《Firebolt : Kids that play with Magic》


 1 Chapter 1 : Class has begun

    "Ding" "Ding" "Ding"


    Softly the bell rings signaling the start of the school day, kids settling themselves at their desks.


    Every pair of eyes except for one staring straight ahead at a chalk board. Before the chalk board a slightly chubby middle-aged man stood, staring at a book in his hands.


    "Alright, class will begin"


    His gruff voice rumbling around the class room.


    Turning away from the class he began to write down the lesson for today, the sounds of chalk hitting the board filled the small room. The students began to furiously take notes, copying down the information. All save for one girl whose attention was directed toward a phone to which she was furiously tapping on the screen, concentration filled her face as she ignored the world. For those who looked at her, wearing the girls schools uniform of a white button up shirt and purple skirt, she was the object of beauty for the entire student body.


    As though her entire body was made from jade, she had fair skin with a delicate face that most girls envied. While the boys would stare at her well proportioned figure, the drool from their mouths never ended as she was constantly besieged with boys confessing to her. With hair and eyes of fire, her name was Faith. For those who knew, she was a peerless beauty that was matched by her cold and sometimes violent nature. Resorting to violence when her words, albeit few,didn''t work.


    At the chalk board the teacher turned his head slightly to monitor the room, pleased to see that the majority of his class taking notes. His lips dropping into a frown, he stared directly at Faith clearing his throat loudly to catch her attention, in doing so half the class looked toward him only to follow his gaze toward her.


    "Class has begun, you can put your phone away now!"


    He grunted through his teeth, agitation clear in his voice.


    Faith looked up lazily from her phone, staring for a moment at the chalk board. Looking around she noticed that everyone in the classroom was staring at her. With a heavy sigh she stood up and began to walk out the classroom. The teacher watched as she left, his face slowly turning red from anger. Shortly after whispers filled the class.


    "Did you see that?"


    "She just walked out"


    "Is he gonna let her go?"


    The teacher dropping his chalk and book ran toward the hallway after her, panting heavily as he called out,


    "Faith!! Where are you going? You can''t keep leaving class like this! Think of your future!"


    Faith stopped mid-step, her fiery hair still swaying by her hips, turned around to look directly at the man shouting to her. Her brows furrowed, the beautiful look of hers became a fierce gaze that brought about an intense pressure. Feeling this pressure the teacher''s knee''s began to shake before he crumpled to the floor, face covered in sweat, he looked at her as though she was a demon.


    Watching him fall, Faith scoffed turning away to continue down the hall, each step she took was filled with grace and dignity. As she made her way down the empty hall, her attention returned to the phone in her hand.


    "Maybe I should have told him that I already knew that stuff."


    She thought to her self for a moment. Making her way down the hallway bearing a lonely aura, the fierce look still maintained on her face, her peers moving aside to make a path for her, mixed looks of awe and fear spread across them.


    Ignoring their stares she pressed on down the hallway, eyes glued to the screen of her phone as the display showed two characters fighting. A moment later the screen flashed, the word Victory spread across. A rematch request appeared along with a message, accepting the rematch she checked her inbox, a message displayed briefly


    "Meet up on the roof? That idiot should be following you about now."


    Faith smiled, her fingers tapping on the screen, a short second later her response appearing beneath


    "Sure."

 2 Chapter 2: On The Roof

    Coming to a stairway she began to ascend, fingers still tapping away at her phone, soon another message appeared.


    "There is someone else up here I want you to meet."


    Faith stopped in her tracks for a moment, staring at the screen, she responded,


    "Who?"


    Once again continuing up the stairs returning to her game, soon after another message appeared,


    "The person your playing."


    Reading the message, her lips turned up into a slight grin, a slight chuckle could soon be heard followed by roaring laughter, tears rolling down her face Faith sent a reply,


    "That is the funniest thing you''ve said all day, honestly, there is no way the guy I''m playing goes to this school and even if he does I''d know, I''m the only one who plays here besides you."


    She didn''t have a chance to return to her game before yet another message arrived,


    "It''s the truth, hurry up, I got your favorite."


    A smiley emote followed the message, reading it Faith shook her head slightly, before exiting the message to continue playing, her full attention once again on the two avatars fighting.


    As her opponents avatar fell, the screen flashed the word Victor before another rematch request appeared, amused Faith watched her avatar load to its home screen,


    "Whoever this guy is, pretty tenacious to keep challenging me."


    She thought happily, no one else really gave Faith a challenge when she fought, be it games or life.


    Yet to her surprise this one continued to come back each and everyday for the past week, thinking about that message Faith quickened her steps, nearly jumping up the last flight of stairs to an open door that lead to the roof. Crossing the threshold Faith looked around a seemingly empty rooftop, in a corner a waste basket along with a small blue chair could be seen, the waste basket overflowing with empty containers of juice and candy wrappers.


    Walking toward the chair Faith looked to her phone, her avatar still standing at the home screen a caution sign above her weapon icon, asking her to equip a weapon, ignoring it Faith accepted the rematch request and loaded her avatar into the arena. Sitting down her focus intensified as the two avatars began to fight, her screen constantly flashing as Faith noticed an opening, not kind enough to overlook a flaw, Faith had her avatar exploit it disarming and knocking over her opponent.


    With attacks raining down on her now defenseless foe, its health was quickly depleted, the familiar Victory screen and request appeared once more.


    As Faith was about to accept a shuffle of footsteps echoed through the doorway, as three guys made their way onto the roof, looking up for a moment Faith recognized two of them.


    On the right was a short fat guy, his stomach jiggling with each breath he took.


    On the left was a pointy-eared kid that resembled an alien, a wide creepy smile on his face.


    The one in the middle was new to Faith, looking at him for a moment longer than the others, his hair fell short on one side and long one the other, she could only see one of his amber colored eyes covered by the lens of his glasses, aside from his bad hair cut, the parts of his face that she could see weren''t bad to look at.


    In Faith''s opinion, he could be considered better looking than the two next to him.


    The short fat guy began to walk toward her, his stomach jiggling more with each step


    "I told you she''d be here."


    He said in a garbled voice making his way to the waste basket, staring down at its contents he turned back and chuckled, he looked towards Faith, squatting down he inched his face close to hers,the heat of his breath could be felt on her cheek.


    "You won''t beat us this time, we''ve brought some help."


    He said looking to his friends, the pointy-eared guy cackled like a crow, his nose high in the air as he laughed. Sauntering over to Faith''s left he bent over, the creepy smile on his face wider than before joining in to taunt her. His scratchy voice mixing in with his laughter


    "Yea, this guy is crazy strong, there is no way you could beat him."


    Standing next to her they continued laughing, Faith looking back to her phone cancelled the rematch request before rising from her seat, shoulder brushing past the short fat guy''s nose as she rose. Startled he tumbled backward narrowly avoiding contact, rolling along the ground he came to a stop next a few feet away from Faith. Getting to his feet, he inched backward toward his friend with the crazy hair cut, the pointy-eared kid backing away as well.


    "You must be new, you''ll get hurt"


    Faith said, her voice as soft as silk with a clear trace of annoyance,looking at the three of them she continued


    "I just want to play my game."


    The guy with the bad hair cut stared at her with an uninterested look, turning to the short fat guy, he pointed towards Faith his thumb


    "You said there would be someone strong here, not some girl, don''t go lying to me."


    His voice stern and proper, as Faith listened on, she could tell he was defiantly new as most rumors about her circulate the school, most of them warnings to stay away from the girl with red hair.


    "Those two must have gotten to him first and convinced the poor fellow to come up here."


    Faith concluded to herself, shaking her head slightly, Faith placed her phone on chair she was sitting in the screen flashing with the message icon as she did so, not noticing this Faith turned toward the three guys before her catching onto the conversation they were having.


    "We promise Jayson, that woman is the strongest in this school."


    The short fat one pleaded, nudging his pointy-eared friend in the ribs to get his attention, pointy-ears quickly nodded his head in vigorous agreement, laughing through his wide smile he put his hands behind his head and looked toward Faith. His laughter caught in his throat once he locked eyes with Faith, standing there she begun to radiate a ferocious aura, fire danced inside of her eyes, seeing this both the pointy-ears and the short fat guy broke out in a nervous sweat that soon dampened the backs of their uniform jackets. Retreating behind the one they called Jayson, they looked up to him and began to point toward Faith. Pointy-ears voice squeaking out


    "S-s-see, th-that woman is a-a-a demon."


    Jayson looked at the two shivering behind them, shaking them off he took a step toward Faith raising his palms he thrust forward, generating a small wind that blew past her hair, a smile slowly appeared on his face as he opened his arms wide taking small steps toward Faith, the wind blowing his hair off his face, for a moment Faith could see that all together the guy before her wasn''t all that bad looking, just had a bad taste for hair styles. Rating him a 7 in the looks department, if Jayson knew her thoughts of him at the moment, he probably wouldn''t know whether to laugh or cry.


    "Hello there, my name is Jayson, I''m new to this school and I heard you were the queen.


    May I know if that is true?"


    Jayson''s voice no longer stern, but soft and seductive as if he was trying to calm down the violent aura Faith displayed. Stopping a foot away from her Jayson kept his arms spread wide, he looked straight up into the sky. Faith watching him approach began to tense up her body in preparation for a surprise attack, never one to let her guard down in front of new people, Faith tilted her head to one side before responding


    "So what if I am?"


    Jayson looked down with a warm smile that threw Faith off for a moment, what he said next put her back to focus


    "Then I can dethrone you."


    Stepping forward his palms shot toward her, his finger tips slicing through the air like swords wanting to cut Faith in half, watching this Faith was unimpressed her body fell back away from his hands as though pushed by the wind he generated. With a slight stomp of her feet Faith floated away, seeing his surprise attack failing Jayson''sbody tensed instinct taking over he jumped away, looking over his shoulder toward the two cowering guys he shouted


    "You do realize, it''s 3 on 1 right!!"


    They looked at each other and nodded bursting forth into a sprint toward Faith in a attempt to cut off her escape path, Faith following their movements with her eyes with a facethat expressed boredom. Sliding to a stop Faith watched as they surrounded her, with a slight shake of her head Faith sighed


    "Your interrupting my game, I didn''t bother you."


    She muttered to herself stomping on the ground her body turned into a blur, the sunlight reflecting off Faith''s hair turning her into a red bolt of light, as she streaked across the rooftop toward the short fat guy appearing before him in an instant. Her curled fist an inch from his face , before he could react the world before him went dark, Faith''s fist connected to his eye sending him flying away, landing in a heap his fat body still jiggling slightly in various areas.


    Jayson blinked


    "I didn''t even see her move, what kind of freakish movement is that?!


    They didn''t say anything about speed like that!! No matter there are still two of us."


    Looking to the pointy-eared guy a slightly confident smile taking his face breaking into a sprint toward Faith, wanting to take advantage of her lapse of focus on him, this was the perfect chance to attack, he shot a glace toward the pointy-eared guy as he ran.

 3 Chapter 3: Joker and Sword

    "Clap, Clap, Clap"


    The sound of slow applause drew Jayson''s attention from the fight for a split second, following the source of the sound his eyes landed on two figures at the door the three of them came through a few moments ago, his pupils contracted in fear as a thought floated into his mind


    "When did they get there?"


    His body shivered as he came to a full stop turning around to face them, Faith looking up toward the doorway came to recognize one of them, a tall young man with skin dark as bronze, short hair and dark brown eyes full of mischief, he wore a goofy grin on his face, dressed in the boys uniform a small plastic bag dangled from his wrist that swayed back and forth as he clapped.


    Standing next to him was a girl a head shorter, although she wore the girls school uniform Faith could tell her body was well built, in one hand was a cell phone, in the other the hilt of a wooden sword, on the sleeve of her shirt was a band that read Disciplinary Committee. With short brown hair that swayed back and forth by her ears and light green eyes filled with energy, as she looked expectantly at the situation unfolding before her.


    The dark skinned young man continued to clap slowly, raising his nose in the air he began to look down on Jayson, with a flick of his arm the dark skinned young man pointed toward him


    "My name is Kenny, I''m so winning, step to me get punched in ya kidney!"


    Herhymed off beat opening the hand that was pointing, mimicking a mic dropping motion, he turned his headaway, and began to twist himself into a series of awkward poses. With each pose the dark skinned young man who proclaimed himself Kenny, would wink toward Jayson, watching this Faith didn''t know whether to laughor cry. The atmosphere seeming to settle down after the spectacle occurred, the little girl looked between Kenny and Faith, snickering soon laughing


    "Hahaha . . .Kenny you must think your hilarious rhyming such nonsense, you wont get anywhere with skills like those. Any way, you must be Faith. Very nice to meet you, I''m Annie, the new second in command of the Disciplinary Committee. Do you mind if I have that small fry there?"


    Her voice matching her demeanor, light and carefree, the grip on her wooden sword tightened to a point where her knuckles whitened, her lips slowly tugging up wards into a cute smile that gave off a frightening pressure, it radiated covering the pointy-eared guy. At which point his body began to shake like a leaf in fear, he felt the urge to run away but was petrified to the spot he stood. Faith turned her head away from Annie, focusing completely on Jayson her hands curling into fists


    "Do what you want."


    Faith replied her gaze still on Jayson, she stood still making sure he didn''t try anything as both Jayson and Faith looked toward Annie, Jayson had a beads of sweat trickle past his brows, confusion over taking his senses, his instincts telling him to find an escape, causing his eyes to dart between everyone to find an opening. Movement brought him back to reality as he focused on the unfolding situation, Annie started walking toward the pointy-eared guy bringing the sword to rest by her thigh,Pointy-ears was still shaking as he watched Annie approach closing his eyes he ran straight toward the open door way, disregarding everything else in his dash for freedom.


    As he ran Annie stopped with a questioned look on her face, as she was unsure as to why anyone would come toward failure, planting a foot on the ground she kicked out with her free leg, embedding the tip of her toe deep into his stomach. Pointy-ears felt a sharp pain flow through his body, opening his eyes he saw the long length of leg protrudingfrom him. Following the origins of the leg his eyes met the curious look of Annie who was slowly lowering her leg, folding his arms over his stomach he fell to his knees, his forehead touching the cool cement below.


    "I wonder why, he ran towards me like that? That was a stupid battle tactic, and I wouldn''t have closed my eyes either. How can you see if an attack is coming like that? Maybe he was trying to train his reactions? Aw well, good luck next time."


    Annie mused to herself returning to Kenny''s side, while doing so Kenny was clutching his sides with laughter, pointing at the pointy-eared guy and short fat guy respectively, tears of joy streaming from his eyes, wiping away the tears Kenny directed his sight toward Jayson again, the look of mischief shining brightly in his face, with a swift turn Kenny put his back to Jayson''s view, bending over he began to slap his own backside in taunting


    "You don''t have skill got no style, surprise attacks can be seen from a mile. If you want to challenge the queen, you''ve got to beat joker and sword maiden Annie. Don''t get your hopes up though, we''re gonna send you home crying to mommy."


    As Kenny shook his behind toward Jayson, Faith covered her mouth shivering constantly doing her best to maintain her composure, coughing dryly to bring everyone''s attention back to her. Looking to Faith, Jayson narrowed his eyes before fully erecting himself in a professional manner, pushing up his glasses a bit reflected the light off his lens, calmly he surveyed his surroundings, looking at the two guys that brought him here both unconscious, he clicked his tongue


    "Tsk. They didn''t hold up at all and now I''m out numbered, how to escape? The only exit in the door leading down stairs, but those two won''t let me near it I''m sure. . . I could jump but I wouldn''t survive the fall. These people are trouble, especially that girl with the red hair."


    Jayson thought to himself, his instincts screaming at him to get as far away from this place, his muscles locking up still rooted to the spot, a vein popping up like earthworms on his forehead throbbing constantly, his mind in a frenzy due to be cornered, his heart rate slowly growing out of control, with his blood circulating irregularly he jolted forward, rushing toward Kenny and Annie.


    "I''ll get by these two and escape down the stairs, once I''m there I can at least get my back to a wall and can fight them at my pace."


    Reassuring himself, Jayson focused and pressed forward trying to knock over Kenny in his charge, lowering his shoulder aiming for the center of Kenny''s chest, the glare in his eyes conveyed the violence he wanted to cause, the idea of Kenny gasping for air on the ground, brought a smile to his face, returning from his thoughts he braced for the impact.


    Kenny watching the incoming human projectile he reached back, fingers wrapping around the shiny door knob, pulling the door closed he moved away from his original position just as Jayson came within a breath''s touch.


    "Bang"


    Kenny smiled as he watched him run into the door, not breaking his stride towards Faith waving happily, coming to her side he reached into the plastic bag and retrieved a package of candy, tossing it to her. Pulling a box of cookies out as well he threw them to the approaching Annie, looking beyond at the freshly made dent in the door, whistling he turn back toward Faith chuckling,


    "Lady, if we hadn''t shown up, those guys might have gotten seriously hurt. You gotta learn to hold back or you might kill someone. I mean, not that anyone could really stop you or that you know how to hold back for that matter."


    As Kenny scolded Faith stepped forward, delivering a swift headbutt , knocking into him ruthlessly


    "You''ve got to stop that stupid rhyming, it doesn''t help."


    Faith retorted stepping toward Annie looking her up and down, Kenny receiving the unexpected attack cradled his head, his face scrunched up in pain as his brain jumbled around in his skull. His balance disrupted he wobbled for a moment stretching his arms out looking for something to stabilize himself on, fingers settling on something sturdy and broad. Clearing the stars from his vision Kenny looked to see what held him up, only to be met with a heavily breathing Jayson, the arm that ran into the door swaying freely by his side.


    Supporting the dislocated shoulder with his free hand, Jayson stared down angrily at Kenny before looking to Faith and Annie respectively. The anger in his eyes faded slowly replaced by a disturbing peace, the tranquility taking over his face, he faced the closed door bracing his dislocated arm against it.


    "Ha!"


    Roaring loudly Jayson threw his full weight and strength into the arm and door.


    "Kacha, Pop, Pop!''


    The sound of eggshells breaking filled the air as Jayson forcefully relocated his arm, the following popping occurred while shrugging it, settling it into place. Watching this Kenny jumped backward coming to a rest next to Annie and Faith, the latter bearing an impressed smile stepping out to the front, cupping her hands in greeting, Faith assumed a horse stance, her body tightened making sounds like stretching leather, the space around her began to distort with a ferocious aura.


    "Can you still play?"


    Taunting him Faith''s smile started to shift forming into a snicker, staring at him with expectancy dancing about in her eyes. Taking joy from the brutish manner in which Jayson recovered, igniting her passion for fighting to its fullest extent. Faith clenched her fists turning her knuckles white from the strength of the grip, her feet dug into the ground preparing for the first sign of battle to leap directly into the fray. Within her spirit the urge to bring down anyone in her path burned, driving her blood to boil. The aura she bore intensified as a result, waves of fighting intent swam toward him.


    Jayson watching the situation unfold began to feel the pressure, maintaining an indifferent look he struggled to resist the powerful aura, rocking on his heels, his instincts took over completely propelling his body toward Faith, kneeling before her Jayson prostrated himself, forehead resting on the cool floor. Only the sound of his heavy breathing could be heard.


    "I lose, I can''t beat you. In respect for that strength, allow me to follow you."


    Jayson closed his eyes after speaking, leaving the rest to fate.

 4 Chapter 4: Alright, that happened

    Faith caught off guard by the unexpected events unfolding, Kenny turned away his face turning red from stifled laughter. Annie not paying attention to anyone as she was preoccupied with cookies she was given earlier, occasionally checking the contents of her phone, rapidly tapping on her screen.


    Kenny gaining control of himself, coughed lightly and made his way to the prostrating Jayson, squatting down his hands flew to Jayson''s shoulders patting them repeatedly, after a while of pattingKenny started to roar with laughter that rang across the empty space. Soon enough Annie joined in, not sure why Kenny was laughing but it looked fun and that was reason enough for her.


    Faith was left with a dejected look upon her face, switching between the laughing duo and Jayson. Upset that her potential opponent surrendered so easily, she sighed heavily walking back to her chair. Picking up her phone Faith settled down, the look of extreme boredom returning to her face. The sound of her tapping on the screen sounded between the laughter, Annie seeing this eyes lit up.


    "Finally, I thought we would not be able to finish our match. I''m not sure if Kenny told you, but I''ve been the one playing you this last week, you''re so strong, but I won''t give up!"


    Lifting up her phone showing off a familiar avatar to Faith, seeing this Faith nodded slightly while looking at her phone, adorned with random charms and heavy fingerprints. Returning to her own screen the sounds of tapping filled the air, feeling a slight nudge to her side Faith looked up to see Kenny''s wide smile, casting a sidelong glance, Faith followed his eyes landing on the still prostrating Jayson.Heaving a heavy sigh Faith gave a curt nod, before returning to her screen.


    Kenny turned back toward Jayson, sitting next to him, he used his elbow to give Jayson a slight jab to the ribs, to which Jayson flinched before looking up.


    "You know, instead of fighting, you could''ve just asked to be friends. It may not look like it, but Faith is a real shy type. I mean she doesn''t know the new girl I brought and they are already playing games together."


    Looking toward the two girls rapidly tapping on their phones, Kenny chuckled drawing Jayson''s eyes to the sight before them. Standing up Kenny looked down at him, offering his hand toward Jayson.


    At that moment a ray of sunlight dropped from the sky enshrouding the group on the roof, warmth spreading into each of their bodies. The air becoming tranquil and still, a tear forming at thecorners of Jayson''s eyes as the feeling of gratitude welled up from the depths of his heart. Reaching out he took Kenny''s hand, grasping it firmly he hefted himself up onto his feet. With Kenny leading the way Jayson made his way toward Faith and Annie, sitting awkwardly on Annie''s left to get a better view of the game they were playing.


    "Ding"


    A soft ringing made its way through the air , reverberating inside their ears the ringing grew louder as the seconds passed. To a point where it was no longer soft but thundering, causing tremors throughout their bodies. Faith clapped her hands over her ears attempting to muffle the sound, her phone falling to the ground cracked upon impact, with each ring growing in intensity brought her to standing eyes scrunched into slits. Forcing them open she looked to her surrounding peers, shock taking her. Kenny, Annie, and Jayson were all at her feet unconscious. As she struggled to resist the pounding sound in her head, a series of strange runes started to etch themselves in the ground around them.


    Slowly this runes encircled Faith, Annie, Kenny, and Jayson, as each rune completed itself the a light would shine, sending a pillar of white light into the sky. Faith unable to endure the sound succumbed as the last rune completed a strange formation, rainbow lights erupting from the runes.


    As the rainbow lights shined the earth began to shake violently, the winds howled in fury whistling as it blew, the sunlight grew in intensity becoming scorching sun rays, the water in the air grew heavy droplets becoming visible.


    The rampaging elements seeming to act out the destruction of Heaven and Earth, a long drawn out apocalyptic storm. Like they wanted to end all life it came across, the sky darkened red as though washed in blood. The sun and moon both hung in the sky, started to revolve around each other, growing faster with each revolution causing the rainbow light pillar to sway.


    The pillar of rainbow lights started to swirl together leading into a long multi-colored tunnel, the swirling lights generated a vacuum,drawing them into the tunnel as the elements raged. Like rag dolls they floated helplessly upward to its center. Harsh winds, bits of rock, heavy water and sunlight gathered as well in the tunnel, the rainbow light covered them. The light acting as a magnet drawing the stray elements to their bodies, disappearing on contact with them. Soon the heavens and earth shook violently, the tunnel of rainbow light closed on itself like a ball.


    The runes flashing with a blinding radiance, swallowing the ball in streaks of light. Inside the ball of light the bodies of the four begun to emit the same light that enveloped them, in the sky the rainbow lights danced vibrantly. At that moment the radiance from the runes began to dim, the runes themselves fading away one by one, with each rune vanishing the rainbow light ball shrunk in size, the raging Heavens and earth slowly settled, returning to the peaceful scene it started from. As the last rune faded the light ball disappeared entirely, along with the four inside, as if it never happened.


    The pointy-eared guy stirred for moment before hefting himself off the ground, confusion riddled upon his face as he looked around, seeing only his short fat friend knocked out on the ground. He scratched his head as he staggered to rouse his friend. With a gentle poke to his chubby cheeks, the short fat guy jolted awake. His body fully alert in preparation for battle, however looking around only to see his pointy-eared friend. They looked at each other and shrugged heading off toward the door.


    The pointy-eared guy broke their silence


    "Where do you think they went? Maybe to the court yard?"


    The short fat guy shrugged again,


    "Who knows, lets go to the cafeteria, I didn''t pack my lunch and I''m starving."


    With a nod they headed through the door and down the stairs. At that point in time, Faith regained consciousness. Her head pounding furiously as she checked her surroundings with a pained expression on her face, seeing Kenny and the others rousing themselves slowly. A faint sigh escapingher, Faith looked seriously at the surrounding area. The pained expression was replaced with that of shock, for all she saw was darkness that seemed stretch on endlessly.


    Wherever Faith turned it there was an expanse of darkness, with no signs of life ever being there, however there was a warmth to it that made it tolerable. Curiosity taking control she started to explore walking forward aimlessly, although it was completely dark Faith could see things perfectly. Looking down at her hands, flexing her fingers for a moment before turning to look at Kenny who was kneeling beside Annie and Jayson.


    Continuing forward in the dark area Faith came to what she believed was the edge, as though an invisible barrier prevented her from going any further. With her palms outstretched against the surface she followed the extension of the boundary, walking a full circle around from where she started. Not losing sight of Kenny since she began moving, Faith stood at her starting point.


    "Is this some kind of enclosure? How did we get here?Why do I feel at ease in a strange place?''


    Bombarding herself with questions she didn''t know the answer too Faith shook her head and joined the others that huddled together. Confusion clear on their faces, Kenny noticing Faith first stood to greet her,


    "Well this sure isn''t home, and I haven''t the slight clue how we got here. Ashamed to say I passed out instantly. You?" The wide grin returning to Kenny''s face as Faith joined them.


    Faith responded with a slight shake of her head,"No clue, this place is enclosed, no entrances or exits." Directing the last part of her response to the stirring Jayson who looked as though he was about to go off and check for an escape. Having his intentions seen through, Jayson shrugged his shoulders. With a graceful sweep of his hand the length of hair covering half his face was pushed back behind his ear, with both eyes unobstructed Jayson swept the area.

 5 Chapter 5: Weird Dog, Weird System

    As Jayson was searching the darkness for any signs of escape, he came across an odd shape standing silently in the darkness. With a subtle motion he drew everyone''s attention, "Alright then, whats that?" Faith and the others looked out into the distance, staring at the odd shape that formlessly appeared. As they were staring, the shape begun to move toward them slowly.


    The shape contorting as it moved along like silly putty being pulled constantly from different angles, it made no sounds as it crept closer. Jayson was the closest to the shape shifting mass coming toward them and as such was the first to rise, ready to take the lead should the shape turn out to be hostile. Annie hefted her wooden sword as she too stood up taking a stand next to Jayson, meeting each others gaze momentarily they faced it.


    Kenny chuckled nervously, "Well this is great, winding up in a strange place, with a strange group, with a strange object that might kill us. May as well go down swinging, eh Faith?" Standing as he spoke, eyes focused on the moving shape still slowly moving toward them.Shuffling in line next to Jayson, the three of them bore a look of determination and resolve. Without a shred of fear they were prepared for a mighty battle with no hope for victory, watching them Faith was moved.


    Her friend and two people she just met were preparing themselves for a fight with an unknown enemy, with a small tear forming at the corners of her eyes. Faith leaped to the forefront of the group, a rarely seen smile etched on her face, "You guys are dumb, but I guess this is better than nothing." The smile vanished slowly as she spoke, the cold indifferent look of hers returning. The odd shape coming to a stop before Faith, now able to see it clearly she took a step back subconsciously.


    Before her was the odd shape, it didn''t have a solid form resembling that of a living liquid. Although the area was dark Faith could see it had no definite shape, but a multitude of constantly changing shapes compressed into one being. The odd shape in front of her vibrated slight before swelling in size coming to a stop at her head, taking the form of a giant cube before shifting to a sphere. Inside the sphere Faith could see a reflection of herself, however the reflection of herself was smiling brightly. The full beauty of her face magnified in that smile, as light shone in the reflections eyes it blinded Faith for a moment.


    The odd sphere vibrated once more, "Ding, user recognized." A voice that was both deep as thunder and soft as silk sounded throughout the area, the odd shape transforming into a large triangle, moving on toward Kenny leaving a confused Faith behind it. Arriving before a slightly petrified Kenny, he too stared at his reflection in the odd triangle. A solemn version of him was seemingly waiting, eyes closed with a subtle hint of overwhelming power radiating in this reflection, "Ding, user recognized." once again sounded.


    Watching as the ever transforming shape make its way toward Annie and Jayson,twice more did the same phrase sound before the shape took up a position in the middle of the four, "Team recognized, booting systems, configuring skills, generating familiar, imparting general knowledge." The voice began to chatter on, leaving Faith and the others even more confused than when the woke up.


    The odd shape began to emit faint rays of light that covered them, within the light their bodies begun to glow.


    The odd shape transforming rapidly split itself into five separate pieces, four of the pieces flew directly at them. Startled by the oncoming projectiles the group scattered, however the pieces followed faster than Faith and the others could perceive. Faith not looking back as she ran away, felt the projectile chasing her touch the back of her neck. The moment it did so she felt a strange sensation that wasn''t unpleasant , causing her to slow to a stop as the formless projectile was absorbed through her skin.


    A warmth flowed through her body the gradually grew hotter, however it was not painful but a delightful feeling that Faith enjoyed immensely, "These things aren''t dangerous, just wait and see!" She shouted, her voice echoing across the dark space. Hearing what she had to say Kenny was the first to stop, the projectile phasing into his body. Looking to her with a face of understanding, he enjoyed the feeling in his body. The heat covering him from head to toe growing until steam rose from his body, Kenny felt as though he was going through a change.


    Annie and Jayson looked at each other before stopping, their respective projectiles coming into contact with them as well, soon enough all four of them were enjoying a relatively good experience. Gathering before the fifth piece of the odd shape with excited stares, wondering what will become of this stray piece. As they were staring, "System interface successfully downloaded to all users." The odd shapes voice sounded lightly in their heads simultaneously, startling them stiff, Annie looked to the others slight agitation in her eyes, "What the heck is this voice?!"


    Kenny shrugged, " No idea but. . ."


    He was cut off as the voice sounded again " I''m the system designated by your collective subconsciousness.The Team System if you must give me a name, would be the most suitable."


    Annie having her question answered nodded her head in understanding, settling herself on the ground. Fiddling with her wooden sword for a moment she asked curiously, "Where are we?"


    Not knowing if the voice of this so called Team System would respond again, to her delight it did, "Users are currently in their collective subconscious, pending arrival of their predetermined destination."


    Faith tilted her head the side pondering, "Predetermined destination? Where is that?"


    As though the system read her thoughts it sounded, "Releasing users at nearest point of origin, pending gestation of users collective familiar." Even though her initial question was semi answered, it brought up more questions, "Collective familiar? What is that?" The confusion on her face slowly turning to anger however to her dismay, there was nothing to vent upon save for Kenny and the others. As Faith was fuming, Jayson was eyeing the fifth piece of the odd shape remnant.


    Poking at it slightly with the toe his shoe, it jiggled for a moment before glowing with a radiant light, "Don''t poke me with your weird appendages!" A snappy and agitated voice sounded through the area, drawing the gazes of everyone else, fascination spread over his face as he extending his index finger to poke at random places on the remnant shape. However the remnant jiggled angrily, "Keep your fingers off me, can''t you see that I''m busy shaping myself!"


    Jayson ceased his poking for a moment, taken aback by the outburst of the talking odd shape remnant, "Shaping yourself into what? An even odder form than this?"


    Sarcasm filled his voice as the poking resumed, Faith watched on for a moment. Feeling as though she was watching a kid torment a slightly weaker kid, the odd shape remnant continued to jiggle angrily, "No, a version of you that doesn''t have bad hair styles!" The retort came quickly as Annie and Kenny burst into laughter.


    Jayson turning red from anger walked away from the odd shape remnant, muttering to himself, "This is a style that took days to perfect, I wouldn''t expect you all to understand beauty" isolating himself a few meters behind Faith, he sat on the ground a dark cloud seeming to hang over him. As he settled himself, the odd remnant shape started to pulsate. As a harsh light surged from within it, rapidly spreading outward, so great was the intensity that even though he was faced away from the source, Jayson still had to cover his eyes to prevent himself from going blind.


    Faith, Kenny, and Annie shielded theirs eyes as the light shone for an instant, fading as quickly as it came. Faith uncovered her eyes, looking towards the spot where the light was produced. No longer seeing the odd remnant piece, but a short yet long body covered with dark brown fur. A long pink tongue hanging out of its mouth, with a black nose that resembled a piece of a cars tire. A slightly wagging tail protruded. In every aspect they could only see a golden retriever where the odd remnant shape was, padding forward the newly formed dog sat before the group, "Hello, my name is Alan, a supreme tier familiar, consider yourselves lucky to have me."

 6 Chapter 6 : Power Tab

    Faith and company stared at the dog who was currently licking himself, periodically stopping to pant his tongue hanging lazily from his mouth. Seeing that nothing was happening, Alan tiled his head to one side his floppy ears perking up slightly. Looking to each of them in confusion, "What? Have you never seen a familiar before? I mean, I know I''m handsome but you don''t have to stare. Say something."


    Annie fidgeted, her expression was that of excitement, "I want. . .to hug you, very badly." As she inched closer to Alan, hands outstretched toward his furry body. Kenny looking back and forth between the dog and Annie, sat down abruptly, "Alright, I''m officially confused. Now there is talking dog, and a weird voice and icons in my vision. . .wait, when did those get here?"


    "The icon you see is the Power Tab, collected skills and magic are stored there installed after the systems integration. Concentrate on the icon to open the tab, abilities available to you will be listed."


    The system answered, providing an explanation of how to operate the icon. Faith hearing such looked at the icon in her sight, it reacted instantly a screen appearing in her eyes. At the top was two skills labeled Destruction and Flame Manipulation, shifting her focus away from the two skills Faith stared at the others who seemed to be in a daze.


    Her cheeks flushed slightly in a embarrassment, "Was I spaced out like that too?"


    she thought to herself for a moment, "Indeed you were." The system swiftly responding, causing Faith to smile slightly, it was easy for the system to respond to her thoughts which made it easier to communicate. Kenny shifted a bit and sighed the focus returning to his eyes, looking over at Faith with a wide smile, " I''ve got two skills, Healing Wind and Light Bullet, looks like I''m your white mage."Shaking her head, she turned away from him looking on toward Annie, who was coming out of her daze.


    "I got Wind Manipulation and Water Manipulation, looks like skills from a video game. I wonder if there will be monsters to fight?" The excited look in her eyes growing wilder as she asked, "Confirming hostile fauna near origin point." The system prompt in replying. At this point only Jayson was still in a daze, his lips curling into a deep frown as his eyes regained their focus, "I''ve got two skills, Copy and Steal. What kind of skills are those?" He asked angrily while walking toward Kenny, " Copy, mimic skills of target. Steal, take items, or skills from target." The system answering the question the moment it was asked.


    "Well if your done examining yourselves, you all should be waking up now." Alan barked scratching behind his ear with one of his hind legs, before walking off toward the boundary of their subconscious his tail wagging furiously. Faith watching him walk off in the distance soon losing sight of him, standing to give chase she felt her body seize up. A strong suction generating from the middle of the space of consciousness drawing all of them towards it, without any resistance they flew toward the source. What seemed to be a miniature tornado with a pillar of faint light in the eye, the warmth of the light covering them in its radiance. They circled for what seemed to be an eternity eventually coming to a halt, Faith and the others hanging in mid air as the scenery changed.


    The dark emptiness transformed into a lush green land, a pleasant breeze caused the grass to sway carelessly. A sweet scent in the air filled their noses, energizing their bodies and minds, Slowly they descended feet touching the soft grass. Looking around one could see a forest that stretched on for miles, in the distance a few miles from where they landed was a clearing. Inside that clearing was a small village with a large fence surrounding its perimeter, even though they were far from the village people could be seen patrolling the fence. "Should we go and say hello? Annie asked looking at Faith, Kenny and Jayson following suit in their gaze.


    "Saying hello would be the ideal thing to do."The system buzzing in their heads, Jayson ticked his head in agitation looking around. His eyes stopping upon a tree a few meters away, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. A strange feeling welling up in his stomach, the urge to investigatedrove him to split from the group for a closer look. Kenny noticing this walked quietly behind, curious to see what he was up to. As Jayson got closer to the tree a faint rustling sound came from the tree top, looking up to the branches for any signs of life, "I think there is something in this tree we should be wary of, I don''t know why but its hiding pretty well."


    Pointing to the upper branches of the tree Jayson narrowed his eyes, trying to uncover if anything was actually in there. Kenny close behind him noticed movement, "Look out above you." He called lightly, Jayson stomped his feet hard on the ground jumping backward to Kenny. While he was moving a dark figure landed where Jayson was a moment ago, had he moved any slower the figure would have been atop of him. Landing next to Kenny, both he and Jayson stared at the figure making its way from the shade of the tree. It was humanoid in figure, with white fur and blue stripes running along its legs and forearms.


    It was muscular with a lions mane and face, piercing yellow eyes that swept over them. From what Kenny guessed it was at least 6 ft tall, with its tail swaying like a snake. Standing before them it exuded a dangerous aura, with blood dripping from its mouth.Gripped in its claws was a meat cleaver with half the blade cut off, resembling close to a short axe that was still dripping with fresh blood. Looking down at the two scrawny boys in front, the blood soaked maw opened and released a deep thundering laugh that shook their eardrums, "Hahaha, and here I thought some adventures had found me coming out of that portal but it was just a group of kids. Those girls seem cute and would fetch a high price, you boys however. . . " It licked away the blood on its mouth continuing, " You shall be my snack for scaring me."


    "Its a giant kitty!" Annie screamed running up beside Jayson and Kenny, her knees shaking in excitement, pointing the tip of her sword at the creature, "Hey system, what is that? Can I catch it?" As she questioned the system Faith sat on the ground, keeping her eyes on the village in the distance. "Target creature is called Were-Lion, probability of capture 10%." The systems response came as quick as usual, sounding in all of their heads. With this Annie''s eyes brightened, "10% is enough for me, Jayson, help me out." Looking to Jayson with expectancy, to which he shrugged, "Why should I?"sticking his nose into the air as he asked.


    "Using the Steal ability raises capture rate to 50%" The system chimed as always when a question was asked, killing Jayson''s attempt to be snobby , Annie giggled patting Jayson on the shoulder, "You heard the voice in our heads, lets capture this kitty." Kenny shuffled away leaving Jayson and Annie to face the Were-Lion themselves taking a seat next to Faith. As the Were-Lion watched veins started popping up on its forehead, "You want to catch me?!?! I''ll tear you all to shreds and feed your entrails to my kinsmen!!" He roared charging forward, brandishing his meat cleaver. Annie and Jayson separated before the attacking Were-Lion was upon them, looking between the two of them for a moment, "I''ll attack the girl first, I don''t like the look of hers." Coming to a decision it rushed toward Annie, swinging its meat cleaver at wild angles trying to slice of her limbs.


    With each swing it made Annie dodged with relative ease, each swing of the cleaver passing by followed by her movements made it seem like the were dancing, Jayson watching this suddenly realized something, "How do we use our skills?"Looking to Faith and Kenny, who shook their heads in response. "Skills works when activated, speaking them aloud is common, mental activation requires additional requirements that haven''t been met." The system chimed, giving Jayson the answer he was looking forward, a sly smile slowly appeared on Annie''s face having heard thesystem as well. Lightly stomping on the ground she flew out of the Were-Lion''s range, a slight breeze gathering near her feet. Sliding to a stop she lifted her sword up, pointing the tip at the Were-Lion the sly smile turning into a wide grin.


    The Were-Lion felt something was off with the girl, "To be able to dodge me for so long, must have gotten some form of training somewhere, well it doesn''t matter just makes this all the more fun." Continuing his charge, the meat cleaver in his grip started to glow with a faint green light, slashing toward Annie once again the meat cleaver dischargedthe light in a burst. Flying toward her in a semi-circle of light, splitting the earth as it traveled. The debris from the slash grey in color as though the life was sucked from it, "Draining Strike, mid-tier skill, would you like to Steal it?" The system prompted Jayson.

 7 Chapter 7: Where did you come from?

    Hearing the prompt Jayson vigorously nodded his head, "Yes, do it." His right hand acted on its own, reaching out toward the attack. Vibrating in the air for a moment the tips of his fingers started to shine, a hand that looked both solid and liquid emerged and extended out. Flying through the air past the horrified Were-Lion, who stopped to watch, the fingers wrap around the broad end of the strike. The hand enveloping the Draining Strike soon after contact, halting the attack an inch from Annie''s sword.


    Annie chuckled, " Do you have anymore tricks? If not, would you mind being my test kitty?"


    As she spoke a cute smile slowly appeared, however there was no warmth, but bitter cold within that smile. The Were-Lion watched as the hand that stopped his attack retreat back towards Jayson, the light fading within his hand as the skill finished it''s job. Turning back to focus on Annie was it greeted with sight of her cold smile, without another moments hesitation it rushed toward the surrounding trees.


    "Screw this, those kids are weird. That move he used just now ate my attack, I doubt I can deal with it on my own. I''ll just return home and get backup, they''ll be easy for us to find no matter where they go." The Were-Lion muttered to it''s self while running for the trees, looking back to make sure they were not giving chase, what it saw drove it to run faster. Annie was hot on it''s tail, the look on her face resembled a predator that found a weak prey.


    "Don''t run kitty, stay and be good." Annie said casually, with a light tap of her foot she flew into the air out of the Were-Lion''s sight, her giggles echoing through the trees. Coming before a tree the Were-Lion didn''t stop running, instead raised one its powerful claws, slicing through the trunk of the tree in a single swipe. It was hoping that the tree would be enough to slow down the weird little girl, to his dismay the giggling continued on growing louder with each passing moment.


    "That''s enough Annie, we got better things to do than to chase a frightened cat." A gruff yet light voice rang through the forest, shaking the trees as it traveled. Faith, Jayson, and Kenny flinched as the voice originated from beside them, bearing the brunt of the noise they all gritted their teeth. Faith staring at the cause, a mass of golden brown fur with a long wagging tail. A long pink tongue hanging out its mouth, as it panted heavily. Alan the dog had materialized seemingly out of no where, using his hind leg to scratch behind one of his floppy ears.


    Looking in the direction of where the Were-Lion, and Annie had run off too he shot a clear look of annoyance. Turning his nose in the air enabled him to look down on them, "If you can''t even catch a frightened cat, how do you expect to survive? I''m surprised no one has eaten that thing already considering how weak it is." He commented as though he was giving an evaluation. Dropping down from the trees, Annie watched as the Were-Lion vanished into the depths of the forest. Pouting she looked at Alan, "You could have let me catch it, when will I ever see a cute animal like that one?"


    Kenny''s shoulders were heaving up and down as he listen to the both of them, settling himself down as quickly as he started. His eyes met with Faith''s for a moment, who turned back to stare at the village in the distance, "I figure we should probably secure a place to sleep before it gets too late, let''s head to the village and find us a good one." Faith silently nodded her head, still focused on the village. Annie returning to the group sighed, "Well at least we''ve got the cute dog, I''ll take that over a kitty. Jayson, that skill you took, what happened to it?"


    Jayson shrugged, "No idea, I''m pretty sure it was taken by whatever came out of my hand, don''t know where it. . ."As he started talking he was cut of by the system''s response, "Stolen attack has been added to the list of usable abilities." Having gotten the response she was after Annie stood next to Alan, who was busy gnawing lightly at the longest part of his leg. Looking up from his leg to scan the faces of the group, Alan sniffed the air around them sneezing soon after, "You all smell horrible, forget the village, should just dump you into the nearest body of water. Did you all roll in a pile of dung before hand? I mean, it looks like something bad hair cut would do, HEY GET THE HECK OFF ME!!"


    Before he could continue berating the group,, Annie stooped down, wrapping her arms around Alan''s body pulling him into a bear hug. He flailed about trying to free himself, but couldn''t get away from her monster hold. Alan looked to theothers for help, however got none, " Annie, let him go. I''ll agree with one thing he said, we''ve got things to do." Faith spoke as she stood up focused solely on the village in the distance. Setting off with Kenny behind her, Jayson looked to Annie for a moment, re positioning his glasses, " I guess we do what she says for now."


    Annie pouted slowly releasing her hold on Alan, to follow behind Faith and Kenny. Jayson looked down at his fingers, flexing them a few times before following the group. Alan heaving a sigh of relief, shook his head, "These guys are weird, but I have a feeling that they might amount to something. No use in worrying about that now." Thinking to his self as he caught up with the fast moving group. They walked along in silence, taking in the sight around them, Kenny being the first to break the quiet, "This place is heavily forested, from the top of the hill I could only see this village. Not much else, any of you?" Turning to look at Annie and Jayson respectively to which Annie responded, " While I was chasing the kitty I didn''t see anything other than more trees and you all."


    Jayson shook his head, "I was trying to figure out how to take down an animal that was taller than us, didn''t have time to look at much else and even if I did, I would tell Faith not you." Turning his nose up in response. Faith glanced back, shooting a glare toward Jayson, feeling the oppressive gaze upon him a sweat broke out over his forehead. Kenny and Annie chuckled as they pressed on, Faith however stopped suddenly, turning toward Alan pointing, "Where did you come from? I saw you leaving our subconsciousness but you didn''t appear with us. Why?"


    Alan sat down, tilting his head to the side in a seemingly confused manner, "Didn''t I tell you that I''m a supreme tier familiar? I''m always with you all whether you see me or not, just depends on how I feel or if you call for me. Have you never summoned one before?" Watching them all shake their heads, Alan felt helpless as though he was saddled with newborns. Kenny walking up laughing, " We aren''t from here, haven''t you noticed? We are just as confused by all this, we have questions, a lot of them, but for now we need shelter and food. Let''s wait until we do that first." Patting Alan on the head Kenny returned to Faith''s side indicating the urge to move on, with a silent agreement they continued for the village.


    Alan sat there for a moment, a vein popping up on his forehead, "Don''t pet me with your unclean hands." Muttering to himself taking the rear of the group''s trail. It was not long before they reached the gates of the village. Two men stood guard, spears gripped tightly in their hands, they wore little clothing. Wearing only pants that seemed to be made from yarn, they both were tan of skin with muscular frames. A fierce and disciplined gaze they wore, as though hardened by years of grueling battle. They didn''t move until Faith got near the gate, side-stepping before her arms extended, "Who are you?" they grunted in unison.


    Faith looked down at the spears for a moment, "A-are those glowing?" she whispered to herself surprised, the tips of the spears glowing with a faint blue light. " Analyzing, confirmed. Magic Weapon registered. Low-Tier Weapon : Frost Spear added to Crafting List." The System rang through their heads, this causing Jayson to glare for second as he registered what he heard, "Crafting List? The heck is that?" thinking to him self silently."The Crafting List is composed of items that can be made by collecting certain materials."


    Hearing this Jayson''s gaze eased while Kenny walked forward smiling,


    "Hello there, my friends and I aren''t from here and got lost on our travels. We are looking for a place to rest and regroup."In face of his bright smile the guards expressions softened a bit, they stepped past Faith toward him and began chatting merrily.


    "He always has a way of attracting people that I just don''t get, like a freaking magnet or a puppy at the beach. Weird." Faith preoccupied by her thoughts didn''t notice Kenny approach her, patting her shoulder brought her back, "The kind guards are going to let us pass, told me where a local inn is, and gave me these coins to get rooms." Kenny giggled silently as he opened his palm revealing a small pile of bronze and silver coins.

 8 Chapter 8: Inn and ou

    As they thanked the guards for opening the gate, Faith and company walked into the village. Along the street were brick houses of various sizes, signs and stalls lined the street while people rushed in different directions. The various vendors waving their goods in attempts to attract customers, children ran about joyfully with an old beat up ball kicking it between themselves.


    As Faith took in the sight before her, a feeling of familiarity filled her chest as though she seen this before somewhere. At one stall in particular a tall suit of crimson armor stood displayed, glistening in the sun drawing the stares of others passing by. Especially as the group walked by Jayson stared to a point of stopping, that catching Annie''s attention as she too stopped and stared for a moment,


    "You like that armor? I doubt it would fit you." looking to him as she spoke before walking away to catch up with Kenny and Faith.


    Jayson shook his head jogging a bit to catch up to the group, as they headed toward the village center where the inn was supposed to be. Seeing their destination in sight they picked up their pace, passing by a large man angrily shouting at a child, oddly enough the child was wearing a leather chest plate over a green shirt. His legs and arms covered with leather armor, on his back was a long sword that was much bigger than him, the tip dragging along the ground as he stood there. His expressionless face stared at the angry man, ignoring them Faith continued toward the inn.


    Walking inside Kenny approached the counter, lightly waving his hand to catch the attention of a man standing behind it, "Hello there sir, I''m looking to get rooms for myself and my friends. Would you be willing to help us?" Asking earnestly he smiled sliding two bronze coins across the counter top, the man looked down at the two coins on the counter, scooping them up two sets of keys replaced them. "I like the look of you, I''ll give you five nights, food is served until sundown. If you want a wake up call let me know." The man gave Kenny a thumbs up walking back to a stool, turning to look at Faith he held up the keys jiggling them slightly.


    Inside one of the rooms the group settled around the room decompressing, taking in the events that occurred not very long ago. Images of the day flashed through Faith''s mind, from the moment on the roof when she was attacked by Jayson, to the appearance of the Were-Lion. Kenny was in leaning on the bed in a daze, he was looking at the features of the system.


    Eyes hovering over the new icons below the Power Tab, the Crafting List, Fusion, and Exchange were lighting up across the screen. Focusing on the Crafting List a nearly blank screen popped up, at the top of the list Frost Spear was highlighted.


    Going back to the main menu Kenny busied himself with the features of the system, Annie was sitting cross-legged on the floor in silent meditation her wooden sword resting on her knees. Jayson was staring out the window taking notice of the people walking around the village. "Alright, we need to come up with a plan. Currently in, what seems to be a different world, no clue how we got here. A weird thing in our eyes that gives us abilities, and a dog that appears and disappears when it feels."


    said Jayson as he turned to look at Faith


    "I agree and I have an idea, lets figure out all we can about where we are. About this world because I doubt we are going back any time soon." Faith responded shifting her sight to Kenny, "Have you figured anything out about this system thing?" Nudging him with the tip of her shoe drawing him from his daze, Kenny chuckled shaking his head standing up straight, "Not much, they are pretty straight forward as the names are. That''s the easiest way to explain it. However the more I dig and uncover the more questions I get." Returning to the menu screen he continued, "Still, what I do understand is that whatever this is, it''s really amazing!"


    Annie fidgeted in place, slowly opening her eyes to look up at Faith, excitement shining on her face, "Let''s just use them, wouldn''t we gain a better understanding by practical use?!" Rocking back and forth as she spoke. Faith''s eyes widened in surprise for a split second before returning to normal, understanding her intent she smiled, the air between the two girls growing tense.


    "Sure, I''ll take you on!" As Faith replied the temperature in the room grew hot as her aura expanded, causing Jayson, and Kenny to shout in unison, "NOT IN HERE!!" shaking the room slightly with the force.


    Downstairs the room was quiet having heard the shouting, "Kids sure are energetic these days." The man behind the counter sighed, standing up he proceeded towards the stairs. "It''s alright everyone I''ll go and check, just finish your meals." assuring them as he ascended the stairway.


    Inside the room Jayson was scolding Faith and Annie, "If you want to fight go outside, we can''t afford to destroy this room. Annie, don''t provoke her like that, time and place! Hopefully we can stay low profile until we figure ourselves out. That means no causing trouble. Do either of you understand?" He asked huffing, shoulders moving up and down with each breath.


    Faith turned away from Jayson, while Annie looked down at the floor boards. Alan who was laying on the bed lifted up suddenly, "There is someone listening at the door, act naturally I don''t think they mean you harm." transmitting his voice through their minds, Jayson muttered something as a knock sounded at the door. Kenny deftly moved to the door slowly opening it, revealing the man from before. A slight nervous look on his face as Kenny stepped backward clearing this way for his entry, crossing the threshold of the room he stood before Faith, Annie, and Jayson with Kenny leaning against the door.


    Faith stared at the man before her, tall as he was Faith could see the features of him clearly. He was middle aged with a semi-muscular frame, a square chin and heavy brows gave him a slight heroic look. The headband around his forehead kept his long gray hair from his eyes, as he stared at Faith with his dark brown eyes a bead of sweat trickled down. "I heard shouting so I''m making sure things are alright in here, no one hurt or dying right?"Seeing as how none of them responded, he chuckled nervously " I''m Josiah, however most call me Old Jo. Is there anything I can do for you, um. . .travelers?"


    Jayson adjusted his glasses slightly a slight glare being cast off the lens, "We would like information about where we are, is there a place with books available to the public?" He asked calmly in a sickly sweet voice as though he was trying to charm him into answering, Old Jo winced turning toward Faith whilst saying, "You are in the village Topo on the outskirts of the Krungen empire, and if it''s books you are wanting. The Mages and Adventurers guild has some however they aren''t free for anyone to take a look at." As he was explaining Faith shot a meaningful glance toward Kenny for a moment, to which he nodded understanding the message she wanted to relay. Lightly pushing himself off the door, Kenny walked up behind Old Jo placing his hands on his shoulders.


    "Thank you for that information, we''ll go take a look. I''m terribly sorry about the noise and we will do our best to keep it down. Mind telling me where to find them first though?" Kenny chuckled leading Old Jo outside the room shutting the door behind them. As the door closed Faith eyes glistened, "Guild, Guild, Guild!" Repeating it over and over in her mind.As she thought to herself a gentle smile slowly formed, excitement building up causing her body to shake slightly.


    Jayson sighed shrugging his shoulders, "I guess we''ll be going as soon as that fool returns, remember what I said please. No trouble."The door opened as he finished speaking, Kenny stepping inside the room his usual wide grin ever apparent on his face, "I''m sorry for the wait everyone, let''s go get our study on." Faith and Jayson following him out the room, Annie followed slowly, "I wanted to fight though." pouting to herself as they left the inn.


    After wondering around the village following Kenny''s lead, the group arrived in front of a grand building. One of few that looked important in the area, the stairs were a polished white leading to the door beside the threshold two gold statues stood. The statues were detailed in their design featuring a young man holding a wand. The building was dazzling in the sun, rays of light reflecting off the polished surface of the building giving it a more majestic look. The deep blue color of the outside walls gave off a sense of calm as one approached. Around the back of the building was a small field.


    Inside the field a couple of people were standing a length apart from each other, in the space between a roaring flame enveloped a skeletal creature. The creature bared its teeth and roared, the force of which extinguished the flames completely however before it could do much else the flames returned. Burning at a much greater intensity, reducing the creature to ash in the midst of the fire.


    Annie watched in amazement as they walked into the building.


    "Why does this feel like a video game?" Faith thought to herself, nearly bumping into Kenny who stopped at the front desk.


    Standing behind the counter was a young lady, a pointed blue hat with a silver band around the base sat on her head slightly. A small cloak hung around her shoulders, held together by a small ruby like piece of jewelry.


    Her ensemble matched many of those roaming the building, with the majority carrying stacks of books.


    With a warm smile she bowed, long strands of brown hair swaying with her movement, "Welcome to the Mages Guild, if you are new, I can answer any questions you have. How may I assist you?"

 9 Chapter 9: Let’s test that ou

    "Yes you can pretty lady, we are looking for books. Any and all things worth reading." SaidKenny, his ever bright smile radiating.


    The young lady smiled shyly, her cheeks reddening slowly as she blushed. With a subtle nod she looked at him, "The first level of the library is open to the public, low-tier spell and enchanting books can be found there. However the upper floors are reserved for members of the guild." She explained twirling a strand of hair around her index finger.


    "That''sgreat to hear, where''s the library? Me and my friends would like to see it if you don''t mind" Kenny chuckled gesturing to Faith and Annie


    The young lady nodded again before looking to Jayson, " Are you with them sir?" She asked thoughtfully however before he could answer Kenny responded, "He is with us, but he needs directions to the Adventurers Guild, if you would be so kind."


    A vein appeared on Jayson''s head as the young lady smiled as she approached him, "If you go back out the door, the Adventurers Guild is east of this location. It''s small but rather lively, I''m sure you''ll have no trouble recognizing it. " she spoke sweetly guiding Jayson toward the door.


    As Jayson walked out the building, the young lady began to guide them to the library, "I must ask that you not remove the books from the library. There isn''t a time limit to how long you can stay and read however."


    As they followed the young lady two wooden doors appeared before them, seeming to stretch beyond the heavens. The doors looked polished with a very detailed designs of animals on the surface, a gold trim drew their eyes to stare. A soft light emitting from the frame.


    Seeing their stares the young lady explained, "This door is protected by a barrier that activates when a book crosses it. If you don''t want to die a painful death , I suggest you mind the rule."As she placed her palm on the door the light faded while the doors creaked open.


    A moldy aroma greeted them as the doors revealed its contents , shelves among shelves of books stretched on for what seemed to be miles. Amongst the rows of bookcases were tables scattered in various areas with books and people alike piled on top.


    Kenny brightened at the sight before him not wasting a second he soon vanished into the aisle, Faith shrugged making her way inside with Annie hot on her heels.


    At this moment Jayson was meandering through the streets grumbling "Who does he think he is?! Sending me here like some errand boy!! Just wait until I get my hands on him!! "


    As he passed by fuming , people gave him concerned looks. Which further agitated him as he made his way toward the Adventurers Guild, looking up at the peaceful skyJayson exhaled relaxing himself.


    After following the instructions and asking around Jayson found himself in front of a small tavern. The walls and roof were littered with holes, some of which had small wisps of black smoke leaking out of them.


    The entire building looked like it was on its last legs as if a faint breeze would cause a collapse, the door left ajar creaked as it swayed freely on the hinges.


    People of all varieties came and went as though nothing was wrong with the site before them. Jayson was taken aback as he watched a man three times his size crouch and vanish inside, with a heavy sigh he walked in.


    A pungent mixture of body odor and ale assaulted his nose upon entry, ignoring the smell he scanned the room to his surprise. The interior was very spacious compared to the outside, the main hall extended before him was vivid in color.


    As a sea of people went about their business, Jayson was like a curious child staring at everyone and everything inside. Not too far away he saw the huge man in front of a board with slips of paper stuck to them, he wore nothing but a leather loincloth and belt around his hips.


    Attached to the belt was a one handed ax, with an intricate pattern on the blade. The entire ax was seemingly made from bone. As Jayson stared at it he noticed that the ax was covered in a black and blue light that was mixing slowly together.


    "System, can you analyze that weapon for me?" Jayson asked curiously. A strange feeling welling up in his chest brought him to inquire. The system responded a second later "Confirmed. Target analyzed."


    In his vision a screen appeared with the image of the ax displayed. "Lions Bane has been added to the crafting list." The system chimed before going silent once more, leaving the image for Jayson to see.


    "Hmm, interesting but not gonna make it myself." Said Jayson a devious smile appeared as he eyed the ax, "Let''s test that skill out. Steal!" His aura rippling as he reached slightly towards the ax, a formless hand extended from his fingertips and snaked its way silently across the room.


    The hand approached, quietly enveloped the ax and retreated instantly making its way back to Jayson. The moment he gripped the handle of the ax a screen appeared giving him a description,


    Lions Bane


    Mid-Tier


    Were-Lion Essence


    Effect : Shapes To Users Will


    His eyes lit up reading the description twice before staring at the ax, "Successfully used skill, insight gained, Silent Theft acquired." The system interrupting his moment with its voice, realization taking him causing Jayson to check himself out.


    "Where am I going to put this thing?" He questioned himself approaching the counter, "Guess I''ll worry about it later, I''m glad it worked out. Even the skill upgraded after me using it twice, that''s nice but what did it mean by insight gained?" Jayson thought to himself happily putting it to the back of his mind for now.


    "Are you looking to join the Adventurers Guild kid?" A deep grave voice from behind Jayson drew his attention, turning his head slightly to cast a sidelong glance in the direction of the speaker.


    What he saw was his own reflection on a shiny round surface, a sharp confident glare, a small pointy nose and chin. A deep frown heavily etched into his face, he wore heavy plated armor. A sheathed long sword at his hip dangled lazily in the air, a suppressive aura surrounded the sheath like it was containing the sword forcefully.


    Pointing directly at Jayson he spoke again, "You should at least wait until you are able to lift a sword, a scrawny stick like you would be useless in battle."His deep voice held traces of concern as though he was truly worried.


    Jayson looked at the odd fellow before him amused, "Thank you for your kindness. I''ve no intention of joining though, I''m here to find books with no regards to content."He said sweetly lightly fluttering his eyelashes turning his back to wave someone down for service.


    Jayson had a goal and wanted to complete it without causing a scene. If he could get to their library quickly and quietly that would be the route he would go, hopefully someone would be willing to take him there.


    The man he ignored was still standing there pointing at Jayson, his body shaking from agitation while his face was visibly turning red. Looking down at Jayson he chuckled settling himself down reminding himself that he is a kid, and not all kids behave as they should towards adults.


    His face resumed its deep frown as he walked away mumbling to himself, "Kids these days, no regard for an elders concern."Jayson watched from the corner of his eye, having heard what that bald guy said under his breath. He shrugged his shoulders looking around the counter for a clerk, only to see no one there causing a vein to appear on his forehead.


    "Of course no one is here, why would there be?! Guess I should find out on my own, or I could go back to the inn? If I go back empty handed Faith would probably beat me to death, and I do enjoy living." An image of Faith''s eyes glaring at him surfaced to his mind as Jayson thought to himself, a shiver went down his spine.


    In a dark aisle of the library hunched over a scroll that stretched on into the darkness, Faith sneezed violently a small flame bursting from her nose. Sniffling she shook her head focusing back on the scroll.


    Jayson looked around seeing nothing that looked remotely interesting, a panicked shout echoing across the room drew his attention. The scarcely clothed giant man was searching about in a frenzy, "WHERE''S MY WEAPON?! IT WAS ON MY BELT WHEN I WALKED IN!!!" He roared, as his thick muscular hands gripped a nearby table, spilling the contents as he lifted it off the ground.


    The people eating there shifted their plates and mugs to prevent them from going to waste, as they continued with their meal causally. Holding the table above his head for a moment, his arms brimming with power as he prepared to smash it against the ground.


    His shadow flickered like a candle wick about to be blown out, it started to cover his body as if it were reinforcing his attack.


    However the aura that it exuded was horrifyingly dark, instilling in him a sense of fear that petrified movement. His eyes darting wildly in their sockets in search of his assailant, the others sitting near him started to laugh hysterically as his shadow restrained him.


    Jayson watched in interest enjoying the feeling of the suppressive darkness, a look of greed shining in his eyes.


    "Steal."

 10 Chapter 10: Books Actually Help. . . Sometimes

    The air was heavy with the scent of ancient text, as piles upon piles of books were scattered about the floor. Certain piles towered over the bookshelves, leaning slightly due to the weight.


    The contents of the scattered books were in wide variety, each one explaining the very basic fundamentals of skills, spells, and formations as understood by the people who wrote them.


    There were different tiers in regards to them all,


    Earth-Tier


    Low-Tier


    Mortal-Tier


    Mid-Tier


    High-Tier


    Supreme-Tier


    Heaven-Tier


    Within each tier were grades that further categorized the potential and strength of magic as a whole, the system was made in regards to how easy it was for any one person to learn a spell from any of the tiers.


    While simple chants of Earth-tier magic could give one great control over the corresponding spell, it would normally take decades of study to gain a fragment of understanding for a Heaven-tier spell.


    While there were people with great aptitude towards magic, they were few and far between. As the best and brightest were often monopolized by the great powers who ruled them, as a result the knowledge of magic was freely distributed except for spells that made up the foundation of religious schools, sects, and certain kingdoms.


    Faith sighed turning the page of the books she was reading, having seen the same introductory page in all the books around her so far. Looking up at the mountain of literature at her back like a towering wave, that hung hauntingly above her head.


    Stretching her body to shake away the tired feeling trying to settle in her bones, causing the book the slide off her lap and drop loudly to the floor.


    "Thunk"


    The sound echoing down the aisle soon fading to silence, reaching down she gingerly picked up the book. Dust lightly swirling from the cover, setting the book on top of a nearby pile Faith looked around taking in her surroundings. A few feet away Kenny and Annie we''re surrounded by a mound of books,Kenny excitedly flipping pages, while Annie was silently meditating by his side.


    "Alright, I think I understand some of how this world works, and how this system helps us." Said Kenny snapping shut the book in his lap, standing he grunted in relief as he stretched.


    "This world is ran by people who wield the strongest magic, those who don''t tend to suffer. Mana is the powering source for magic, this place never runs out. It''s generated by everything, even people. There are two types of people, those who are naturally gifted with magic or those who are taught."He explained maneuvering his way through the barricade of books to stand before Faith continuing,


    "However Mana isn''t the only source of power, those who can''t utilize mana, can use Aura to activate skills or unique abilities they''ve developed and mastered. It does follow the same logic as magic though. So not much real difference, but for us, it''s easier."


    He paused long enough to place a finger on his temple, lightly tapping,


    "We have this system, it''s like a cheat code for instant access to both skills and magic. We can cast whatever we want provided that we''ve gained an understanding of it or it''s been used on us, as long as it''s suits us of course.


    Kenny said looking at Faith who was staring in earnest,


    "That''s all well and good. How do we use mana though is a question I have." Faith responded the anticipation shining in her eyes as she stepped close to Kenny,


    "Woah now." He chuckled holding his hands up slightly , "There''s a difference between skills and magic. Magic usually requires an incantation or chant to activate, skills activate when the name is said. Simple really. They are faster but lack strength compared to magic, hopefully that answers your question."


    Kenny paused for a moment before looking over to Annie who was still silently meditating,


    "Unfortunately Annie was the only one of us to actually start out with magic. Which must mean she has a strong affinity for it, but I don''t think we aren''t any better. Just need to find a magic that suits us."


    Faith stared at Kenny for a second before descending into deep thought, bringing up her list of skills to stare at the three skills available.


    "Wait. . . 3, I only started with 2, right?"She thought to herself, going through the list again,


    "Destruction, Flame Manipulation, and . . . Draining Strike?When did I get that?''


    "Stolen Skills and Magic that meet compatibility are added automatically."


    The system responded abruptly cutting into her thoughts, which roused her from the depths of her mind.


    Looking toward Annie who was still meditating, and Kenny who was nose deep into a book again. Faith was slowly growing bored, while the books were informative, she preferred practical experience. The thought spending another minute reading started to agitate her, driving her to grab both of their shirt collars and stomp toward the exit. Dragging a surprised Annie and dejected Kenny behind her, as the book tumbled away his grip, a tear , formed at the corner of his eye.


    Jayson watched his skill take effect, stretching toward the giant man. Hoping to steal whatever it was that bound him, until an odd sensation started to creep up his legs. It was wet, cold , and hard like cement solidifying around them.


    "High-Tier Skill detected. Shadow Paralysis acquired. Would you like to nullify the effects? " The system alerted Jayson, he looked down to see his own shadow had covered his legs entirely, rendering him immobile.


    "No, leave it. I want to break out on my own." Jayson responded silently , urging his legs to move. However it felt as though the Earth itself sat on them to prevent any movement, the more he struggled the more fatigued he became.


    "It''s no use child, just be good and stay there." Came a sweet and charming voice from within the crowd, as it parted to let through an elderly lady.


    She stood a head shorter than Jayson, adorned in extravagant robes that attracted everyone''s attention, made him wonder how he missed such a flashily dressed woman.


    Wrinkles heavily covered her face that her eyes were no longer visible, and made it seem like her face sagged. However when she "looked" in their direction a strong gaze could be felt.


    Just by standing there Jayson could feel an unbridled amount of pressure radiating, from this elderly woman it was overwhelming. Whoever she was, she was able to pin both Jayson and the other guy with ease.


    "I certainly wouldn''t last in a fight with her as I am now, I''ll listen for now" He thought to himself as the elderly lady approached, standing before him she poked him gently in various areas on his body.


    "Excuse me, shouldn''t you at least buy me dinner before attempting to poke me?" Feigning embarrassment Jayson teased, a sly smile manifesting on his face,


    "I''m sorry child, I''m not interested in those kinds of men." She responded casually as she stepped back a bit.


    "That''s odd, I don''t sense an aura on him, and yet. . . He used a skill. This world sure does have its weirdos, especially with a hair style like that."She thought to herself as she "looked" him up and down.


    "I don''t know where you were raised, but stealing around here is not a good thing to do." Pointing to the ax as she spoke seemed to draw it toward her, like a strong magnetic force was applied.


    The abruptness of this nearly tore his arm away as he hurriedly released his grip,


    "Magic detected, analyzing complete, Magnet Magic uploaded." The system chimed to Jayson''s annoyance however he was more impressed with the new information presented, the gears in his head started to turn.


    "If you say your sorry and promise to not do this again, I''m more than willing to let you go. I prefer peace to violence." The cane in her hands trembled slightly as she spoke, the tip begun to glow with a soft and pure light.


    Slowly it grew intense as the light lingered, it was as pure as snow with no trace of impurities, it enthralled all who gazed, filling them with a sense of unbridled warmth.


    Jayson felt the weight on his legs disappearing in the presence of this strange light, looking down in time to see the shadow that pinned him there was receding at a visible pace.


    A moment later, the restraint on his legs vanished completely, the giant man had also been released. He stared at Jayson, hostility burned in his eyes, face bright red in agitation.


    He suppressed his anger in front of the elderly woman, who returned the ax to him, "You should take better care of your things child, if your weapon is taken again, I won''t intervene." She spoke endearingly as if it was her own child she was scolding.


    The color in his face drained receiving her meaning, with a curt nod of his head, "Yes Granny Chi, I''ll be more careful" his once loud voice was now small and respectful. Turning towards the door, he shot Jayson a dirty look before stomping away. The base of his neck slowly turning red again.


    Jayson watched with interest settling himself onto a chair, "With a look like that on his face, I know I''ll be seeing him again. I wonder if he''ll bring friends?" He thought with much amusement


    He prepared to give chase but was blocked by Granny Chi, who poked the tip of his foot, she "looked" at him for a while, "I''ve got questions for you child, might you indulge an old woman?" She pushes him through the crowd before he could answer, clearly implying he had no choice.

 11 Chapter 11: Annie can be scary

    Faith, Kenny, and Annie walked the long passageway back to the front desk, Faith was determined to find a training ground to practice in. Her fighting intent caused her aura to spike, a wave of heat slowly spread. The temperature increased dramatically, causing a stir amongst the crowd.


    Various mages conjured different means to deal with the heat, snow fell around the room, breezes wafted through, and the moisture in the air became heavier.


    Kenny''s eyes sparkled as he watched the display, marveling at the versatility of magic. He shifted his attention to Annie, with pouted lips, "Really, how come you are the only one who started with magic? Did you even read any of the books back there?" He teased.


    The silence sent a shiver up his spine, he stumbled back as the tip of Annie''s sword appeared before him. A sinister smile overtaking Annie''s face, edging closer a slow chuckle sounded behind her smile.


    Standing by the counter was a mage who was busily chatting with a clerk, stopped when she noticed Annie swing her sword.


    Staring at Annie for a moment before looking to Kenny, her eyes gleamed with lust for a moment.


    Faith who was approaching the desk, noticed the stare, a nice curvy figure, well endowed chest, devilish looks. The type of woman who used charm to get her way, wearing a tight fitting green dress, that subtly shimmered with her movements.


    "Go on and be her test dummy." Faith chuckled evilly to herself, ignoring the clerk she leaned on the desk to watch the female mage approach.


    A seductive yet tender voice caught their attention, "My goodness, what an awful way to treat your boyfriend."


    Annie''s face turned a shade pinker in embarrassment, shaking herself from the affliction, a glare emerged toward the woman before them.


    Kenny looked past her toward Faith, whose eyes were twinkling. Understanding her intention he focused back on Annie, keeping quiet long enough for Annie to respond.


    "He''s my friend, what''s it to you how I treat him?" She asked pouting her lips, a defiant look in her eye.


    Amused she stepped closer toward Kenny, walking her fingers up his chest. She threw her arms around his shoulders, embracing him with a snobby look,"If that''s true, then you won''t mind if I take him, right? Since your just friends?"


    A vein rose in the corner of Annie''s forehead, her face darkened, the mana in surroundings begun to flow erratically.Waves of mana streaked toward her, circling around her body. Converting from mana to a high pressure stream of air.


    In a secret room above the Mages Guild, the walls were adorned with various scales and plants, that would move every so often toward the light. Seated in a heavily decorated chair was an elderly man whose entire body was covered in a pure white beard.


    His sharp blue eyes peered deeply into a purple crystal ball, flashes of different landscapes surfaced and changed. While a mountain peak was visible, the crystal, cracked. Disturbing the old man who started to sense the shift in mana,


    "Such a pure reaction to mana, as though they have mastered its control. I must meet whoever it is, surely it''s a master mage who could give me pointers." He jumped hurriedly to his feet, with a casual wave of his hand a quarter staff flew into his grip.


    He briskly walked out of his room, a door opening in the seamless wall, sealing itself shut upon his exit.


    The woman clinging to Kenny, showed no trace of fear. Amused by the idea of someone challenging her, circulating the mana in her body, a formless cloud bubbled out from her palm. It was cold, bitter, devoid of any signs of life. A powerful concept of death tainted the cloud, turning it a deep shade of black.


    A passing clerk who happened to see the situation unfold, ran to intervene as he didn''t want them to fight here in the main hall.


    " You know fighting inside is forbidden. If you want to fight, take it to the sparring arena outside." His high pitched voice squeaked out, pointing towards the door that lead to the training grounds.


    The woman looked down on Annie, sizing her up with an malicious smile, "I don''t mind."


    She said in a cheery tone, guiding a confused Kenny toward the door.


    Annie''s face was darkening more with each passing second, stomping after them without a word.


    Faith watched on her shoulders heaving up and down as she stifled her laughter, she got up from the counter to make her way toward the door. Tapping the shoulders of people as she passed by, few of which followed curiosity apparent on their faces. Others followed in hopes of speaking with a cute girl, soon people joined the flow and a huge crowd formed,


    "What''s going on?"


    "I heard someone was giving a lecture."


    "No No, it''s a sparring match, and both participants are real beauties"


    "Really? Well let''s go and have a look."


    The news traveled fast and soon around a center ring Annie faced off with the female mage, a few amongst the crowd recognized her opponent,


    "Hey, isn''t that Rebecca?"


    "You mean the branch master''s granddaughter?"


    A wave of realization swept the crowd, the atmosphere growing quiet. Eyes glued toward the center ring, where the female mage giggled evilly to herself,


    "This girl has no idea what she''s in for, I''ll beat her to a pulp in front of her boyfriend and he will be sure to choose me. I''ve never failed to capture a man, at least the cute ones anyway."


    She thought to herself, Rebecca was well known throughout the city as a seductress. Lurking away men from homes with honeyed words, and physically stimulating dances, only to leave them with broken hearts and empty pockets.


    Brought up as a mage by her grandfather since young, Rebecca showed immense talent for magic. Able to cast Mid-Tier spells at age 6, she was given everything she could ever want. As she grew her personality worsened, she spent less time training and more time seducing men.


    Rebecca started to channel her mana, gathering in pools over her open palms, on the left a strong sense decay exuded. Whatever it touches would wither, the life drained and used as fuel for its nourishment.


    On the right was a tranquil energy that bore no hostility or benevolence, it merely existed to permeate the area. Without breaking visual contact with Annie, her mouth moved reciting a garbled incantation.


    The pools of mana responded to her voice, extending into the air like flowing clouds. They twisted and turned forming a spiral of destructive energy that propelled itself, drilling straight toward Annie attempting to run her through.


    The arena shook from the sheer force of her spell, this was her Decaying Drill Spell.


    Onlookers who recognized her attack watched on with renewed vigor, for it was a unique spell of Rebecca''s own creation.


    As it was her own, she refused to share the incantation so that Mages Guild could determine its rank. The allure of unranked spells were great as they held the potential to be devastatingly powerful, when displayed silence took the crowd.


    "Earth-Tier Spell detected, Analyzation Complete, Death Magic has been added." The system said.


    Annie paid no heed as she watched the spell being launched toward her, a playful look in her eyes as she crouched down. The air around her body becoming distorted due to a rapid gathering of mana, it flowed through her open pores like a raging river filling her body.


    It gathered at her shoulder blades and erupted out in a burst of turbulent wind, a soft green light emitting as the wind shaped themselves into four thin wings.


    With a soft hum they flapped at such a speed they were no longer visible, the tailwind they kicked up shot her body forward passing underneath Rebecca''s spell.


    The crowd went into a frenzy at Annie''s response, for this was a spell they had never seen before. To be coming from such a young girl was an added astonishing factor that show cased her potential for magic, the elder Mages amongst the crowd thought of taking her in as a disciple.


    Rebecca was relaxed forming a gesture with her hands, the drill dispersed into dots of dark light that congealed around her in dome.


    Sealing her away from Annie''s charge with an encompassing barrier that repelled everything, inside Rebecca was elated having successfully conjured the barrier in time to prevent her attack.


    "This should buy me enough time, I don''t know what sort of weird spell she is using, but it''s no concern to me." With a wicked thought she chanted another incantation, that sounded like a garbled hiss of a snake.


    Rebecca begin to channel extreme amounts of mana for her spell, her body growing weak from the strain. A dark light covered her body that grew dim with the pass of time, to a point where her body was completely shadowed.


    Annie didn''t see anything beyond the barrier, the tip of her sword jabbing at random points on the barrier. Her head tilted to the side as a cold smile formed, with a cute playful voice she said, "Little mouse, don''t hide. I just want to pet you."


    Streaks of mana gathered in vast amounts, spiraling into Annie''s wooden sword. It begun to shake violently as it absorbed it all, the shaking slowed to a stop before a gentle green light emanated and spread.


    She lifted it above her head as the light shone brighter, forming a projection of her sword that extended beyond the clouds. The wind blew erratically kicking up small tornados about the arena.


    The crowd gasped in awe as they were buffeted by the excess wind, few of the mages who conjured barriers to ward off the wind found that they crumbled under its pressure.


    An elderly man arrived using a quarter staff to support him, saw the formation of this grand spell and his eyes lit up with excitement, " That must be her, the waves of mana coming from that spell can only affirm my guess. A master mage has graced us with her presence, but who is that spell directed. . ."


    His eyes grew wide as he saw the barrier on stage, knowing the spell and its caster his heart palpitated before he rushed forward through the crowd.


    Annie stepped forward bringing down her sword causing the light projection to fall toward the barrier, the crowd was silent as the sword made contact.


    A boom that sounded like a cannon blast echoed, the light from both the sword and the barrier grew blinding as the barrier trembled.


    Cracks soon webbing out over the surface, Rebecca watched in horror as the barrier crumbled away revealing a still smiling Annie.

 12 Chapter 12 : I might join

    Jayson found himself in a very weird situation, sitting across from Granny Chi who was " gazing " into a small blue orb.


    It glowed with a soft treasure light that felt warm on the skin, having noticed this the system notified Jayson, " Oracle Orb has been added to the Crafting List."


    Granny Chi stirred, " You aren''t from here, are you child?"Her question came causally with no room for tricks, the pressure from her " gaze " felt heavy on his chest. To a point where it was no longer comfortable to sit still, however he could only bear with it as he answered plainly, "No."


    Granny Chi was still for a moment, before waving her cane about in the air. Plates, cups, silverware, and a teapot manifested from thin air, with another wave a stream of small baked goods assembled on the plates.


    Soon the room was filled with a mixture of pleasant smells while Granny Chi poured them a cup of tea, "I''m sorry with the rough treatment child it''s not everyday someone like, you, comes through here. You used a skill that I''ve never seen before, and you can''t blame me for being startled." She said calmly a tinge of sadness in her voice, resting back in her chair she held the cup in her hands while her cane floated happily at her side.


    Jayson picked up a cookie from his plate and bit into it the warm chocolate running down his throat, the warmth spreading through his body as hunger ravaged his senses. No matter how many he ate, the number never seemed to decrease.


    "These are delicious I can''t get enough!" Jayson thought jovially to himself in between bites an occasional glances would be made, seeing her body trembling slightly from holding the teacup. He sighed forcing himself to stop eating Jayson looked at her and asked, " Well? What is it that you want from me?"


    He was direct and polite while adjusting his glasses, his gaze becoming intense as he sat regally in his chair. Granny Chi chuckled taking a sip of her tea, " I want to know, what was that skill you used earlier?"


    Jayson responded plainly, " It''s called Steal."


    The questions came quickly as time passed on Jayson recounted how he and his friends were dumped into this world, taking special care as to leave out the system as it may have unforeseen consequences down the road.


    Granny Chi listened quietly stopping him a few times to ask questions, but for the majority she sipped her tea.


    Only when he finished talking did Granny Chi move out of her seat to shuffle before a bookshelf, running her knobby fingers along the spines in search of something while saying, " You''ve been through such a terrifying ordeal child, it''s a wonder how you''ve kept calm despite having your world literally change. Yet been blessed with the gifts needed to survive."


    Returning to her chair with a small book in her hands, it was jet black with grey on the trims in the middle was a purple jewel that had an ominous glow. Dark shadows occasionally steamed from the jewel like fingers grabbing at the air before disappearing,"This book contains several Mid-Tier skills, I have a request for you child. If you are willing to take it on, the first part of your payment will be this book. What do you say?"she asked extending the book, the weight of it causing her hand to tremble heavily as though she would drop it soon despite her grip.


    Jayson stared at the book, feeling the power radiating from it he fell into thought, "First part? Whatever she wants is going to deadly that''s for sure, or at least irritating. Whatever it is I better hear her out and decide with the others, milk this for all it''s worth while I''m at it." With a faint smile he rose the cup of tea to his lips, the fragrant aroma of the tea filling his nose with a flowery scent.


    Causally taking a sip he slightly nodded, "I''m willing to hear out your request, as a thank you for the tea." He said evenly showcasing his intent to only listen with no response, this causing a nerve to rise on her forehead, "Cocky brat!" She muttered returning the book to her lap, adjusting herself slightly in the chair.


    With a small huff she began speaking her request, " There is going to be a competition in a few months here in the village, it will be an amazing event that brings the best from the surrounding villages."


    "It''s something we hold once a year and we''ve always offered fierce warriors, but none of them could hold their own. Each year we lose, each year they take our crops as their prize. Currently my husband is watching one of your friends in action, if what he sees is true then we may have hope."


    "What I''m asking for child is simple, will you join my guild and take part in the competition?"


    Jayson said nothing as he set down the tea, taking in what she said while he sat up. While he understood what she wanted something in her story didn''t make sense to him, and it was best discussed with Faith and the others to get their view as it would involve all of them.


    "Thank you again for the tea, I''ll be sure to pass along this request and see how the others feel. If it matches up with our interests, we''ll be in contact." He said standing and making his way to the door, stepping out into the hallway he proceeded downstairs to the main floor.


    He thought to himself, "I may join, if only to get my hands on that book." His lips arched up into a sinister smile as he left the building, on the Main Street the sun was slowly making its way across the sky, gentle heat warmed his body as he walked back toward the mages guild.


    Jayson''s eyes caught movement to his left, a gold blur was approaching at a rapid pace nearly knocking him over as it passed. The smell of sausage lingered in the after the blur left, a fat man dashed around the corner waving a butcher knife in his hand screaming, "Cursed animal, stay away from my shop!!!"


    His deep voice boomed in Jayson''s ears slightly disturbing him, he continued on pass the man who was now hunched over trying to catch his breath. Shaking his head a muscular build crossed his path preventing him from walking forward, Jayson looked up immediately recognizing the mass in front of him.


    It was the barely naked man standing imposingly before Jayson, the sun shining upon his skin in such a way that it seemed to glow. With a swing of his hand, thumb extended he pointed to a nearby alley a fiendish smile on his face, he strode away his muscles twitching violently however he moved peacefully through the crowd.


    Watching him walk away Jayson thought to himself amused, "That''s rather clique don''t you think? I mean what place screams "I''m gonna jump you" more than a dark alley away from crowds?"


    "I did like that ax, but I''m low on materials to make it. Oh well, how did that saying go? If a hero is poor, he needs only defeat his enemy. Then he is no longer poor."


    "Though I''m no hero, I can say for sure he is a rich enemy. Come my new wallet, empty yourself."


    Jayson nearly skipped to the alley as he was elated to the idea of robbing someone who wanted trouble with him, with the hopes it was an ambush Jayson stopped short before the barely naked man.


    The barely naked man inhaled abruptly and shouted, "YOU DARE STEAL FROM CRAIG THE NOBLE!! I''LL CRUSH YOUR TINY SKULL!!" The sound of his voice reverberated about the alley, generating a gust of wind the ruffled Jayson''s hair.


    Feigning innocence Jayson responded in a meek voice, "I''m sorry Craig The Pebble" bowing slightly as he did so.


    Craig''s face reddened like a boiling tea kettle his anger spiking as he unlatched the ax from its holster, gripping the hilt tightly in his hand a grumble sounded in his throat, "It''s Craig The Noble!"


    He took a step forward his foot leaving impressions in the ground from the sheer strength of his foot, as he charged towards Jayson roaring like a grizzly bear. The ax surged through air towards Jayson, who leaned back out of range.


    Craig''s eyes flashed as the ax blade coated itself in a pale yellow light and extended, reshaping itself into a long sword to cut Jayson in half.


    An unbothered look surfaced on Jayson''s face as he recalled the special effects of the ax, to reshape itself to its owners will, so he was fully prepared for its unpredictability.


    Jayson''s footwork was rapid as he evaded the newly formed weapon, letting out a relieved sigh he clutched his chest , " I thought for sure it would''ve been a battle ax, I''m disappointed Craig The Apple." He chided further agitating Craig who stomped his foot kicking up the dust around him,


    "ITS CRAIG THE NOBLE!!! I WILL NOT STAND HERE AND BE MOCKED THIS WAY!!" He shouted his neck straining til the point of veins appearing around it, his entire body was red from anger.


    Jayson shrugged and said , " Well how would you like me to mock you? I''m open to requests."Jumping away as a powerful arm slammed down where he was , leaving a crater in the ground.

 13 Chapter 13 : Haven’t I seen that Skeleton?

    Faith whistled watching the barrier being destroyed in one swing, Kenny''s eyes sparkled as he watched her display. The crowd around them silent, mouths agape, disbelief written on their faces.


    The old man clutched his quarter staff for stability in one hand and in his other, an Oracle Orb that was shining quietly in his palm. The surface reflecting the events unfolding before him, as this strange girl used two unranked spells to great effectiveness swinging the tide of battle in her favor.


    Rebecca was stunned for a moment as her barrier was destroyed faster than she anticipated, luck was in her side however as she finished her incantation and her mana released in a dark flourish.


    Streaks of darkened mana arced into the sky raining torrentially before the two ladies like a ring encompassing their view. Rebecca laughed maniacally, " You''ve may have broken my barrier, but you won''t stop what''s to come."


    Annie watched curiously taking care not to touch the rain of mana, as it had begun slowly corrupting the area decaying the stone as though it were made eon''s a go.


    A shadow manifested within the ring that stood at a colossal height, with each step that shook the area a pearly white skeleton stood before Annie.


    Like a hill before a mountain Annie looked up to the creature, streaks of dark mana ran across its body. No sooner had it appeared did a number of punches rain upon Annie, who gripped her sword an intense look flashedon her face.


    Her body swayed about as though a leaf being pushed by a harsh storm, narrowly evading the oncoming flurry of fists. For its size it was amazingly agile in keeping up with her, Rebecca watched on like a wolf waiting to ambush their prey.


    The crowd shocked at this sudden turn in tide few of them starting to pass out from holding their breath, the old man was stupefied muttering, "When did she get her hands on a Bone Guardian?! I''ve never let her go father than the edge of the forest!"


    "Magic Item detected. Bone Guardian : Mid-Tier. Added to crafting list" The System chimed in Annie''s head however it wasn''t informative enough to give her an edge, while she darted about avoiding its blows ceaselessly.


    Faith gently tapped her forehead in contemplation brows furrowed in a sense of familiarity, " Haven''t I seen that skeleton before?"She questioned as an image surfaced to her mind. The scene of the skeleton being reduced to ashes flashed vividly before her eyes, they twinkled like stars as she lost herself to thought.


    Kenny was still drooling over the two spells Annie used earlier, analyzing the characteristics of the first and second spells respectively nodding in approval. The wings resembled that of a bee with a low yet audible buzzing sound when in flight the sudden burst of speed could disorient anyone, the sword spell compressed and refined wind magic to its absolute limits releasing it in a destructive burst.


    A loud explosion brought their attention back to the situation at hand, the crowd was hanging by the seats edge the intensity of the match was immense. While the victor was uncertain, it was no less entertaining to the crowd who cheered for the ladies.


    In the arena Annie was looking battered, her hair was messy, clothes torn, blood dripping from various scratches on her body. The Bone Guardian didn''t look any better with large cracks forming on its surface the fluctuations of mana was becoming more and more faint, it''s attacks were slowing to a point Annie was able to strike back furiously.


    Going from a disadvantage to a near stalemate as they exchanged blows, neither could gain ground on the other to deliver a decisive attack. Rebecca was rooted to the spot supplying the Bone Guardian with enough mana to continue its functions, while her Guardian was her trump card it came at a cost.


    She was unable to use other spells or move around as it would break her link with it, but it was visibly starting to wear her out. Her breathing became heavy as though it was a struggle to catch her breath, but she willed herself to keep going losing was something she refused to accept.


    Watching Annie slowly gain the upper hand without using anything but her own strength to power her movements, bewilderedRebecca''s brows scrunched together in agitation cursing herself internally for being unable to provide support. As she hadn''t cultivated it fully the guardian required manual control, which was cumbersome in a one on one fight.


    She howled in rage a mixture of defiance and anger caused her mana to flare in a dark blaze, because of her link the Guardian roared empowered by the surge of mana.


    It released a punch that moved slowly through the air, the surface of its hand radiated an unseen force that drew all life toward oblivion.


    As slowly as it moved Annie barely had time to adjust her sword to guard before the fist was upon her, slamming into her wooden sword that splintered on impact leaving her body exposed to the remaining force of the punch.


    With a sound like a cannon blast Annie was lifted off the ground into a tumbling stop at the edge, her arm dangling lazily off the side many in the crowd stood to get a better view.


    Rebecca was stunned not only did her Guardian exhibit a technique that was new, but also broke and battered Annie in the process.


    Slowly did her laughter begin to cut through the silence, a haunting laugh that echoed throughout the arena. The old man gripped his staff tightly and exhaled a breath he didn''t know he was holding. A few mages rushed to the side of arena to check on Annie, who hadn''t moved for a moment.


    "Well she did enough to hold her own so long against Rebecca, that magic she was using is incredible and her physical ability is not bad either. Now to question Rebecca on where she got that Bone Guardian, I''ve got a bad feeling about the answer.The old man mumbled to himself preparing to head down to the arena to confront Rebecca.


    He barely left his spot when he felt a tremendous amount of power welling up on the stage, a single drop of water fell from the edge of his nose as the moisture in the air became dense.


    It started to become increasingly difficult to move due to the denser water in the air, those rushing to Annie''s aid felt as though their bodies had been slowed by an overwhelming force.Faith who was enjoying the display felt something was odd about the reactions of the crowd, it was pure, the surprised looks. Yet she couldn''t understand why and placed it at the back of her mind, snickering at the drool running from Kenny''s mouth.


    An unearthly amount of mana erupted from Annie''s body sending powerful shockwaves that shook the ground, the space beneath her fractured as jets of water broke out and wrapped her in a bubble that bounced lightly into the air.


    To everyone''s surprise and Rebecca''s shock the wounds slowly closed, the bleeding slowing to a stop. Annie''s eyes burst open flashing brightly with energy, the blood in her body was churning like a raging river.


    Curling her fists a few times gave Annie enough understanding of her physical condition, "I had no Idea I could do that." She thought ," Though now, I don''t have my sword. I guess old fashioned way it''ll have to be, what you can''t slash, SMASH!"


    Shouting the last word in her heart Annie burst forth from the bubble, charging toward the Bone Guardian who exhausted the remainder of its strength the oppressive aura it once had vanished.It stood there like an empty husk waiting to receive Annie''s attack, streams of dense water congealed around Annie''s hands as she her lips mouthed an incantation.


    As the water revolved around her hands it compacted to a more solid sphere of dark blue water,a single drop of this water weighed more than the arena itself and now a vast amount was compressed to its absolute limit.


    Her hands felt as though she bore the weight of the world in them as Annie proceeded forward, each step she took shook the ground forcing Rebecca to struggle to stay upright leading Faith to burst with laughter.


    Rebecca was in a panic as she tried to communicate with her Guardian but realized her link was already severed, this threw her further into panic because now it was vulnerable to attack and she couldn''t recall it back.


    She could only watch Annie''s fist crash into her Guardian the water around it exploding out into a torrent of raging water that tore at the body, the heavy water ripped chunks out Guardians arms and legs causing it slowly fall toward the ground.


    The cascading water roared covering all other sounds while the Guardian collapsed, dragged away by the current that rushed toward Rebecca frantically who hadn''t recovered enough strength to move. The air in front of her shimmered slightly as the water was a hairs breath away, acting as a wall the water parted away falling harmlessly over the side.


    Faith and Kenny who were watching started to move to assist Annie, unsure as to who was interfering with the match they didn''t care as their friends safety was more important. An authoritative voice halted their actions as it reverberated in the air drawing everyone''s attention, "Please forgive me for the interruption, I didn''t see the reason to continue and put my grandchild in danger. I mean no offense travelers but can we call it a draw?"

 14 Chapter 14: You have surprisingly deep pockets

    Jayson had his back to a wall his lips trembling as he stifled a yawn, the alley was riddled with holes and various debris sure signs that a battle was waged.


    Chunks missing from walls left the occupants inside confused and angry, however they stayed silent when they saw two powerful individuals fighting. Not knowing if they were from a high-ranking or noble family, they q pretend not to notice so that no one was punished.


    Craig was clinching his teeth so tightly that a leather sound emanated, his body was extremely red in color, steam poured off his body in massive amounts. It filled the small alleyway quickly, his massive body hidden from view as the system shot a message, "Skill detected, Steam-Screen acquired."


    A serene calm washed over Jayson as he stood there, with closed eyes his senses expanded beyond him. His consciousness floated in darkness for a moment before it picked up a subtle trace of sound, a footstep, that brought him back to reality.


    The steam shifted revealing the glint of a blade slicing through the air, with a subtle swish the blade danced around Jayson, who stepped forward a curled fist exploded from his side into the thick layer of steam.


    His fist buried itself into a mass of flesh that caved in around his forearm, popping sounds were then heard followed by a horrendously loud retch and splattering. Jayson dislodged his fist a warm sensation covered his wrist, looking down to see it dripping with blood.


    The steam faded Craig''s body was now a ghastly pale white, the color drained after the punch he received. Knee on the ground next to a puddle of blood and vomit, his breaths were slow and heavy, his free hand clutching the injured area.


    Jayson scoffed squatting down to maintain eye contact as he spoke, "Oh no Craig the Feeble has fallen down, now would be a good time to call for back up. You did bring back up right? It would be a shame if you didn''t." With a slight poke to his forehead Craig shivered with wide eyes, the light in them fading as he lost consciousness, foam frothing from his mouth.


    Jayson sighed in disappointment, " You could''ve brought back up and I wouldn''t have been mad. Now let us see what loot you dropped, your just a small fish so I won''t expect much."Picking up the one handed ax from next to Craig''s unconscious body, he nudged the side of his loincloth with the tip of his shoe. Feeling no resistance he pressed on until the upper half of his foot vanished within.


    "Storage Cloth Identified, added to crafting list." The system chimed, only this time it didn''t annoy Jayson, for he was positively excited about his find. His hands went to work stripping Craig completely naked, holding the cloth before him it actually expanded to the size of a small blanket.


    Various stains and colors spotted the blanket and strange odor was wafting into the breeze, this hardly bothered Jayson as he stuck his head into the cloth. As his head pierced the veil his eyes was met with a pure white space that expanded beyond his sight, mounds of coins and objects littered the floor in a golden treasure light.


    At the sight before him tears silently rolled down his cheeks before he withdrew from the space, Jayson was quivering with excitement this small carp turned out to be a monstrous catfish, however he kept his composure as he knew this was something Faith would need and looked forward to the praise she may give.


    Jayson stood and prepared himself to leave, glancing down at the naked, unconscious Craig, gave a curt nod, "Craig the Immobile , you have surprisingly deep pockets and the contents shall sustain us for a long time. You have my gratitude, good luck sir." He said taking off down the alley and casually mixing in with the crowd, he made his way back toward the Mages Guild just in time to see the massive wave of water sweeping away a giant skeleton.


    "I wonder who that is?" Jayson mumbledto himself a rather impressed look on his face to his side a mass of brown fur sat, happily munching on a link of meat. Allen looked up at him a satisfied look in his eyes, with a burp he responded, "That''ll be Annie, you''ve missed out on a bit since you left. I''ll fill you in."He said trotting toward the building giving him the details of situation as it unfolded, by the end Jayson was clutching his ribs in laughter tears flowing like streams from his eyes.


    Regaining his composure the pair entered the building to see it buzzing with excitement, groups of mages gathered happily chatting about the event that took place not too long ago. A few lucky individuals gained insights on new spells and incantations and were in the middle of creating them, various fluctuations of mana invigorated their minds.


    Jayson was nearly overwhelmed just by walking across the room, he wasn''t as sensitive the first time he came. Confused as to what was going on he shot Allen a worried look, concerned he would faint and lose the precious treasures he''d acquired.


    Allen took notice of his concern giving him a once over with his beady golden eyes that flashed an array of colors, " You are fine, just getting used to this world and your body is undergoing a change."


    Jayson started to panic internally but calmed himself, this was something out of his control at the current and would need more information from Allen to curb his fear later. For now his mind was occupied with thoughts of reuniting with the group and sharing with them his newly "acquired" wealth.


    As they walked through the main hall their pace slowed due to the sea of people becoming increasingly thick, doing his best to gently move people aside as they appeared to be centered around someone.


    Jayson looked down toward Allen and said, "Maybe a big shot has come, or someone they all disliked has died. Either way we''ll have to keep pushing if we want to regroup with the others."


    Resolve flashed in their eyes and with a nod Jayson stepped forward, preparing to shove the person before him to get ahead. However a tap on his shoulder disrupted his focus, looking over to see a pair of mischievous eyesupon him. Not expecting to see Kenny so suddenly caused him to stumble, knocking over the person he planned to shove.


    That person fell into another creating a domino effect, soon a mass of people were falling and shoving to stay upright. From a simple accident came a chaotic mess, angry shouts, and curses echoed throughout the main hall as Jayson and Kenny slowly backed away.


    The latter trembling doing his best to contain the flood of laughter, even with his dark complexion one could see his cheeks turning red. Jayson clearly embarrassed rolled his eyes in doing so he realized that Faith and Annie were not with him, " Are you just going to laugh and not tell me what''s going on?"


    He asked clearly annoyed his fingers flexing momentarily, as he was resisting the swelling urge to punch him. Kenny unshaken by the hostile intent scoffed, "Don''t think I can''t do both, you''ll find I''m great at multitasking. The girls are with some old guy talking about compensation for interrupting a match, they sent me off to collect you."


    He chuckled a bit continuing, "Here I was preparing myself for a search through the city, and you turn up right before I leave. What are the odds?"


    "Anything fun happen while you were out?"


    Jayson twitched at the question as he followed behind Kenny who led the way, he nodded faintly checking his surroundings to make sure no one was paying attention as he retrieved the Storage Cloth. Showing it to Kenny, who nearly retched when the various smells assaulted his nose.


    "What the hell is that thing?!" Why does it smell like every guy on the football team?!" Kenny asked a mixture of anger and curiosity flashed on his face.


    However before Jayson could start to explain, an outstretched hand from Kenny already made contact with the cloth and vanished within. The excited squeal that he released echoed throughout the hall as he shoved the upper half of his body into the cloth, he was only inside for an instant before he withdrew lights dancing in his eyes.


    Jayson stood there a smug smile on his face that was replaced with terror when he felt his feet no longer on the ground, Kenny picked him up and charged toward their destination kicking up a tailwind that seemed like a hurricane.


    A short while later Jayson felt a cold surface on his backside as Kenny dumped him before a plain looking door, " Thanks for dragging me to wherever we are, and thanks again for the gentle landing."He said as he stood, brushing the dust of his pants.


    "Your welcome." Kenny said stepping past him to push open the door, letting out the heavy scent of food. Inside were Faith and Annie who sitting before an elderly man, between then was a large golden bowl filled with various meats, fruits, and cheeses.


    Faith looked up towards Jayson, her cheeks stretched out like a chipmunk, eyes wide with an innocent face as she held a turkey leg to her mouth.


    It was silent when Jayson''s stomach growled and sounded throughout the room, causing the Elderly Man to laugh, "Well now, don''t be shy come on in!"

 15 Chapter 15: We don’t need to wai

    Jayson and Kenny didn''t wait for him to finish speaking by the time his sentence ended, the pair had already sat down and started eating along with Faith and Annie. Soon after Faith lifted her head to eye the Elderly Man, the innocent look she had while eating was gone replaced by her usual cold stare.


    "So old man, what do you want with us?" Her question direct and to the point, one by one the rest of the group turned their attention to him, the tension in the air becoming increasingly thick. The back of the Elderly Man''s neck started to sweat as he gripped his quarterstaff, his body started to tremble beyond his control.


    "What amazing pressure, I doubt I could take down one let alone all four if the other three are as strong as that girl." He thought to himself as he coughed gently and raised his hand, "Please children I harbor no ill intentions. I only wish to know which royal family you all are from, so that I may address you properly?" He asked in an apologetic tone.


    A confused look was shared amongst the four , who in turn shook their heads. Jayson who was eyeing the Elderly Man nonchalantly took notice of the oracle orb, feeling the familiar aura around it immediately reminded him of Granny Chi.


    Recalling how she stared into one in her room, a thought formed in his head as a faint unnoticeable smile appeared.


    "You already know, don''t play coy old man."


    His overly-stuffed voice came over the pile of food, sending a chill down the elderly mans back. Faith hearing this started to grow increasingly agitated causing the pressure on him to increase by a notch.


    "I''ve seen that item before used by an annoying old lady at the Adventures Guild, my guess would be that the both of you have been in contact using it." Jayson continued while keeping an eye on the elderly man, seeing the color drain from his face proved his thought.


    "If that''s indeed the case, then already know the story about us. I can''t speak for the others but I myself can''t stand to be tricked."


    Before his sentence was over, a fist appeared above Jayson''s head, with a solid smack his body fell against the floor stars flashing in his vision. Standing over him was Faith cracking her knuckles, her brows creased uttering a single word before looking back to the elderly man. It rang in Jayson''s head before he passed out.


    "Careless"


    Seeing how she didn''t hold back in knocking out her friend, the elderly man nearly lost the feeling in his back almost toppling over. Gaining control of himself, he coughed lightly before establishing eye contact with Faith.


    "Forgive me for attempting to deceive you and probe your true origins. If I may start over by introducing myself, my name is Cornelius, I''m grandmaster of this Mages Guild."


    He inclined his head towards Jayson, "It is how the young man said, I know the entire story of your group. The woman who oversees the Adventures Guild, happens to be my wife. I . . ." He wanted to continue but Faith held up her hand, turning to Kenny, she growled, "Wake him up."


    Kenny chuckled casually, extending his hand over Jayson''s head, his aura rippled through the air like a gentle breeze. As it blew and quickly enveloped the small room, Cornelius felt his body become lighter, more fluid and agile. Old injuries that pained him started to slowly fade away, this was his Healing Wind.


    Although this was Kenny''s first time using it, the effect was powerful which impressed Faith. An undetectable smile formed at the corner of her lips, watching the knot on the back of Jayson''s head go down, he soon stirred before moaning loudly.


    "You could have treated the pain as well."


    The now conscious Jayson complained as there was still a dull ache in his head, Annie and Kenny looked at each other before erupting with laughter. Kenny wiped a tear away from his face, "I was only told to wake you not heal, I don''t dare derive from my tasks."


    Cornelius was stupefied, the skill Kenny used just then, was definitely a High-Tier''d one. Yet it was something he knew even his wife couldn''t learn, let alone wield with such precise control. He felt as though he stumbled upon a blessing, and to make use of it he must convince them to stay for their tournament.


    At that moment his eyes fell on Annie and realized something, "Her sword was smashed in that fight with Rebecca, maybe this would work as an anchor." He thought, feeling as this would be his only option Cornelius spoke,


    "I have still yet to compensate you young lady, for interrupting your match with my disappointment of a granddaughter. How about I have a new sword made for you? I would have the best blacksmith in the village complete this task within a month."


    Annie''s eyes lit up at the offer, Faith cut her off saying, "Too long."


    Cornelius winced and was about to make another offer when Jayson spoke up,


    "We don''t need to wait, I can give her a sword right now. She can pick one from here."


    Unfolding the storage cloth and setting it on the floor.


    He pointed toward it, " Get in." He said casually. Annie asked no questions stepping directly on the cloth and sinking inside vanishing completely.


    Cornelius eyes were bulging out from their sockets as he stared at the storage cloth on the ground recognizing it, he knew it be worn as a loincloth by the very blacksmith he was referring.


    "Y-y-young man, w-where did you g-get that from?" Cornelius stammered his body trembled as he was afraid of the answer.


    Jayson let a cynical smile form on his face as he answered, "Some guy calling himself Craig the Turtle challenged me, so I took this as my prize when I won."


    On the main road of the village walking shamefully toward a small building, Craig''s ear twitched causing him to fly into a rage, red in the face he screamed at the sky, "IT''S CRAIG THE NOBLE!!"


    In doing so not only did he attract the attention of the people around him, he also uncovered himself, revealing his private area for all to see. Passing women snickered, while the men pointed and laughed out loud.


    Embarrassed Craig The Noble fled into a nearby building, sounds of weeping soon heard from within.


    Cornelius heart skipped several beats at Jayson''s response, the situation was getting more and more complicated. Each attempt he made to do something was curbed by the young man with the weird hairstyle, it was almost as if he was doing so intentionally.


    Yet Cornelius could not figure out if this was true or not and didn''t fell like pressing his luck. At this moment Annie emerged from within the storage cloth, within her arms was a sheathed katana that was shaking violently and was being visibly suppressed by her. Annie briefly made eye contact with Jayson before turning to Faith, a serious expression on her face.


    This alerted Faith, who gave a faint nod. With a sidelong glance toward Kenny and Jayson, "We''re leaving." She grunted leaving no room for negotiation.


    Cornelius who was in a daze regained his focus, jumping up so abruptly that he nearly knocked over the bowl of food, "Leaving so soon? I''ve yet to compensate her, please if there is anything you desire name it and it''s yours." He offered smiling inwardly


    "If it''s true that you are new to this place, you won''t know enough to ask for anything of value. So fulfilling the request of a young lady sound be simple." He thought confidently to himself who knew that Annie''s next words would nearly cause him to faint.


    "I''d like a book of Heaven-Tiered spells."


    Cornelius face drained of color, "I take back what I said, this young lady is not so simple after all."


    He reached into his own storage pouch and retrieved a scroll, as he held it the four of them could see space distorting around it.


    "While I don''t dare say that we have a book, we do have this here. The runic languages on this scroll have been lost for centuries; and yet many have been able to create powerful spells just by studying it." He explained staring longingly at it, as though he was offering up his own child.


    Annie looked toward Faith, who''d already turned her head away. Signifying that she would have no part in Annie''s choice, understanding the meaning Annie focused her gaze on the scroll for a moment.


    "It''s weird but I can tell from how the old man is looking at it, this scroll is really important to him. Whatever is written on it must be really useful." She concluded to herself silently, reaching out toward the scroll.


    Cornelius watched regretfully as Annie kept the scroll rejoining her companions, he was weeping internally but it was well worth it to establish a connection. His face restored to a peaceful disposition, he stood clutching his quarterstaff for support.


    The four nodded to themselves, taking no further pleasantries and directly excused themselves. Before they left Cornelius''s voice trailed after them, " If any of you need anything, feel free to look for me here."


    Almost if pleading for the last part, the four shared a laugh as they walked down the hallway.


    Kenny turned to Faith snickering devilishly, "If anything is true. . . He''s gonna look for us."

 16 Chapter 16: Back to the Inn

    Standing outside of the building Faith wasted no time in leading them away from it, Annie staring intently at Jayson while still holding a trembling sword that was trying to escape against her chest. Soon the inn where they were staying came into view, in front of the door was a child wearing a green shirt with a piece of leather armor over it. He was staring at the door silently contemplating, after a moment he walked away murmuring. His face contorted in confusion, Faith paid little attention to him and proceeded inside followed by Annie and Jayson. They all stopped when they realized Kenny had stayed outside the door, rushing back they found him gazing in the direction in which the child went.


    Faith stepped out gently slapping his back, her normal cold demeanor was replaced by a genuine concerning look, "You ok?" She inquired quietly.


    Kenny returned to his senses, with a heavy sigh, he nodded. He turned toward Faith lips curled in his usual wide smile, " That kid just now, if you looked at him carefully you could see his aura. I couldn''t do that before." He said cheerfully.


    This shocked Annie and Faith, Jayson however was unbothered and plainly responded, "Oh? You can do that too? Here I thought it was a special skill."


    "Nothing special about you."


    Faith commented calmly not taking her eyes off Kenny, sending Annie and Kenny into a laughing fit. Wiping away the tears from his eyes, Kenny regained enough breath to say, "I hope this world has medicine for burns."


    Jayson''s face darkened as he disappeared inside the inn, the others soon followed. Walking towards the stairs Faith causally eyed the room, to her surprise various people inside had various colors about them. The mixture of colors overwhelmed her senses for a moment, when a hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.


    Faith turned her head and saw the gray hair of Old Jo who was smiling with an endearing look on his face, "Almost fell over there, look like you saw a ghost. Are you ok?" He asked carefully as he didn''t want to upset her.


    Faith steadied herself before saying, " I''m fine." Walking forward she noticed the people were staring at her, looks of greed and lust was shared amongst the crowd. Maintaining a look of indifference Faith continued on to their room, inside she found Kenny and Jayson sitting before Annie.


    Faith was surprised to see that sword was still fighting only now it had grown in its ferocity, thrashing madly in attempts to free itself generated small shockwaves that shook the room. Annie normal bright look was replaced with one of distress as she didn''t know what to do with it.


    Now that Faith was actually paying attention the sword casing was glowing a blueish-green color, "Unidentified Item Detected."


    The system notified, which immediately annoyed Jayson,


    "You are way too late for that, super slow system. How do we get it to stop?"


    The system went silent and didn''t respond, which further aggravated Jayson, who was on the brink of screaming. A flash of gold fur interrupted his soon to be tantrum, and brought his and everyone else''s attention toward the bed.


    Alan loitering about with multiple links of sausages hanging from his mouth, carefully setting them at his feet. Alan looked towards Annie as a smug smile visibly appeared, as though he was cat who cornered a mouse, "Seems like you could use my help, I''m willing but you must rub my belly for a few hours afterward."


    Kenny chuckled, " So you just want to be pet? I could do that while you tell her how to control that sword." Before his sentence ended and Alan could react, Kenny had appeared before the dog and scooped him up into his arms.


    Alan began to struggle just as violently as the sword, "Release me freakishly strong human, you . . . Oh to the left a bit." Kenny had started to scratch his belly and Alan''s attitude changed. Seeing this occur Kenny''s eyes began to flash as a revelation came to him, he turned to Annie a bright smile on his face, " Just like how I did it."


    His words seemed to trigger something in Annie as she immediately understood what he meant, "I just gotta pet it''s belly, since it''s a magic sword, use magic."


    Annie channeled a small stream of her mana into her palm and rubbed the casing, to her surprise the mana was sucked into the casing before contact. Her mana was gone but the sword calmed a bit, fighting less vigorously as before. Annie''s eyes flashed with excitement as she sat crossed leg on the floor, holding the sword against her knees.


    Soon enough Annie sunk into meditation, as her mana was constantly being sent into the sword. Now that the sword was being settled, Faith turned to Jayson, "Explain." Her stare alone was enough to send shivers up Jayson''s spine, but combined with her voice turned his knees to jelly.


    Jayson told her of his trip to the Adventures Guild, his meeting with Grammy Chi, and how she wanted them to fight in a tournament. Carefully leaving out the reward for accepting the quest, Jayson went on to tell her about his win over Craig The Noble, and the spoils from the fight. Showcasing the one-handed ax, and the storage cloth.


    Jayson barely unfolded the cloth when Faith extended her hand and took it from him, it seemed to be an ordinary cloth with various stains. With a horrifying smell coming off of it, that made her eyes water and stomach churn.


    Faith jabbed her hand through watching in amazement as it vanished within, " Its a pretty fancy backpack that''s for sure, this guy you took it from is going to want it back. Be careful." The last part of her sentence was a definite warning, who knew what Craig The Noble might do to get his stuff back.


    Jayson nodded slightly, understanding her message while forming his own plans on how to deal with him. Kenny had released Alan at this point and lost himself to the icon screen, as Kenny checked his list of skills a new one had appeared.


    Death Magic had appeared in his, delighted by now having a type of magic to himself, Kenny began to chuckle.


    "I wonder what sort of trouble this will bring?" He thought to himself amused and worried at the same time, flipping his palm a dark, gritty light that danced light flames appeared. As one stared at the odd looking flame, they could feel their life force being drawn toward the darkest reaches of the flame.


    A chill shrouded the room as the flame shined, Kenny''s eyes flashed as his subconscious was drawn inside.


    He was surrounded by darkness, it was quiet as there was not a trace of life to be seen. All things that lived met their ends here, yet their presence never faded. Standing in the darkness were silhouettes of all things death had claimed, they reached out toward Kenny''s subconscious the quiet darkness was gentle. Like carefully extinguishing a candle flame, as it was connected to his actual mind Kenny felt his body grow heavy.


    Faith coughed lightly, and drew Kenny from his trance, " Don''t be so hasty."


    Kenny shook himself, returning the vigor to his body. As he looked to Faith and nodded, he was in such a rush to try and understand his new ability, that he didn''t realize he was dying. If Faith hadn''t interrupted the process when she did, it may have been too late.


    "Thanks. I almost became literal dead weight." Laughing as he spoke with a weird shifting of his legs, Kenny laid out on the bed.


    His face bright with excitement thinking about the experience, Faith shook her head at the sight before turning her attention to her own Power Tab. Staring at her skills for a moment before falling into thought, " I started out with this Flame Manipulation, though I haven''t had time to investigate."


    Thinking here Faith directly activated her Flame Manipulation without hesitating, her soul and consciousness shook at that moment. The room faded away along with Kenny and the others, leaving Faith alone in a completely dark space. Dazed by the sudden change in scenery Faith stood straight, stumbling slightly from the head rush that followed.


    As Faith regained her balance, a small bead of sweat dropped from her nose. However it evaporated the second it left her skin, it was only then did Faith realize that temperature was rising fast. As sweat began to pour from her body, not a single bead hit the ground turning to steam midair.


    "Fwooosh"


    A small flame appeared before Faith, that danced lazily in her vision as though guided by an invisible force. As Faith watched it silently, she felt a closeness to this flame. As though it was summoned by her own powers, which left Faith confused because she could not actually summon her powers. Having tried to do so to investigate the flame, a thought appeared in her mind as Faith reached out toward the flame.


    However before Faith could close her fingers around it, the flame danced away keeping its lazy and lofty pace. This slightly annoyed Faith but she calmed herself down quickly, and proceeded to attempt again only with the same result.


    Faith sighed, "Well it''s obvious I can''t catch it, so I guess waiting it out would be the next move."


    As her sentence fell the flame shook, then expanded violently, quickly filling up the sides of her view. There was only silence as the flames gathered over her body, swelling to the size of the sun. It hung in the air before swallowing Faith whole, and remained still after doing so.


    It all happened in an instant.

 17 Chapter 17 : Spell Creation Zone

    Faith could only watch helplessly as she was dragged toward the center, her sight was filled with flames as they covered her.


    Yet her skin remained unscathed by the flames, in fact they carefully held Faith at the center. Faith didn''t struggle but looked around in interest, as she tried Faith found that she could still move about freely.


    What''s more is that whenever Faith moved, the flames shifted and moved with her as though reading her thoughts. Her soul shook in resonance as her gaze flashed.


    Faith chuckled, " So that''s how it is. "


    Having understood the nature of these flames, Faith''s mind wavered causing a small portion of fire to separate and condense. A short moment later Faith stared at an exact replica of her, aside from her hands, feet, and hair were blazing with dazzling flames there was small difference in appearance.


    " I see you''re figuring things out quickly, that''s good I won''t have to hold your hand all the while." A quiet yet raspy voice came echoing from the space behind her.


    Faith turned nonchalantly and was shocked to what greeted her, a stumpy creature with paws and face as dark as lacquer. It''s back was grey like storm clouds, with stripes of white at its sides.


    Tufts of brown fur stuck out from its underbelly, it''s paws had nails that resembled daggers. It stared at her angrily, flames raged in its eyes.


    In all aspects this creature greatly resembled a honey badger, yet Faith knew better than to assume now that it was a mere creature. With a low grunt it shuffled towards her, walking through the flames as though it belonged there, it''s presence merged with the flames as it sat before her.


    It stared , " I am Smalls. This place is your Spell Creation Zone, name says it all. You''ll be spending a lot of time here, what you come up with will depend on you. However I will decide whether or not you will be ready to use it, reason being if you try something you''re not ready to handle you''ll die. "


    Smalls was very direct in its explanation, but Faith could tell there was a hint of worry in its voice. She remained silent as Smalls didn''t pause for long, "This ball of fire we''re in currently is the amount of magic you''re able to control, don''t get too excited because there are others who can wield power like this. Some even greater, however you can match them by training your control over magic, or equipping yourself with combat gear."


    "I suggest movement, offensive, and recovery to start out with."


    Before the sentence finished Smalls had converted to fire and disappeared amongst the flames, leaving Faith dazed but brimming with excitement. This was her chance to come up with dazzling spells like Annie , so Faith was going to make the most of the time she spent here.


    Having formed several ideas already the flames around her trembled and moved to her will, Faith smiled as she got to work her mind racing with ideas.


    Meanwhile in a separate Spell Creation Zone, ferocious squalls of wind ravaged above , while raging waves surged and churned below. In the sky a giant green feathered bird flew, a golden crown extended from its head. In the water a colossal bluish-grey leviathan swam , its body stretched endlessly along the water.


    With a screech from the bird, the ferocious winds grew more intense, a flap of its wings shot endless squalls of razor sharp wind down on the leviathan. However the second before contact the squalls rolled away from their target into the water. Enraged the leviathan roared, causing the water to tremble. Countless spouts of water erupted from the surface, and flew towards the bird as the leviathan sunk beneath the water and disappeared from view.


    The bird was angered because it wanted to give chase but had to evade the spouts of water, however some manged to find their mark but just like its squalls the water rolled away. As they did so they collided with one another soon creating an array of water spouts that further impeded the bird, it squawked angrily firing random streams of wind into the water below. In the distance away from the battle that took place,Annie was hovering in the air with a curious look in her eye. Hovering beside her ear was a small green wasp, its wings made no sound as it landed on her ear lobe.


    At her ankle was a small blue shrimp with one claw way bigger than the other, with a small wiggle of its tail it rested comfortably in her sock. Annie didn''t seem to mind the two animals crawling on her, watching the giant green bird flying in the distance a resolute look took over her face.


    Looking to both the wasp and shrimp she smiled, " Looks like taming the whole sword in one go won''t be possible right now, but I can at least start by taming this bird. Je''ir, lets find out whose wind is stronger."


    The wasp sprang to life fluttering its wings to take off, with each beat of its wings a windstorm kicked up around Annie, hiding her body in a surging tempest as the shrimp faded from view.


    A squeaky excited voice rumbled from the wasp, " I always like fighting things bigger than myself, let''s not give it a chance to fight back and go all out from the start!"


    Annie nodded, " I agree, a long drawn out fight wouldn''t help. Hit it hard and hit it fast. Let''s try that new spell out, perfect time don''t you think Je''ir?"


    The wasp Je''ir hovered silently in the air for a moment before sounding out, " Only because the situation calls for it, half power please. I''d rather not be blown away today, or at all for that matter."


    Annie didn''t respond as the turbulent winds surrounding her started to become gentle, until it was no more savage than a spring breeze. It swirled and gathered toward her lips as Annie slowly inhaled, her chest slowly expanding as she took in air. Her powers surged as she reached her limit, then suddenly Annie spat out a small marble sized sphere.


    Tiny beads of sweat formed at her brows, as she concentrated on the sphere before her. As it spun in the air swirling winds could be seen, inside it felt as though you being sucked towards its center. Annie focused as she flicked the sphere, which vanished on contact as though it didn''t exist.


    The green bird had calmed from its tantrum and was preparing to ascend into the clouds, when it felt a sense of urgency and dread washed over it. It panicked and looked about furiously trying to find who would dare provoke it, while it was searching it didn''t realize its body was being slowly dragged away from the squalls above. Only when it prepared to take off again did it feel a strong pulling force keeping it in place, did it flap harder to resist the pull.


    By this time it was a struggle for the bird to even flap, then suddenly the unseen force was gone. The pull on its wings vanished as it flapped for a moment in mid air, getting ready to take off when the unseen force returned with greater magnitude. Suddenly the space around the bird became sealed off by a light green wind, that floated by lazily like clouds but exuded a sense indestructibility . At the center was a small cyclone that twirled casually but generated a strong pulling force, that threatened to completely crush the bird should it be caught up.


    Outraged it screeched loudly the feathers covering its back started to glow a dark green light, this light covered the bird as it flew towards the outer layer of clouds. As it''s beak pierce the first cloud it came across, the cloud did not give way instead it expanded out toward the bird. Startled by this reaction the bird flapped hard away from the cloud, so hard that it shot itself directly into the cyclone it stayed away from initially. Now caught in the strong pulling force of this seemingly peaceful cyclone, the bird felt an impending sense of doom wash over it.


    It released a high pitched squeal as its body was sucked into the cyclone, the tip of its beak started to shine with a soft light. It was different than the powers it displayed before, this was as though it''s beak turned into a sword. Sharp and overbearing that could cut through the endless expanses of space.


    Annie''s eyes sparkled as she watched from outside, "Not what I was expecting for a last attempt, sad it didn''t try to attack from the outside."


    The sphere shook as the bird thrashed about to no avail, it''s beak had no target as it slashed blindly in the air.


    Je''ir darted around Annie''s head excitedly, " Hurry up and finish it off!"


    Annie softly clapped her hands, the sphere trembled and quietly shrank in response. Collapsing upon the bird effortlessly, a deep green light blazed as the sphere returned to the size of a marble.


    It floated lazily to Annie''s outstretched hand, she watched as the birds body was crushed by the cyclone. It''s power being drained and stored within, giving the cyclone the deep green light that shine before.


    It''s beak broke off with a loud snap, and passed through the clouds of the marble. As it appeared before Annie, she felt as though a sword was aimed at her. One that was incredibly sharp, capable of slicing through space itself.


    Annie tossed the marble to Je''ir who caught it gleefully, while Annie grabbed for the beak. It shattered upon contact revealing the outline of the very sword in her lap, the fragments of the beak flew into the outline giving it a physical form.


    As her fingers wrapped around the case, Annie felt a tug in her heart and was drawn out of her Spell Creation Zone.

 18 Chapter 18 : Must Obtain Bread

    Annie returned to her senses as Jayson was gently shaking her, startled as his face was full of concern. Looking around she watched as Kenny roused Faith, that''s when she heard a commotion going on outside their door.


    "It''s been like this for a few minutes, a few bells sounded earlier and it''s been chaos since." Jayson explained what he knew to her, as Faith stood up and made for the door.


    Not bothering to hear anything else Faith threw open the door revealing people rushing through the halls in a panic, mixed faces of fear and resolve spread throughout as groups were either trying to hide or get outside. Amidst the rush of people a familiar face walked calmly into their room and shut the door behind, a few beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.


    Old Jo stood before them dressed as though he was going to war, steel armor covered him while under his arm was a matching helmet. On his back was a small bow , his quiver was full of brightly feathered arrows.


    He looked to the children and sighed, " There have been sightings of a few Mortal-Tier monsters wandering close to the gates, a lot of the adventurers here want a shot at making some coin."


    "I''m going to be standing guard in front of my inn, most would think this a good time to raid my kitchen. They''ll get an arrow to the knee and a boot to their face for their troubles."


    He chuckled darkly for a moment, " I just want to warn you kids if you decide to go, be wary of the forest, monsters come in many forms."


    Jo turned for the door, pausing a moment before opening the door, "I don''t know why only two of you have weapons, but if you need some gear you''re free to look about my basement. Door next to the stove, take a few snacks for the road."


    The door closed behind Old Jo as he vanished into the rushing crowd, leaving them staring excitedly at one another.


    Faith broke the silence fire dancing in her eyes, "We''re going."


    Making for the door before she finished the statement, Annie and Kenny dancing behind her, Jayson close behind straightening his glasses. The group joined the crowd rushing for the lower level of the inn, Kenny stopped short of the door his nose twitching. A sweet scent that stood out amongst the smell of various body odors and ale, drew him toward the kitchen if not for an iron grip that caught him. A pair of fierce eyes met his that sent a shiver through his soul, Faith stared at him a look of clear agitation on her face.


    Kenny said nothing as he pointed toward the kitchen with a shivering finger, as Faith followed she caught the sweet smell that stopped him and understood. The grip on Kenny''s shirt vanished and was replaced with a soft palm on the top of his head, the fierce look that she had changed to one of innocent joy. The change was so fast that Jayson choked on air, Annie giggled at his side, now following Faith into the kitchen.


    Crossing the threshold into the kitchen the group were met with the sound of clanking pots and pans, boiling cauldrons and various shouting from the cooks going about their business. In the middle of the kitchen stood a pair of men who were shouting the loudest at each other, red faced with spit flying everywhere it seemed as though this argument couldn''t be settled. There was little difference between the two men besides their choice of mustache, one bearing a pencil trim the other handle bar. Both men were a head taller than Kenny, and just as skinny, they wore fancy white jackets speckled with various stains and smears.


    Their heated debate stopped as Faith approached standing shoulder to shoulder, the man with the handle bar mustache leaned forward slightly face still red yet his voice was soft a complete contrast to earlier , "The boss told us there would be kids coming, but I didn''t expect actual kids though. What do you think brother?"


    As he was addressed the man with the pencil mustache laughed, maintaining the loudness in his voice while he spoke, "Indeed so brother, let us fill their stomachs and stock them well for their travel."


    They left leaving Faith overcome with confusion and anger, as a nerve appeared on her forehead Faith took a step after them, only to be stopped by Kenny who tugged on her arm. With a simple tap of his nose Faith forgot her anger and started sniffing the air, within a few seconds she found the scent again. It was stronger where they stood, more concentrated, which made it easier for them to locate. On a tray a few meters away from them were a pile of cakes, spiral in shape with the heavy scent of cinnamon on top was a clear gel like liquid.


    The group was entranced by the sight of them, drool forming at the corners of their mouths as they inched closer. However the timing was terrible as the two brothers returned from the back of the kitchen, carrying in their hands a bag for each of them with food overflowing the top. As they each received a bag, Faith continued to stare at the plate of food with a voracious look.


    Faith blinked coming back to her sense before looking to the man with the handle bar mustache, " What are those on the tray?" She asked curiously, the look on her face made it obvious she wanted to eat one, with the others behind her with the same look.


    However it was the man with the pencil mustache who answered, his loud voice filling their ears, "Those are the village speciality, Topo Bread. Made with ingredients that can only be found in this area, its a rare treat that we only make once a month."


    A thought ran through Faith''s mind, "I''m going to eat that entire tray."


    The man with the handle bar mustache spoke up after his brother, " Now if you don''t mind, we have things to do. The exit is back the way you came, take care not to disturb anyone or thing."


    After that the pair ventured back into the heart of the kitchen, directing other workers in their tasks leaving the group alone to take care of themselves. As Kenny, Annie, and Jayson turned to leave, Faith was the only one still rooted to the spot, her gaze still trained on the Topo bread before her. Her mind was in conflict thinking about the tempting item, her hand slightly outstretched toward the tray. Jayson smiled devilishly, " Old Jo did say to take snacks for the road, aren''t they considered snacks? I''m sure he wouldn''t mind if one or four disappeared."


    Annie and Kenny smiled, looking away in opposite directions. Faith nodded, silently tucking away several pieces of Topo bread. The group quickly made their way out of the kitchen soon afterwards, making their way through the front area of the inn. The rushing crowd of people had died down, the inn was almost empty, with only a few chairs occupied the atmosphere was less lively at that moment. The group paid little attention, bidding their farewells to Old Jo who was sitting outside the inn, Faith and co. Made their way to the front gates of the village, where a large crowd had already gathered.


    Standing in front of the crowd, was a man reading from a long scroll,


    "The Adventurers Guild will be offering ten gold coins for each Mortal-Tier monster slain, you must bring proof of your kill to be given credit. We have reports that there are three in the area, they seem to command lesser monster. Extreme caution is advised to all who are partaking."


    Annie was looking around and noticed that all the attendants had the same symbol on various parts of their clothing, a hammer, wand, and sword formed a triangle around what seemed to be a strange purple leaf. Stopping a passerby to ask curiously, "What does that symbol mean?"


    The passerby looked stunned, and answered, " It''s our Adventures Guild Symbol, the Purple Oak. This shows that you''re a member, and also acts as a guide as to where the bodies go if they die. You''re only able to take quests posted by the guild if you''re a member."


    Seeing the disheartening look form on Annie''s face the passerby became flustered as they explained further, "That doesn''t mean you can''t act independently and hunt on your own. It just means you won''t get paid as much by the guild for turning in monster parts."


    A shout from the distance caught the passerby''s attention, bidding her a farewell the passerby continued on their way, leaving Annie''s eyes sparkling.


    The large crowd shrank rapidly as groups of people left for the forest, soon Faith and co. made it to the entrance where the man who read from the scroll earlier stood, his gaze seem to pierce the distance like hawk watching its prey. As Faith approached his hand blocked her from passing the gates, without looking directly at her, he spoke his voice as shrill as his gaze was sharp, " I can''t let children through, its too dangerous. I''ll have to ask you to return, please."


    Faith was taken aback by both his kindness and the sheer intensity of his voice, but stood her ground and responded plainly, "No."


    The man''s gaze became sharper the ground beneath him trembling as he began to summon his powers, Faith''s gaze flashed as she watched a yellowish-grey light flow outward from his body, wherever the light shone on his body it lingered like a thin covering separating him from all else in the world.

 19 Chapter 19 : How does he do that?

    Faith thought to herself, "No mana, so it''s a skill. Looks defensive but it may enhance, three should be enough. I''ll move after he does."


    The man sighed as Faith showed no intention of backing down, he took a step forward causing Faith''s eyes to widen. Her body vanished leaving behind a faint trace of flame in the air, the man stared blankly at the spot where Faith once stood. That was the last thing he saw before his world went black, his body slumped into Faith''s open arms.


    She settled him down gently a steady hand on his chest, feeling for a heartbeat moving away once she confirmed. The few onlookers who saw were stupefied, not able to grasp what took place before their eyes. Kenny moved between Faith and the crowd, his hands covering his cheeks dramatically shouting, "OOOOHHHH NOOOOO!!! He must have used a skill he wasn''t ready for to show off his might, to a young girl no less, the hubris!" Turning up his nose after doing so, "Fortunately our lady here caught him before he hurt himself further, would someone help this man? We have to be on our way."


    Striding past the now unconscious man Kenny nodded to the few who rushed over, Faith and the rest followed behind walking out of the gates. Once past Kenny flexed his fingers and a faint trace of green wind drifted out, it flew back towards the gate enveloping the man as he was dragged away by the villagers. He awoke with a start, a mixture of embarrassment and anger filled his face.


    He looked about, angrily searching for the kids who were now long gone, Jayson walking next to Annie leaned close dropping his voice to a whisper, "How did he do that? I was sure we''d have to deal with everyone at the gate, but he got us away with hardly an explanation."


    Annie had a complex look on her face as she responded, " I honestly have no idea, that''s how he was when approached me. Next thing I know, I''m on a rooftop meeting the player I couldn''t beat. I can only say he''s got a way with people."


    Annie thought for a moment, looking toward Faith''s back, "I wonder, how many strikes did you see?"


    "I only saw two, yourself?"


    "Same here. After I saw her first step, two fists, that weird light of his broke. Then he was asleep, I really don''t know who''s scarier between the two."


    Jayson didn''t respond as he looked to Kenny and Faith, before long they had traveled deep into the forest surrounding the village. Sounds of fighting echoing throughout, as people could be seen fighting monsters of various sizes.


    Faith''s eyes lit up as they came across a young lady fighting what seemed to be a scaly purple crocodile, it''s spiked tail thumped rhythmically on the ground. As it opened it''s mouth that was riddled with dagger like teeth, a green fog rolled out that stuck to everything it came in contact with.


    Before long the fog had spread and covered her completely, however she didn''t show any signs of panic not even when the monster coughed up a tiny spark. That spark ignited the green fog and everything that it touched, turning the green and vibrant forest into a small sea of flames.


    Faith, Kenny, Annie, and Jayson watched silently from a short distance away, Kenny''s eyes sparkled at the sight, "What is that creature?"


    The system responded, " Monster identified : Lesser Dragon


    Amidst the flames a blue light shined faintly, standing there unfazed encased in what seemed to be a sapphire. The young lady eyes held a gentle look as though she felt bad for the creature, waving her right hand lazily through the air the space above the Lesser Dragon distorted.


    From the distortions came shards of glimmering ice, they seemed ordinary at first sight but they radiated an aura of peacefulness. All of life''s creations could find tranquility within , no suffering only stillness before the end. The Lesser Dragon seemed to pay very little if not any attention to them, as though they weren''t there.


    It''s yellow eyes maintained a burning gaze towards the young lady, with a frightening roar that shook the trees and earth surrounding them. It started forward putting on a burst of speed that hardly matched its size, it trampled over anything in its path during its charge.


    The floating ice shards sprang to life after the Lesser Dragon moved, like shooting stars they flew across the sky doggedly chasing the Lesser Dragon. As the first shard found its home in the tip of the Lesser Dragon''s tail, the monster visibly slowed down as a strange sense of calm washed over it.


    It felt nothing amiss as the Lesser Dragon slowed to a stop in front of the young lady, the angry glare it once had was replaced with a look of tranquility. The young lady lowered herself before the creature gingerly petting its head as it breathed its last, as if she confirmed it had died the young lady stood and made her way deeper into the forest.


    A tear rolling down her cheek as she left, leaving the still hidden group confused about her actions. Jayson was the first to break the silence, "She kills but doesn''t take anything to prove it? That''s weird, she''s weird."


    Faith calmly retorted, " Fix your hair, then judge."


    Kenny and Annie giggled silently, Jayson said nothing as his face was bright red.


    Feeling something soft against her leg, Faith looked down to see Alan panting silently at her side. He looked up his mouth opening releasing a loud yawn directly in her face, a vein in Faith''s forehead throbbed as an iron grip found its home on top of Alan''s head.


    Alan grunted under the pressure, " If she is just going to leave it, this is a great time to gather resources. Who knows what you could make out of that fresh corpse over there?"


    Kenny required no further convincing as he almost pounced on the corpse of the Lesser Dragon, the moment his fingertips touched the body it vanished replaced with the systems voice, "Materials gathered, new items available in the Crafting List."


    Kenny''s eyes sparkled upon receiving this news, his vision dimmed as Kenny opened the Crafting List in the Menu. Just below the Frost Tipped Spear were several new items, Flame Lance, Inferno Glaive, and Ember Burst Gauntlets. However there was a difference between them, the newer items had white lettering, while the older was grey.


    When Kenny focused on the Frost Tipped Spear it wouldn''t confirm his thought, pausing for a moment, he refocused on the Inferno Glaive and the menu disappeared. In the next moment a long beam of purple light manifested over Kenny''s head, all things bathed in that light felt urge to submit to its will and obey without question.


    The light broke away after a moment revealing a long pole arm, a sharp blade that resembled the Lesser Dragons tooth was at the tip surrounded by a box like compartment, the body seemed to be comprised of it''s tendons, the end had a glowing yellow sphere a singular black dot in the middle that spun slowly.


    As Kenny held it and inspected it further he noticed two odd things about it, the first being that there was a trigger on the body of the glaive. The second, a massive flying beetle humming quietly next to the tip of the glaive. It opened and closed its pincer like jaws excitedly, while Kenny was enthralled with the oddity that was this new weapon Faith was growing impatient.


    Soon an iron grip found the top of Kenny''s head, as he was lifted off the ground Faith''s voice drifted by his ear, "We''re going, no more wasting time." Calm and gentle was her voice but carried with it a sense of calamity. As she dragged Kenny away, he looked like a kid who''s been lectured.


    Annie and Jayson followed quietly holding their laughter.


    After a short while of walking they came across a horrific smell one that made their stomachs churn, the air was filled with the acrid scent of burnt blood, mold, and garbage. It hung thickly in the air like a mist making it harder for them to see the path ahead, Jayson felt something soft against his foot and paused looking down to see what he stepped on.


    Jayson''s eyes widened in shock as there was a severed hand beneath his foot, upon closer inspection there was a light trail of blood that went of the path and lead into the brush beside him. Jayson stared in the direction of the trail for a moment, before following it off the path into the brush. Annie who was walking next to Jayson noticed his strange behavior and signaled the others to stop, noticing the hand along with the trail they followed behind Jayson catching up with him quickly.


    Jayson was standing there in the middle of a small clover patch, stiff as a board his face dark. As Faith and the others followed his gaze they all nearly emptied their stomachs, before them were various body parts of both Adventurers and Monster alike mixed in a bloody pile.


    This pile however was about the size of a small hill, the ground beneath it was a myriad of colors as both human and monster blood ran down. Faith shivered as a powerful murderous energy appeared abruptly from atop the pile, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. It was dense and heavy like it had been accumulated through years of bloodshed, that alone made it hard for them to breathe.


    From the top of the pile came a sinister cackle, " What luck! More pieces for my collection! What shall I take? What shall I take? "

 20 Chapter 20: This forest has a cat problem

    Atop the bloody mess was a mass of black fur, against the darkening sky seemed to fade in and out of existence as though illusory. A pair of glowing yellow eyes that shimmered like countless stars, a long black tail swaying lazily as though a snake waiting to pounce.


    The group found themselves staring as the system warned, " Moonlit Panther detected."


    Annie''s eyes sparkled, " It''s another kitty!! I can catch this one right?"


    Kenny shrugged and responded, " I mean you can go ahead and try, my question is will it listen to you?"


    Jayson spoke up at this point, " I say we kill it, collect the corpse, and move on. "


    The Moonlit Panther grew agitated, not only was the intimidating entrance it made overlooked, these kids before it were actually talking causally. About capturing it or killing it, never before had it felt such disrespect.


    It roared, "You dare speak about capturing or killing me?! The most beautiful and dazzling Sharp Tooth, One of the 10 Divine Claws!! Before I was just going to kill one of you, but now all of you will die here!!


    Kenny broke away from the group and approached casually, he looked up with a smile and asked, "Sharp Tooth is it? Are you here by yourself?"


    The Moonlit Panther known as Sharp Tooth responded plainly, "Of course not, there are three more of my tribesmen here. Three of us to wreck havoc and one to oversee."


    Kenny didn''t let up and followed with, "What''s your goal?"


    Sharp Tooth continued, "We were sent by our tribe leader to find a kid with an odd power, and bring him back dead or alive. Knowing him, preferably dead."


    Kenny turned to Faith, "Is that enough information or should I go for more?"


    Sharp Tooth was dazed thinking to herself, " Why did I just tell him that? That was strange, he''s strange."


    Faith shook her head, looking to Annie then Kenny before quietly saying, "Scatter." Her body vanishing leaving a faint trace of flame in the air, Annie frowned clearly wanting to stay behind but didn''t linger as her mana circulated. A pair of wasp wings sprouted from her back in a flourish, with a flap Annie vanished leaving only a barely audible buzzing in her wake.


    Kenny simply stride away into the forest at what seemed a normal pace, but with a single step he had traveled the distance of thirty, with the second Kenny was no longer in view.


    Sharp Tooth regained her senses, realizing only one was left standing before her chuckling, "Seems it''s works on other living beings as well, heh that guy is really scary."


    Sharp Tooth was startled as she found that she could no longer feel the presence of the other three, they had completely vanished as though they didn''t exist. What''s more was this child was standing there so casually, as though free from worry. Though the smile he bore seemed warm and compassionate, however it didn''t reach his eyes that were void of even the faintest emotion.


    Sharp Tooth stared thinking to herself , "This is a child in front of me, yet it feels like I''m facing something more sinister. I should keep my guard up just in case."


    Jayson broke the silence, "Here kitty kitty, let me pet your belly. I''ve got salmon or tuna if you prefer." Lightly clapping his hands in beckoning to Sharp Tooth.


    Sharp Tooth instantly forgot about keeping on her guard, rage filling the very center of her being. Such disrespect coming from a child barely old enough to drink, and to say it so casually as though it was a natural thing to do. This further infuriated Sharp Tooth who growled, the muscles in her body flexed as a simple flick of her tail was enough to launch Sharp Tooth at Jayson.


    Monstrous power rippled through Sharp Tooth''s body as her claws extended, low ranking Adventures, Mages, and Monsters wouldn''t dream of trying to meet this attack head on.


    Her claws seemed to tear asunder the very fabric of reality as Sharp Tooth attacked, Jayson stood there smiling devilishly seeming to do nothing to defend himself. This set alarms off in Sharp Tooth''s head but she didn''t care, if he didn''t defend she would attack and once it landed he would die. That''s all that mattered in this moment for Sharp Tooth.


    Jayson''s smile intensified as he gently shook his arm, an shadowy object seemed to materialize and extend from nowhere. It collided with Sharp Tooth''s claw with greater force, the shock was strong enough to send Sharp Tooth flying into the bloody pile that she has leapt from.


    Dazed and covered in blood and various body parts, Sharp Tooth struggled to sit up for a moment flexing the claw that bore the impact. It was numb and the feeling was slowly intensifying, spreading along Sharp Tooth''s body. This worried Sharp Tooth as she quickly looked up and nearly cried, Jayson hadn''t moved from his position but was now holding a long pole with a curved blade.


    It hung above him silently like a waxing crescent moon, a bluish-green light softly emitted from the weapon. As though it was spectral against the darkening forest, the blade humming as Jayson brandished it.


    Sharp Tooth shook herself to be freed of loose body parts, standing Sharp Tooth glared, "That glow. . . Ahh, I see. Last time Ive heard that weapon was supposed to belong to a Craig the Noble." As Sharp Tooth stepped away from the pile, her tail subtly wrapped about a stray limb tucking it away from view.


    Jayson shrugged, "Well I''m not Craig and I''m certainly not Noble."


    Sharp Tooth giggled slyly, "It would appear so, then tell me how''d did you come across Lions Bane and what is that weird object you''ve got it transformed into?"


    As Sharp Tooth finished asking her question Jayson had started moving, the blade dancing through the air like a glowing ribbon. It''s movement random yet graceful as though a fast paced dance, Jayson twirled the pole deftly between his fingers making the fast moving blade even harder to see.


    Jayson arrived before Sharp Tooth a breath after she spoke, swinging the weapon with enough force to tear apart the very space Sharp Tooth was occupying.


    Sharp Tooth grunted and jumped away from the attacking Jayson, "You attack while I''m asking questions, that''s rather rude. Here let me show you manners!!"


    While Sharp Tooth had just avoided Jayson''s attack, his body was left open for a counter. Sharp Tooth wasn''t going to be nice and over look a chance to inflict damage, in the space that distances the two Sharp Tooth''s claw was hurtling toward Jayson.


    As the claw reached out a vast and mystical energy surged, covering Sharp Tooth''s claw in a grey light that formed projections of various phases of the moon. Jayson watched with high interest thinking to himself, " It seems they have their own way of using Skills, and this Kitty''s using the moon as a reference."


    Extending the weapon out toward Sharp Tooth, he gave the pole a light shake causing it to tremble a moment before exploding forward. It was before Sharp Tooth in an instant who had little choice but to meet it head on with her own attack, the claw pushed forward as a projection of a full moon rose before it smashing into the blade.


    The resulting shock wave was enough to force Jayson backwards a step, Sharp Tooth received the brunt of the impact and was sent hurtling away. Flying through the bloody pile into a tree behind it, coughing up blood as Sharp Tooth landed in a heap.


    Jayson shook the pole causing it to shrink back to its original size, "I suppose it would be nice to let you know what I''m wielding, it''s called a Scythe. Forgive me as I just remembered you asked earlier, I was completely preoccupied."


    As Sharp Tooth struggled to remove herself from the tree she growled, "What could have had you distracted?" Trying to grab hold onto the trunk Sharp Tooth noticed that she no longer had two claws as before, only her left claw and a stump where her right used to be.


    Pain tore through Sharp Tooth''s body as purplish-red blood flowed from the stump, and slowly the mild numbness from before was becoming pronounced. Sharp Tooth was at a loss for this situation, they had only clashed twice and she was hurt to this extent. Meanwhile this child who was only equipped with a single magic weapon, one designed to kill Sharp Tooth''s race no less was unharmed.


    Jayson was still watching as though he enjoyed watching Sharp Tooth struggle, responded plainly, " I was just wondering, if you would land on your feet is all. I was disappointed after discovering the answer."


    "I guess there is no point in playing anymore."


    After he finished speaking the atmosphere around him seemed to change drastically. The smile he bore faded slowly, the intense look in his eyes settled and were calm.


    This new look made Sharp Tooth''s heart skip a beat. A new feeling arose in her heart, it crawled over Sharp Tooth''s skin making her shudder. It felt as though the gaze of a powerful demonic beast locked onto her, the air seemed heavier as Sharp Tooth''s breathing shortened.


    This feeling was both strange and familiar, having not felt as such in a very long time brought a look of confusion to Sharp Tooth.


    Jayson noticed this instantly and giggled, "The poor kitty doesn''t realize she''s afraid, well anyone who''s about to die would be."


    He said this naturally as though it was the correct thing to say, without a hint of arrogance to be found in his voice.

 21 Chapter 21: Neat trick, but mine are better

    Sharp Tooth could only stare and repeat the only two words she heard in her head.


    "Afraid."


    "Die."


    Sharp Tooth was so lost in thought that she didn''t react as Jayson approached, eyes only reflecting the image of him hefting the scythe. As the blade came down the motion roused Sharp Tooth. A surprise came to Jayson as he sliced Sharp Tooth in half, one that would cause him to jump a few feet away.


    Sharp Tooth wore an unsettling grin as though she welcomed the attack. However Jayson paid no attention to Sharp Tooth as he was staring at the blade of Lions Bane. His eyes sparkling with a subtle light, nodding his head as a thought arose.


    With a shake it reverted back into a small ax, which Jayson stored away, " No resistance or blood, in any of our exchanges. For a moment I thought you made parts of yourself harder to cut up. Now I see that your a tricky kitty."


    Jayson looked around for a moment, "Although the scenery hasn''t changed drastically, I''m guessing you can only apply it to yourself. Am I right, Miss Dull Tail?"


    The two halves of Sharp Tooth shimmered briefly then faded away, leaving behind countless specks of moonlight that came together.


    Slowly Sharp Tooth''s body reformed itself standing before Jayson, the injuries from before had vanished as though they never happened. The bone that was hidden in her tail crumbled, the pieces falling to the ground beneath Sharp Tooth.


    Causally flicking her tail, Sharp Tooth stared angrily, "What did you call me?" Although it was asked calmly there was no hiding the rage in her voice.


    Jayson feigned a look of surprise, "Oh? Did I get it wrong? I''m so terrible with names, let me try again. It was . . . Flat Nose?"


    Sharp Tooth gaze darkened as she said nothing else, this kid was doing nothing but antagonizing her. Taunting her into attacking recklessly, and delivering near-fatal counter attacks as a result. If not for Sharp Tooth preparing a skill unique to the Moonlit Panther species, that last attack could''ve cost Sharp Tooth her life.


    The Panther''s Conjuring was unique to them, as it let the Moonlit Panther utilize their innate talent to use illusions. However using the skill required great amounts of energy to be consumed, as such grabbing a bone that was slightly brimming with vitality. This relieved some of the burden as Sharp Tooth fought.


    Jayson seeing that Sharp Tooth wasn''t going to move, his mind drifted off to his Power Tab. Looking over his available skills caused Jayson to smile, Magnet Magic was there right under Shadow Paralysis. Ideas flooded his mind as how to best use them, "I will have to go and thank that old lady." Jayson thought to himself.


    Jayson called out softly "Hey Short Eye, I have to wrap this up. My boss doesn''t like to be kept waiting, and I really don''t want to be punched again.


    Jayson really felt that if he stayed any longer with Sharp Tooth, Faith would reward him with another knock to the head. The spot where Jayson was punched before throbbed slightly, sending a shiver up his spine.


    Sharp Tooth lost for a moment before regaining her senses, only responding with a deep growl to his taunts. With a quick glance toward Jayson, Sharp Tooth dashed toward the bloody pile. Diving head first into its mass, her body soon vanished within. Leaving Jayson standing there looking on curiously, " I wonder if it will be giant or copies. It''d be a pain to have to fight multiples, so let''s go giant kitty." His eyes sparkled with excitement as Jayson stared at the pile.


    Inside Sharp Tooth was spreading her powers throughout the pile, slowly cultivating it as the dark spots along her body begun to glow blue. The bloody pile started to shine and gradually shrunk, on Sharp Tooth''s body images of the moons phases appeared. It cycled constantly until slowly stopping on a new moon, a dark hole outlined by thin golden ring. The vital energy that remained inside was drawn toward this ring, pushing Sharp Tooth''s power to its maximum.


    The remaining energy Sharp Tooth couldn''t take in was used to reshape the pile, the light shining from the pile turned dark as it took on Sharp Tooth''s form. Jayson wanted to jump for joy as a giant version of Sharp Tooth appeared before him, however something clicked in his mind.


    He got a little angry as Jayson asked, "Hey annoying system, why haven''t you warned me about the kitty''s moves?"


    The system responded plainly, "You always get annoyed when I talk, so I stopped talking. Is that a problem now?"


    Jayson who wanted to retort instead said, "Point made." Putting his focus back on Sharp Tooth who seemed to be finished powering up.


    Sharp Tooth looked down at Jayson and said, "For a mere human child with no powers, to make me go this far. You are indeed strange, my only regret is that there won''t be your corpse to take to my master now.


    Jayson chuckled darkly, "I will say you''re right about one thing. It won''t be my corpse that your master gets, if we decide to leave any."


    Sharp Tooth roared and reached out with her claws, slamming them down on Jayson. The night sky vanished from Jayson''s view, and was replaced giant claws that seemed to tear apart reality. Jayson smiled as streams of colorless mana swirled, covering him in a egg-shaped barrier. It blended seamlessly with the surroundings, and made no ripple as it sealed.


    His eyes widened in surprise, his voice trembling, "This is bad."


    Sharp Tooth eyes sparkled as she noticed for the brief moment, a small surge of mana come from Jayson before disappearing. The look of surprise and the quiver in his voice, was all she needed to understand that Jayson tried a spell and failed.


    His short life was over, while skillful with that weird weapon earlier. His control with mana was lacking, and this flaw would lead to his early death. Sharp Tooth laughed as she clawed down on Jayson, the joy on her face drained away as her claw came into contact with the barrier surrounding Jayson.


    All the force behind her attack was reflected and it sent the claw nearly flying off, yet Sharp Tooth resisted the backlash grunting as she brought the claw down again.


    Jayson stood there unmoving as Sharp Tooth launched her assault, smiling as her attacks were all reflected away. Resting his hands behind his head, Jayson started to whistle innocently as though unbothered to what was going on. This angered Sharp Tooth to no extent but she didn''t keep attacking and backed away.


    Seeing that physical attacks weren''t working, Sharp Tooth switched tactics and channeled the power remaining in the bones. A blood red moon was slowly growing over Sharp Tooth''s head, emitting an eerie and sorrowful glow that turned the surrounding area red.


    While Sharp Tooth was preparing her next move Jayson wasn''t idle, questioning the system, "What can I do this magnet magic?"


    To which it simply replied, " That depends on you."


    Jayson smiled, " Well if that''s the case."


    Jayson''s body shimmered as colorless streams of mana began to flow out of him, Lions Bane had reappeared in his hands as the streams of mana landed on the blade. Under Jayson''s guidance the mana was stored inside the blade, his grip tightening as the hilt vibrated in his palm.


    Sharp Tooth saw the massive amounts of mana being stored in that small axe, and became wary. Her instincts telling her fleeing would be the best option, her body trembling slightly but ignoring her senses.


    Jayson giggled darkly, " Now for my next trick."


    He let go of the axe and it vanished, at that same moment Sharp Tooth attacked the red moon above her emitting a strong radiance. A bright and intense beam of red and black light shot from the center, Jayson didn''t have time to blink before the beam struck the invisible barrier. The force causing it shake on impact, Jayson watched as the beam was deflected into various directions.


    It wasn''t long after the beam was fired did it fade, draining the rest of the energy Sharp Tooth had at her disposal. The giant body collapsed turning to dust, revealing a drained Sharp Tooth staring angrily at a completely unfazed Jayson. Who waved lazily calling out, "Kitty you had some neat tricks, but mine are just better."


    This finally caused Sharp Tooth to snap, "YOU CHEEKY BRAT!! I HAVEN''T EVEN BEGUN TO SHOW YOU MY TRICKS!!" Screaming and yelling so much that foam formed at her mouth, her eyes were bloodshot but not matter how much she did so Sharp Tooth''s body remained still.


    Jayson only smiled and pointed up, Sharp Tooth''s eyes followed. What she saw caused her pupils to dilate, Lions Bane was floating in the sky, glowing bright orange. The space serval meters around the axe however was completely black as though nothing existed there, but seem to draw in all life around it. Trees breaking off at the trucks flew up toward Lions Bane, only to silently vanish on contact with the black space around it.


    Sharp Tooth felt her own body being drawn toward Lions Bane, helpless she floated still screaming, "MY TRIBE WILL SEEK VENGEANCE. YOUR LIVES WILL BE SHORT!! ENJOY YOUR FINAL DAYS!!" As Sharp Tooth came into contact with the black space she felt nothing as her body was brought toward the axe and reduced to nothing.


    Lions Bane had been filled with Magnet Magic, and started to emit its own magnetic field, the blade becoming super heated as a result. The intense heat vaporizing anything that got close, her destruction was almost instantaneous.