Villainous

The Fera, Bao, jumped to his feet and made the most indignant noise Otto ever heard, a disdainful look in the Fera"s honey gold eyes. Fera were notorious for being picky about their riders, and it seemed like Bao hadn"t taken a shine to the young man at all.

Not wanting to cause any problems, Otto said softly: "I can walk! Or, just... Stay here, I guess. Until you come back? From whatever you"re doing..."

Both Bao and Boss Li scoffed, disregarding his suggestion. "You saw how it turned out when he was walking," Boss said to the offended Fera, pointing at Otto"s scratched face. "We"ll drop him off at the cave where he won"t get eaten and then go finish cleaning up the forest ourselves! If we bring him with us it"ll be even worse and you know it."

Bao grumbled and snorted while Boss cajoled, until finally the Fera agreed to lug Otto on his back so long as Otto was slung over like a vegetable sack and not actually in a proper riding position. Otto didn"t know whether to laugh or cry when Boss Li used copious amounts of tree vines to tie his torso in place, but as soon as the Fera started running he knew why Boss was being so cautious.

Fast!

Super fast!

Running up impossibly tall trees, bouncing along branches the width of city roads, turning sharply to dive without warning hundreds of meters, only to slow his descent by digging sharp curved claws into the closest tree trunk.

Otto"s eyes spun, stomach rattling its way up into his throat as he struggled to discern which way was up or down. He didn"t even want to think about how Boss was holding on without the vines!

By the time they stopped for the night in a different root cave, Otto felt his brain had been thoroughly scrambled. He knelt by some bushes to empty the contents of his stomach, only to have the Boss drag him back into the roots by the collar of his shirt.

Boss Li produced preserved meat, chopped fruit, and even a blanket for Otto, then curled up next to the watchful Fera after both of them ate a plate of sliced purple fruit each. They fell asleep immediately, leaving the rookie soldier to stare fearfully into the dark night while creatures of all sizes howled and roared in the distance.

Five days later - three days after Otto was safely ensconced at the mountain cave with a pile of books to study and she"d dropped off the loot from battle - Li Mei and Bao sat in the branches above the second group of intruding soldiers. They jumped at the slightest sound, not hesitating to fire even at small creatures.

Seeing how nervous the forest seemed to make all the soldiers gave Li Mei a wonderful idea. Her eyes flashed with a faint cyan light as she viewed her stat window, a plan formulating in the back of her mind.

-----

NAME: Li Mei

RANK: 0 (97%)

HEALTH: 100%

AGE: 13

SPECIES: Human (? ? ?)

JOB: Disciple

CORE: 100%

C.GRADE:

C. QUALITY: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

MANA: 1000/1000

M. QUALITY: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

EXP: -6666374

STR: 5 (22.7%)

CON: 5 (20.8%)

DEX: 7 (18.9%)

INT: 9 (1.4%)

WIS: 10

GIFT: [Barrier Lv.1]

t.i.tLES: [Disciple] [Experiment 44] [Illegitimate Child] [Sky Serpent Novice]

TECHNIQUES: [Celestial Crane of the Northern Winds (Novice)] [Hecatoncheires (Novice)]

TRAITS: [Enslavement Bind] [Poison Resistance]

SKILLS: [Archive] [Concealment] [Fera Riding (Natural) Lv.5] [Scan Lv.5] [Sense Lv.3] [Storage Lv.1]

SPELLS: [Barrier (Basic) Lv.1]

-----

Her Core was filled with mana, which had an unexpected effect - a slight chill tinged the air in her vicinity even though she wasn"t using the mana circulation technique. It felt refreshing and kept her mind alert.

Even better, she got experience for Bao"s kills! Which meant she could work with allies or use indirect methods and still get full experience.

Nice.

"Trying out Sky Serpent style in combat worked pretty well! I have plenty of mana stored up, this time I"ll put more emphasis on practicing magic." Li Mei thought to herself, tapping her chin.

There were a few limitations on her Barrier spell. No barrier could exceed two meters in total surface height or width, ten centimeters in thickness, and she was limited to three at a time. Her basic spell cost ten mana per meter, mana cost scaling with how big or small the barrier ended up being, and she could only make squares or circles.

Those who formed a Core gained an instinctive grasp of their Gift. But instinct was just instinct and not practical knowledge or experience. Li Mei felt her understanding of the Sky Serpent style deepened more during the few minutes of actual combat than it did for the entire session in the Training Room.

That dummy was a vicious, merciless perfectionist, but it wasn"t lethal and didn"t want her dead. Psychologically speaking there was a certain lack of pressure, and learning was slow. Facing an enemy with killing intent was a much more valuable experience.

Li Mei paused for a moment, pinching the bridge of her nose. "A year ago I was a normal unmarried young woman working at a bookstore and learning to cook in her free time, yet now I"m contemplating the benefits of lethal combat and how best to kill my targets."

Truly, one never knows what the future will hold. The adaptability of human beings was terrifying! She lamented in her heart while her small hands swiftly braided vines to create a rope, whispering her plan to the eagerly expectant Fera shuffling his feet at her side.

...

"Look, all I"m saying is, if our superiors had any sort of intelligence they"d order us to burn the whole forest down and sift through the ashes!" Barbara complained, voice despondent and lazy even though her posture exuded a tense alertness. The barrel of her rifle didn"t drop so much as a single degree toward the forest floor as she swept it from side to side, watching for movement in the nearest shadows.

Captain Mark, who took point chopping away branches and vines with a short machete, couldn"t help letting out a soft chuckle. "Ain"t up to lowborn peasants like us who ain"t even allowed surnames. Silkpants n.o.ble scientists want us goin" on foot, we go on foot. Roy, any luck?"

Roy shook his head, enlarging the display so everyone around him could see the data. Bitterness effused both his expression and voice. "No sir. Big a.s.s trees, mean a.s.s beasts, more d.a.m.n magic herbs than all of us combined could eat in our lifetimes, but no sign of a hidden facility."

"Why is everything a.s.s to you?" Tom asked from his spot in the back of the unit, unable to see the mocking smile on Roy"s face.

"You"ll understand when you"re older, kid."

"Hey, I"m already 43!"

"You are like a little baby. Invite me to your first mid-centennial, Grandfather here will give his cute Junior a nice gift." Ben laughed, mockingly stroking the large mustache on his face.

"I"ll gift you my foot up your-"

The team"s friendly chatter was interrupted by a faint choked grunt right behind them. Everyone turned and raised their weapons, only to watch as Tom shot upwards into the tree branches, the hat from his head drifting slowly to the ground.

"Open fire!" Captain Mark shouted, firing his rifle upwards, but the rest of his unit was confused.

"Open fire? On what!?"

"Can"t even see him anymore..."

"What in the Four h.e.l.ls..."

To their left came a long, eerie cackle from the darkness. They fired in that direction, only to hear bushes behind them rustling violently.

As one the unit drew together, standing back-to-back in a square so nothing could sneak up on them. Roy put his magitech detecting device away, pulling out a powerful handgun instead.

"One, two, three, four, silly little piggies on the forest floor!" A hoa.r.s.e singsong voice said before letting out that eerie cackle from before, a reverberating echo wrapping around the soldiers and sending chills down their spines. It seemed to be circling them at a frightening speed, drawing closer and closer with each pa.s.sing second.

"Prepare for close combat," Captain Mark whispered, putting his rifle away to draw a sword instead. Barbara followed suit, while Roy and Ben both readied their handguns.

"One, two, three, four, brave little piggies out to explore!"

"What"s with the counting rhyme?" Ben muttered, his hands shaking as he fired a few potshots into the nearest bushes. "We being hunted by some kid"s ghost?"

"The Nursery Nightshade," Barbara laughed nervously. She didn"t have any elemental spells, instead coating her blade in a layer of glowing yellow mana that could cut through steel.

"One, two, three, four, bloodstained little piggies don"t know what"s in store!""

The voice seemed so close they could reach out and touch it, but between the darkness and the countless plants all around, the soldiers just couldn"t catch sight of whatever was hunting them. None of them had ever felt so claustrophobic before, much less in a big open s.p.a.ce like a forest. Yet they could feel invisible walls of pressure closing in as sweat dripped down their faces, smothering their desire for light-hearted banter.

"One, two, three, four, murderous little piggies are an eyesore."

Three cyan walls of light appeared between the soldiers at strange angles, pushing them apart and breaking their square formation. A small shadow darted from the nearest tree roots towards Ben, who fired his gun continuously in vain until a rough knife gouged out his throat.

One of the walls vanished in a shower of cyan blue particles, allowing the shadow to leap directly at Roy and shove two more knives into both sides of his neck. Roy managed to fire one lucky shot that nicked the shadow"s side as the soldier fell, the bullet ripping out a chunk of flesh.

A small square of cyan light appeared in mid-air only to be destroyed a moment later by the downward slash Barbara aimed at the injured shadow"s neck, its brief existence serving its purpose of redirecting the blow off to the side. Wagging a finger as though to mock Barbara"s incompetence, the shadow cackled and leapt backwards to avoid an opportunistic strike from Captain Mark.

"One, two, three, four, half the little piggies will move no more!" The shadow chuckled, still using that strange singsong voice to spout its lame rhymes. It pointed at Barbara then Captain Mark, as though trying to choose between them. They didn"t notice the big blue walls behind them all vanishing. "Once was four and now is two, will the next little piggy who dies be you?"

Cackling again, the shadow whipped out a pointed metal staff and rushed forward.

Captain Mark and Barbara were both the middle of Rank 1, and their mastery of Oriole"s basic Rushing River sword style were Master and Journeyman levels respectively. Both of them had experienced countless skirmishes and combat situations, yet they found themselves flummoxed by the shadow"s evasive movements.

It twisted, spun, shimmied and even flipped away from all of their attacks, no matter how aggressive or cunning they tried to be. The few times they thought a strike would go through it was blocked by a cyan blue shield of light, and the shadow"s mauve eyes would look at them with an infuriating kind of mocking pity.

Rushing River specialized in brutal continuous a.s.sault, overwhelming the enemy with force and relentless fury. Against a slippery opponent who didn"t even give them the chance to land one blow, Rushing River was at an extreme disadvantage. Not a single one of their moves ever hit! They had no opportunity to build up the basic combo, much less use the stronger finishing moves.

If it weren"t for the bleeding wound on the shadow"s side and the many healing burns visible on its small body, the two soldiers might have believed they were fighting a ghost.

Suddenly the shadow jumped at Barbara in the middle of an attack on Captain Mark. Startled, Barbara tried to slash at it with a horizontal strike, but as usual a cyan barrier appeared to block her swing. The shadow landed a foot on the barrier as the force of Barbara"s slash pushed it backwards, using the momentum to flip back toward Captain Mark instead.

Its staff pierced his stomach before he could angle his sword to block it, and yet another knife seemed to bloom from the captain"s throat. The shadow bounced off Captain Mark"s shoulders, kicking him to the ground and leaping away in one fluid movement, mercilessly ripping the staff out of his stomach.

In the skilled hands of the shadow, the staff moved like it was alive. Curving, contorting, weaving through the air like a serpent waiting for a chance to strike. Barbara felt tears spring to her eyes, the smell of blood and death stinging her nose. She screamed, slashing wildly at the shadow without a care for technique or grace. "Why are you doing this?!"
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Three cyan walls two meters in height appeared, trapping Barbara in the middle of a sealed triangle too small for her to properly swing the blade with any force. The shadow stood on the other side of the walls, tapping the flat end of its staff against the ground.

"And so the last little piggy does cry, begging and pleading and wondering why." The shadow approached slowly, only to tap its fingers against a barrier. "Silly little piggy, this truth you cannot deny: she who kills must be prepared to die. A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye."

The barriers dissolved into a sparkling shower of cyan particles, and the staff pierced Barbara"s throat.