Eve teleported directly from the boy James to her own personal room in the Hut. The options that both new members of her family brought were immensely satisfying, both short and long-term. Anyone attempting to trace Eve’s travel path from Glenwood would have a difficult challenge. One of the more delightful laws in the Serpent Empire is that those who take and hold territory can gain noble status. With the right amount of money changing hands, all the rights and responsibilities of running a fief could benefit those with the funds.

This was the easiest path into noble ranks and was created specifically by the Serpent Empire to allow wealthy merchants to join the ranks of High Society. While long-standing Noble families might look down on a merchant who took this route, their children would suffer no such slur. With the talents of Thomas and James, gold would be the least of Eve’s problems. With the power of High and Low justice on her own lands, Eve would never need to worry about government interference.

Owning land has too many benefits to count. Glenwood was a small success and has only shown me how much better things could be with proper planning. Eve thought, stripping her clothes to enter the shower. With land and a title, many options open. While the Serpent Empire is currently at war with the Rothschild Realm, I need to take steps. War will drain the economy immensely, and now is the perfect time to prepare for the Fourth and Fifth Class Tier path.

The Dragon’s Path and the Dragon’s Hoard were the colloquial terms for the next two Tiers of Classers. It was the end of the line for a great many powerful people, as anything above five required extensive life-threatening Delving into the Depths from all the information she extrapolated.

Eve let her mind relax as she let the hot water run down her body. The Oasis would be a short stop before they cut through the desert. With her talents in forgery, the issue of travel documents and entry visas didn’t exist. The Hut could be explained as a rare dungeon item, while Thomas and James could be whitewashed. If the Oasis didn’t have the ability to remove the bounty status, Eve would forge documentation labeling them as slaves. Slaves had no status, and if she freed them once they were in the mountains by filing the appropriate paperwork citing the need for staffing, no one would care as long as she paid taxes.

The brief battle with Thomas, though, showed me many issues. Eve thought as she shampooed and rinsed her hair with an herbal soap Kudzu created. I have several issues to address in the future in regards to combat effectiveness. Most notably, the issue of mana affinities. The way armor abilities function is almost similar to that one show back on Earth, the one with special fruits. While no foodstuffs are involved with mana to create such effects, the way mana structure behaves when acting on Thomas’s body is crucial.

Eve gathered her thoughts before organizing them into a coherent structure after a few minutes of hot water therapy. Tier Three is elemental armor. Tier Four is likely a partial-elementized body. That would make Tier Five granting someone the full elemental form highly likely. Eve thought before her mind grew troubled. How do you cut a flame? How do you slice smoke? These types of questions force me to re-address my combat methods. What is the point of bullets if the enemy can open holes in their bodies!

The power of range was still king to Eve.

In her opinion, the structure Eve had chosen to build her methods around and remained the most effective. The new information on elemental mana merely required alterations to the existing combat doctrine, not complete restructuring.

Eve moved to turn the shower off before letting several fluffy pieces of paper float about toweling her dry. She could sense the sandstorm’s fury beginning to taper off. Soon the incredible amount of sand that had been airlifted would be falling. Eve confirmed with her Hut, who expressed a firm desire to consume the conquered pirate ships. A lazy wave of assent from Eve assigned the captured vehicles to the Hut’s crunching maw.

Nota. Eve whispered to her familiar. Do you have any ideas for fighting other Element users? Her familiar leaped up from the corner of the bed pages flipping open to several different diagrams.

It was the images of Curse Runes, each attached to a single sheet of paper. Eve watched as the diagrams explained the pros and cons of such a method. On the one hand, she would be able to strike through elemental resistances at a cost. However, the blizzardy paper storm that she had used so often would fall to the wayside.

Twenty sheets, no less than the price of attaching her Curses and Runes to Soul Sheets as Nota demonstrated to Eve through the diagrams shown.

These pieces of paper would carry a link to her very essence, able to grow as she ascended in Tier. Growth weapons that traded her unlimited blizzard paper storm for a precise application of esoteric forces would allow Eve greater flexibility.

I will need to sleep on it. Eve thought as the adrenaline rush of combat had long passed, leaving her with the bone-deep weariness of the truly tired. Wake me up if there are any issues on the way to the Oasis, please, Nota.

A firm acknowledgment from her familiar sent Eve straight into the arms of her fluffy paper bed.

A little over ten hours later, Nota gave her a slowly increasing mental ping that roused Eve to wakefulness. A quick check with the Hut showed they were on final approach to the Oasis, a massive city formed in the desert, packed with trade from between the Endless Forest layers. It was said by the rumors Eve had heard in Glenwood over the years that almost anything, legal or illegal, could be purchased here. Like most towns that depended on trade as their lifeblood, there was a split among the ruling elite. The City Lord handled control of the Dungeon, maintaining order by the Serpent Empire’s mandate. However, he didn’t rule alone as there were multiple tribes, races, noble factions, and merchant interests that all scrambled for a piece of the pie.

Eve grumbled as she rolled out of bed, clothing herself in paper finery. Thankfully, one of the main customs of the desert was that women were encouraged to wear shapeless robes, hooded wraps, and veils. It would make getting through the city without causing a traffic jam or inviting a noble disaster much easier, that was for sure. If she could pay off Thomas and James’s bounties, they could become the male face for the family as they passed through.

After sleeping on it, the decision is much easier. Eve thought as Nota floated into her hands. Twenty pages are better than not being able to do any damage. There is no reason to keep them as mere paper pages either…

Words needed. Nota sent into Eve’s mind. Words of meaning like before.

Like when I changed Sara? Eve replied, zeroing in on the closest possibility. The emotion of agreement pulsed over the mental link causing Eve to take a deep breath before letting it out. Bibliotheca Mind helped her browse through her memories, searching for what she desired.

“Fifteen knights held the wall, stronger than an Empire’s fall,” Eve said as fifteen paper sheets flew out from Nota before being branded by each separate Curse Rune.

“Five old crones dispensed wisdom, crushing the enemy’s mission,” Eve said as five more sheets joined the first fifteen before being branded by the Elder Futhark Runes.

Unbidden, further words flowed from Eve’s tongue as the ritual took shape fueled by her inhuman Race.

“Now standing here, I demand simple Power for simple brands.”

“Curses sent to cause devil’s blight, Runes to keep life alight.”

“Fifteen blades to maim and slay, five to keep death at bay.”

“Some bound in blood. Some paid in sin, some found deep within.”

“Now do I command, by right of Race, by Ritual’s pace!”

“Grant me the weapons that I seek!”

“Grant me the armor of the meek!”

Eve felt the connection to the twenty floating pieces of paper snap into place with an almost audible crunch. Wincing, she felt the distribution of her mana structures shift into a new pattern with palpable irritation. Wiggling her fingers to get the sensation down, Eve gave up and quaffed a simple pain relief potion from her inventory courtesy of Kudzu.

Now that that fun is over. Eve thought. Time to test the new ninja moves!

A few tests later showed that her Domain had changed noticeably. She could still manipulate paper other than the Soul Sheets, but any attempt to use said other paper as weapons, armor or magical foci failed utterly. Strangely enough, though, Eve found that the ritual didn’t prevent her from cooking with her paper. Apparently, sharp objects and pans were fine as long as no thoughts of mayhem were attached to them.

Ah, I bet that’s because of my Witch race. Eve thought as her mind remembered all those shows from Earth depicting cauldrons and potions. Witches did a great deal in the kitchen, according to some sources. But any attempts to use paper sheets other than my Soul Sheets for offense or defense turns them to dust. Paper clothing, furniture, nothing seems changed unless I try to use it for attacking or defending. I can’t even try to think of non-combat things while attacking with a pan. The System just doesn’t let anything slide past, somehow.

Eve teleported into her lab and took the Soul Sheets for a spin against various materials. To her incredible delight, it was as if she had upgraded from the normal bog-standard cutting edge to a laser-bladed version. Folding the paper sheets into daggers, swords, and teardrops gave the best results. Daggers were close enough to kitchen knives that the resulting use approached reflex. Swords allowed for things like parrying, blocking, and heavy strikes. Finally, teardrop shapes allowed the new Soul Sheets to reach maximum speed and ignore almost all air resistance with minimal mana cost.

The non-combat Soul Sheets filled with the Runes of Isa, Inguz, Laguz, Kennaz, and Hagalaz circled her head like a crown of origami animals. Eve used a trick to turn the non-combat sheets into kirigami ornaments allowing them to repeatedly self-fold into a series of different animals. Setting them to hang within her ever-longer hair, Eve made sure they would always provide their effects passively. Only a patient observer would notice how the hair ornamentations changed into different forms over time in a never-ending cycle.

After setting her passive non-combat Soul Sheets into place, Eve took a long hard look at the fifteen combat Curse Runes.

Rot, Disease, Blood, Feebleness, and Weakness all became gladius swords attached parallel to each other in paper sheaths. For easy carrying and to keep from tripping, the sheaths were attached to a fake harness on Eve’s back.

Slow, Blind, Thirst, Confusion, and Laughter all became daggers attached to Eve’s waist in separate sheaths. She took a moment to twist the appropriate imagery onto both sword and daggers sheaths. A moment later, Eve placed various imagery onto the pommels of each weapon as well. Since she had already gone full artistic mode, it was only the work of a few moments to place minor enchantments in runic script on all the blades. The runes wouldn’t do anything except glow menacingly on command and pump enough mana to prevent proper inspection, but Eve was sure they would look terrifying, too. Bonus points it would serve to conceal the Curse Runes, which were folded into the blades themselves. The less someone knew what had hit them in combat, the easier victory was.

Soul Burning, Madness, Ageing, Shatter, and Truth took their place as teardrop-shaped paper rings on Eve’s right hand. Giving full vent to her artistic side, the rings were woven into symbols of the Ouroboros. The teardrops Eve placed as jewels on her rings, a deadly array of hidden weapons waiting to strike.

Teleporting out of the lab, Eve pulled her new look together in front of the mirror. A niqab concealed her face leaving only silver eyes exposed. Flowing robes in blue covered her form, concealing without revealing anything. Five swords in parallel at her back, five daggers at her waist, and five rings on her right hand completed the look.

That’s right. I’m a dangerous ninja guard witch. Eve thought, posing in front of the mirror. At her familiar’s request, she created a separate waist harness on her left hip to carry the lazy book. I look like nothing so much as a long-traveling desert spellcasting mercenary, now.

Eve took a final glance in the mirror and teleported down to the kitchen to get food before they entered the Oasis.