Villainous

"She really is quite fascinating, Master Agilo!" Zoe"s quiet voice brimmed with enthusiasm, her mismatched blue and green eyes sparkling. "From being a malnourished and abused slave six months ago, 44"s progress since the time of her attempted murder has been absolutely remarkable. Traces of her aura were found in the kitchens, study, storage rooms, various hallways and pa.s.sages, indicating she somehow went undetected for two whole months!"

Considering how many people worked in the manor, that really was impressive. Adalrich nodded. "And the other slaves?"

"Four were killed with the dagger found in Vigen"s cottage, the fifth died in the manor fire. The guards have absolutely no idea how those heavy statue plinths got on all their bodies. And the fire that burnt the manor was confirmed to be from a dust explosion that started in the slave"s quarters. Along with traces of 44"s aura found in the room, it can be a.s.sumed she was the responsible party."

Though she was discussing the murder of five different people, Zoe"s cheerful tone didn"t take on a somber quality. Rather, she looked more excited than before. From her reaction Adalrich was amused to conclude that 44 had an adamant fan watching over her. "Do you have a hypothesis as to how she moved the plinths?"

"After further observation during the past four months I"ve come to the conclusion she"s obtained someone"s storage artifact. Several of the farmers have low-quality storage artifacts for transporting heavy goods - that"s not something the farmers would be eager to report as the value of the missing artifacts would be docked from their pay and annual bonuses." Zoe tucked a lock of curly blonde hair behind her pointed ear, a grin on her deceptively cute face. "I wouldn"t be surprised if she figured out how to use it all on her own."

Adalrich held up a finger, signaling Zoe for silence. Then he turned his attention back to the tablet, scrolling through the a.s.sistant"s 160 days worth of surveillance notes.

The first week was nothing outstanding, 44 and the teal fera mostly traveled in a straight line along the canopy for some reason. Once they settled down, however, things got entertaining.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.11]

The fera continues widening the alcove with his claws. It"s starting to resemble a proper cave.

Despite the rainy weather, 44 proceeded to the peak and trained her body with strengthening exercises for the entire day until she collapsed with a fever in the evening. Once she regained her senses, she crawled back to the alcove to sleep.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.12]

The alcove is now a cave. The fera descended the mountain for some reason. 44 once again strength trained in the rain until she collapsed. What is she doing?

The fera returned that night and seemed alarmed to find her unconscious. She woke up with his prodding and returned to the cave.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.13]

She tried to train again, but the fera refused to let her leave the cave, presumably because it was still raining. 44 seemed angry, but the fera wouldn"t budge.

She was forced to stay inside all day, except when the fera escorted her down the mountain so she could relieve herself. Watching her riding the fera without a saddle is truly fascinating.

.....

SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.24]

44 has established a routine. She strength trains for several hours on the peak in the morning. Then she and the fera descend to the forest to hunt food and creatures until night falls. Once it is dark, they return to the peak to spar for a few hours before they sleep.

Her fighting technique is clumsy. She uses a digging bar, sometimes swinging it wide like a staff, other times jabbing with it like a spear. Video attached of her attempting combat.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.28]

44 and the fera stumbled across a pack of worgs. They managed to escape, but both sustained serious injuries. 44 once again comes down with a fever.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.30]

44 finally emerges from the cave after sleeping for two days in a fever. She trains harder than ever, incorporating small rocks into her strength training routine.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.33]

44 and the fera have noticed many creatures in the forest possess surprising dexterity. They started training by jumping between tree roots and spending their spars trying to dodge each other"s blows rather than purely focusing on the techniques behind their attacks.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.45]

44 killed a grand crested porcupine, and harvested all the needles off its body. She has started trying to use them to sew, experimenting with various plant fibers as threads to fix her torn clothing. She seems to have only two or three shirts and nothing else. The cave has blankets, but she seems reluctant to use those as material.

Watching her make different expressions of concentration and frustration is very amusing. Pictures attached.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.52]

44 and the fera came across a Rank 1 silver-backed bear! It was already injured, and they managed to take it down with spectacular teamwork and usage of the terrain. Video attached.

44 has realized the fera gains strength depending on what it eats, as she let her companion eat his fill before she touched the corpse. Storage artifact theory confirmed - the bear"s entire body disappeared under her hands.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.53]

44 spent an entire day dismantling the silver-backed bear corpse. Her technique is... Even more clumsy than her fighting, and I can tell by her face she"s not used to dismantling corpses.

The smell seems to overwhelm her frequently, and she takes a lot of breaks.

But she seems to instinctively detect what parts of the animal are most useful! She found the mana core in its ribcage with only a little digging, like she already knew where it was. Did she sense it, perhaps?

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.60]

With the aid of the fera"s sharp claws, 44 turned the silver-backed bear"s strong bones into weapons and tools. She spent several days to practice throwing homemade daggers. Her aim is actually very good. She"s now incorporated throwing weapons into her combat style.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.75]

44"s condition wasn"t very good today. She awoke with a cough, and instead of strength training she rested on the peak watching the sunrise.

And then something strange happened.

She held out her hands, confused, and... Started interacting with the mana particles in the air! She actually saw them, all on her own, without a proper Mana Baptism! Absolutely remarkable!

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.91]

44"s established daily routine:

- Meditate for 2 hours after waking, interacting with mana particles.

- Consume breakfast with the fera.

- Strength train until noon.

- Descend the mountain with the fera (she has started descending the mountain on her own sometimes instead of always riding the fera).

- Ten minutes allotted daily for a bath in the pool at the mountain summit except in rainy weather.

- Train their dexterity in the forest for a few hours while foraging for food and refilling water containers.

- Hunt monsters afterwards to practice combat and teamwork until nightfall.

- Ascend the mountain, consume supper.

- Spar with the fera until they"re both ready to collapse.

- Meditate together for another 2 hours.

- Sleep until the next day.

The only deviations occur if 44 is sick, either of them is injured, or other tasks require attention such as making new tools or dismantling corpses.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.98]

44 and the fera have begun hunting Rank 1 monsters! Successfully, I might add. The end result is always a successful kill, or a fine escape. Attached videos of combat versus silver-backed bears, red spotted lizards, and one very unfortunate solitary worg as points of particular interest.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.122]

44 approaches the fera"s level of dexterity in the forest now! Her progress has been astounding. The pair bounce around like rabbits during their hunting sessions, at times separate, at times combining their strengths. She"s as comfortable fighting while sitting on the fera"s back as she is by herself - though that"s not saying much, her style is still...

Nonexistent. Clumsy. Awkward, even.

But it"s improving, and she has a natural knack for finding the weak spots on creatures she"s fought before, implying she"s very intelligent and has high observational skills in addition to talent in combat.

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.145]

44 meditates twice a day, but without guidance she has no idea how to handle the mana she perceives. She"s able to touch it, influence the particles into moving, and even seems to subconsciously absorb some of it, but manipulation is beyond her ability for the moment. It"s such a shame, she"s trying so hard...

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SUBJECT 44 OBSERVATIONAL LOG [D.158]

44 was severely injured after she and the fera were ambushed by a Rank 2 verasus. Perhaps the same one they ran into when they first entered the forest? They"re known to be tenacious hunters.

They killed it in the end, but not without taking serious damage. Countless broken bones and deep injuries will keep them from training for a few weeks, at least. But still... They killed a Rank 2 beast!

Video attached, naturally. 44 used paralytic venom obtained from a phyton to incapacitate the beast, it was really resourceful and clever!

.....

Adalrich"s lips twitched in a small smile that lit up his handsome, scholarly face. Zoe"s a.n.a.lysis was completely biased, but not unreasonably so. Seeing a 12 year old child survive so well on her own in that brutal forest was truly interesting. "And your final conclusion?"

Delighted, Zoe clapped her hands together and rocked back on her heels. "Immediate recruitment and training! This kid"s a diamond in the rough!"