A new bond, a new friend

She has never seen a city like the one in front of her. Not even her inherent memories told her of such places. There could be only one of her kind. This meant that the Progenitor Shadow before her died. It might have happened because of old age, or maybe because he or she was killed.

Her ancestors always stored the most important memories away, turning them into inherent memories, which would be unraveled once another Progenitor Shadow was born. This was a part of her bloodline. If she were to die, she would do the same. Naturally, she stood far from death as it wasn’t her goal… Stepping forward, she felt something new under her feet. The feeling of asphalt was strange to her. Although she could have turned a part of her shadow into shoes, she took a liking to this new feeling.

Suddenly, Dred ran towards an upturned car and came back with a pair of ragged shoes in his mouth. Elena laughed heartily upon seeing it. “Are you serious?” She questioned him as she stopped laughing. Dred shook his head sideways and threw away the pair of shoes. “How cruel… you are taunting a little girl,” Elena remarked with a frown, and then knocked on Dred’s head.

They left towards the city in an unhurried way. Overturned cars and dried patches of blood were littering the roads. As she reached the panel houses, she heard a growling from her right. There were two pairs of cold-blue eyes in an alleyway. Inspect.

Race: Two Headed Dog

Rarity: Common

Level: 3 (Threat Level: 4)

A few details appeared about the monster. It started walking towards Elena, but before it could reach out of the shadows, Elena and Dred were already rushing towards it. Seeing their sudden charge, the monster took a defensive position. While running, Elena stomped on the ground and made a stone wall appear in front of the monster, with a small elevation on her side. Dred jumped over it and then disappeared in the darkness.

Only the vehement squeaking of the monster could be heard. while Elena also reached the elevation. Jumping up from it, she somersaulted in the air sideways and with a stone sword in her hand, she fell downward. She felt something resisting her sword, but under her falling weight, she soon felt her weapon penetrating its target. The Two Headed Dog started whining in pain. Feeling annoyed by it, Elena shot a bolt of lightning towards its head. While the monster was stunned, her hand turned into a shadow and beheaded both of the monster’s heads.

You have leveled up to Lv. 2!

Its blood would have splashed on her if not for her being in her shadow form. The monster’s blood simply flew through her ethereal form. “At least I won’t have to take a bath after each fight like this. I should learn to cut more cleanly and quickly…” Elena talked to herself, thinking of ways to stay clean. Her level up wasn’t surprising since both of them learned and experienced something new after this short battle.

Looking down, there was something shiny on the ground and after using inspect, she saw the following window.

Name: Kitchen Knife

Rarity: Common

Durability: 10 / 10

Effects: Increases your strength output by 3 and transforms your physical attacks into cutting force.

Description

A common kitchen knife of this world. It will wear out quickly on the hard skin of the monsters.

One strength meant one kilogram of punching strength as default. But, with a blade in her hand, that strength turned into cutting force. This number would also increase if she were to kick. So with the knife in her hand, Elena could release twenty kilograms of cutting force.

Picking up the knife, she thought of something. Using Nature Magic, a straight bush grew out of the ground with thick branches. She broke off one of them, and then using Earth Magic, she put them together. She just created a stone shell around it. It was a terrible creation but it was better than a simple knife. Using inspect once again, it leveled up to level two and the following window appeared in front of her.

Name: Crude Spear

Rarity: Uncommon

Durability: 12/12

Effects: Converts your strength into cutting or thrusting force. Increases your strength output by 10.

Description

A crude spear, crafted by a young girl, who was lacking in both material and knowledge to do something better. Tho’ it is uncommon, but it’s only because no one crafted something as terrible as this before.

“Fuck you… Am I supposed to know everything immediately? Stupid window,” Elena murmured grumpily. After they devoured half-half of the dog’s body, they went through small evolutions and gained two strength and one vitality. She started using sense, every hundred meters since that was how far it reached.

Your skill has leveled up: Sense Lv. 1

As she was getting more and more proficient at discharging her Mana, with less Mana loss, she was able to sense things further than a hundred meters. The first level of Sense meant that she could sense things in a radius of a hundred and fifty meters. Elemental Magic

Elemental Magic:

Fire Lv.0 (91%); Water Lv.0 (20%);

Wind Lv.0 (75%); Lightning Lv.0 (25%);

Nature Lv.0 (10%); Earth Lv.1 (6%);

Light Lv.0 (5%); Dark Lv.0 (54%);

Willing it, only a part of her status appeared. She put her hand on her chin, thinking - I should use fire magic some more. And the others as well…

After walking for a few minutes, she sensed someone in a nearby building. “Should we check it out?” Elena asked Dred with her brows raised. He naturally agreed, wishing to have some ‘fun’.

They rushed towards the building. After entering through the doors, she leaned over the corner and saw a corridor with doors in it. But a one meter tall, gray-skinned gnome was hitting the door of a room. It was the room where the human resided in. She pulled back her head and looked back at Dred. The gnome didn’t even notice her. With a grin on her face, she turned into a shadow on the ground and rushed towards her opponent.

Naturally, Dred joined her. Their shadows disappeared in the gnome’s. It was still hitting the door when a shady arm reached out of the gnome’s shadow and coiled around its body. It wanted to turn around, but at that time, the shadow gripped its body tightly. When the gnome couldn’t move any longer, a spear thrust out of the shadow and penetrated the monster’s head. With a hole in its head, it fell to the ground lifelessly.

After devouring its body, they felt a slight change in their minds. They gained one intelligence and one wisdom...

Why after this? This gnome was so stupid… Elena thought, not understanding how was intelligence the forte of this monster. The devour skill always gave them the most specific traits of their opponent. Naturally, if the monster was weaker than them or was at the same level, then they wouldn’t get anything out of it.

This didn’t mean that the gnome was cleverer than them. It was just on a higher level and its intelligence and wisdom were the highest. She turned back into her human form and knocked twice on the door gently while shouting, “Pardon me! The monster went away! Could you let me in?” She soon heard footsteps, nearing the door.

“Who are you?” Came the question through the closed door.

“I’m called Elena. Please, I’m afraid outside!” She said with a sweet voice. while faking her fear. Dred turned into her shadow, disappearing and Elena put down her spear, right behind the door.

“Come in…” Said the guy with a rough voice as he opened the door. He was a sixteen looking teenager, with short, curly, black hair. He was a bit fat, but not overly. Upon seeing Elena’s cute posture, a strange glint flashed in his eyes. Inspect

Name: Alan Coleman

Level: 0 - EXP : 0 / 0 (Threat Level: 0)

Race: Human

Title: The fearful pervert

Health: 60 / 60

Mana: 40 / 40

Description

A dangerous human. Although he is fearful of powerful foes and even other humans, he doesn’t fear to be ‘rude’ with those, who are weaker than he.

How the hell did he manage to stay level zero with no experience? Did he hole up himself? And what’s with that title? Elena thought while keeping up her facade and entering the room. Her senses caught a hand moving towards her shoulder, so she quickly stepped forward. Alan wanted to grab her shoulder. He found Elena very cute. He saw her as a beautiful, frail doll. Before the apocalypse, this planet was a peaceful one. The economy was flourishing, the people rarely fought, yet now everything went wrong.

He was afraid of fighting these dangerous monsters, but he felt at ease while being in the presence of a little girl. He thought that Elena was as weak as a fly. That she was lost, alone, parentless. The perfect prey for his kind… He didn’t want to abuse her. He just wanted to idolize and handle her as if she would be some kind of doll.

“C- Can I ask you something? I- I’m really thirsty,” Elena said while sitting down in an armchair, pulling up her knees and looking at Alan with upturned eyes. He felt excited. He had strange delusions, thinking that he will turn super overpowered and that Elena will be his beautiful wife in the future.

“Ah! Immediately, my little angel!” He exclaimed happily while turning around and rushing towards the kitchen. What he didn’t notice was that Elena’s shadow disappeared, which meant only one thing. Dred was already Alan’s shadow… He stopped in front of a cupboard. After opening it, he started fumbling inside it, not realizing the danger that was lurking behind him. Elena used ShadowStep and appeared behind him without a sound.

With a grin on her face, she looked at Dred. After nodding at each other, Elena used Nature Magic, to root him. Dred’s bolt of lightning struck his back, paralyzing him completely. “W- What the hell?” He shouted fearfully, while his body kept spasming because of the shock. Since their Lighting Magic was at a low-level, they couldn’t produce powerful lightning, which would burn others to a crisp.

“I can see that you like little girls. Do you like me as well?” Elena asked with a smile and then swung her arm in an arc. Before Alan could answer, his throat was split open. In Elena’s hand was a sharp stone dagger. His blood sprayed on their bodies, bathing them in blood. “Damned scum… I hope that the other humans aren’t like this. I had high hopes for them at first,” Elena said with a sad face.

Killing is so sad… Every time you take a life, it’ll leave a mark in you. But, oh well… kill or be killed, that’s the law of the jungle. You had bad luck, human. She thought, still not knowing that these humans were completely new to this whole thing. In her inherent memories, humans knew of many classes, skills, etc. Never in her dream would she think that she was born on a planet, which went through an apocalypse only two weeks before her.

They took their way towards the door. After picking up her spear, they entered the bathroom. Using fire and water magic, they poured warm water into it.

Ten minutes later, they were once again clean. “Let’s look at these notifications…” She talked to herself while sitting down in an armchair. Her shadow rushed out and devoured Alan’s corpse. These notifications could be muted, so unless she was free to look at them, she muted them.

You have leveled up to Lv. 3!

New Class Unlocked: Assassin

She didn’t get anything out of Alan because he was too weak… these normal classes didn’t interest her. Naturally, this wasn’t a virtual reality. Although there were classes, all they did was give some bonus on a few stat points, or increase the training speed of certain skills.

“Hmm… let’s eat something before training,” she told Dred while standing up and going towards the kitchen. Thanks to her Sense, she knew where to find the things she was looking for.

After finding some canned meat, they ate it distastefully. It wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t too good either… With their bellies full, they have got to work. Elena started doing sit ups, push ups and filled her cells with Mana to increase their evolution speed. Dred was pouring Mana into his eyes and nervous system to increase his Agility.

When Elena felt too tired to continue, she stopped and sat down on the bed. She started shooting small pieces of stones towards Dred, helping him in training his agility and also increasing her intelligence. Or on its other name, Mana Capacity. When she ran out of that as well, she started meditating and increased her wisdom. Both of them trained everything that was possible through a few cycles.

Stat points. She thought and the selected part of her status window appeared in front of her eyes.

Strength: 25 (+10 Crude Spear)

Vitality: 25

Agility: 20

Will: 25

Intelligence: 34

Wisdom: 25

Her stats increased by quite a lot. Meanwhile, will was an interesting attribute as it didn’t have a description. She wasn’t sure what it indicated, so she focused on the others, for now. Feeling mentally tired after so much training, they wished to sleep.

As they finished inspecting their own stats, Dred meowed once, indicating for Elena to raise up her arm. He wanted to be hugged by Elena. Seeing his pitiful face, she chuckled. Dred crept into her arms, even though he was almost as big as her at this time. After rubbing her face on his soft fur, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

They slept for six hours before waking up. It was nighttime. “Mhm~” She woke up while rolling on her side and releasing a pleased voice. Opening her eyes, she was able to see. Although it was completely dark in the room, her race was born of darkness and shadows. Her eyes weren’t the same as the humans’, though that was visible from the outside as well… She sprung up from the bed and found her stomach growling.

“Being so young sucks… I have to eat regularly to keep my body full of nutrition,” she talked to herself unhappily, knowing that she could go on for days in the future. Stretching her limbs, she looked at Dred, asking - “Where should we go?” Dred showed an uncaring attitude as he didn’t even look at her.

I guess I’ll decide in that case… Elena thought with a helpless face. Sighing loudly, she looked down at herself and realized that she has grown at least ten centimeters. Shaking her head, she grabbed her spear and left through the door, with Dred in tow.

After going through the corridor and leaving the building, they saw a starry night sky. The air was warm and the gently blowing wind felt good on her skin. Sniffing once, she thought that the night smelled nice. Using their senses, they found nothing but monsters. Elena decided to go deeper into the city and find out more about what happened to this planet.

They turned into black patches on the ground and rushed forward. They went past numerous monsters, without any of them noticing them. Let’s see what do we have here. Inspect. She thought as they stopped to look at a big, green-skinned humanoid, which had a pair of tusks protruding from its mouth.

Race: Ogre

Rarity: Common

Level: 12 (Threat Level: 8)

Your skill has leveled up: Shadow Form Lv. 2

Your skill has leveled up: Mana Control Lv. 1

Since they were using their shadow forms continuously, which needed Mana, they also turned more proficient at using them. The threat level eight meant that she had eighty to ninety percent of chance to die if she were to fight it. This wasn’t because of the World System but because of Elena’s understanding of her own strength.

That’s nice… we better leave before it notices us. She thought as she quickly turned away and left. The deeper they went into the city, the more powerful the monsters were. Realizing that it would be wrong to move on, they were about to turn around when they noticed something.

Their senses caught a few people’s presence. Humans? But there are three of them! Hmm… I should check it out. After thinking about it for a bit, she decided to pay a visit and maybe stay. They were inside a building. Looking around, she realized that there weren’t any monsters nearby. Elena took up her human form, while Dred stayed as her shadow.

After entering the house, she found herself in a corridor. This building was similar to the one from before. Well, it was a city… Wait. But if I just go in, I’d be way too suspicious. Especially considering that my body is still that of a child’s. Though… my mind isn’t that advanced either. Haha~ She chuckled silently upon thinking that far. She was still just a child, who was sometimes more clever or more bloodthirsty than the usual. But she wasn’t a human. Human norms weren’t true when it came to her.

Not knowing what to do, she entered the room, which was beside the humans’. Dred turned back into his full form and started meditating along with Elena. They didn’t have much mana left after staying in their shadow forms for such a long period of time.

Your skill has leveled up: Meditation Lv. 2

Not bothering with the notification, they continued on. Their Meditation was at thirteen percent when they felt that they were full. I should check out my own skills a bit more. I also have a few more to unlock. Wah! I can’t wait for Spellsteal! She thought excitedly upon thinking of her next skill. She needed more wisdom to use them. Simply, she wasn’t clever enough yet… Shadow Form.

Shadow Form Lv. 2

This skill shows that the owner has the ability to turn into an ethereal form. Unless attacked with special attacks, the owner can’t be damaged. Consumes 0.5 Mana / Second

The owner of this skill also knows how to mask most of her status.

While she was exploring her own abilities, the humans in the other room were taking a rest. There is a school nearby, which has been turned into a fortification. Under these two weeks, the humans learned how to use their powers. There were people who were above the thirtieth level by this time! One such person was also the leader in the school nearby. He was called Jake Hughes.

When this apocalypse occurred, the humans were surprised to see that all of them turned young and the limits of their minds and bodies were also taken off. Jake was a fifty years old retired soldier originally, but after the apocalypse, he took good care of his own health. He turned out to be talented at this leveling up and body training. Like most of the soldiers… At the time of chaos, a powerful leader was obviously advantageous. The panicked humans naturally started following him and the number of his followers grew day by day as they kept finding new survivors.

At first, they were living in these buildings, but their group quickly overgrew them. So after clearing out the school, they overtook it as their base. It was only one week and two days after the apocalypse when - to Jake’s surprise - a window appeared in front of him, asking if he wanted to turn the school into his territory. After seeing the perks it came with, he naturally agreed, since it made saving the survivors much easier.

This was because if they had a territory, the stronger monsters would stay far away. Why was this good? Like this, the new survivors they took in had a chance at killing the weak monsters, which stayed around their territory and then slowly move outwards, killing the more and more powerful ones. In turn, this meant easy experience gaining for the starters and weaker monsters.

Although they didn’t know how this worked, in truth, this was because of a powerful formation around the city, which was invisible to them. This was also a possible use of the World System, which had many strange things.

In the human’s room, a short teenager guy with brown hair, who was called Krin, asked aloud. “Hey, Raven… shouldn’t you go and check our surroundings? It’s been half an hour. What if something dared coming nearby?”

A petite looking girl, with raven black hair, laughed upon hearing his words. She was none other than Raven, who was named after her hair... “Haha, what do you mean? We are just patrolling. These low-level ogres have no way to hurt us. I’d burn them to a crisp before they could reach me!” She exclaimed flauntingly, with an unbothered face. Still… she used her Sense skill to sense her surroundings. Right after saying those words, her eyes opened widely because she felt a presence in the room, next to theirs.

Maybe two… but she wasn’t sure of it. “What now?” Krin asked with his brows furrowed, upon seeing Raven’s face.

“Ehm… there is someone in the room next to ours. But it’s just a little girl. Her level is also really low. I don’t understand how I didn’t notice her when we arrived,” she added while massaging her temples, feeling bad that she missed such an obvious sign. She didn’t believe that a little girl would walk through the dark night and enter the room next to theirs without anyone noticing. She believed that she made a mistake.

“Heh… and you were all high and mighty just a moment ago.” A beautiful girl with red hair and curvy body didn’t miss the chance to ridicule her. She was called Audrey. Raven made a pouting face, which after she showed her middle finger to Audrey as she opened the door to visit Elena.

Realizing that someone was coming, Dred quickly turned into a part of Elena’s clothes. Raven stood in front of the door and knocked twice, asking in a low a voice. “Hello~ Can I come in? We’ll take you to a safer place, alright?”

Hearing her nice tone - “Come in, Miss!” - Elena shouted politely with a happy voice. She was really happy because she felt slightly lonely and bored in this devastated world. Opening the door, the first thing they did was to inspect each other. Elena didn’t see more than Raven’s name… Meanwhile, Raven saw slightly more, but thanks to Elena’s masking abilities, her race was still unidentifiable.

Name: Elena

Race: Unidentifiable because of a skill

Level: 3

Threat Level: 0

Type: Weak Magical, Weak Physical

Estimated attack power: (12 - 13)

Since Raven was at the 27th level, she was much more powerful and she saw way more than what Elena ever did. Her inspect skill was also above level ten! She was surprised exactly because of that reason. She couldn’t see everything, even though there was such a huge difference between them. Supposedly, she should have seen a small description as well, similar to the one Elena saw while inspecting Alan. But she saw neither title nor description.

Then again, her Inspect skill still helped her in pulling the estimated attack power upward because if it depended on her, then she would have said that Elena had only five at most…

And even this amount was way about half of her real strength.This is why the higher level Inspect was, the more they saw and more accurately. If Jake were to inspect Elena, then he would probably see everything.

Realizing that she was standing there all mute, with a surprised face, she finally came to and greeted Elena. “Ah! Hello, little girl. How did you get here?” She asked with a nice smile on her face. At the same time, Audrey and Krin also stopped in the doorway.

“Woah~ Such a cute little girl. And her eyes are so beautiful. I’m envious!” Audrey exclaimed upon seeing Elena. She went past Raven, shoving her to the side, and stood in front of Elena.

W-What now? What’s with this woman? Elena thought while making a strange face. Realizing that her sudden charge ‘scared’ the little girl, she stopped.

“How may I call you? Little angel?” She asked nicely, creeping out Elena.

“E-Elena… but you should know it,” she mumbled while pulling up her legs and burying her face in her pulled up knees.

“S-So cute!” Audrey shouted as she coiled her arms around Elena and hugged her into her bosom.

What the hell is wrong with this woman? Elena thought while making an annoyed face, even though she actually liked being hugged. But her primal instincts didn’t want to admit it. Noticing her two-sided feelings, Audrey only felt even better. “So? Where did you come from?” Raven asked once again with a hopeful face, wishing to know a bit more about Elena.

“I-I don’t know. I don’t even know where I am and I don’t know anyone,” she replied with a pitiful face. Although she didn’t mean it in a bad way, the girls misunderstood her words and thought that they asked something bad. Feeling bad for doing so, they started apologizing and caressing her back and the top of her head. She was loved a lot. This only made Elena feel even more confused.

“We should take her back now, shouldn’t we? Or do you want to wait until morning?” Raven asked Krin and Elena if she wanted to move now.

“W-We can go now,” Elena answered while pulling out her legs from under the blanket and standing up. Upon noticing that her feet were bare, Audrey and Raven made empathic faces as they started weeping, saying that the poor little girl had to walk barefoot. I know that I’m cruel, but I should kill these people… She couldn’t help but think of such things.

“Let’s go in that case,” Krin said with an unbothered face. He didn’t feel as touched as the girls. Krin was only sixteen years old, while Raven and Audrey were above thirty originally. They had motherly instincts. It’s just that, after the apocalypse, their bodies turned younger.

Audrey held out her hand towards Elena, thinking that she would grab her hand. But Elena went past her without being bothered by Audrey’s hand. She still had a lot to learn and reading people’s expression was also one of those… Audrey felt down upon seeing that she was ignored, but after thinking positively, she rushed after Elena with a smile. She just needs time… She thought.

On their way, the Ogres noticed them since they were walking in the middle of the roads. But after simple fireballs, which had one meter of diameters, all of them burned into crisps. Ironically, Raven was the one who mostly used fireballs, while Audrey used Dark Magic and Wind Magic.

It took only five minutes to reach the school, which didn’t look like one… It had three meters tall, thick stone walls around it, which were glowing with a dim gray light. It was enchanted with Mana. On the walls were a few people, observing the area. Most of them had gloves on their hands, while some of them had staves. There were also people who were barehanded. Although weapons had a chance at increasing some of the attributes, increasing magical attack power wasn’t exclusive to staves and wands. Why would that be the case?

Upon noticing that group of four, a guard shouted. “Krin? How come you are back so quick- Ah! You found another one?” Noticing Elena, he realized why were they coming back.

“Yes, yes. We just brought her back. Now open the gates…” Krin talked with his usual, uncaring tone. Nodding once, the patrolling guard opened the metal gates. Upon stepping on the doorway, a window appeared in front of Elena and Dred, though it was visible only to them.

The New Human Union

This is the territory of Jake Hughes. Do you wish to enter as a member or as a visitor?

If you enter as a visitor, you can’t stay longer than one week.

If you enter as a member, then you’ll have to accept him as your major.

You can also apply for a guest status.

Visitor. Both of them thought of the same answer at the same time. As unique and rare beasts, it was against their instincts and beliefs to get under the rule of someone. Knowing that Elena had to answer such a question, Krin asked them with a curious face. “What did you decide on? I’d recommend becoming a member as it has a few perks…”

Not wishing to tell him the truth, Elena just made a face as if she didn’t understand what he was talking about. Thinking that she didn’t even notice and probably answered without knowing anything, he just shrugged it off. Her little girl looks helped her a lot at these times, though it can’t be used forever as she too has to grow up.

There were smaller stone buildings or tents at the yard of the school. In the tents were the newer members and visitors, who were weak. Meanwhile, the people living in their own stone buildings were the more powerful and important members of the society. This also served as a goal for the others to work hard. If they had a tiny house of their own in this area, that only meant that they were someone. Someone better than the others!

Elena noticed that a few people were sparring with weapons or magical attacks. Although the sky was dark, the flickering lights of the magical attacks were lighting it up from time to time. This is… pretty! I should work harder and learn to use my Mana more fluently. Damned Mana Control improves so slowly… She thought with a slight bit of dissatisfaction and a bittersweet taste in her mouth.

Even though they were using their Shadow Forms very frequently, her and Dred’s Mana Control was still standing at thirty-two percent. They didn’t know that they had to use more complex skills to make it advance quicker.

Noticing the ‘newcomer’, the older members checked her out, but none of them saw more than Raven or the others. Looking around, Elena saw that almost everyone had some kind of weapon in their hands, be it sword, staff, bow and such. Other than the children, which were very few in number, the other humans were above the tenth level on average.

Those who were in possession of a small building were all above the twentieth level. This made her realize who had the rights to have a house of their own. Still… space was limited, so this couldn’t be maintained for long unless they expanded the area. But the smaller hills of stones made her think that the humans were of the same opinion.

She was led straight into the school, which was completely remodeled from the inside. Instead of classes were private rooms, which looked quite comfy and luxurious, probably more so than the stone buildings.

Though, she couldn’t be sure as the doors were closed. She saw only one of them opened and the view pleased her. She couldn’t help but feel the need to have such a room.

“Are you hungry?” Audrey suddenly started talking after staying silent for a good while.

“Hungry? I’m not reall- *growl* -y… I am.” Elena wanted to hide the truth because she didn’t want to rely on these humans. Unfortunately, her stomach disobeyed her and sold her off. Hearing it, Audrey chuckled, along with the others and led her towards the canteen. The rows of tables and chairs were unused at such a time since most of the people were sleeping. Only those who were allocated to night shifts were still up and sparring or guarding the walls.

Audrey left towards the kitchen and a few seconds later, she came back with a small plate of instant soup. “The food is still a problem of ours, so I can’t give you too much, but considering your small body, you should get by with this.” She said with a sorry look on her face while holding it out towards Elena, who still received it with a smile and devoured it heartily.

After her body converted the food into nutrition, she didn’t forget to send some into Dred’s body through their shadows, in the form of pure energy. Seeing her eating it so quickly, with a smile on her face, made Raven and Audrey happy. Krin left as he had better things to do, and told them to take care of the necessary things, which were related to Elena.

The person in question stood up from her seat and looked at the two teenage looking girls with her head tilted to the side. Why is she so cute? Was what both of them thought. Upon looking at each other, they saw a competitive look in each other’s eyes. “She is staying with me!” Raven exclaimed with an upturned face while reaching towards Elena. But before she could touch her, Audrey told her that Elena was going to stay with her and literally jumped towards her.

Of course, Elena dodged to the side, so Audrey fell head first to the ground. She also stepped back and dodged Raven’s hand, surprising her in the process. Unfortunately, Audrey was right behind her, so she stumbled in her body. Before falling backward, out of reflex, she turned into a line of shadow and landed on her feet, in front of Audrey’s face.

“Eh? What was that move? Could it be that you can use magic?” Raven immediately questioned her with a surprised face. Not thinking that it was a problem, Elena told her that she had a few tricks. Although Raven felt slightly suspicious, that much was possible. The other children also had some basic moves and some of them also knew how to cast weak fireballs and such.

A stable mind was necessary for people to use their Mana as it relied on control, which couldn’t be done without focus! Well… and that was something most children were lacking in. Depending on how much Elena knew, she could be looked at as a monster or a gifted child. It all came down to one thing. And that was how the humans viewed such a child. Envy or the hope for the future? Which one was more powerful?

While they were talking, Audrey grabbed Elena’s legs. She slowly stood up and after moving her hands towards Elena’s armpits, she raised her up. She started carrying her like a mother would her child. Sticking out her tongue, she said - “Heh- She is going to stay with me!”

Raven frowned and then turned around with a ‘humph’, and left feeling annoyed. What now… I could escape her clutches, but I’d turn too suspicious. It’s better to show more and more slowly and steadily. Elena thought while clicking her tongue.

Audrey went towards her own room, which was in the school! Only people who were above the twenty-fifth level had the privilege to stay in the school and Audrey was one such person. Along with Krin and Raven. They were a group of elites, who usually went out in the night to hunt monsters, gather experience and pick up new survivors, who could be turned into useful members in the future.

A community couldn’t stand without its legs and arms, which were none other than the members, who took care of the necessary things. Sharing work was the best thing to do, especially in such cases as in this world. Gathering food from far away marketplaces and stores were also one of Audrey’s and her group’s responsibilities.

Although she wasn’t supposed to share her room with anyone, especially not with a newcomer, she didn’t have the heart to send Elena out, and make her enter a tent, all alone. Maybe Jake will bring that decision in her place tomorrow, but unless being told, she didn’t intend to send Elena off.

Audrey’s room was on the uppermost floor of the school. Opening the door, Elena saw a cushy room, It had a single bed in it, a writing desk, and a wardrobe. Although tiny, there were a bathroom and a kitchen as well, which was a luxury in itself in this safe haven. Of course, if people were to leave, they could find hundreds of such houses, but they wouldn’t have a chance at sleeping or bathing leisurely as they could be attacked anytime.

Elena was also lucky that she wasn’t attacked when she slept. It was a mistake on her part, which she didn’t know. But surely, she will learn of it from these humans. Putting down Elena, Audrey asked her with a proud smile and her arms spread widely. “So? How do you like it? I’m the best, am I not?”

After thinking about it for a short while, Elena decided to be nice to her and answered with a yes. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to stay at such a nice place. Still… she had a slight problem. “And where do I sleep?” Furrowing her brows, she asked.

“Eh? In the bed, obviously.” Not understanding her question, she answered with a confused look on her face. But as her mind kicked in and realized her meaning, Audrey grinned with an evil smile as she added. “With me.”

I knew it! Stupid woman... though her chest is comfy. I’ll make good use of those melons while sleeping. Perfect for sleeping! Elena planned ahead, not bothering with Audrey anymore.

“Shoo~ Shoo~ Let’s go and have a bath!” Audrey waved her hands towards Elena, indicating for her to take off her clothes and enter the bathroom. Although slightly unwillingly, she still complied. Naturally, Audrey followed her towards the bathroom and using a mix of Water and Fire Magic, she filled up the bathtub with warm water. As they let their bodies into the hot water, a blissful feeling spread in their minds.

Suddenly, Audrey’s always smiling face, turned into a melancholic one as she looked at the bathing Elena. “Do you want to talk about it? I’m sure that it’s hard as a child…” She asked Elena out of nowhere, who had a black mark coiling around her body. Audrey felt curious both about her past and that black mark. She thought that Elena lost her parents and that she was hurt.

Humans weren’t idiots. Although Krin didn’t notice it as he left early and maybe Raven neither, Audrey saw through Elena. She knew that Elena wasn’t an average child. Although she was behaving like one usually, her cleverness was visible. The other kids were always running around and asking stupid things. But Elena didn’t, even if she was new. She was too calm and silent! So Audrey knew that she could ask Elena about her past, probably.

“E-Eh? What should I talk about?” Since Elen was focusing on clearing her body and the good feeling of the warm water, she didn’t realize the sudden mood switch.

Seeing her surprised face, Audrey chuckled as she answered. “I meant your past. And that mark on your body. Were you…?” She didn’t finish her words, fearing that she would tear up some wounds. Elena bit on her lips, not really knowing what to do.

Ugh… Dred should have moved towards my back and turn when I turned my body. Now I have to think of something. Argh! But I have nothing in mind! This came too suddenly… Elena was trying to think of a good reason, but nothing came to her mind. Seeing her thinking face, Audrey furrowed her brows.

“Do you have memory loss?” She asked, but Elena unconsciously shook her head sideways. Realizing her mistake, she put her head under the water. Audrey was waiting patiently. She was quite sure that things weren’t as they seemed to be.

With her nose and eyes out of the water, Elena looked at Audrey. Should I kill her? But she is much stronger than me and Dred. We have no chance. And she doesn’t seem like a bad person either. I’d feel wrong after killing her.

Although she didn’t know of this yet, her personality was always changing. Shadows were everywhere. Where were people, rocks, trees, or anything, there were shadows as well. While being among the humans, her personality was also more human-like. While being in the jungle, the law of the jungle ruled over her personality. There was one thing necessary for her to start on her own path. And that was that single attribute she didn’t understand yet. Will.

“Do I need to talk about it?” Elena asked seriously. Audrey furrowed her brows and crossed her arms in front of her chest, saying that after so much thinking, yes.

Groaning once, Elena started. “Hopefully, you won’t kill me. You would be very evil in that case…” Seeing Audrey’s raised brows, she slumped her shoulders and continued with a sigh. “Well, the truth is that I’m not a human.” Waiting for a reaction with her eyes closed, she soon realized that nothing was happening. Opening her right eye, she saw Audrey’s surprised face, but she was still calm and mostly unbothered.

“Could you continue, please?” Seeing Elena staying mute, Audrey prompted her to talk.

“Well, you see, I am a unique creature, but that’s irrelevant at the moment. What truly matters is that I’m a lump of experience and a ‘monster’ for you humans, and you probably know that as well.” At that, Audrey started laughing loudly, which startled Elena.

“What’s so funny?” She asked feeling annoyed.

After finally stopping laughing, Audrey answered. “So you were so silent and afraid of talking because you aren’t a human. Listen, to me, you look like a human. Also, not every human is good and probably not every monster is bad. Although I’ve never seen an intelligent and talking monster in these two weeks and a half, that doesn’t mean that I’d attack you on the spot.”

“Especially after talking with you a bit, I know that you aren’t a bad person. Now, this might seem sudden since we met only today evening, but I believe in my experience. I didn’t feel anything wrong while being with you. Now my other question still stands. What is that mark? Because… although I’m not sure, I get the feeling as if it would be something alive. Do you want me to inspect it closely?”

She said her last question while making a grabbing move in the air. Elena quickly covered her body as she answered. “No! Dred, please save me from this vile monster!” Dred slowly slid down from her body and took up his original form. A dog-sized panther appearing in the bathtub not only filled it up but it was also very surprising and scary…

“W-What the hell? Where did this mons- Wait.” Audrey was startled at first, but after examining the back of Dred, who was facing Elena, she calmed down. She also saw his cute ears and couldn’t help but touch them while asking. “This is… cute! He or she doesn’t bite, right?”

“He, and no. Unless you attack us, he won’t attack you. He also understands your words and is very clever. Consider him as an intelligent being, who can’t talk.” Elena explained the mystery lurking around Dred. He turned around and stood up on his front legs. His soft paws rested on the double melons as he moved forward to lick Audrey’s face.

Elena buried her face in her palms, muttering - “Even though I’ve just said that he was like an intelligent being… Dred! What are you doing?” Turning around and splashing the water out, he put his legs around Elena’s neck as if he was hugging her.

“Haha~ It’s not a problem. I had a cat before the apocalypse… I like animals, so whatever he is, I still find him cute.”

“But he isn’t just an animal! We have a strong bond as we were born together. I know and feel that he just wants to make fun of me by behaving like an animal. So please don’t believe in his stupidity!” Elena quickly explained herself, also blurting out a few things.

Dred jumped out of the bath and after making a weird face as if he was smirking… he shook his body and splashed the water all over the place. “Okay~ let’s see. Inspect!” Audrey suddenly talked.

Name: Dred

Race: Unidentifiable because of a skill

Level: 3

Threat Level: 3

Type: Physical

Estimated attack power: (15 - 25)

Audrey also told everything she saw and the difference between Dred and Elena. Upon hearing it, Elena made an unbelieving face, saying - “What the hell? My type is ‘magical’ and I have eight to nine attack power? Are you serious? You, humans, are looking down on me!”

Her prideful nature kicked in, but before she would talk more than necessary, she shut her mouth grumpily. “Stupid people…” She muttered to herself. Audrey just laughed at her, but upon remembering of her movements in the canteen, she too realized that there was truly more to Elena than what met the eye! After seeing her reactions and her playfulness, she was a hundred percent sure that Elena, not being a human wasn’t a problem.

“Alright, let’s go to sleep. Today I’ll have a long day. And maybe you as well…” Audrey said while raising her body out of the water. They were past midnight… The water slowly trickled down on her curvy body, while she pressed out the water from her hair, making Elena admire her.

“You are really beautiful!” She couldn’t help but say. Audrey smiled happily upon hearing her honest compliment. After Elena left the bath, Audrey used her Magic and dried both of them in a moment. Dred was already in the room, completely dry. Opening the door of the bathroom, they found him sitting in front of the bed, with a straight posture. Audrey turned to the left and opened her wardrobe.

After fiddling inside it for a few seconds, she pulled out a hot pant, and a belly shirt. Elena didn’t dare to imagine Audrey in that set. She felt happy that she was a girl or her mind would have been destructed. Naturally, on her body, it was still slightly big, but it would be alright. Elena’s shadow turned into undergarments and she could have turned it into pajama as well. She just let Audrey deal with it.

“And now, let’s sleep!” Audrey said with a smile as she jumped on the bed. Elena quickly followed after her, with Dred in tow. Audrey raised her brows upon seeing it, but she didn’t say anything. After chuckling loudly, she laid down and coiled her arms around Elena, who was showing her back to Audrey.

“Audrey… Please don’t tell it to anyone. Supposedly, it is bad enough that you know it… “ Elena asked her with a small whisper. Audrey caressed the top of her head while telling her that she wouldn’t do such a thing. With a pair of soft cushions behind her head and Dred’s paws on her left side, Elena fell asleep with a smile on her face. Audrey still stayed awake for a bit longer, while making a helpless face.

“*Sigh* Your life is still pitiful and sad. You have to fear other living beings because they could kill you anytime. You didn’t have anyone to rely on either, other than this little panther, just because you are from a different race. I believe that you are stronger than humans of your age, but you are still just a pitiful child in my eyes.” Sighing loudly, Audrey talked to herself, while looking at the back of Elena’s head, with a sorry look on her face and caressing her hair.

Suddenly, she noticed a pair of green eyes looking back at her seriously. It was Dred. He didn’t fall asleep either and he heard everything. Audrey believed in Elena’s words, which only made her feel even stranger. “D-Do you really understand me?” She asked curiously.

Dred nodded once, which only surprised her. After accepting the truth, Audrey chuckled while asking - “You love her a lot, right?” Seeing another nod, she smiled as she said. “Take good care of her. I’ll also help out as much as I can.”

Dred stuck out his tongue and then closed both of his eyes. At that, Audrey laughed loudly, almost waking up Elena. She found a strange pair, but she found them likable. With a smile on her face, she fell asleep, not knowing, that she just turned into the friend of someone… who will be called the Queen of Devouring!

--------

The next day, Elena was the first to wake up, but she couldn’t move. She was used as a pillow for Audrey. She coiled her arms around Elena’s upper body, restricting her arms and put Elena’s legs between hers. Dred was lying right above their heads with his limbs sprawled out. His paws were on top of Audrey’s and Elena’s heads.

“This is great!” Elena couldn’t help but cry out unhappily. Dred woke up to her voice, but Audrey was still sleeping with a smile on her face and a thin line of saliva on the right side of her mouth.

“Hey! Help me out…” She whispered in a low voice. Dred started pushing away Audrey’s arms and after some trying, he was able to free Elena. Afterward, it was child’s play to free her legs. They noticed a clock on the writing table, which was working with battery. It was only 5 AM.

Not wishing to wake Audrey up, she sat down with her legs crossed and started meditating. Dred did the same while lying down. After hours of meditation, they were happy to feel that they could control their Mana better and fill up their bodies more quickly.

Your skill has leveled up: Meditation Lv. 3

Your skill has leveled up: Mana Control Lv. 2

At that time, rubbing her eyes, yawning, Audrey sat up on the bed. “Uh- Where is my little angel? Your body was so soft. You are the perfect pillow!” As soon as she woke up, she started talking bullshit.

Elena turned her back on Audrey as she stood up from the ground and closed her eyes. Status.

Name: Elena

Race: Progenitor Shadow (Legendary)

Level: 3

EXP: 2 / 40

Class: Unselected

Specialization: Not Available Yet

Health: 125 / 125

Mana: 136 / 136

Titles: The Only One

Strength: 25

Vitality: 25

Agility: 20

Will: 25

Intelligence: 34

Wisdom: 25

Elemental Magic:

Fire Lv.0 (91%); Water Lv.0 (20%);

Wind Lv.0 (75%); Lightning Lv.0 (25%);

Nature Lv.0 (73%); Earth Lv.1 (9%);

Light Lv.0 (5%); Dark Lv.0 (54%)

Resistances:

Magical: 25

Physical: 12.5

Passive:

Stamina: 125

Precision: 100

Skills:

Inspect Lv. 2 (43%)

Mana Control Lv. 2 (1%)

Meditation Lv. 3 (1%)

Sense Lv. 1 (87%)

Racial Skills:

Devour Lv. 1 (75%)

ShadowStep Lv. 1 (48%)

Shadow Form Lv. 2 (53%)...

People could watch their statuses even if they closed their eyes. Realizing what she was doing, Audrey got curious. “W-Won’t you share it with me? I know that it’s bad to ask such things, so… so I’ll also share mine with you. Alright?” With her body stiff and a hopeful face, she questioned Elena. She was really curious about her origin and she was dying to find out.

Turning around, Elena furrowed her brows. It was really something wrong to ask as these statuses showed everything she was and she knew. “No?” Elena half asked and half answered.

“But… but this old lady is curious! Pretty please~ Trust me, I won’t tell it to anyone!” She started whining, pleading for Elena. Since it would change a lot anyway, Elena just sighed loudly and shared the upper half of her status with Audrey. She didn’t show Audrey her abilities.

Seeing Elena’s stats, her eyes opened widely. After observing it for a few minutes, she nodded once and then asked - “You don’t have a surname?” Elena shook her head sideways as an answer.

“I’ll get one some time… but I haven’t decided on one yet.” She added, which to Audrey commented on the spot.

“You could use mine… we would become sisters! Haha~” Hearing her laughter, Elena also chuckled as she answered.

“Nope~ My name will probably bring you a lot of trouble in the future. If you were to have the same name as me, I’m quite sure that you’d be sooner or later hurt. And that’s something I don’t want to happen. Also, you are behaving like a kid!”

After telling Elena that she was always a playful and friendly woman, she also told her that her hormones were back, thanks to her new, young body. Understanding it, Elena nodded when suddenly, a window appeared in front of her.

Name: Audrey Frost

Race: Human

Level: 27

EXP: 497 / 540

Class: High Mage (Unique/Very Rare)

Specialization: Not Shared

Health: 335 / 335

Mana: 600 (+30) / 600 (+30)

Titles: None

Strength: 43

Vitality: 67

Agility: 31

Will: 40

Intelligence: 150 (+5%)

Wisdom: 180 (+5%)

Although Elena had much more strength than a child of her age, she was still weaker than an adult. Audrey didn’t train her body too much, only a little bit.

This was the reason why Elena knew that she would lose miserably. Their strength wasn’t much different, but their magical powers were! Audrey could easily blast Elena into pieces at the moment. Luckily, she didn’t have to fear such things and she also believed that if push came to shove, then she could escape with a few wounds at most. She was sure that these people didn’t have the necessary skills to attack her in her shadow form.

Audrey also had bonuses on her stats, which were because of her class. She probably had some abilities as well, but Elena didn’t know of those. “Nice… how’d you get such a rare class?” Elena couldn’t help but ask her.

After making a thoughtful face, Audrey shrugged her shoulders, saying - “Well, I’m not sure. I was just training like usually when this class came up suddenly. Maybe it was because of the understanding I’ve gained at that time.”

Hearing her last sentence, Elena nodded and told her that it was because of that. “But why are you people at such low levels?” Elena asked the most important question. Audrey opened her eyes widely and made an unbelieving face.

“L-Low levels? I’ve leveled up this much in just two weeks and a half!” Hearing Audrey’s exclamation, even Elena was surprised as it was really a great accomplishment. Seeing Elena’s questioning look, Audrey continued.

“Well, you see. Our world was a peaceful one before everything turned for the worse or the better. We had machines, electronics. There were wars and such, but most of them happened in the shadows in the form of politics. Nothing major which threatened our lives. And then suddenly windows started appearing, saying that the world will change in the following day. Most of the people didn’t believe in it, but I did… Windows don’t just appear randomly...”

“So I went to the stores, packed up many things and since I liked collecting weapons of the old, I had a few swords at home as well. When the catastrophe happened, the monsters attacked us. Many people died and there were lots of blood, but I watched many horror movies and I didn’t have a weak stomach either. So… I survived. When I learned that there was Magic, I even turned excited. Raven hates when I’m saying this, but honestly, this new world isn’t that bad. It’s quite interesting!” Hearing her explanation, Elena nodded, and then couldn’t help but ask.

“D-Did you have a… you know… family?” She asked fearfully, not knowing if she was about to hurt her. Seeing her worrying look, Audrey smiled as she put her hand on Elena’s head. After ruffling her silky black hair, she answered.

“No. You know… I was only fourteen years old when a damned pervert wanted to abuse me… If not for a police passing by, then I’d have been…” Audrey shut her eyes as a shudder ran through her back. “Anyway, my parents died when I was twelve and I mostly turned into an unuseful person. All I did was work and play games at home and such. A chill broke out on my back whenever a guy came near me. Wait, why am I babbling? You don’t even know what I’m talking about. Haha~”

Seeing her laughing, Elena felt better, but she still apologized. “Uhm… I’m sorry for making you remember such things. And I do know what you were talking about… There can be only one of my race. I had numerous ancestors and I have a collection of their most important memories and life experiences in my head. That’s their inheritance for the future generation, which in this case is none other than me.”

Hearing Elena’s latter words, Audrey felt surprised. “So, you actually do have parents!?”

Shaking her head sideways, Elena answered. “No… Like I said, there can be only one of us. I was born of pure Mana in an egg, along with Dred. There aren’t any more Progenitor Shadows. You should know that I’ll probably turn much stronger than you humans. So if you want to kill me, then do it now~” Although Elena said it playfully, but Audrey still frowned as she slapped the back of Elena’s head.

“Don’t talk about stupid things. I won’t hurt you unless you betray or attack me and I won’t let the other humans do so either. Now let’s go or we won’t have a chance at getting our hands on some food.”

Nodding once, both of them changed their clothes. Seeing Dred turn into clothes on Elena’s body, made Audrey realize that Elena wasn’t in need of her clothes. Why did she accept my clothes in that case? Hehe~ Surely, she wanted to wear her big sister’s clothes! Audrey started having delusional thoughts.

Not bothering with the perverted old hag, Elena went past her and opened the door. Audrey quickly rushed after her and caught her hand. Walking hand in hand, Elena had only one thing in mind.

It is time for some action!