Taking the first steps

Treading through the alleyways, the group found a shady, old-looking, wooden door. Unlike the other parts of the city, there were no stone pathways here. The ground was dirty and filled with trash. Rats were running back and forth from time to time and the disgusting smell made people think twice about staying here for even one more second.

But there were still people who lived in these parts of the city. The people who didn’t wish to live in the dangerous forests and didn’t want to be controlled by the law. Although killing in the city was against the law, as long as the guards didn’t notice it, anyone could be killed. There were people who didn’t have a big family or were living alone. Gangs blackmailed those people. Since no one wanted to die and were afraid of reporting these gangs, they could move around unrestricted.

Naturally, the guards weren’t idiots. As the size of these shady groups grew, they too caught wind of their infamous behavior. But in fact, they didn’t make a move and purge these bands. Elena knew this. She knew that this had only one meaning. There was an influential person leading the gangs, who bribed the guards.

Her current goal was to find this mysterious leader and take his place. She didn’t want to control these people, but the leader must be truly powerful to control so many people. If she could kill that person, she could get stronger in a much shorter time. The city being cleared of the trash would be nothing but a side effect. In the best case scenario, she would be rewarded for it in the future.

At least, that was what she was hoping for. But to get there, she had to get into the gang. Using her Sense, she found a few people behind the door. The problem was that she had no way to gauge their powers. “I’ll go in,” Dred whispered in a low voice, turning into his Shadow Form. With his stealth abilities, he easily got through the door, without anyone noticing.

The interior was similar to a pub, except for the old wooden chairs and tables. The tidiness of the room was definitely not the best point of the place either. Inspecting a few people, Dred noticed that there wasn’t a big difference of power among the members.

Name: Frank

Race: Human

Level: 142

Threat Level: 5

Class: Brawler

Allegiance: Blue Thorns

Leaving the building, “Their threat levels are five, only two of them being above the hundred and the fortieth level, with threat levels of five,” Dred said. Thanks to the high level of his inspect skill, he was able to see the guy’s class. Meanwhile, Blue Thorns was the name of the group.

“Hmm~ A frontal attack definitely wouldn’t work. We will have to get one of those two. Once I can transform into their looks and gain their memories, I might find out everything!” Elena whispered with hopeful eyes, clenching her fists.

“Why don’t you try to use Cosmological Constant? It would be easier,” Audrey remarked, raising a brow.

“Huh? How would it be easier? I can’t control it as well as you… Also, if I were to simply turn into our target’s looks, we would be found out. I have to kill him and take his place, not to mention that I can’t steal his memories if he is alive,” Elena answered, talking a bit louder than necessary. Hearing hurried steps nearing the doors, they quickly turned into their Shadow Forms and fled.

Two thugs swung open the door and looked around. After using their senses without any results, they went back to the shady pub, shrugging their shoulders.

Stepping on the main street, Elena said, “We should get some weapons. Any ideas? I could try smithing, but we not only lack materials but even my skills are mediocre. I need more experience.”

“Don’t worry about it. You can always try. But there is a problem. I don’t think that Veranio would buy the monster pelts for the second time. He has to sell the ones we sold him yesterday. So earning money might be harder than before for the time being. We should get by with what we have for now,” Audrey remarked upon hearing her words.

Furrowing her brows, Elena put her hand on her chin as she muttered, “You’re right, though we can still sell the monster parts. Let’s go and earn some money!” They left the city and spent a few hours in the forest, hunting monsters. They gained experience and strength at the same time. The days were the same as on Kriton. Twenty-four hours long.

Going back to the city, they looked up at the brightly shining sun. It was only 2:00 p.m. After selling everything they’ve got, they earned another two gold coins. It was nowhere near the amount they earned yesterday, but it was still a lot, their current levels considered.

But thanks to working together and fighting as a team, they managed to hunt much stronger monsters, which were worth more. It happened by chance that they came across Derrel, who was following a woman, who looked to be the age of thirty.

“Hello,” he said, waving his hand. The woman stopped and followed Derrel’s sight. “Who are they? Do you know them?” she asked, raising a brow.

“Hi. We don’t really know each other, but we did meet a few times,” Elena replied before Derrel could, stopping in front of them. After introducing themselves, they asked for the woman’s name.

“I’m called Sal Horner. This boy is helping me with my matters. You could join if you want to,” she said, offering a job.

“It depends. What should we do and what do we get?” Elena questioned her.

“I lost my dog! I was looking for hunters with tracking ability. If you have anything of the sort, then you are welcome to join the search. The one who finds it will earn one silver coin as a reward” she explained, adding with a worried face. “You know, I really need help with this. My daughter has got it for her birthday. If I don’t find him now, then she will cry for days!”

After making a thoughtful face, Elena said, “I’m sorry but I don’t wish to leave Derrel with an empty stomach. This must be very important to him.”

Derrel's brows twitched upon hearing her words. Feeling his pride hurt once again, he exclaimed with a proud face, “Hah! As if you could find that dog earlier than me.”

Hearing his words, “What? Do you want to sleep outside?” Elena asked with a provocative face. A feeling of foreboding welled up in his heart, but he believed that he shouldn’t back away at such a moment. Gulping loudly, he confirmed Elena’s doubts.

“Oh? In that case, we will help. But I need information or smithing material, instead of money,” Elena replied.

“Great! But why the smithing material? Could it be that you can smith? At such a young age?” Sal questioned her. It was a win for her. There would be a boy and a whole group looking for the dog, while she would have to pay only for one person.

“I can’t say that I am good at it, but yes, I have the basics down,” Elena replied, shaking her head.

“That’s still a great performance! If you can control three elements, then you could easily get into a school,” she remarked, patting Elena’s shoulder.

Hahaha, why the hell would I go to a school? We have to create our own spells and I know every element there is. The most I could do there is devour people, but I don’t have to join to do that. Hm~ I might visit that place and kill a few people in it. Alright, one more thing added to my to-do list, she thought as an evil smile formed on her face.

“Do you have anything that your dog touched?” Audrey asked, seeing that Elena was lost in her thoughts.

“Yes. I thought that hunters would need it. This is a bone toy of his. He is about fifty centimeters tall and has dark brown fur. I’m sure that you can find him,” Sal mentioned the details, holding a bone in front of Elena. Taking it, Dred rushed up from Elena’s shadow and took the shape of a black light on her hand.

Sniffing the bone, he went back to Elena’s shadow. “You can have this. Wait in Woodland Hotel. That’s where we reside for the time being,” she said, giving back the bone. Turning around, she threw her long, black hair over her shoulders. All four of them disappeared in a flash. Knowing that he couldn’t waste his time, Derrel too got to work.

But he soon realized his problem. He was in a city and tracking didn’t mean that he could track anything and anywhere. He had to find tracks to do so… Feeling lost, he started asking around. Meanwhile…

“Can you smell it?” Elena asked, stopping at a corner.

Dred turned towards her saying, “It’s very hard since there are too many odors, but I do. Let me focus on it.”

Thanks to his guidance, they found the dog in ten minutes. He looked exactly the same as the woman described. Jake had the luck to throw the dog over his shoulder and carry him back to his owner. Opening the door to Woodland Inn, they found Sal sitting at a table, drinking and chatting with a few guys of her age.

Noticing her dog on Jake’s shoulder, she sprung up from her seat with a dog collar in hand. As she put it around his neck, Jake put him on the ground. “Thank you for helping me out! And you were so quick! So do you need information?” She asked, trying to get off without paying.

Seeing her behavior, Elena changed her mind and lied. “In the meantime, I learned about what I wanted, so no. But you see, we are a little short on money and we haven’t been here for long. What about five silver coins? We were really quick, you know?” she asked with a bright smile.

“Ah, fine. You are right. Here it is,” Sal said as she held out the money, her brows twitching.

“I thank you for the business,” Elena replied, pulling out her gold filled pouch. Showing it to Sal, she put away the coins. It would be enough for an additional night. It was quite a lot of money, but Sal didn’t dare to refuse. She felt that it would cause more trouble than good if she was to deny Elena.

“Five silvers for finding a dog? This is daylight robbery,” someone whispered, hearing their conversation. Elena almost laughed upon hearing those words. Turning around to leave, she was met with Derrel, who came rushing in.

“Haah- did you really find him?” he asked, panting. The last person he asked, told him that a group was carrying a similar dog. He ran back to check if the guy’s words were true and was shocked to see the truth.

Elena’s lips turned into a grin for the split of a second. Controlling her emotions and her face, she poked Derrel’s face to catch his attention. “I told you that you shouldn’t do it. But I don’t want to see you on the streets because of your pride. It’s nice to have some backbone,” she said with a smile, holding the money towards him.

What will you do now? You will feel rage, right? Am I being terrible to you? Well, I surely am. But you changed your life for the worse when you turned so friendly with us. Show me what you have. Will you be my servant or just another corpse? She thought with an unmoving face.

Clenching his fists, Derrel turned around and went towards the streets. “I’ll find a work and sleep here. I don’t need your help,” he said with a stubborn face.

“Okay~ Just don’t race with us,” Audrey chimed in, adding fuel to the fire. She still held a grudge against him, for such a childish thing as looking between her legs.

His body twitched as he stepped forward. You have two days left. Count your blessings, Elena thought, leaving the Inn. They went towards the training grounds they had heard about not long ago. Since people couldn’t walk around with huge stones and logs to train their bodies, there were training grounds for this reason. All they had to do was pay some money and work hard.

The training ground was only a few minutes walk away from the Inn. There were three meters tall and thirty centimeters thick walls surrounding it. Two muscular guys were standing in the gate, but Elena sensed another two behind it. They had stronger Magical Presences, meaning that they were Mage types.

“Welcome. Do you wish to enter?” The bald headed one on the left asked in a polite tone.

“Yes, but we are new here. How much does it cost?” Elena asked, stopping in front of them.

“Please enter first, Miss. We have a receptionist for this exact reason,” he said with a kind smile.

“Oh, okay,” she muttered in a low voice. Then why the hell did you even stop me to ask such a stupid question? Of course, I came here to enter… What did you think? Idiot monkeys, she thought, feeling annoyed by the stupid conversation she just had.

As they closed the doors behind them, they were met with a ten square meter room. The walls were made of some kind of metal. “Do you want to know why they stopped you?” Jake asked, raising a brow.

Turning around, Elena looked at him with inquiring eyes “Do tell me.”

“You should be more self-conscious…” he said with a chuckle. Understanding his meaning, she shook her head and made her way towards the reception booth on their right.

“Good afternoon. Can I ask about the prices?” she asked the woman behind the reception booth.

“Welcome to the training grounds. Our service is ten bronze coins per person per hour. If you wish to have a coach too, then it will be fifty bronze coins per person per hour. I’d advise the latter since they know the best how to not overwork your body and gain a lot of strength at the same time. It is important to train every part of your body, you know?” She explained everything politely, advertising their company at the same time.

“Thanks, but the simple ones are enough. We need four hours for the four of us,” she said, shaking her head.

“Alright,” the receptionist said. After counting the price, she gave Elena four black wristbands.

“Put them on your wrists and then come here. An employee on the other side will use a spell on it and the wristband will turn completely white in four hours. Make sure to arrive here before that happens, else there will be a fine for breaking the regulations,” the woman explained how it worked. Doing as told, they left the room and opened the doors on the other side. It was quite funny to see a panther with a wristband…

They were met with a multitude of environments. There was a forest covered part, a sand covered part, and a lake covered part and a stone covered part. On their right was a smaller building, which looked like a storage house. In front of it was a roofed terrace, with chairs and tables. A few people were sitting there, drinking cold drinks in the hot weather and chatting. Some of them were like gorillas, while others had leaner bodies.

Before any of the guys could come over, a fit looking, well-toned blondie came over. Her fit body only added to her charm, leaving many men with bulges in their pants. “Welcome! My name is Beatrice. Let me see… Oh, you have black wristbands. You know, it might be better to don’t mind the money and ask for a professional’s help,” she said with a kind face. She truly didn’t have any ulterior motives in mind surprisingly.

Seeing them staying silent, she sighed before getting to the important things. “I’ve never seen you here, so I will suppose that you are new to this. We have a few tools, which have a spell inscribed into them. This is thanks to the owner of this place. Come with me and I’ll hand over your tools. You can decide on the kind of exercise for yourself afterward.”

“Thanks,” they said at the same time, following in her steps.

“Beatrice! You fished nice ones! Why would you take them away? You are always doing this!”

“Yeah! You are so cruel!”

A few of the guys shouted after her. Beatrice raised her hand and showed her middle finger as she said, “They are free runners.”

“Oh, then I might just help them out. I was bored anyway” a guy with bulging muscles said with a smirk on his face.

Beatrice frowned upon hearing his words. “No. This place is fair. If you help them while they have black wristbands, then why would anyone pay fifty bronze coins per hour? Sit back on your ass,” she shouted at him. Standing there with a stupid face, scratching his head, the muscular guy sighed before sitting down.

“Could we move already? Please don’t waste our time with idiots,” Audrey remarked with an annoyed face, her hands on her hips.

“I apologize for the inconvenience,” Beatrice said, bowing slightly. As she opened the storage house, a long row of circular metal bands appeared in front of them. There was a door on the left and on the right.

“The left is the dressing room for women, the right is for men. Please, put these on your wrists, ankles and wear this shirt,” she explained, pointing at a box, filled with nicely folded, simple-looking, white T-shirts. Entering the dressing room, they wore the outfits as Beatrice said. They turned their shadows into tight-fitting, leather clothing.

As they left the dressing room, Beatrice explained the remaining. “Now. These wristbands and your T-shirt too have a gravity spell inscribed onto them. The more Mana you pour into them, the stronger the gravity will become.” Looking at Dred, who was wearing a T-shirt, her brows twitched. “Can this panther use these things? You might be just wasting money…” she remarked with a stiff face.

“Don’t worry about it. Use that Magic and let’s go,” Elena said, her face unbothered. Sighing loudly, Beatrice used a strange spell on their wristbands. Looking at them with a smile on her face, “Alright. Go and work hard” Beatrice said.

There were many people jogging, doing push-ups and sit-ups. Some were sparring with each other and some were doing strange exercises. But many of them had a coach beside them. This place was much more crowded and active in the morning. In fact, the mayor was the owner of this place.

At this kind of place, without any technology, knowing Gravity Magic was a big deal. Following in Elena’s steps, the group started jogging on the sand covered part, which made running harder and more tiring. After jogging, they swam in the water covered part, and fought on the stone covered part.

Under the weight of the metal bands, they were tired out in just two hours. Considering that they used their Mana to train their agility at the same time, a few of the coaches were left with wide opened mouth. They should have run out of Mana long ago at their current levels. But thanks to Cosmological Constant, they didn’t have to care about such a thing.

But these four came here with a reason. For one, Audrey was trying to decipher the inscribed spell in the tools to increase her expertise with Gravity Magic. Secondly, they came to steal… Although no one noticed it, they always ran close to other people and their shadows were a little longer than they were supposed to.

Every time they passed a person and their shadows touched, these four stole a little bit of the person’s energy. Not their DNA as they would have to attack the person for that. They stole the pure energy to keep up their training through the hours. Thanks to this, many people were getting tired more and more quickly than usual. The coaches thought that their training load was too much.

---

They were jogging once again and their time was running out. About nine-tenths of their wristbands were white. Although he felt tired, Jake was occupied with something else than training. He was busy looking at Audrey’s chest. The T-shirts coiled tightly around their bodies when they poured Mana into them pulled them downward, making running much harder.

Seeing her boggling breasts, he couldn’t help but gulp loudly every now and then, thinking, I’ll have those in the future… Noticing his burning gaze, both Elena and Audrey just chuckled at his reaction.

“How come you don’t get angry now? You were so enraged when Derrel saw your panties. What are you, a kid?” Elena whispered to Audrey, teasing her so that Jake wouldn’t hear them.

Blushing a little, she replied, “You are such a bastard. Derrel was an outsider and he was a pervert. He checked us out all the time. Jake is a part of our little group and…”

“And what?” Elena asked with a smirk on her face, teasing Audrey.

“Ah! Damn you! I’m not going to say anything to you!” she shouted this time, catching Jake’s attention.

“About what?” he asked raising a brow. Looking at him from the corners of her eyes, Audrey stuck out her tongue and stayed silent. “Huh?” Jake gave out a stupid sound, feeling surprised by her reaction.

Falling into melancholy, Audrey started thinking, unconsciously puffing out her cheeks. How could I talk about these kinds of things? I just like his looks and we have the same goal too. I also like that he has his eyes on me and that he doesn’t look at you. I don’t think that many men would be able to do that… I also like his playful side, though I can’t say that I have serious feelings for him. Maybe in the future…

“Ah, let’s go. Our time is up and the sun is going down. We should train our minds as well. Did you get to anything?” Elena notified them, questioning Audrey at the same time.

“Yeah. I think that if we were to come here a few more times, I could recreate this inscription,” she said with a nod of her head.

Running back to the storage room, they saw Beatrice walking up to them. “You’ve had a nice round there. I’m honestly surprised by your performance and your panther is really clever…” she praised them with a smile on her face.

“Thanks. We will visit this place tomorrow as well,” Elena replied with a similar expression. Entering the dressing rooms, they took off their clothes and used Water Magic to clean their bodies. Coming out they gave back the tools.

“You had a shower this quickly?” Beatrice couldn’t help but question them, not feeling any smell.

“There was a shower!? Haha, we used Water Magic,” Jake exclaimed, laughing loudly.

“You are a strange bunch… Ah! But I meant it in a good way,” Beatrice muttered, quickly correcting herself. Waving it off, they said goodbye and left the place.

Yawning loudly, Elena stretched her body. “Haah~ Let’s look how much strength I’ve gained. Strength and Agility!”

Strength: 273 843

Agility: 262 139

Whistling loudly, she said, “Now, that’s something. It’s truly much better at these levels. The monsters drop Rune of Biotic Enhance quite often. Well, this is still just the beginning.”

Looking at a random person in front of her, I’ll devour you all, she thought. Placing her chin on Elena’s shoulder, Audrey said, “Hmm. You have quite a bit more than me. But I’m still beating you when it comes to Magic!”

“Haha, dream on! I can rob you anytime because I’m a bastard. Remember?” She replied in a playful tone. Turning to look at the three of them, she added with a serious face. “I thank you for following me around. It would be boring alone.”

“Aww~ you are so cute. Let me cuddle you,” Audrey said, hugging Elena and rubbing her face on her chest.

“Oh, let us join,” Jake said, stopping beside them. When he was about to succeed, Dred bit into his shirt from behind and pulled him back. “You are such a party killer,” Jake mumbled with a pouting face. Audrey looked at him with a smile. Winking, she sent him a kiss. “I’ll have sweet dreams tonight. Thanks!” he exclaimed with a bright smile.

“Shameless perverts. Flirting in front of me…” Elena remarked, shaking her head. But in fact, she liked to watch them. “Let’s go back to Woodland for now” she added.

Following her, they entered the Inn ten minutes later and went straight back to their rooms. While sitting in the bath, washing Elena’s back, Audrey said, “I have an idea for a new spell. To be exact, I’d just steal an idea, but my homeworld is dead either way. You know, even if I train my body, I’d be at a huge disadvantage against any real physical type.”

“So I thought of a spell which would push away my opponents. I could either use Wind Magic or pure Mana for it. But Wind Magic would work only for a limited time. What do you think?”

Making a thoughtful face, Elena replied, “It sounds good. But why don’t you use Cosmological Constant? That would make your spell much stronger and harder to defend against. This is a really good one!” she exclaimed, as she started realizing the implications and the possible uses of this spell.

“Great. Tomorrow I’ll test it on you,” Audrey said with a smile, biting Elena’s shoulder.

“Ah! Damn you, you dog!” she shouted, rubbing her aching shoulder. “It’s no wonder that your type tends to have vampiric habits…” she added.

“Haha, let’s go and meditate,” Audrey said with a chuckle, standing up in the bathtub. Sitting down on the bed, facing each other, they shut out the world and focused on their thoughts. Dred was training Cosmological Constant all this time.

“Audrey, wait! Before you get into it… I’ve just realized something about your spell. If you use Mana, then it will be useless. And the wind won’t be useful in the future either. I’d advise you to try going along the line of Mana splitting,” Elena exclaimed, stopping Audrey.

“Oh! I’ve just remembered something! This… this leads to numerous things! The Cosmological Constant is the basis of everything!” She exclaimed in realization. Her mouth like a gun kept spitting out words one after the other. “Thanks to our technology, we knew that everything was made up of atoms.”

“If I think about it, it is like a bigger form of Mana. When we hide our aura and split the Mana, it always produces a smaller explosion. This leads me to the thought of explosion. If I were to split a few billion of Mana particles, it could lead to an explosion. It could work as a pushing skill, just like I thought.”

“And the best is… that I can control the size of destruction!” She exclaimed. Just as she finished, windows appeared in front all three of them. This was because everyone understood her implications.

You have discovered a new element: Eon!

Many fail to understand that Mana itself is an element. But be careful when using it to attack, as it is very dangerous. Once you start splitting Mana in large quantities, it could very well lead to the devastation of a whole planet. Not advised to use without a high level of Mana control. The level of this element equals Mana Control.

“Fancy! Nice job there. Now I’ve got to improve my Shadow Bacterias. I realized that might be useful for attacking the mind,” Elena said in an excited voice.

“Do you mean mind control?” Audrey asked to make sure.

“Yes. Now that I think about it, we should put some workload on Jake too. There is Void, Gravity. Dred has to learn his Poison Magic. I have to learn more about Shadow Bacteria, while you have those two. He could focus on Void and give us his knowledge later,” Elena replied, prompting Audrey to go.

“Why me?” she asked with an unhappy face.

“Visit him as you are~ Haha,” Elena remarked, laughing loudly as she ran her eyes down on Audrey’s naked body. Showing her middle finger, she turned her shadows into clothes and visited Jake. As Audrey closed the door, Dred spoke. “Why are you shipping them so much?”

After making a thoughtful face, “Hmm~ It’s fun to tease them and they could be a nice couple,” she said. Clapping her hands, she added, “What about your body?”

“Just don’t overdo it. To your question, I still don’t get it. Why can I turn into a bear and a wyvern and not a human? Well, I don’t want that form, it’s just that it is weird. Even after devouring a few humans back on Kriton, I couldn’t transform into a humanoid shape. It might be some kind of restriction from the World System. I estimate that I need to reach the sixtieth level of Cosmological Constant before I can even attempt to take up different shapes. It’s still nineteen levels away…” he replied.

Scratching the top of his head, Elena said, “Don’t worry about it. You need a humanoid body only to move around easier in the city. If monsters are allowed, then you don’t even have to care about it. OH! Something came to mind! Tonight is so productive~”

Turning into her Demon form, long horns grew out on her forehead and black scales covered her body. Since this was a human city, she kept her cat tail and ears hidden, along with her scales. But there was no outsider in the room, so she could take any shapes. “Cut my wrist. Your claw is sharp enough,” she said, holding her arm towards Dred. Although he wasn’t happy about it, he did as told.

“It’s good that your Poison has no effect on me. It’s good to be born together,” she said with a wink. Her blood spilled out and fell onto the ground. She drew two triangles one of them standing upside down, right on top of the other. Seeing the wound closing on her wrist, she clenched her upper arm one last time, to push out a little more blood.

After drawing a circle around the triangles, she poured her Mana into it. “Being of the darkness, sucker of blood. I summon you to take over my Shadow Bacterias and devour my enemies’ minds!” As she finished her chanting, the circle lit up with a red light and took the shape of a patch of liquid on the ground. It turned black in the next few seconds and shot towards Elena’s chest. Inspect, Elena thought before it entered her body and melded with her.

Name: Ekilsta

Race: Shadow Slime

“Oh? Do you want to use a summoned demon to control your Shadow Bacterias? It’s a good idea,” Dred said, his voice conveying his surprise.

“I imagined Ekilsta as a demon that can’t talk and follows my commands till death. He is like a parasite. Sometimes I question why it’s called Summoning Magic. We don’t summon creatures but create them,” she said, shaking her head.

“Although we use our blood, it is just a catalyst. We don’t create life ourselves, so I think that must be the reason behind its name,” Dred replied. Seeing the door open, both of them turned silent. Naturally, it was Audrey. After coming back and seeing Elena’s current looks, Audrey questioned her.

Sitting down on the bed, they meditated through the whole night. With more wisdom, intelligence, and vitality they had to sleep less. This was because their metabolism was better and meditation worked as a replacement for sleep.

The next morning, Elena stood up from the bed and walked towards the window. Opening it, the warm wind blew on her face, bringing in the fresh air and a feeling of life into the room. The sun radiated a bright light, filling the room with it. “Sometimes I believe that the meaning of your name matches you. Miss Sunny. Haha,” Audrey said with a chuckle, joking with her.

Elena closed her eyes and controlled her Mana. It rushed through her unmoving body like an ocean. Her muscles flexed and constricted as she clenched her fists. “This is awesome, no matter how many times I feel it,” she said, turning around to look at her friend with a smile. Status.

Name: Elena

Race: Progenitor Shadow (Legendary)

Level: 120

EXP: 4336 / 11 400

Class: ShadowMoor (Exclusive)

Specialization: Devourer

Health: 1 292 055 / 1 292 055

Mana: Cosmological Constant

Titles: The Only One; Pathfinder; Blood Drinker

Strength: 273 843

Vitality: 258 411

Agility: 262 139

Will: 78

Intelligence: 272 312

Wisdom: 275 999

Elemental Magic:

Fire Lv.64 (21%); Water Lv.67 (33%);

Wind Lv.66 (54%); Lightning Lv.65 (82%);

Nature Lv.66 (69%); Earth Lv.68 (14%);

Light Lv.65 (57%); Dark Lv.71 (61%);

Cosmological Constant: Lv.38 (43%)

Void Lv. 12 (31%); Eon Lv. 56 (35%)

Resistances:

Magical: 275 999

Physical: 137 999.5

Passive:

Stamina: 1 292 055

Precision: 1 310 695

Skills/Spells:

Inspect Lv. 80 (81%)

Mana Control Lv.56 (35%)

Meditation Lv. 84 (11%)

Sense Lv. 70 (31%)

Stealth: Lv. 69 (34%)

Necromancy Lv. 32 (41%)

Gravity Lv. 36 (44%)

Racial Skills:

Devour Lv. 56 (32%) (+Active Skill)

Passive Skills:

Ambush Lv.25 (43%)

Demon Lv. 6 (23%)

Shadow Bacteria Lv. 4 (8%)

She hid Shadow Form and Shadow Step from her table since both of them were at the maximum level. There was no need to look at something she knew. Once the other skills, such as Inspect reached the maximum level, she would hide them.

Nodding her head upon seeing her stats, she walked towards the door as Dred turned into her shadow and crept up on her body, taking the shape of clothes. Her green eyes shone with a strange glint. Anyone seeing her at the moment would be freaked out. It escaped her attention that her Will increased by another two, reaching eighty.

It was a very high number. There were very few people who could even attempt to control her or affect her thinking. At her age, such a number was more than a miracle. But it was no wonder, as she was a monster and a legendary one at that. She could never reach the top if she was a simple-minded human.

After eating their breakfast, they spent one hour in the forest and then sold their earnings for three gold coins. Thanks to their current strength, it was much easier to get by in the dangerous forest. Entering the training grounds, they spent two hours there and then trained their minds for one hour.

It was only half past eleven. They made their way towards the alleyway. Audrey waited on the main street, in case their target was to escape. Elena and Dred turned into their Shadow Forms and snuck into the shady pub. Entering Frank’s shadow, who was the lowest ranked boss of the gang, they stayed silent and waited patiently.

Last time they came here, Elena placed her shadow bacterias into the shadow of a few gang members. They provided her with information about Frank. He had a habit of leaving the building at lunchtime and picking up a few prostitutes before eating. In these two days, he went alone every time.

The problem was that this time he didn’t… He had a good time with a guy he was chatting with, so he invited him, saying that he would pay his round. Of course, the guy accepted. Elena planned to attack with Dred, but her plans had to be adjusted.

“Who will you pick, boss? Aliz is really hot. I’m always picking her, though she is a little pricey…” the guy said as they turned on a corner.

Seeing that their focus was on low, Dred jumped up and swiped his paw across Frank’s back. Thanks to the effect of Ambush, they successfully took in their first strike. Frank flew through the air, crashing into a wall in front of him. The guy beside him was frozen unmoving in his surprise. Elena appeared behind him and slit his throat with her dagger.

His blood spilled on her hand, exciting her. Using her other hand, she thrust it through his back and grabbed his heart. “Be a good boy,” she whispered into his ears, crushing his heart. Her shadow was connected with Frank’s all this time, along with Dred’s. They were stealing his strength continuously.

Time to test you, Elena thought, licking her dagger with a euphoric face. “Your blood is dirty but delicious,” she said, rushing towards him. As Dred’s poison spread through his body, Frank was getting weaker and weaker, not to mention Devour.

Elena and Dred jumped towards Frank. He stood up with great effort and coughed a mouthful of blood. Holding his arms in a defensive position, he received Elena’s kick towards his head. But thanks to Elena’s training, her legs were much stronger than what Frank expected, not to mention his weakened state. His arms gave out a cracking sound as he slid backward on the ground.

Using Shadowstep, Dred appeared behind him and bit into the back of his head, tearing out his brain. Elena devoured Frank’s body, accessing his DNA. Her bones cracked, her chest fell, and her face changed as she transformed into Frank’s looks in a few minutes. Looking down at her hands, she clenched her fists.

“Hmm- It’s not quite as I imagined it. This body structure is very much different compared to mine. It’s more massive and less flexible. I am not as strong as him either. I guess I’ll have to go for intimidation if anything comes up. And this part… is strange,” she said with Frank’s masculine voice, grabbing her crotch.

“For some reason, I feel unhappy that you grabbed it,” Dred remarked, sitting down in front of Elena.

“I won’t do it again, believe me. This is gross and this body is dirty! Ugh, I’ll be sure to shape shift as rarely as possible,” she said with a disgusted face, frowning. Using Water Magic, she cleaned her body. “He should have had baths more often,” she couldn’t help but complain for the second time.

“How lucky I am. This guy knew quite a lot. There are quite a lot of low ranked bosses like Frank through the city. We have seen only a little part of it, to begin with… The city is divided into nine territories, controlled by nine mid-ranked bosses and unsurprisingly there are three leaders, controlling three territories each.”

“Those three leaders are controlling the illegal business in the city. But this Frank had heard of a rumor saying that there was a Main Leader, who was above those three. The mid-ranked boss of this territory is called Clementine and she is the wife of a rich merchant. Her husband has a store at the center part of the city where only nobles have the money to buy anything,” Elena explained to Dred her findings.

Gulping down the last slices of meat from the boy who was following Frank, he licked his blood covered mouth as he said, “Okay. I suppose you want to meet this Clementine and steal her DNA too.”

Nodding her head, “Yes. But I need a reason to do that,” she replied. Making a thoughtful face, she added, “I wonder who is the true leader of this gang. Either way, I’ll use them to beat the mayor and have some fun in the city. The only problem is that these mid-ranked leaders are at about the hundred and eightieth level. Go back to Audrey and tell them to wait-”

“No. I’ll follow you. We will go back together,” Dred interrupted her, refusing to leave.

“As you wish,” she said with a smile. Dred turned into her shadow as she went back to the pub with Frank’s looks.

----

“Oh, boss. How come you are already back? Were the girls too good?” The gangsters asked with cheeky smiles on their faces, annoying Elena.

“No, we were ambushed on our way there. I left to take a piss and when I came back, I found only a few drops of Mitchell’s blood on the ground and a letter,” she said, throwing the letter she wrote towards the people.

“This is just the beginning. There will be more,” one of them read aloud, making everyone restless.

“We should be careful. If the person was strong enough to kill Mitchell without any sound while the boss was away, this person must be quite strong. Do you have any plans?” the same gangster with short, brown hair and freckles on his face asked.

“I should meet with Clementine at some time. Just make sure to stay in groups of two to five until then. I’ll give further instructions in the future. I’ll take my leave now and try to find some clues,” Elena said with a serious face.

“Be careful boss! I’m sure that this little shit can’t kill you,” they shouted after her as she turned around to leave the pub.

“Haha, of course! Otherwise, he or she would have attacked me instead of Mitchell,” she chuckled, flexing her arms. Or Frank’s arms to be exact… After closing the doors, she went back to Audrey and Jake. By the time she reached them, she was back to her original body. She used Ekilsta to store the DNA, so she could turn into Frank any time.

“Are you done?” Jake asked upon seeing her. Nodding her head, she went towards Woodland Inn.

“You know, there is something I’d like to ask you,” she looked at Jake with a serious look on her face.

“Please, do tell me,” he smiled back.

“To be honest, you won’t be happy about this, but everyone will have their work to do. Yours is to go the Mayor and make him hire you as a guard. As I’ve heard it from the gang members, thanks to my bacterias, the guards have to work six hours a day and the rest of the day is free. This is because there are many of them… You won’t have a high salary, but that doesn’t matter. You can come and sleep at Woodland Inn, just like up till now.”

“I need you to get higher up on the ladder. I’ll use my bacterias to gather information about the system. After you have your shift decided, tell us about it and we will adjust our time at the Training Grounds to your free-time. Oh! I almost forgot the most important. You can have your sweet time with Audrey for the rest of the day,” Elena explained with a serious face, not leaving out some teasing.

“Okay, that’s fine by me,” he replied with a smile, shrugging off Elena’s teasing. Seeing that this time Audrey too had a plain look on her face, she couldn’t help but remark on them. “You are no fun…”

They went back to Woodland Inn and spent the rest of the day with chatting about their pasts. After having dinner, Audrey and Elena entered their room, followed by Dred. “Why won’t you let me in? I won’t bite, I swear,” Jake begged with a sad face.

“Hahaha, you fox. You won’t get yourself beyond this door. But I’ll tell you something else, just so that you will have nice dreams. I plan to have some ‘fun’ with Audrey. But only girls are allowed,” Elena whispered into his ears and then quickly closed the door.

Jake stood there, frozen in place. Gulping loudly, he jumped at the door, hitting it. “Hey! But what about Dred! He isn’t a girl!” he shouted, catching the attention of a few people. Seeing the doors opening and a few heads sticking out, he quickly apologized and ran back to his room.

----

Elena jumped onto the bed and laid down on it. Pulling up her legs, the room resounded with her hearty laughter. “Hahaha, his expression was priceless. Those wide opened eyes and mouth, mixed with his frozen expression. It’s good to have you, Audrey. I can always tease him.”

Pouting, Audrey crossed her arms in front of her chest as she looked at Elena. “You are such a bully. I’m sure that he will have a bone-” realizing what she was about to say, she closed her red lips and stayed silent.

“Then why don’t you go and help him out? Haha,” Elena chuckled, looking into her eyes.

Audrey’s face turned red as she shouted at her, “Are you an idiot? I’d never do such a thing! You are a pervert!”

“Hmm~ Am I? Dred?” Elena questioned him, trying to prolong her time of fun.

Sighing loudly, he replied, “Don’t drag me into this. I have nothing to do with your self-satisfying habits. But I do know that you wake up when Audrey sleeps and do it on every second day.” Elena’s face turned more and more panicked as Dred continued to speak, her face like a tomato in the end.

“Pfft- Hahaha! There you go! The truth of the day has been revealed!” Audrey laughed at Elena’s face, feeling happy that someone finally had a card against her. Elena was always teasing and bullying them yet they had nothing against her.

“Y-You foul beast! I’ll never ask for your opinion again! Now she will come up with this all the time,” smacking the back of Dred’s head, Elena shouted with a frown on her face, gritting her teeth.

“But now the game is fair,” Dred replied, sticking out his tongue. He decreased the size of his body to that of a cub panther’s, and jumped onto Elena’s face and laid down on it.

“You are a cat in heart, aren’t you?” Elena’s muffled voice came from under him.

“Fufu, surely he is. Cats like to lay down in places they shouldn’t,” Audrey chimed in, sitting down on the side of the bed.

Elena grabbed Dred’s back and raised him up. Sitting up on the bed, they started meditating.

The next day the three of them went hunting, while Jake went towards the Mayor’s house. Walking through the streets, his hands in his pockets, he thought back to his past. It hasn’t been long that everything changed so abruptly, but I feel as if it has been years… Haah- all those people I fought for. I watched out for their backs and they did the same in turn.

But after the apocalypse, that changed a lot. Everyone was trying to stab the other one in the back, just like Elena does… but Audrey was the only one who I could feel at ease with. She didn’t care about controlling others and she wasn’t as stupid as the other people. Why would they fight among themselves when we could have worked together and reached new heights!

If not for being with those idiots, my life might have turned out differently. I could have turned into a simple soldier, a squad of the other soldiers. But I’m glad that I turned into an Arch Shadow. I am not only able to get closer to Audrey but I can taste that feeling of teamwork once again! I don’t have to worry about other idiot humans either… Ah~ This is the best. I guess I prefer being controlled a little over being the one in control.

Ugh, but this damned Elena. I was left fantasizing the whole night and now I’m sleepy as fuck! He finished his thoughts, gritting his teeth. Bumping into someone, he quickly apologized.

“No problem bro, but watch out cuz’ others might not react like me, hahaha,” the guy laughed, shrugging it off.

“I’ll be sure to do so. I was just lost in my thoughts, haha,” Jake replied with a chuckle, nodding his head.

He reached the Mayor’s villa in an hour. He was surprised to see that there were monsters used as pets or mounts. The houses were much bigger and luxurious and everyone was wearing luxurious clothes. As a chariot went past him, he was surprised to see one of the monster pelts they sold, tied to the back of it in a roll.

Hmm- I’ll tell Elena that they should get a few more of those pelts. They might be able to earn some more money, though it’s not like we are short of it. This is so nice~ She doesn’t handle us like some sort of slaves. More like teammates, and she shares everything with us if we need something, he thought with a bright smile on his face.

Stopping in front of the huge metal gates, he was questioned by a few guards. “Halt! What are your reasons for coming here?”

“Good morning! I came to join the guards. Could you point me towards the right direction?” he asked with a smile on his face, acting polite.

“Ah, morning. Go to the left and stop when you see a big, orange colored stone building in front of you. That’s the main guard office. They will tell you what to do and what is necessary to get in,” the guard replied, feeling happy that he was talked to with respect.

Elena’s methods work just fine. Showing a little respect and people all get friendly and nice. Let’s see what this place has in store for me and let’s see what Elena makes of this place!