It had taken her a day to get acquainted with the way Redwood City had decided to put everything, most importantly, their quest boards.

She’d spent every moment in-game looking at every quest board in the city. Most of them had quests that low-level players could enjoy and use to level up. Most people choose only one place to get quests from. Mages choose the Silas Establishment for their questing services, Warriors work with the Pilgrim Sword, and so on. This did not include the actual Adventuring Corporation that stretched the continent, the various Outworlder guilds, or the crafter companies.

The reason was simple. The more work you put in with a specific establishment, the more they opened up to you and gave you better missions. These better missions gave out better rewards, more experience, and often had unknown and unquantifiable bonuses. Whether these bonuses were good or bad changed frequently, but they often worked in weird ways.

Like today, McKenna had completed two other missions in the surrounding areas. The first was an investigation mission that ended quickly enough with the local cobbler being outed as a shapeshifter. The second was a mission for the Church that involved the banishing of some low-level demons called Squash Demons. Neither was considered a high priority by anyone important but still got her bonus points from the organizations.

The mission she was looking at was from the Scouting Offices in the city, it was somewhere she’d been a few times before and was well-liked by the proprietor. Sadly, the reason he liked her was that she didn’t bitch about quest rewards being low. The only thing she ever asked was for monster hunting missions.

McKenna was still wearing her Priest Class robes, but with some modifications to shorten the sleeves and raise the robe’s hem. It made the outfit look cooler and made the outfit a little easier to move in. She was also still using the War Gaff but traded her old one in for a new full steel version. A pair of Simple Steel Daggers hung from her belt, and new defensive gauntlets covered her hands halfway to her elbows.

Today, she was staring hard at a monster killing quest, considering whether or not to actually take it. She has been hearing rumors of NPC scouts going missing under mysterious circumstances while going out on missions. The only reason she was still staring at it was that the reward was better than she expected. Maybe the Scouting Offices for getting desperate for missions to get done?

Whatever the case, three Copper Coins was not an amount to ignore at her level. Especially given that mini-trolls are considered to be moderate threats at best for her level. It was the simple-sounding mission to be sure, but it wasn’t worth 3 copper coins without being a horde. Even though the mission stated that there was only a handful of them.

After several minutes, she nodded and walked up to the clerk’s desk.

Rosche is a somewhat typical example of Elfinkind. He was a little taller than the average human, a little prettier, and definitely more naturally charismatic. His short dark honey hair contrasted with the piercing green of his eyes. His skin had some tan to it but not enough for McKenna to assume that it was his natural tone. The sleeveless leather chest piece and bow he wore strung along back made him look like he could go out adventuring at any time.

“Ah, Regina! Welcome back. You’ve been staring at that job board for a while, did you choose what you want?” He asked, happy to see her.

She smiled at the man, “I did. I just have one question about this mini-troll hunt. What’s with the copper coins for this? Not that I’m complaining, but it’s a little fishy.”

The elf sighed, “it’s a little sad, but we’ve been having some of our Scouts go missing lately. We’re not sure what’s causing it, but some of our senior staff are looking into it. It’s that simple, we have to increase your pay because of the hazards. Make sense?” He asked, the topic seeming to make him somber. Rosche was uncomplicated because he wore his emotions like a shirt, usually easy to read.

McKenna nodded and thought about it. The pay was good for fighting some Mini-Trolls, and she didn’t need to worry about whatever was killing those Scouts. She was a player, worst-case scenario, she’d die then come back a little later. Plus, she was more skilled than the average… anything, so McKenna took the quest and was on her way.

The trip out of the city gate was easy, expedited by the ID card she’d gotten from the High Priest LeMagne. She’d only officially joined one organization, the Church, and they’d given her an ID card to prove it. It was a respected organization, and everybody liked Priests as a whole. As long as a Priest was available when the city guard needed them, they were willing to help them out.

So McKenna passed through the gates without pause, past a group of what looked like Players who started bitching about her the moment she passed them.

McKenna had done something most Players spent a few hours to obtain, the minimap ability. The one significant benefit of this ability is that if you took a quest that takes place within a specific area, the minimap would highlight the area. Most found it extremely useful, especially when they get their own Information Tablets and connected them to their statuses. Allowing them to avoid the disconcerting sight of trying to look at where you were going and the minimap at the same time.

Unfortunately, McKenna hadn’t gotten the money to get an Information Tablet yet, but it was high on her purchasing list.

Until then, McKenna would have to make do with seeing it as a heads up display with the map set in the bottom right of her vision. Following a directional marker on the minimap, McKenna jogged away from the city, sticking to main roads for as long as possible. When she got as close as she could by road, she stopped jogging and walked off it.

After aiming herself in the right direction through the forest, McKenna was able to properly enjoy the area she was walking through. The leaves were a mix of yellows and oranges, making the entire space look like an autumn scene from pictures. The air was a mix of mildew and clean air depending on where you walked, and a river could be heard bubbling by somewhere in the distance. There were definitely birds flying around, chirping and singing as they went about foraging for food.

It was a beautiful scene that would have been even better if there hadn’t been small, ugly humanoids running around.

Mini-Trolls were a distant cousin of regular Troll’s, in the same sense that Gnomes and Dwarves were believed to be distant cousins. They were built like professional bodybuilders with green-brown, twisted, gnarled, skin that looked eerily close to rotting tree bark. They had no necks, squished heads, and not a speck of hair on their bodies. They all had dark beady eyes sunken deep within the craggy ridges of their sockets, adding just a little bit of neanderthal to their looks.

Oh, and Mini-Trolls were around four-and-a-half feet tall, all of that was compacted muscle, claws, teeth, and beaten with an ugly stick from birth.

One of the nine Mini-Trolls, all near-exact copies of each other, turned to face her and blinked once. Then it screamed in a high pitched sort of aggressive display and rallied the rest of their gazes towards her. The one who cried out was the Bull of the horde, and it lead the charge towards McKenna.

As they approached, McKenna released the War Gaff from the sling on her back and widened her stance. Shoulders loose, grip firm, and body coiled like a spring and ready to pounce. All was well with the world at this moment.

The Bull howled as it charged and leaped into the air, its trajectory aimed right at McKenna’s face.

With a twist of her entire form, McKenna avoided the Bull and acted on reflex. As the Bull passed through the spot where she had been a moment earlier, McKenna threw her hip out to the side and knocked him away. It squealed in surprise as it rolled away, stunned by the unusual attack.

She spun the hooked polearm in her hands and jabbed it at the next oncoming Mini-Troll. It bounced off the bend of the War Gaff’s hook and landed on it’s back, then McKenna shifted her stance and swiped at the next Mini-Troll’s legs. It tripped, and she stabbed at it with the spike on the opposite end of the War Gaff.

She continued disabling, knocking away, and thrusting at the Mini-Trolls that were swarming about her. Always taking small strides away from her previous spot to avoid getting caught by the dwindling number of the Mini-Trolls. They’d managed to get a hit or two in themselves, One scoring her hip with its claws and another tackling lower back.

You have been cut by Mini-Troll E for 24 points of damage. You now have 132 out of 156 health remaining. You have been tackled by Mini-Troll H for 17 points of damage. You now have 115 out of 156 health remaining.

After her fifth kill, they started fighting smarter. Using tactics like moving around her to fight from multiple sides while the third threw rocks at her.

In a flash of humor inspired creativity, McKenna adjusted her hold on the War Gaff. Holding it near the bottom and choking up on it just above the spike. With an internal drum roll, she timed her swing and swung the weapon at the next oncoming rock. It connected with the War Gaff and flew with more precision than even she believed possible, impacting the thrower between the eyes.

McKenna looked back and forth at the last two Mini-Trolls, both of which were circling her like angry wolves. She turned the weapon in her hand, aiming the spike end at whichever one looked the closest for several seconds. When one finally leaped forward, McKenna sidestepped caught the things arm in the War Gaff’s hook, and swung it around at it’s friend. They Collided together, and she surged forward, ready to finish both of them off with one thrust.

When something fell out of the trees and landed on the two monsters in a superhero landing, squishing both beneath it’s massive weight.

The thing was humanoid but around nine-ish feet tall, covered head to toe in heavy-looking but ornate discolored bronze full plate armor. Its helmet hid its face within shadow, and an old ax hung from it’s back. As it stood up, green points of light ran across the edges of previously invisible symbols etched. The whole being clattered against itself as it moved, and it groaned as it stood.

Then it turned around, the whole motion smooth and unnatural in that armor. It’s gaze met McKenna’s, and it stared for long, unnerving seconds. Then its right hand slowly moved across its shoulders, freeing its ax and holding the heavy weapon in one hand.

This whole sequence of events had McKenna muttering under her breath, “oh shit, oh shit, oh Shiiiiiit.” The mutter on repeat as she observed the thing before her, all while hoping to the gods of Rosengard that she wouldn’t have to fight this thing.

Then it started towards her, armor clanging in time with its stomping footsteps as it raised its weapon to its shoulders.

“Oh fuck me,” McKenna moaned as she got a closer view of its armor. It was thicker than she first thought, by at least another half-inch at minimum. Every piece of its armor was held in place by a strap or a belt visible at some angles. It’s every move caused some section of the armor glow with the movement, and only for a moment.

Logical guess… the armor was enchanted to help with its own weight.

Focusing on the thing instead of the details. McKenna dropped into a lower stance and readied herself to face the juggernaut coming towards her.

It raised the ax above its head as she appeared in its attack range, and brought it down with force enough to cleave a horse. McKenna had already jumped to the side, rolled on her shoulders, and reappeared on her feet a mere four seconds after it started the attack. With it’s ax now stuck in the earth, she aimed the spiked end of the War Gaff into a space between its pauldron and backplate.

Imagine her surprise when the weapon stopped cold against it’s chainmail. The secondary armor either blunted most of the damage or allowed it to take none at all. The surprised McKenna was unable to escape its retribution as it spun around and backhanded her several feet away.

You have been struck by the Ancient Bronze Knight for 47 points of damage. You now have 68 out of 156 health remaining.

Gritting her teeth, McKenna got to her feet and activated the first of the three spells she’d created since attaining her fifth level in Divine Magic Manipulation.

“Weak Crawling Heal,” she said, touching her own chest.

The pain in her body eased a little as the spell took effect. Every school of magic taught a different spell when they got to level five, allowing for spellcrafting. This shit tier healing spell was what it taught her to make, and she was glad for it. All it did was use a constant stream of mana to make her in combat healing rate a little faster, but it was better than nothing.

The next spell was one she created herself.

“Faint Blessing,” she intoned, charging her weapon with a feeble white light. It increased the damage, attack speed, and durability of the weapon in her hand by one point.

The Ancient Bronze Knight pulled its ax out of the earth and turned to face her again. This time, it approached and swung it’s weapon horizontally across her middle, which McKenna caught just below the ax head with the hook of the War Gaff. With a twist and a spin of momentum, she caused the Knight to release its weapon, tossing it several feet away.

McKenna took the opening to jab at it again with her War Gaff’s spike. This time, trying for one of the belts that helped to hold its chest plate in place.

It stabbed through the leather strap, the added pressure from the heavy chest piece causing the leather to snap. The piece was now hanging loose and scraping oddly against many of the other sections. Invigorated, McKenna tried to stab at the other strap that held the part onto the Knight and missed when the Knight moved to punch her in the face.

You have been grazed by a punch thrown by the Ancient Bronze Knight for 16 points of damage. You now have 59 out of 156 health remaining.

She was just glad that her spell had given her a few more hit points before she’d taken that attack. The glancing hit had winged her bicep and forced her back a step to avoid the chance of another attack. On the other hand, it seemed in no hurry to do so, instead hurrying away in a lumbering gait towards its lost ax.

An idea struck McKenna, and she activated her Divine Aura (Conflict) skill.

She hadn’t activated it before now for several reasons. After that first day, she’d discovered that the skill was a little chaotic in how it divvied out its bonus. Two day’s prior, McKenna was following a corrupted forest elemental when she’d activated the skill. Instead of granting her a bonus to one of her physical attributes like she’d been hoping for, she got a bonus to her Wisdom instead.

A little trial and error had given her a little insight into the skill. It didn’t work with an AI’s algorithm of what she might need soon. It based the bonus gained one what was needed at that second, based on what was before her. She was still figuring out the details. To make the best use of the skill, it was best to wait until a bonus was needed. You know, like right now.

Divine Aura (Conflict) is toggled. You are in physical conflict with a heavily armored foe. Strength gains a plus one bonus, and speed gains a plus two bonus until the conflict is over.

Grinning, McKenna sprinted towards the back of the Ancient Bronze Knight and swung the polarm’s hook around another one of the visible straps. Immediately disappointed in herself when the hook missed and only grabbed an edge of its left pauldron. Instead of berating herself, McKenna hoisted herself up and onto the thing using the War Gaff as leverage.

As soon as she was hanging from it’s shoulder, she dropped the Gaff and moved to grab one of her Daggers. It stopped and tried to reach her with both arms, but to no avail, she was like that itch it couldn’t scratch, and she shifted on its body to guarantee it. From this vantage point, she stretched over its other shoulder with the personal blade, shoved it underneath the other strap, and sliced it with a single pull.

The Knight stopped moving as it’s chest piece fell free from its front. It was statue still as McKenna started to get a sinking feeling in her gut that this was bad news. To not be caught by surprise, McKenna hopped off the Knight and hurried back to her War Gaff. Lifting the spike end towards the Knight as it started to move again.

When it moved, it first turned to face her, lifting its arms towards the pauldrons that now sat a little more loosely than before on it’s shoulders. It tore them free with a sound like snapping rubber and dropped them to the ground with heavy thumps. With it’s torso free, the Ancient Bronze Knight was covered only in a layer of bronze chainmail and a heavy necklace hanging over it’s heart. It grabbed at it’s only piece of jewelry and bowed its head.

The effect was immediate, a golden light enveloped its body as it stood still. It then looked up towards the sky, it’s freehand raised towards the heaven’s. The ax behind it evaporated in a flash of yellow light and in its gauntleted hand appeared a staff made of the same bronze as the rest of it’s armor.

“Oh Shit, don’t tell me i’ve been dealing with a field boss,” McKenna moaned to the area. “I’m not strong enough to beat one of these guys!”

As if to prove her point, the Ancient Bronze Knight, now in the second stage of the fight, pointed it’s staff at McKenna.

“Lightning Break!” the Knight cried out, it’s voice cracking like stiff old paper.

A point of light with arcing electricity appearing in front of McKenna’s chest. It only took her half a second to turn and run, hoping that what she’d healed already and a little distance might keep her alive. She could not die yet, it would delay her plans further.

With a crack of thunder, the tiny orb exploded, and lightning ran through her body, out her foot, and into the ground. Pain lanced through her, and the only thing she knew for a few hellish moments was tremors of pain.

You have been electrocuted by the Ancient Bronze Knight for 78 damage. You now have 11 out of 156 points of health remaining. The electric attack has stunned you for three seconds.

McKenna’s mind was scrambled as the stun took effect. She was distantly aware that the Knight was approaching, due to the things still heavy footsteps that were approaching. Not that it seemed important compared to the ebbing pain that still ravaged her nerves.

The time elapsed, and her mind functioned properly again. Of course, the first thing that she did was look back to find that the Knight was almost within striking distance from her.

Taking a few scrambling steps away from the mostly armored Knight, she scrambled to her feet and readied herself. McKenna had a feeling about how this would go. She spent a fair amount of time playing games while growing up and between assignments in the military. It was likely that this guy had a secret function that would trigger if she tried to run.

Not that she wanted to run. If she killed this guy, the experience points she’d gain would be fantastic. Most likely enough to level up to level five and learn a new ability or skill. But how was she to beat this thing with such a difference in strength?

The Knight took a stance, it’s weapon held with both of its hands equidistant from each other and one end aimed at McKenna.

She recognized the form and immediately took a similar one herself. Only she aimed her War Gaff’s spike towards the Ancient Bronze Knight and waited for him to perform the first move. If the Knight wanted to play with its opponent, then McKenna was more than happy to oblige. If she was lucky, she’d be able to keep it from hurting her for long enough to regain some more health and start cutting away more of it’s armor.

The first thrust was fast, but nothing McKenna couldn’t handle. She dipped her weapon, the raised it up in the staff’s path, diverting the attack. She took the opportunity and shoved the spiked end towards the Knight’s seemingly dominant hand, only for the Knight to turn out of the way and spin it’s weapon widely towards her back.

She braced for impact, and her imminent death, eyes wide open as she still tried to turn and catch the weapon on her War Gaff. The blow struck the center of her Steel War Gaff, and she swore that she felt the weapon bend a little as the impact sent her backward, feet sliding on the ground as she maintained her footing.

“Force Cleave!” announced an airy, Spanish accented voice.

An almost two dimensional plane of twisted space appeared in one instant and slammed into the Knight in the next. The power of the blow knocked it back a foot or two despite the massive weight of the armor.

“Kinetic Ram!” the same voice announced from somewhere above McKenna.

Another near-invisible thing appeared in front of the Knight, this one though was about five feet around and ten feet long. It slammed into the front of the Field Boss, who had raised its staff to defend itself this time.

A soft pop occurred to McKenna’s left, and something was materialized.

What appeared stood with its hands held behind its back, wearing clean dark green robes accented with gold that fluttered without any wind. A cape of multiple colors hung from its shoulders like a peacock’s plumage, with the end of the expensive-looking cloth hanging just above the ground. The newcomer wore beautiful necklaces with multiple gems fashioned into them. Bands of silver and gold adorned its arms and fingers, with a belt around it’s waist with a buckle made of platinum.

It wasn’t all the finery that made McKenna blink at the pompous looking thing that materialized out of thin air. It was the fact that it was a two-foot-tall bipedal mouse, with pale fur and dark, intelligent eyes.

That and all McKenna wanted to do was go over there and hug it, it was fucking adorable!

McKenna had heard of this race of creatures but heard they were some of the rarest to encounter. It was called a Mousekin, and it is a member of a small list of animal-kind species in the world.

Right now, the rarity had It’s gaze was fastened on the Knight as it stared hungrily at it.

The Knight turned it’s staff towards the more obvious threat, and aimed its bronze staff at the Mousekin. “Thunderhead blaze!” It announced, a swirling twister flew from the staff. Electricity arced from within the horizontal tornado as it rocketed towards the Mousekin.

McKenna swears that she saw the Mousekin grin as it narrowed it’s eyes and said, “Mana Void.”

A one-foot diameter circle of purest night encircled by a ring of white appeared between it and the Knight. The Mana Void seemed to distort the space, gravity, and even light around it as it existed in a place that it shouldn’t. The magic attack that was sent by the Knight, flew into the black hole and was effortlessly sucked inside. Leaving not a trace of the possibly devastating magic behind.

The Mousekin quickly dismissed the Mana Void with a hard blink and glared at it’ ’s opponent with unerring eyes. “Force Guillotine!” It announced.

Above the Ancient Bronze Knight, another plane of two-dimensional force came into being. With a blink, the Mousekin brought the blade down on the Knight with deafening power. Only the Knight’s reflexes and strong body kept it alive from the Kinetically formed blade, as it blocked the attack with it’s bronze staff.

“Just die already, you bloody sack of copper coins!” The Mousekin yelled, it’s accent a little more prominent along with a slight squeak in its voice.

The Knight didn’t respond. Instead, it reacted as soon as the pressure on it’s staff faded and simply broke into a charge. It’s staff was held ready to swing as soon as it closed the distance.

After another blink, it readied itself for another attack. Only this time, it withdrew a Copper Coin from somewhere inside it’s robes and winced. It flipped the Coin in the air with its disconcertingly human-like hands and spoke, “Money is Power - Petrifying Stare.”

The Coin vanished, and the Mousekin’s eyes lightened from black to granite gray. The Knight stumbled to a stop a few yards before the small creature. It fell to its knees as earthen pale-white started to sweep over it’s form. True to its name, the stare began to turn the formerly impossible to beat Knight into a marble statue that was left, in the end, frozen with it’s hand’s wrapped around it’s own neck.

Congratulations! You have killed six Mini-Trolls and have gained 150 EXP. You have gained 150 EXP and now have 775/1200 experience towards level 5. Congratulations! You have participated in the defeat of the Field Boss, Ancient Bronze Knight. You have gained 625 EXP! You have gained 625 EXP and now have 1400/1200 experience towards Level 5. Level UP! You are now Level 5 and now have 5 unspent Attribute Points. To level up, just say the words, Level Up, to allocate your attribute points. Choose wisely, these points cannot be refunded. You now have 200/ 1800 experience needed to attain Level 6. Your Acrobatics skill has increased to level 2. +1% bonus to jumping distance, height, and landing stability. +.5% bonus to stability while performing any act considered acrobatic. +1% bonus to balancing. Your Unusual Weapons Proficiency (War Gaff) Skill is now Level 4. +1% additional strength application towards tripping your opponent, +1% damage. You Femme Fatale Skill is now Level 3. Anytime you use your feminine wiles to distract, hurt, or provoke a target, you gain a +1% chance for the effect to work and a +0.5% chance for something unexpected to happen.

The slew of Prompts were read and quickly dismissed. With the Mousekin still there, intensely staring at the now Medusa’d Knight. It’s gaze was hungry and anticipating as it waited for something to happen. McKenna watched as her MP fell almost to empty, but her health points were looking better.

A slot machine’s jackpot chime echoed amongst the tree’s as the Mousekin’s intensity made an immediate one-eighty and shifted to unadulterated glee.

The statue that used to be a living Knight rumbled and cracked, a coppery light like the noonday sun enveloping it. After the final ring, the statue shattered in a splattering of rock and gore like a watermelon being smashed by a mallet. From the suddenly evaporating marbleized viscera, a burst of shining copper rushed up like a fountain.

The Mousekin squeaked in bliss as it ran around the area, picking up pieces of copper from the ground. It counted as it picked up piece after piece of the currency, and McKenna reached down to pick one up that landed in front of her.

1 Copper Coin. This Coin has been forged by the sin magic of the world and is still stabilizing in this world. The Coin will finish stabilizing in 33 seconds.

McKenna’s breath hitched in her throat as she reread the message another three times as the countdown continued.

“287, 288, 289,...” The Mousekin picked up one final Coin and paused at McKenna’s feet. It looked up at the Copper Currency that she was holding in her hand. It’s gaze stayed on the Coin and followed it as McKenna experimentally back and forth.

After thirty seconds of its long face following the Coin in imaginary shapes and symbols, the Mousekin had finally had enough. It glared at McKenna, and it stuck out both of it’s hands, making grabby motions with its human-like hands.

She resisted the urge to hug the cute little Vermin thing and handed it the Coin before it did something horrible to her. While she was sure it would be adorable, even covered in her blood, she didn’t want to incur it’s wrath.

“My shiny, MINE!” It yelled in his high pitched voice and… oh, the accent was Portuguese! McKenna mentally berated herself.

The first thing the Mousekin did was rub the now real Copper Coin all over the fir of its face, even licking the edge of the Coin in excitement. After a few seconds, the Mousekin slid the Coin under its cape, it vanished somewhere within its robe. Afterward, the Mousekin looked up and glared at the person who dared to touch it’s beautiful, tasty, life-affirming Coin.

“You touched my Coin,” it said accusingly. “This. Is. My. Coin,” The Mousekin announced to her. It bared its teeth at the Elfin woman before it, a snarl escaping its throat.

“Alright, I’m sorry. Your money, not mine,” McKenna confirmed, taking a step away from the agitated Mousekin.

Instead of letting her back away from the Mousekin peacefully, it looked McKenna straight in the eyes. It’s glare bursting with blue light as it activated one of it’s skills.

“Burning Terror!” it squeaked.

Her vision was darkened immediately, only to sharpen in an area of blackest void, the end of the zone bordered by hellfire. McKenna spun around in the space, trying to ascertain anything about the area she was in.

Then a silhouetted person stood before her; her breath came in and out slowly as she recognized the outline. The hellfire grew more intense, the increased glow confirmed her suspicion of who she suspected the figure was.

Colin stood before her, a leather jacket over a white shirt, tie, and slacks. Of course, a pistol was visible under his left armpit, a remnant from before both of them retired and got married. This version of Colin stood blank-faced for a few seconds before a light animated in his eyes, a light that McKenna had been missing for a few weeks.

“Colin?” she asked, taking a step closer to him.

“McKenna?” he asked, closing the distance between them.

She wrapped her arms around him, for only a moment before she adjusted and kissed the man she loved more than anything. His lips moved with hers, the motion something she recognized intimately as he held her close. Oh, McKenna missed this closeness. It had only been just under a month, but Colin was the one thing that kept certain parts of her aggression in check. It recently felt like it was starting to overflow, like a coffee mug being overfilled.

Then Colin froze and pulled his face away from hers, stunned shock painting his expression. Black, burning barbed wire shot out of the floor, beyond the border of the area, and the ceiling wrapping around Colin’s body as he tried to fight his way out of the wire.

McKenna was frozen in place as she tried to go to him, to help him, to save him from whatever was grabbing him. But sheer terror was keeping her rooted in place.

His hands reached out for her, and she tried to reach out for him, go after him, scream, or curse impotently at the sky. Only to have the heart in her chest beat wildly while her body betrayed her, not obeying any her even as she screamed in her head to act, her heart to help him, her soul to save him.

Then he was gone, the infernal barbed wires pulling him beyond the hellfire that marked the edge of the domain. Her body now able to act, McKenna fell to her knees and trembled as her entire being felt wronged.

The effect of Burning Terror has run its course.

Then the entire world went black again, the sounds of the world returning as her senses became hers. She opened her eyes and found herself lying on her back, eyes stinging from the tears pouring down her face. McKenna forced herself upright and found that the Mousekin was gone.

It took several long seconds to put it all together, her mind reeling from what the Mousekin had done to her. She wiped away the tears and grit her teeth as the very thought of the Mousekin suddenly pissed her off. For merely holding one of ‘It’s Shinies’, it made her see that vision. The powerlessness, the weakness, the terror she’d felt made her angry because it was all true to an extent. But the fact that she couldn’t act, that the spell seemed to rob her of the ability, only added acetylene to her gasoline-fueled fire.

Standing up, McKenna looked up at the sky and screamed.

After long seconds, a prompt appeared, silencing her.

The world has heard your justified wrath. Would you like to designate the Unknown Mousekin as your Nemesis?

McKenna didn’t even have to think about it. She’d heard of the nemesis system before and knew just what it meant. The system had registered that you felt you had been horribly wrong by another person in the game. The system was rather simple, you gained bonuses that worked with your class the next time you see the target. There was a little more to it than that, but that was the most consistent thing she’d heard.

The only downside to choosing to make someone your Nemesis was that you were forced to attack them on sight or risk losing the bonuses you’d gain against them.

She was alright with that, McKenna was already considering burning this world down to find Colin, what was one more thing to do.

You have designated the Unknown Mousekin as your Nemesis. You have gained the ability; Nemesis 1. Nemesis 1: Your hate is as deep as an ocean with unknowable depths. Choosing to make someone your Nemesis means that you are vowing to kill them, and the universe recognizes this. The next time you directly encounter the Unknown Mousekin, this ability will trigger. Until then, the effects shall be unknown. This ability can evolve to Nemesis 2 if specific requirements are met.

That Mousekin had no idea what it had done. If there was anyone in this world that you did not want to mess with more than Colin. It would be McKenna herself.

And forcing her to see her ultimate fear had been a wrong move. Now she had another goal on her list, and she was already a busy woman. Possible Demon Lord Candidate Mouse thing or not, it was going to die.

---

Name: Regina McKendra. Title: None. Nickname: None. Priest (Conflict) Level 5. Subclass: N/A. TrueClass: N/A. EXP: 200/1800 Health: 156/156. Mana: 94/94. Status: Normal. Personal Attributes: Strength: 12. Dexterity: 12. Speed: 13. Build:14. Intellect: 11. Wisdom: 13. Charisma: 10. Luck: 10. Skills: Divine Magic Manipulation Level 5, Divine Aura(Conflict) Level 5, Unusual Weapon Proficiency (War Gaff) Level 4, Unarmed Combat Level 3, Femme Fatale Level 3 Detect Falsehood Level 2, Acrobatics Level 2, Personal Blades Level 1, Spellcraft Level 1, Knowledge: Cartography Level 1, Knowledge: Geography Level 1 Spells: Weak Crawling Heal (Divine), Faint Blessing, Abilities: Conflict Channeling, Mini-Map, Nemesis 1 Weapons: Steel War Gaff, Simple Steel Daggers(x2) Armor: Adjusted Priests Raiment