it does,¡± the baker admitted with a pained wince. ¡°Think you can do anything about it?¡± What kind of question was that? Of course Zoe could heal something as minor as a few broken bones. She¡¯d lived and fought through worse. She said as much while also activating her most potent healing skill, mending touch. Mending touch has reached level 14! Surgeon¡¯s Eye has reached level 18! ¡°I wanted to figure out what was wrong and where,¡± she admitted as the injury finished healing. ¡°Brute force healing works just fine for something like this, but that wouldn¡¯t teach me anything, would it?¡± The man¡¯s eye twitched, and Zoe was pretty sure nothing was wrong with his eyelid. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that you could have healed me right away, but instead you poked and prodded me to work on your other skills?¡± Zoe opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again while raising a finger. ¡°Well it sounds bad when you put it that way, doesn¡¯t it? But think about it. You got poked a bit and now you¡¯re all fixed up. If I wasn¡¯t here, you¡¯d still have two broken ribs. So, like, it¡¯s still a lot better than otherwise, and how do you think a benevolent, kindhearted healer like me would level up otherwise?¡± While the baker didn¡¯t look enthused, he did look resigned. ¡°Fair point. I guess that¡¯s what they meant when they told me ¡®Miss Olivia is quick, good, and cheap, so you¡¯d better watch out.¡¯ Ha. No kidding.¡± Zoe scowled as she escorted the burly man out to the front of her newly established small business. Look at me, I¡¯m a small business owner! Mom would totally be proud. All it took was the right magic and a little determination¡ªand also bribery of government officials, extortion of a coincidentally injured attorney, and spending a whole lot of money that technically wasn¡¯t hers and that she never paid taxes on. But when you think about it, I did start with nothing in this world. So that means I¡¯m a true self-made entrepreneur. But what is this guy talking about? Who is ¡®they?¡¯ Zoe decided to ask. The baker chuckled in response, a deep, heavy sound like a bag of stones shifting around. He only spoke one word. ¡°Customers.¡± His wide smile remained as he reached into his trousers, only fading when his hands came up empty. ¡°Shit. I meant to grab my coinpurse when I left but I must have forgotten it. Uh, how much is it going to be? I might as well go get it and get this taken care of now.¡± Zoe pursed her lips. She would be far more concerned if this place was a big city like Verdanport. But Blossomfell was a small, quiet place where half the people you met could give you all kinds of gossip on the other half. She doubted a longtime resident would try to stiff her, and if he did, a small town made it far easier to track down specific people and beat them up. That being said¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s necessary. You¡¯re the best baker here, right?¡± A mixture of confusion and relief washed across the man¡¯s thick features. ¡°Well ma¡¯am, I guess you could say so, seeing as I¡¯m the only one.¡± Perfect. ¡°Then surely you would know what the mayor¡¯s favorite kind of cake would be.¡± Confusion and relief gave way to confusion and hesitance, but Zoe pushed on. ¡°Oh, and how soon can you have it ready? I¡¯d like to have it by the afternoon if possible.¡± While he looked no less confused, the baker scratched his chin and shrugged. ¡°The man¡¯s a fiend for chiffon, no question about it. And yeah. I can definitely do that.¡± He paused. ¡°But are you sure that¡¯s what you want instead? My cakes aren¡¯t nearly so expensive as what I owe you.¡± Now, Zoe grinned. That¡¯s true, but I was being nice ¡®cause I didn¡¯t really care. But now? She couldn¡¯t let go of her curiosity now. ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ So what if you made one that was?¡± _____ Zoe¡¯s introduction to her new life had started off rough. Most of the bad things, like ritual cult murder and kidnapping, happened within the first week, though. The remainder of the past month had progressed far more smoothly. Zoe was almost ready to hit Rank E at last¡ªbut the final roadblock to her advancement was going to be a challenge. Zoe needed to figure out how to convince a paranoid old man to let her onto his property. When she¡¯d first arrived in Blossomfell, Zoe had bribed the guards on duty to leave her out of any official records. This turned out to be either a smart move or entirely unneeded, depending on how you looked at it. While Zoe did end up staying for longer than two weeks¡ªit had been three already¡ªshe hadn¡¯t remained in Blossomfell as herself. Rather, she¡¯d invented a new identity for herself with her lesser disguise skill. The skill allowed her to take on an alternative appearance, and it was far better than a regular illusion. As far as Zoe could tell, it was a form of true¡ªif limited¡ªshapeshifting. It wasn¡¯t hard to copy a mixture of features from that noble lady Lily and her new friend Sasha. Zoe was careful to leave out any of her own features. There was no reason to lessen the effectiveness of her disguise by linking it back to herself. And that was how the humble township of Blossomfell found itself in the possession of a new healer. No one was going to complain about that, because even Zoe¡¯s Rank F healing abilities became quite valuable, especially in a smaller community several hours to a a day removed from a larger city. And so, in the end, the most challenging, frustrating, and dangerous part of establishing herself as Olivia, that young healer in the woods who got rid of Old Kranon¡¯s cough, was the paperwork. Really, what kind of magical fantasy world gives you a bunch of tax forms and legal waivers for setting yourself up as the local medicine witch? The answer was ¡®this one.¡¯ Zoe didn¡¯t want to bother with all that, so she started bribing people. There was also a point where some local politics she didn¡¯t care about threatened to interfere. She resolved that specific problem when she did the opposition¡¯s attorney a favor by healing his leg, which unfortunately happened to suffer a nasty break right before she showed up to a private meeting with him. She also bought a nice house at the edge of the town. The Lycan woman she¡¯d met during her prison escape, Sasha, was staying there with her. Most of the necessary money had come from the storage ring the cultist chief Basil had given to her when she¡¯d first arrived in this world and was pretending to be under his control. Given that his pocket change had been enough to outright purchase both the upscale manor itself and the plot of land it was on, Basil must be disgustingly rich. Zoe was more than happy to benefit from that. But getting involved in the local real estate market wasn¡¯t the main reason Zoe decided to set up in Blossomfell. She was determined to reach both level fifty and Rank E¡ªand earning a steady income as the town medicine girl wasn¡¯t going to accomplish that on it¡¯s own. Maybe it would if I kept at it for long enough¡ªbut patience is not one of my virtues. I need to keep getting stronger. So while ordinary healing was both honest work and a decent way to get a few extra levels in the relevant skills, Zoe needed something more. And not just more¡ªshe needed something more violent. Hence, she¡¯d sought out anything approaching what you might call ¡®adventuring work.¡¯ That led her to the old Rank D adventurer and local ¡®guildsmaster.¡¯ Unfortunately, the old guildsmaster was a real cranky bastard. Zoe didn¡¯t like him, and he didn¡¯t like her, though she suspected the latter wasn¡¯t personal and was only due to her status as another human being. Demon, technically, but I doubt correcting him about my species will improve our relations. The retired adventurer was the exact person Zoe would love to learn from, what with his potent lightning magic, personal library, dusty armory, and not least, his extensive experience as an adventurer in Norvask.Stolen story; please report. That¡¯s why she sought him out in the first place. It wasn¡¯t her fault the lazy grouch happened to be a bitter asshole. Yet talking to him the first time did provide her with some useful information. Blossomfell was near an abandoned mine. While the humans in the area had ignored the place for the last thirty or so years, other creatures hadn¡¯t. The mine was said to be invested with a variety of monsters, which was the main thing that had stopped anyone from searching around for any valuable tools or materials left over. This should have been an unexpected stroke of good luck. It was the closest thing to a beginner dungeon Zoe could ask for¡ªperfect for leveling. But bad luck followed the good, because who owned the mine and the property it was on but the misanthropic guildsmaster himself? First, Zoe tried asking nicely. Then, she tried bribery. When that didn¡¯t work, she resorted to Plan C: trespassing. It started off well enough. But Zoe¡¯s food fortune lasted up until she ran face first into the dangerous and unhinged home defense methods paranoid old men are liable to construct on rural properties. At least she learned what kind of magic the guildsmaster used. That third attempt also earned Zoe her first level in lightning resistance. It was evident by this point that she would need to embark on a radically different approach. It was this line of thinking that led her to the town hall with paperwork, a plan, and a really big cake all tucked securely in her personal inventory. Well, maybe not the plan. I don¡¯t think you can store a plan, unless you wrote it down. Which I didn¡¯t. An obnoxious snicker resonated within her own mind. Zoe scowled. Lilith had been quiet as of late, but her involuntary imaginary acquaintance was still always present. While Zoe knew that the disembodied passenger was a result of something that happened back when she¡¯d stolen the fruits of a sacrificial cult ritual to become a demon, she didn¡¯t understand any more than that. It was yet another thing to work on¡ªthe sooner she was free of the demonic entity, the better. The town hall of Blossomfell sat in a rare and happy middle ground between pretentious and underwhelming. It was just large and stately enough to induce an impression of authority and legitimacy but not so grand as to become self-indulgent. It was tasteful in design and appropriate for the size and nature of the town as a whole. Zoe made it up the steps and through the main entrance with no problem. This was to be expected, since anyone could do that during normal hours. What was both less typical and more dangerous for Zoe¡¯s blossoming ego was how no one among the smattering of bored officials moved to stop her from making straight for the staircase to the restricted upper floor and the mayor¡¯s private office. Guess that¡¯s what happens when you meet with the one real politician in the entire area frequently enough. That being said, Zoe had both the manners and the self-preservation to wait outside the office after three polite knocks. While she had already cemented herself as one of the more influential players in Blossomfell, she was only Rank F. She was a strong one, yes, but not everyone in the area was as vulnerable in combat as a certain legal scholar. The guildsmaster had already bested her, there was the manager of the local alchemy and enchanting shop who Zoe suspected to be far stronger than she let on, and the mayor himself was a solid Rank D. Those were far from the only three¡ªand Zoe¡¯s operated under the doctrine that if you were going to commit serious criminal activity, you either needed to respect the people who could screw you over on it or you needed to be strong enough to crush all of them. Zoe knew which category she fell into. She didn¡¯t have to wait long. It wasn¡¯t a minute before the door parted open, revealing the stately face and gray beard of Mayor Stokes. He peered down at her, or rather loomed. Mayor Stokes was one of those men who was both largely built and overweight, but where the overweight part seemed to just melt back into his overall bigness. It made him feel solid, like a stone colossus that learned how to walk. His lips thinned as he continued to loom. ¡°Oh. Olivia. It¡¯s you.¡± Zoe scowled as he pull the door aside and she brushed past into his office. Looking over his half-cluttered desk, she set about estimating the best place to summon her spectacular cake. ¡°You say that like you¡¯re not happy to see me.¡± Shutting the door and circling around the desk to face her, the mayor took a seat. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Zoe arched her dark, immaculate eyebrow as she took the smaller guest seat across from him. ¡°Don¡¯t take that to mean I don¡¯t appreciate you. I wouldn¡¯t have let you in otherwise.¡± The middle-aged man stroked is combed beard, searching for words. It was a few seconds until he found them. ¡°It¡¯s like a visit to the dentist,¡± he mused, his rich, bassy voice grinding like wet gravel. ¡°There¡¯s a reason you go through with it, and you¡¯ll be better off in the end. Yet the process is like¡­¡± he gestured at Zoe. ¡°Pulling teeth.¡± Zoe¡¯s eye couldn¡¯t decide whether it was suppose to twitch in irritation or roll in exasperation. She settled on scrunching her nose. ¡°What a novel way to build professional relationships. I don¡¯t remember reading that in How to Win Friends and Influence People¡­¡± A more important thought struck her then. ¡°Wait, you guys have dentists here?¡± The mayor was now staring in undisguised fascination. He had the same kind of look as a milquetoast Londoner experiencing culture shock in the face of a peculiar foreign custom. He stroked his beard again¡ªanthropologically¡ªand leaned back. ¡°I want to ask what you mean by any of that, but I know I¡¯ll be better off if I don¡¯t. Why are you here?¡± Rather than answer, Zoe cleared off a large space on the desk. Several items and a stack of papers toppled off the edge, but that wasn¡¯t her problem. The mayor stood up to do something, but it was far too late for that. Zoe summoned the cake. Five tiers, each with four layers of moist carrot and a generous spread of that icing they always used for carrot cake. Colorful icing blossoms the size of brusssel sprouts and each layer crowned with a ring of turkish delights. But the prime treat, the central decoration, was a seven inch tall figure of Zoe made of colored sugar. She held a thin chocolate banner reading ¡®#1 Least Corrupt Politician.¡¯ The figurine wasn¡¯t her idea, but when the baker suggested it, Zoe could hardly say no. The banner though, that was all her. Neither of them spoke for several moments. ¡°I came here to talk about signing off on those liability waivers. I figured you could help, you know¡ªexpedite the process?¡± Zoe¡¯s ultimate goal here was to delve into the old guildsmaster¡¯s abandoned mine. She learned during her last adventure on his property that the reason he refused to let her down there was both reasonable and depressingly mundane: he was worried about liability for any accidents. Even magic-land wasn¡¯t safe from tort law¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t safe from bribery, either. The problem with taking on the liability herself¡ªin writing¡ªwas that Zoe didn¡¯t exactly have a legal identity. But that hadn¡¯t stopped her when she wanted to open an unlicensed medical practice, and that wouldn¡¯t stop her here. All it took was the right connections. Mayor stokes continued to stare at the gargantuan cake, which now threatened to ooze over one side of his desk. Zoe should have put it a little closer to the middle. ¡°I see.¡± The massive man sighed. ¡°There are restrictions on the value of gifts I can receive as a civil servant, you know.¡± Zoe glanced at the figurine in her likeness on the top layer and the ¡®#1 Least Corrupt Politician¡¯ banner at the top. ¡°Well I didn¡¯t actually pay anything for it, so it should be fine, right? It does look like someone might have stuck a bunch of silver coins into that side of it, though, but that would be ridiculous.¡± The mayor grunted. ¡°Yes, that would be ridiculous indeed. I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± Zoe turned to leave. ¡°Wait!¡± Zoe kept walking. ¡°What am I supposed to do about this stupid cake? I can¡¯t just have this thing on my desk, you know.¡± ¡°Eat it?¡± Zoe shrugged. ¡°As far as I know, you can¡¯t have your cake and eat it too.¡± _____ Mayor Stokes frowned at the door Olivia left through¡ªthe only door in the office. He hadn¡¯t exaggerated when he compared interacting with her to dental work. He was glad to have her though, that was equally true¡ªeven without the additional benefits to working with her, the town could only benefit from a healer at her level. Olivia was good for the town, she was good for him, and she hadn¡¯t caused too much trouble. Yet. The incident with Jakob¡¯s attorney was fairly tame to begin with, and she¡¯d covered for herself without even needing his help. But while Stokes understood he was a small fish outside Blossomfell, he felt confident in saying he was experienced enough to remain wary. Something¡¯s not right about that girl. And he didn¡¯t mean her assertiveness in circumventing the law, her willingness to get physical, or even her obvious fake identity. Well, maybe a little of that last one. But there was something else about the girl, something that kept his eyes focused and made his muscles get ready to tense. Something that arose as the summation of all the most innocuous and minor details, and that he struggled to concretely identify. But Mayor Stokes was certain that the so-called ¡®Olivia¡¯ was not the ordinary crime lieutenant lying low for a while that she appeared to be. Tearing his gaze from the door, the mayor scowled at the cake. He wasn¡¯t joking when he asked what he was meant to do with it. The thing wasn¡¯t huge¡ªit was obscene, and she¡¯d deposited it straight onto the desk without so much as a sheet of wax paper beneath it. A power play if I¡¯ve ever seen one. Wrinkling his nose, he plucked a piece of silver out and studied it. Carrot cake. My favorite. Somehow, the fact that she¡¯d taken the effort to determine that made it all the more upsetting. And that means now I have to meet with a damned Inquisitor with this¡­ thing. Stokes scowled. Dealing with Olivia was a real toothache, and handling an Inquisitor coming to his town was already a waking nightmare. Dealing with both at once wasn¡¯t something the man would wish on his worst enemies. Okay, maybe one. But difficulty aside¡ªan interesting thought came to the mayor as he set about throwing the stupid cake into his own storage ring chunk-by-chunk. I can¡¯t help but wonder if the two of them showing up might be related. 45 - We All Yearn For The Mines ¡°Now the biggest thing you¡¯re gonna wanna be watching out for is the rats.¡± The guildsmaster was all smiles once Zoe showed up with the appropriate legal documents. Not literally¡ªhis lifeless expression was closer to a perpetual frown, if anything. The point was that he went from insurmountably stubborn to more than willing. ¡°The tunneler rats aren¡¯t much of a problem on their own¡ªthey can still make you bleed, though, mind you. But they get real dangerous when you have a lot of them.¡± Zoe wasn¡¯t paying much attention to what he was saying. She was busy fiddling with the mechanical bits and bobs of the elevator-thing that would descend into the mine. The contraption was an open platform, with a grated metal floor and only four low railings for safety. It was more rust than metal by volume, though, and Zoe couldn¡¯t figure out what the controls she was poking at were supposed to do. The old man slapped her hand away. ¡°Ow!¡± Cradling the abused appendage, Zoe shot the cranky geezer a glare. She still didn¡¯t know his name¡ªeveryone called him ¡®the Guildsmaster¡¯ or ¡®Old Thunder.¡¯ ¡°That hurt!¡± ¡°Bah. You¡¯re a healer, girl. Don¡¯t give me that. Besides.¡± He made a meaningful glance toward the earthen darkness below. ¡°You¡¯ll likely find worse things than a washed up adventurer down there.¡± Point taken. ¡°So what now? We just ride it down to the bottom?¡± Zoe didn¡¯t see how that was going to happen. It was already a minor miracle that the lift was still standing. Actually operating it wouldn¡¯t take a miracle¡ªit would take a divine intervention¡ªand a sacrificial goat to be sure. ¡°We? No, I don¡¯t think so. You ride it down to the bottom. I¡¯d rather not see you get mangled. The echo down there is strong enough I ought to be able to get by on just the screams.¡± That¡¯s lovely. ¡°Then let¡¯s get on with it. I¡¯ve waited a long time for this, you know.¡± The old man stepped off the platform without another word. Grabbing a big metal lever, he braced his feet against the ground and heaved. The squealing, ripping sound it made did little to increase Zoe¡¯s confidence in the machinery. ¡°What now?¡± Zoe pointed at the rust-caked controls on the platform itself. ¡°Do I have to mess with any of these?¡± ¡°Touch any of those and I¡¯ll fry you.¡± Releasing the lever, the lightning elementalist walked over to the other side of the entrance and placed both hands on a set of metal rods. Sparks snapped at his fingertips as he activated a skill and the sudden current burned through the accumulated dirt and rust. So that¡¯s how he powers it, Zoe mused. Then the floor fell out. The fall lasted for about two seconds. She then slammed back onto the platform as it ground to a sudden, shuddering halt. From there, the descent was both slower and more consistent¡ªif not exactly smooth. This better be worth it. Zoe was going to be pissed if she went through all of this, only to get stuck spelunking for a few hours without encountering monsters or treasure. I need worthy opponents. ¡°I feel like you should also be pissed if we encounter something really strong and get horribly maimed. That could happen too, you know.¡± It was only fitting that Lilith chose this moment to resume an active role in Zoe¡¯s consciousness. The pesky parasite had been quiet for weeks, and it was becoming annoying. ¡°I distinctly recall you saying I¡¯m annoying when I do talk, so I¡¯m not sure what you want from me. Also, if you think I¡¯m annoying, that means you think you¡¯re annoying, because I am you and you are¡ª¡° ¡°Yes, I know the phrase,¡± Zoe growled. The platform shuddered to a stop, and Zoe¡¯s improved night vision as a demon revealed they¡¯d reached the bottom¡ªas opposed to some unintended stopping point. ¡°If you want to be useful, tell me what you know about these tunneler rats.¡± While Zoe got the feeling the Guildsmaster was mostly doing his best to spook her, she wasn¡¯t going to be a total idiot and disregard his one substantive warning. Of all the kinds of advice you could ignore, ¡®don¡¯t underestimate this¡¯ would be one of the worst¡ªand also the most ironic. ¡°I dunno, but I would expect them to be a rodent type monster with an evolution focused on living underground and digging through stone.¡± Stepping off the platform, Zoe scanned her surroundings for immediate danger. Once she was far enough that she couldn¡¯t see the opening at the top of the shaft, she stopped. So a ¡®tunnel rat¡¯ is a rodent that lives underground and digs? Huh. That¡¯s very helpful, thanks. It certainly wasn¡¯t obvious and there¡¯s no way I could have figure it out. Not caring for a response, Zoe double checked that she was out of view, then activated one of her newest skills. Hellfire Blast! By ¡®new,¡¯ she meant three weeks old. Zoe obtained most of her current skills within the first week of being in this world. The blast of unruly, crimson magic revealed the extend of the current cave area in spooky red tones. Streaking through the air at a pace that was both fast and still possible to track, it traveled a few tens of meters before splashing over a cluster of stalagmites. The far wall wasn¡¯t much further. While the altered biology that came with Zoe¡¯s new nature as a demon came with greatly improved low-light vision, her eyes did still use light. Better sensitivity and adjustment speed in the dark didn¡¯t make extra illumination useless. It didn¡¯t look like there was anything of note in this area. That didn¡¯t mean there wasn¡¯t¡ªand Zoe would still take a minute or so to go through and check. But this first expanse looked to be devoid of monsters as well as anything else unique or valuable. As Zoe moved forward, the magic levels her antennae picked up were only a moderate amount higher than the norm. That being said, they also indicated a sharp increase in both strength and variety wafting up from the crude tunnel straight ahead. If Zoe¡¯s level and skills had lagged a bit since she arrived in Blossomfell, one thing that hadn¡¯t was her skill and instinct with using her ¡®arcane antennae.¡¯ One of the more useful traits from her demonic transformation, they looked and felt like the typical demonic horns. In fact, that¡¯s what Zoe assumed at first. As it turned out, they were functionally more akin to insectoid antennae¡ªexcept they sensed magic rather than chemicals. The horn-like appearance was a of from the tough, hard, outer protective layer. The effect of shifting to look fully human with her lesser disguise skill hampered their ability somewhat, though, and that was one of the things Zoe trained nearly constantly during her stay here so far. According to Lilith, interpreting and relying on the feedback from her antennae was natural instinct for most demons. For Zoe, it was something that she needed to learn deliberately, since she¡¯d grown up as an ordinary human. Zoe stopped upon reaching the end of the downward sloping tunnel. She was no longer alone¡ªand she didn¡¯t need her new sixth sense or any kind of skill to realize that. It was hard to ignore the upright human skeletons shuffling around under their own power.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Since this mine was just a mana rich hole in the ground and not a real dungeon, Zoe doubted the skeletons had just spawned in like videogame enemies. A real dungeon was a place where the labyrinthine and planet-spanning underworld rose up to breach the surface. This place, meanwhile, was no different from an abandoned mine back on earth¡ªexcept that the bats and other critters could mutate into magic-wielding monsters. The skeletons themselves wore an assortment of old work clothes and mining gear. Zoe was no expert in mining, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to recognize mining helmets and pickaxes. The one thing that marked them as magical in nature¡ªaside from walking around while dead¡ªwere the eerie, teal flames flickering within their rib cages and licking up into their skulls. That must be the magic animating them. Or maybe its their souls. Whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t natural. The flames were too quiet, too dim, and somehow wrong in their movement. It¡¯s like fire in slow motion, Zoe realized. One of the skeletons took notice of her. It raised its pickaxe and charged. Perhaps Zoe should have felt alarm, but the sight of a glowing green skeleton waddling towards her like an angry security guard made her laugh. The creature was far from agile. ¡°Careful, though. That pick is still sharp enough to carve through our skull.¡± Zoe scoffed. ¡°I doubt that will be an issue when I¡¯ve already survived one decapitation.¡± But the skeleton was almost upon her. Dropping the banter, Zoe ducked, darted around the shambling monster, and swung out with her leg. The skeleton stumbled, but Zoe didn¡¯t come out unscathed. The mass of bones was far heavier than it had any right to be. She should have swept the skeleton clean off its feet, yet it was able to right itself, and her shin felt bruised. Zoe hurried to get some distance and glared at it. ¡°How the hell did you get that solid? Dairy-based combat enhancers?¡± Not being much of a conversation partner, the skeleton elected to swing its pick from the side this time. It would have gored her through the kidney if she stayed still, but Zoe wasn¡¯t that oblivious. Deciding to take a gamble, she stepped forward instead of back, planted herself, and braced to catch the weapon by the handle. ¡°Damn!¡± It worked, but she felt her arms shudder. Zoe¡¯s 233 points in Power felt like they should put her near or even above the upper range of mundane human strength¡ªand that was with her slender frame and utter lack of technique. And while she¡¯d caught the handle and held her ground, she was really leaning into it. The good news? The skeleton had now lost its weapon. Or so I thought. Please let go already. Their dance macabre had degenerated from an elegant waltz to a petulant tug-of-war game. The skeleton couldn¡¯t overpower Zoe¡ªif anything, she was the stronger one. But she wasn¡¯t strong enough to yank it free, or perhaps the skeleton just had too good a grip. It seemed they had reached an impasse. But unlike Zoe, the skeleton wasn¡¯t alone. ¡°I¡¯d pay more attention to our surroundings,¡± Lilith remarked as Zoe released the pick just in time to avoid a shovel to the head. Skeleton Two snuck up behind her, getting close enough to attack before Zoe¡¯s antennae alerted her to it. That left Skeleton One free to use its pick again, and Skeleton Three hadn¡¯t been sitting around¡ªit was closing in too, and it dual wielded a pair of wrenches. Skeleton Four, however, was content to sit around, having yet to take a break from picking up rocks and throwing them down a hole. Which was good, but there were still three others surrounding Zoe, and they continued to press closer. ¡°Big mistake, bone boys. Everyone knows clustering up makes it easy to use the AoE.¡± Hellfire Eruption! Angry red embers exploded from Zoe¡¯s body like with billowing crimson flames trailing behind them. Within a second, scorching ash engulfed the air and ground within a sphere a few meters wide. The force of the magical blast pushed the skeletons away, and Zoe took the chance to escape. Hellfire Eruption has reached level 2! The monsters weren¡¯t finished yet¡ªbut it wouldn¡¯t be much longer. They were on fire, after all. Zoe didn¡¯t understand how old bones could actively burn, but burn they did. The dim, cool, sedate glow of the strange magic animating the skeletons had erupted into a raging crimson inferno. Yellowed bones turned black, then turned to pale ash. They stumbled for a second or two, but then one by one her three assailants collapsed even as they continued to disintegrate. Even once the hellfire had consumed the bones utterly, three ruby flames remained in midair, containing the final desperate struggle of whatever invisible fuel burned within. You have leveled up! You are now level 31. +15 stat points +3% core progression ¡°Ashes to ashes, huh?¡± Zoe eyed the thin layer of ash strewn about the cave. ¡°Turns out fire really is effective against undead, I guess.¡± They weren¡¯t just burnt to a crisp¡ªthe crisp was burnt too. ¡°That¡¯s generally true,¡± Lilith said as she popped into existence besides Zoe. Well, the apparition wasn¡¯t really there. She was, as far as Zoe could tell, an involuntary projection of her imagination. ¡°But also, hellfire is generally effective against most things. It was pretty cool getting to see it visibly consume their souls.¡± Zoe was midway through raising her hand to blast the remaining skeleton when she paused. Wait. What? ¡°Wait, hold up. Burn their souls?¡± Lilith nodded. Zoe eyed Skeleton Four, who was still tossing the remaining rocks down the hole, either oblivious or uncaring to the fate of its fellows. ¡°Is that teal fire their spirit, then?¡± ¡°Yes, it is,¡± Lilith confirmed. ¡°Or something like it, at least.¡± Zoe nodded. She wasn¡¯t surprised, even though she didn¡¯t know it beforehand. Perhaps the more interesting bit was that her fire could burn even something as ephemeral and abstract as a soul. Zoe¡¯s hellfire skills were her most recently obtained skills, along with mana manipulation. After gaining all three in one incident on the way to Blossomfell, she hadn¡¯t had a good opportunity to test them at their full power. Hellfire blast had been limited to risking tiny bursts in a tightly controlled area, and she never got a chance to use hellfire eruption at all. But now? Now, there was nothing holding Zoe back. She raised her hand to the one remaining skeleton. ¡°Still moving those rocks, huh? Must have worked yourself to the bone by now¡­¡± Hellfire Blast! ¡°So I hope you don¡¯t mind getting a posthumous retirement.¡± It took all of Zoe¡¯s willpower to keep a straight face as her skill blasted the undead miner apart. Remember, she chanted to herself, it doesn¡¯t work if you can¡¯t take your own one-liners seriously. Yes, Zoe was still determined to improve her ability to make remarks during combat, and this area was a great place to practice. Lilith cleared her throat. She didn¡¯t have a throat to physically clear, so Zoe knew it was a calculated move. ¡°Uh, I¡¯d rather you not. That was really bad. Having my consciousness chained to a bumbling idiot is bad enough. I don¡¯t need to deal with acute secondhand embarrassment on top.¡± Predictably, the troglodyte demon was incapable of appreciating Zoe¡¯s unique genius. But that was okay. Zoe would have more time to practice. The cave system continued deeper, and the sensation of magic only continued to grow in intensity. Walking past the ashen remains of her foes, Zoe pondered what to try next. Aside from training her overall combat technique and leveling up her skills and class, there were a few specific skills she still needed to understand. The two that stood out most were life ray and reap. Both had languished at level one, with Zoe unable to figure out what they did. It seems like there are going to be a lot of undead monsters down here. Life ray didn¡¯t have any effect when I used it on normal humans, but what about undead? Maybe it''s like a death ray, but for things that are dead instead of alive. Zoe would find out soon enough. And then? Then, she¡¯d re-examine all her awakening gems and put together a concrete plan for her advancement to Rank E. 46 - Nobody Expects The Inquisition Inquisitor Marceus Von D¡¯Gulio did not go straight to the town hall when he reached Blossomfell. No, his first stop was a hotel. It was a nice place, the Inquisitor decided as he made his way through the quaint, cobblestone streets. Festive gourds adorned doorways and windowsills, markers of the approaching autumnal equinox and the corresponding celebrations. The shops he passed were neither crowded nor deserted, and nothing looked out of place. Blossomfell was all the very best parts of Verdanport, shrunken, distilled down, and nestled within the loving embrace of its namesake forest. And beneath this aesthetic of innocent beauty and charm, a foul corruption was brewing. Masked by the floral aroma of red blossoms and mingling with the hearty scent of fresh baked bread was the acrid and unmistakable stench of a demon. And it was hardly alone. Marceus¡¯s eyes watered against the harsh fumes of a dozen different infernal magics, the nauseous, sickly sweet odor of blight wormed its way through his nostrils, and even that was not the worst. Below even the discordant cacophony of tainted essences, a darker vibration thrummed an impossibly deep note. Well past the domain of hearing, a cold, empty, and incredibly alien pressure crawled over the Inquisitor¡¯s skin. It was faint¡ªso faint that the Inquisitor second guessed his own senses. Marceus struggled to focus on it. It defied all his, attempts vanishing as soon as he tried and only returning as the faintest echo of a phantom chill. The High Inquisitor was right to send me here, he decided. Something has become truly rotten within this place¡¯s core. The first step to exorcising it, perhaps before locating its source, will be to determine its nature. To that end, the Inquisitor would pay a visit to the mayor. But not with the face and outfit he wore now. Marceus had arrived in Blossomfell in the plain clothes of a civilian traveler, and that was how he intended to stay. Inquisitors rarely did their best work in uniform. The room Marceus booked was on the third floor of the hotel, the highest floor available to guest and no lack of windows. Neither was necessary, but they would make his job easier. His room afforded a view of the main road into town¡ªthe road from which a uniformed inquisitor would arrive shortly. After ensuring there would be no direct witnesses, the illusionist channeled his sole Rank A skill. The mana expenditure left him a touch wearier, but not so much as to give him any trouble. Yet he still sat down for a light rest. Marceus opened his eyes as he rounded a turn in the road and approached the gate to Blossomfell. The guards on duty snapped to attention when they caught sight of him¡ªor rather, when they caught sight of the convincing illusion he¡¯d swapped his consciousness to. Such a convincing illusion was a useful ability in its own right. But the ability to transfer not only his perception, but also his other skills through his puppets was what made the skill truly powerful. Now, he would meet with the mayor. And perhaps he should take a longer tour of the town while he was at it. Who should enter blossomfell next? A scrappy band of young, roguish adventurers, perhaps? Marceus couldn¡¯t keep a smile from crossing the features of his real body. I¡¯m looking forward to our meeting, Mayor Stokes. Something tells me your input on the state of your town will be¡­ enlightening. _____ The upper levels of the mine weren¡¯t densely inhabited. It took Zoe a few minutes of wandering deeper into the mountain before she encountered anything else interesting. The only creatures she¡¯d seen since the skeletons were small critters and a few bats that flew away at her approach. Making sure to pay enough attention to her surroundings to not be caught completely off-guard, Zoe used the downtime to pull up her full status. She¡¯d meant to take one last look at it right before entering, but she got distracted by dealing with the guildsmaster and the lift. [ZOE BLACKWELL] Level 31 | Rank F Sanguine Disciple, Demagogue Higher Demon of Disdain -Alignment- > Infernal > Blood > Disdain > Carnage -Active Quests- > Claim Your Right > Get Out -Active Titles- > Outsider > Usurper > Humanitizer > No Love Among Fiends -Stats and Bindings- Power 233 Perception 142 Acuity 125 Durability 120 Vitality (Blood) 257 -General Skills- > Identify 4 (Rank C) > Hallowed Touch (Tierless) > Mana Channeling 5 (Rank F) > Manasight 5 (Rank C) > Mana Manipulation 3 (Rank B) > Hellfire Blast 1 (Rank E) > Hellfire Eruption 2 (Rank D) -Primary Class Skills- > Rejuvenate 18 - II (Rank F) > Mending Touch 14 - II (Rank D) > Rending Touch 10 - II (Rank D) > Surgeon¡¯s Eye 18 - II (Rank E) > Blood Whip 10 - II (Rank E) > Blood Siphon 1 (Rank D) > Flesh Manipulation 2 (Rank E) > Life Ray 1 (Rank D) > Reap 1 (Rank C) -Secondary Class Skills- > Acting 5 (Rank D)This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. > Persuasion 6 (Rank B) > Mirage 5 (Rank E) > Lesser Disguise 4 (Rank C) > Cloak of Scorn 5 (Rank E) System Display Privileges (Sys-Tier) [JUVENILE BLOOD FIEND CORE] 49% Developed | Rank A -Traits- > Natural Weapons (Rank E) > Arcane Antennae (Rank E) > Bloodshaper (Rank C) > Heart of Alchemy (Rank B) > Personal Inventory (Rank B) > Magic Resistance (Rank C) -Effects- > +60 Power, +60 Durability, +82 Vitality > Infernal Alignment > Disdain Alignment > Blood Alignment -Available- > 105 stat points > Class upgrades (various) The list that came up in her mind¡¯s eye still struck her as somehow both minimal and verbose. It was more than a mouthful, that was sure, and yet she was limited to basic regeneration and healing, her disguise skills, some cool fire attacks, and what must have been the amateur mage¡¯s starter kit. At least my stats are higher than they have any right to be. That was the biggest benefit of becoming a demon so far¡ªthe fact that she got three times as many points to allocate with each level compared to a regular human. I¡¯ve also been sitting on some upgrades for a while. I have those really strong class upgrades for my demagogue class, as well as a bunch of elemental awakening gems I can use to finish awakening the rest of my stats. Not to mention that juicy buffer of free stat points. The biggest thing holding Zoe back right now was uncertainty. She kept a buffer of unallocated stat points because she didn¡¯t know what she might end up needing, and that went double for awakening any other stats after vitality. Figuring out what she wanted to do with all her options was the hard part¡ªand one of the main reasons for this excursion. If I can get some more experience and understanding of my current abilities, I can figure out the best path forward. Her current path led to a round, expansive chamber with four different paths leading away from it¡ªnot including the one she¡¯d just come from. The overall shape made Zoe think of being on the inside of an enormous glove. Aside from serving as a nexus connecting the multiple converging tunnels, the dusty and flat floor of the chamber was entirely unremarkable. ¡°Hmm.¡± Zoe didn¡¯t like just how plain it felt. Chewing her lip, she mulled over her decision in a low whisper. ¡°There¡¯s definitely more magic mixing around here, and it kind of feels like some of the tunnels have stronger mana currents than others.¡± Aside from that, the cave itself felt empty. Zoe decided to test it. Hellfire Blast! Her improvised light spell did wonders for her understanding of the local geography as it blazed across to the far wall. Zoe¡¯s demonic biology might give her an uncanny ability to still see in the near-darkness, but it was a far cry from the detail the crimson flare of her magic revealed. When nothing moved to flee or attack, Zoe stepped into the area with increased confidence. A spark of hellfire at her fingertips provided the illumination she needed to scope things out. But first¡ªI should make some sort of clear markings for which one of the tunnels is the exit to the surface. While Zoe liked to thing she wouldn¡¯t get turned around, there was no point in risking getting lost when she tried to leave. It would be terribly embarrassing. As it turned out, the tough, onyx-like material of her claws was more than up to the task of carving deep grooves straight into the living rock. It may have been a far cry from a hot knife through butter¡ªthe weight she put against her 233 points in Power were testament to that¡ªbut she had to admit the so-called ¡®demonite¡¯ of her claws was stern stuff. Not only were they not blunted¡ªthe material wasn¡¯t so much as scuffed. Natural weapons indeed. Zoe idly wondered where ¡®demonite¡¯ would fall on the Mohs hardness scale. I still think its a stupid name, though. ¡°It¡¯s not really that stupid,¡± Lilith chimed in. ¡°Definitely not as bad as Cummingtonite. That¡¯s a real thing back on Earth, you know.¡± Zoe was well-aware. She and Lilith shared a large proportion of their memories, after all. She said as much, then went to investigate the other tunnels without waiting for any form of answer. The leftmost tunnel wasn¡¯t much of a tunnel, ending only a few strides in with a dead end and another, equally rusted lift platform. It¡¯s probably not a dead end if you can keep going along the vertical axis¡ªbut I¡¯m really not keen on trying that. The one lift she¡¯d already experienced was more than enough. The next two tunnels were more promising. While one of them continued roughly straight with a downward slope, the other became a tangled mess of drastically steeper cracks and fissures descending ever deeper, accompanied by lush mosses and the sounds of dripping water. That one reminded Zoe of the cave system with the ancient temple she first woke up in. Oddly enough, the thought came with a rising tide of nostalgia, despite those events being a month or so ago and Zoe almost dying. The fourth and last tunnel, however, was the most intriguing. Like the first, it wasn¡¯t a true tunnel at all¡ªnot at the moment. It had been so thoroughly barricaded with wooden beams, rubble, and discarded equipment that Zoe struggled to catch a glimpse of the enchanted metal door behind all of it. She knew it was enchanted for two reasons. First, the magic-antennae property of her horns picked up on the wards baked into it. Second, she could glimpse fragments of faint, glowing symbols through the assorted blockage. ¡°Someone really didn¡¯t want whatever was in there getting out, huh?¡± It was painfully obvious that Zoe was on the side of the door it was protecting. The heaps of rubble were suggestive of a desperate barricade, not an attempt at concealment. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll need to bring something with me next time to clear all this out. No way I¡¯m moving all that.¡± Taking form as a miniature plush doll on Zoe¡¯s shoulder, Lilith coughed to get her attention. ¡°If the miners went to so much trouble to seal it off, doesn¡¯t that mean they thought it was really dangerous?¡± Zoe thought about it. ¡°Yeah, it does. But if someone says something is really dangerous and goes to a bunch of trouble to stop you from accessing it, that means it¡¯s valuable too and you should figure out how to profit off it.¡± Silence. Then Lilith cleared her throat again. ¡°That is¡­ You know, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true, but if I¡¯m going to be stuck mentoring a moron, I might as well get stuck mentoring a moron who does at least act like a proper demon.¡± Zoe¡¯s eye twitched. She had a nagging feeling she was being insulted. Well either way, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m getting through that door anytime soon. That¡¯s probably for the best. There are limits past biting off more than you can chew. I¡¯ll consider coming back to this one at some point. With that in mind, Zoe set about choosing between the other three tunnels. The first one was easy to eliminate¡ªZoe had no desire to try her luck with the rickety lift. That left the middle two. This should have been an easy choice as well. One of them was less of a tunnel and more of a vertical drop through sharp rocks that had been put through a blender. The other was a normal tunnel. And yet, Zoe¡¯s magical sense tingled at the energies wafting up from the former. There was a tangible abundance of life, magic, and an assortment of different, for lack of a better word, flavors. The other tunnel, in comparison, was muted and plain. Zoe eyed the sheer drop. It wasn¡¯t nearly as dark as the rest of the cave system, owing to the glowing moss and mushrooms adorning the rocks. ¡°Well, what¡¯s the point of going spelunking if you can¡¯t commit to a climb?¡± Zoe had a variety of items leftover in her inventory, and that included several coils of rope. Taking one out, she set about tethering it to a sturdy-looking outcropping of rock near the entrance. She wasn¡¯t planning to rely on it¡ªher claws had proved more than capable for the coming task. That being said, Zoe thought it was a good idea to stay prepared. Look at me, being responsible and taking safety precautions. I¡¯m growing up! Zoe threw the rest of the coil off the edge. It unraveled as it fell, the tip vanishing into the faint, cyan glow of the depths below. Next, Zoe kicked off her shoes. Storing them in her inventory, she flexed her talon¡ªand began to climb. _____ Inquisitor Marceus was not surprised to learn that the mayor of Blossomfell was corrupt. He had expected it, and his suspicions were confirmed. Not that he good about it¡ªthere was no satisfaction to be gained from understanding the obvious, and it was really only disappointing. What the inquisitor had yet to determine was whether the mayor was involved in the deeper evil brewing beneath the cobbles of the town, and if so, if he was aware of it. Not every corrupt official was culpable for regional cult activity, and those that were often proved to be pitiably ignorant of just whom they were assisting. Not that it matters. Ignorance was seldom an excuse, and the sympathy Marceus had for those tricked into aiding cultists and demons was reserved for those with honest intentions. Mayor Stokes was no such man. There were two other major leads for the inquisitor to follow. The first was an abandoned mine just outside the town. Closed down several decades prior, the mine was known to be full of low rank monsters and rumored to be cursed. The main entrance was on the property of some retired adventurer, and the mayor had warned him that the man didn¡¯t take kindly to anyone trying to enter it. While none of the information was suspect on its own, such a place was bound to be involved in the current cult activity in at least some way. A dangerous, abandoned mine was like a beacon for all kinds of spooks, without fail. Widespread rumors of a curse in such a place, and an old loner who refused to let anyone take a look? It was insultingly obvious. The other lead Marceus had was the presence of a higher demon. He had been tracking down the source of the infernal stench ever since his meeting with the mayor, and now he stood at the doorstep to its lair. There was no doubt in the Inquisitor¡¯s mind that he had the right place¡ªbut he was surprised nonetheless. Managing a business at the heart of the town¡¯s shopping area. Bold. Boldness was to be expected. It was a demon of disdain, after all. And as much as Marceus was tempted to strike now, Marceus knew the situation called for a more cautious approach. 47 - Fungus Amongus ¡°Well, Lilith, I think we found our next test subject.¡± Zoe hadn¡¯t been climbing for long. She could still see the top of the chasm where she¡¯d tied the rope, but it wouldn¡¯t be much longer before her view was blocked off by jutting stones and hanging vines. The air was alive with the sounds of running water and chirping insects, with both life and death abundant. Zoe wasn¡¯t sure which category the mushroom man below her fell into. Identify! [FUNGAL GHOUL] Rank F | Level 12 It could have been a Human, once, but then it went and sprouted mushrooms. He may be a fun-guy, but those mushrooms aren¡¯t the kind you want to eat. -Alignment- > Infernal (Passion) > Blight -Strengths- > Vitality > Infectious Wounds -Weaknesses- > Fire > Hallow ¡­ Identify has reached level 5! The information Zoe got from the identification was largely overshadowed by her skill leveling up. It¡¯s about time. That particular skill had refused to increase in level for quite some time, no matter how hard Zoe went around using it on everything. According to Lilith, identify was infamous for being slow to level. Zoe theorized she got so many levels in it right away only because she used it on rare and possibly powerful ancient statues and ritual altars. Regardless, the information the system provided on the mushroom man was helpful. It was near identical to the description she got for the frozen ghouls back in the aptly named frozen wastes. That being said, she wasn¡¯t a fan of the lame ¡®fun guy¡¯ joke. The pun didn¡¯t even make sense in the local language, relying entirely on her translating it back to English. Anyway, it¡¯s convenient that it¡¯s vulnerable to fire. Zoe¡¯s other main combat abilities revolved around blood, something which ghouls sorely lacked. But before she went and blasted the unsuspecting monster to ash, Zoe wanted to try something else. She hadn¡¯t forgotten her plan to experiment with the life ray skill, and ghouls counted as undead. Zoe had positioned herself on a rocky outcropping directly over the fungal monster. She had been peering down at it from the ledge this whole time, and its behavior hadn¡¯t changed much. It rooted around the mossy ground on its hands and knees, digging for what she thought were worms in the layer of moss and dirt. It should be an easy target. Life Ray! Just like every other time Zoe tried activating the skill, a steady stream of mana vanished from her soul to form an invisible beam of magic. Unlike the other times, it didn¡¯t dissipate harmlessly against her target. The ghoul went rigid upon being struck by her skill. Within seconds, layers of fungal tissue sloughed off its misshapen frame in a way reminiscent of a burning marshmallow. Only, it was far nastier. It wasn¡¯t long before the monster was utterly melted. There was nothing left but a revolting pile of dark sludge. Then the smell hit her. ¡°Oh, oh god that¡¯s awful.¡± Zoe coughed several times as she retreated out of the danger zone and cleared her lungs. It was the sickly sweet smell of a dumpster on a hot day, mixed with a musty scent she didn¡¯t want to place. ¡°Damn that¡¯s foul.¡± ¡°What did you expect?¡± Lilith asked. ¡°We just made a hundred pounds of mushroom go through weeks of decomposition in a matter of seconds.¡± Zoe eyed the goop pile with suspicion. Wait, so what specifically happened? She had a feeling life ray would do something interesting against undead, but a life-attuned skill making the tissue of an undead monster rot was too many layers of inversion for her to follow. ¡°Well,¡± Lilith hedged, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure our skill disrupted the magic holding it all together. A giant dose of life magic can¡¯t be good for a monster whose entire core is attuned to death.¡± Zoe frowned. That made enough sense, but why did that make it rot instead of something simpler like just falling apart? Also, if it was undead, what was up with the fungal growths all over it? Mushrooms sprouting out of a corpse wasn¡¯t surprising, but mushrooms were living things according to Zoe¡¯s understanding. If the ghoul was an undead monster full of death magic, maybe that had something to do with keeping all the mushroom bits from getting killed by its own nature. After all, death magic made corpses move around, so it wasn¡¯t a stretch to imagine it could do something to keep dying tissues functional. If that were the case, then overriding its death mana with my own life magic would have destroyed the effect, and all of the accumulated ¡®debt¡¯ would instantly come due. It must have been in a constant state of killing pieces of itself and delaying the damage. Zoe was making a lot of claims here with little way to prove them, but she felt like she was on to something. Either way, it proved life ray was effective against monsters like this. The system seemed to agree. Life Ray has reached level 2! Life Ray has reached level 3! You have leveled up! You are now level 32. +15 stat points +1% core progression Zoe grinned. The skill gains weren¡¯t unexpected, but the additional level was a welcome surprise. The extra fifteen stat points brought her total reserve to an impressive 120. That was exactly on par with how much she had in Durability. Zoe was no expert, but she felt comfortable claiming that having as many stat points to spend as she had in one of her existing attributes was no common feat. She¡¯d checked her whole status recently, but she went ahead and looked over just the stats portion again. -Stats and Bindings- Power 233 Perception 142 Acuity 125 Durability 120 Vitality (Blood) 257 Leaning back against the soft surface of a moss covered boulder, Zoe chewed her lip. She had the explicit goal of advancing to Rank E, and that meant making decisions about what direction to take her ¡®build.¡¯ And yet, despite having everything she needed to both rank up and upgrade her second class, she felt like she was at an impasse. While having some points always in reserve wasn¡¯t a bad idea, 120 was a little ridiculous. But how should she continue to distribute them? Rather than tackle the difficult question, she avoided it by switching to another aspect of her advancement she needed to decide on¡ªthe remainder of her elemental bindings. She already awakened her Vitality stat with the blood element. Unfortunately, none of her other stats came with such a blatantly obvious way forward. The first step was to see where her current options stood. Zoe had several more awakening gems and even more elemental mana crystals stashed in her inventory.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. /Misc Valuables/Magic Crystals/ /Mana Crystals > Cold > Fire > Ice > Light > Metal > Shadow > Stone > Water > Wind > Wood > Empty x6 /Awakening Gems > Cold > Ice > Shadow > Empty x4 Zoe certainly wasn¡¯t lacking for options. And while she¡¯d like to get familiar with using each of them before she committed to anything, there wasn¡¯t a high likelihood of that happening. Aside from picking things that sounded like they fit, her other major resource was something she wasn¡¯t looking forward to using. Hey, Lilith. Got any ideas here? A menacing wave of gleeful excitement resonated through Zoe¡¯s mindspace. She was beginning to regret asking. ¡°Do I have any ideas here? Yeah, I¡¯d say that I do. We¡¯re going to use one of the empty awakening gems to make a hellfire awakening gem, which we¡¯ll bind to Power. Then we¡¯ll bind shadow to both Perception and Acuity. We¡¯re lucky we already have both a shadow awakening gem and a mana crystal we can use on one of the empty gems. Then we¡¯ll bind either blood or stone to Durability, or maybe ice. We can easily make another blood awakening gem with our existing skills. Zoe mulled over Lilith¡¯s plan. While the authoritative tone the demon took on was irritating, the plan sounded reasonable enough. Zoe still didn¡¯t trust her mental tag-along, but she did trust that Lilith would want her to choose the best options for her advancement. A part of Zoe worried that the demon still intended to take control over her body at some point¡ªbut if that were the case, setting her up with a solid build was in both of their best interests. There were a few parts of the plan Zoe wasn¡¯t entirely sold on, but she could go ahead and finish up the others. She would start with the easiest one first¡ªshe already had one shadow awakening gem ready to go. You are eligible to awaken the element: Shadow. Do you wish to proceed? Yes. A new system prompt appeared as soon as Zoe confirmed it. 4 core stats are eligible for elemental awakening: Perception Power Acuity Durability Choose a core stat with which to awaken the element: Shadow. Zoe mentally selected Perception. Yet another prompt came up checking that she was sure she wanted to proceed. Zoe didn¡¯t hesitate. Your Perception has awakened to Shadow. Like the first time Zoe awakened an element, the sensation was barely perceptible, being little more than a faint ripple through her core. Despite the claimed significance of the process, it had taken Zoe a bit of time to notice a difference in her existing blood-related skills after binding the element to her Vitality. That being said, the boosts became apparent during her unexpected prison escape. If Zoe had to put forth a guess, she would expect awakening shadow for Perception would have its most obvious impact on her mirage skill. Being intended to hide her from sight with murky, distorted shadows, the skill had a natural association. A quick test confirmed the theory. It was still the same skill, but the activation was smoother, the cost of sustaining it far lower, and the shimmering distortion obscuring her body felt more tangible. I would be concerned about that messing with it as an effective camouflage¡­ but something tells me it won¡¯t have the same effect on me as it has on other people. There were more potential skills to test, but Zoe set those aside to work on her next task¡ªcreating a hellfire awakening gem. It was tempting to use the fire mana crystal that was already in her inventory. It would be easy, but Zoe didn¡¯t wait this long to advance just to save five minutes taking the quicker route. Even if Lilith hadn¡¯t given her a longwinded lecture a few weeks back, it wouldn¡¯t have taken Zoe long to understand that hellfire was not the same as ordinary fire. Having seen her flames burn the very spirits animating the skeletal miners an hour or so back was a potent reminder. Hellfire was powerful, rare, and an element that she both already used and already had an affinity for as a demon. Under Lilith¡¯s careful instruction, Zoe withdrew both an empty awakening gem and empty mana crystal from her inventory. While it wasn¡¯t uncommon to imbue an awakening gem with an element directly, Zoe wanted to practice the process first. Mana crystals were cheaper, more plentiful, and less useful to her right now. Zoe turned the golfball-sized, asymmetrically faceted crystal over in her hands. It was dark and clear, thought the cyan glow of the underground moss gave it an eerie sparkle. According to her handy, living guide to being a demon, all she had to do was draw upon one of her hellfire skills but stop right before activating it. From there she¡¯d attempt to let the unreleased energy trickle into the crystal. Too much or too fast, and it could break, but too little and the skill would collapse before it could fill the mana crystal properly. Well there¡¯s no better way to learn than by doing. Crystal in hand, Zoe activated hellfire blast. Or, she almost activated it. Restraining the skill from taking form was a frustrating challenge. Canceling it was one thing, but keeping the power thrumming under her touch was like trying to balance a pencil on the tip of her finger. It wanted to slide one way or the other, but the process would only work if she could keep it sustained right in the middle. Zoe stopped keeping count after the fifth time the skill sputtered out. On the upside, not once had she screwed up in the other direction. That was a desired result of her caution. She figured it was better to waste a bit of time playing it safe than to send a blast of unconstrained hellfire straight into her lap. When a dull cherry glow began to take form in the heart of the dark, glassy gem, Zoe¡¯s intense focus distracted her from noticing. By the time the dull glow blossomed into a sparkling ember, Zoe had gotten the balance stable enough that she didn¡¯t have to worry about screwing it up. She must have been grinning like a maniac, and the still-dim crimson glow lighting her features from below must have made quite the spooky sight. The intensity of the trapped mana continued to grow. Zoe was just seconds away from filling the crystal¡ªshe could feel it. It was at this point that an ear-piercing screech announced the arrival of a most unwelcome guest. Zoe¡¯s concentration shattered, and so did the crystal. From there, several things happened in quick succession. A swarm of glittering silver bats dive bombed Zoe¡¯s position, the ruptured crystal released a blooming sphere of hellfire a meter and a half wide, and Zoe herself released a string of rude expletives. Zoe¡¯s physiological resistance to hellfire stacked with her acquired magic resistance trait to lessen the damage done by sitting in the epicenter of an explosion of magic fire. That being said, hellfire resistant wasn¡¯t the same thing as hellfire proof. Zoe¡¯s skin, hair, and clothing weren¡¯t left unscathed¡ªthat¡¯s where the healing would come in. Well, except for the clothes. Zoe didn¡¯t think you could heal yourself out of a fashion disaster. Rejuvenate! A wave of refreshing energy washed through Zoe¡¯s body, taking away the brunt of the pain that her bloodshaper trait wasn¡¯t already handling. Zoe¡¯s all-in-one blood magic trait, combined with her high Vitality to give her a degree of natural regeneration that was clearly beyond, well, natural. A little sloughed off skin and crispy hair wasn¡¯t worth the mana cost of a full-blown mending touch. It was with great annoyance that Zoe realized she wasn¡¯t the only one to survive the explosion. Three shrieking cave bats were still wheeling just overhead, though the crimson lingering crimson flames made them easy enough to track. The fire continued to eat at the monsters as Zoe watched, distracting them enough that she didn¡¯t have to worry about getting bitten. If I died of rabies just to get bitten by another bat and die of rabies again just a month into my new life¡­ Healing skills in this world could probably handle normal rabies, but it would be just my luck to wind up catching a case of magic super-rabies. The flaming bats died rather unceremoniously. Climbing over to where the bodies had landed, Zoe studied their shiny, metallic forms. The hellfire had eaten large holes through their membranous wings and stained much of their bodies with blackened soot. That being said, it did a lot less total damage than it did to the much larger skeletons. They looked as if they were quite literally made of metal. Even though they were dead and incinerated, Zoe wasn¡¯t too keen on touching them. It was at this point Zoe realized prior experience might have given her a disproportionate degree of caution around bats¡ªnot that she could blame herself. So instead, Zoe looked around for a stick. Not finding one, she opted to create her own. None of Zoe¡¯s skills were well-suited to creating solid objects, unlike that noble girl Lily¡¯s ice magic. So Zoe improvised, first creating a tendril of blood with her aptly named blood whip skill and then drawing from her bloodshaper trait to solidify it into a crystalline spike. Yep, these guys are definitely made out of metal. If the appearance and durability wasn¡¯t enough evidence, the hardness and density certainly was. Zoe was amazed they could fly around, with how heavy their small bodies were. After confirming that nothing else was poised to attack her, Zoe retreated into a mossy alcove tucked further back against the chasm wall. Hanging vines helped to obscure the entrance, providing a greater degree of camouflage. Zoe withdrew an empty awakening gem from her inventory. Aside from being larger, the gem wasn¡¯t too different from a mana crystal. In the faint cyan light of the caverns, Zoe could only make out that the faceted edges seemed to also extend inside the material, creating the impression of a bottomless fractal geometry. I may have failed and broken the previous mana crystal, but that was only because I got distracted by a literal attack. It would have worked if I was left alone for just a few more seconds. Zoe looked down at the gem. She still wasn¡¯t sold on the choices Lilith picked out for Acuity and Durability¡ªbut hellfire was a shoo in for Power. Zoe took one last look to double-check her surroundings, and then she once again activated hellfire blast. It was time to complete her third binding.