Chapter 4- Life's a bitch, ride her hard

All right... her status window was totally broken. She had the stats of...what? A lvl 800 mage and a lvl 400 warrior. Well... It took her more or less 30 years of training to get to this point so.... it was no cheating. She still had to validate the 30 lvl UP stat points distribution but decided not to do so for a while. She was overpowered enough as it was.

If she followed the mage path, it would get boring really fast, and she had decided to become a rogue anyways, so the "warrior" path it was.

She still wondered about her class. What the hell was RURE anyways? It's not as if she was going to be picky, awesome as it was, but an explanation would have been welcome. *Whatever. I need money. Soo Pking? Hmm no I still have errands to run here so I'd rather not be infamous. Oh well, cooking it will be. But first? The Library, Davros wants to see m--*

Her important thinking time got interrupted by an idiotic barbarian. Said barbarian crashed right into her, fell down his ass from the recoil and yelped in pain. THEN, he began insulting her, both sides of her ancestry, and women in general.

From his equipment she could tell that we was probably around lvl 300... However she hadn't been fazed by the shock so she guessed he probably wasn't all that powerful.

"Oy! You cunt! Do you have shit for brains? Or is it just your ears that are useless? I'm saying you fucking owe me for damaging my property! My armor is dented! That's why I hate bitches like you! Women are useless and should stay at home ready to pleasure their masters!"

"...." This was so stupid and backward that Brainiac had nothing to say.

"What?" He grabbed her chin, looked closely at Kifirin's face and leered "Hmm pretty... it trumps the lack of boobs. Well honey, it's your lucky day you can repay me in nature as soon as I'm done with the other cunt that got me demoted. Don't worry you'll soon be begging for it" That's when he raised his hand to knock her out.

..............

Clyde was full of rage. He wanted to take his revenge on Johannes. That useless female had cost him his promotion and dared to talk back to him. He wouldn't be satisfied until he got her begging for him to stop. He would break her, and she would be taught her place. Women were vile and inferior sex objects, nothing more.

He had planned everything: the eastern quadrant guards had been paid off and the newbies quietly ushered aside. Being from a noble family had sure helped, nobody dared to cross him. He may not have been from the main branch, but the Vrionac name was his, with the strength that came along. It's not like the guards knew he was a nobody in the family...

As he charged right towards the isolated cunt, he somehow crashed into a newbie that appeared out of nowhere. Her beauty got his blood pumping and he knew he would bring her back to his abode, willing or not. The native had to take responsibility for setting him afire after all.

Native? Why yes! Of course. All the female shifters were big-breasted, so the girl was obviously a native of the land, small-chested as she was. Sooo.... free picking!

He had to take care of Johannes first though. He decided to stun his new toy for now. He'd drag her home once he was done with the bitch.

He did not question her appearing out of nowhere.

He did not question her being unfazed by their bumping into each other’s either

He should have.

..............

Kifirin watched as the big oaf raised his hand. He was so slow... she didn't even need the timey wimey skill to take care of him. Swiftly dodging the blow, she grabbed his fist and accompanied his movement down from the side. Her knee went up and brutally tagged him in the nuts as her free hand chopped the back of his neck. Then, his nose and teeth got personal with the ground in a big wet CRUNCH.

He was out cold.

.............

Johannes watched as brainiac-dagger-maniac dealt with Clyde in less than half a second. It was swift, clean and final. The would-be-rapist now laid in a pool of his own blood. She hoped he'd drown in it, but alas it was not to be.

Yes, would be rapist. She had seen the way he watched her and purposefully headed in her direction. Then she heard the comments he made to her friend. Thanks to the non-respect of his forced leave of absence and her testimony, a telepath would be called upon to clear up the situation. She guessed the douchebag wouldn't be seeing the light of the day for a while. She also guessed that a few guards would not be seen again... Clyde's apparition here couldn't have happened without inside help.

Looking fondly at the friendly dagger-maniac, she decided to help her as much as possible in her future endeavors. Seeing her teach a lesson to the misogynistic fiend had given her new hopes. She was also in awe of her skills.

..................

Looking coldly at the passed out sex-fiend, Kifirin sighted. *Why me? Somehow I'm sure that this will come back to bite me in the ass. Argh! I better keep it quiet or my friends will never allow me to forget it. Note to oneself, don't tell Kathy! Should I pull a disappearing act? It's not like I'm in the wrong am I? ... Am I?*

A light pat on her right shoulder sent her back to reality. Instructor Johannes was telling her about the situation. Apparently she was white as snow and even earned her heartfelt gratitude for "saving" her. Well... wasn't that what friends were for? However she was surprised at Johannes' straightforward questioning. Was she REALLY unaware of the existence of the advanced training?

... Apparently yes. No wonder her subtle hints at the existence of said training had gotten no answer. It also explained the strange comments about her 'passion' for training. Well she was friendly and a NPC, so why not explain?

"Yes, it's the advanced training. You don't get even one stat point until you complete it. I guess it would take you a good two dozen years of training to achieve it. The reward is an AA-rank skill-book as well the right to enter the coliseum's maze, a restricted dungeon."

"That's... I didn't know it! None of my acquaintances knows of it.... unless they kept it to themselves? It's obviously not common knowledge... Oh my goodness! You shared such a secret with me, I'm humbled. Thank you! I vow to spirit that I'll keep it to myself. But... how did you come into the information? You're a shifter right?" Johannes was sweating. It felt too big for her to have such knowledge, but she also just set herself a new goal... she WOULD complete the advanced training!

System notification: Oath recorded

Johannes Verrames has vowed to Spirit that she would never share any of the information about the advanced training that you imparted to her.

This oath is sacred and cannot be broken.

"Ah umm well... I accidentally completed the mental one, so I decided to try my hand at the physical one." She fidgeted. Compliments made her uneasy. "Yep I obviously like reading... haha. And there's no need to thank me you know, keeping it to yourself is more than enough, and you made an oath so it's good"

"... mental advanced training? Now that you said it it's kind of obvious but.... Holy Spirit! You really ARE a brainiac huh? Well I'm indebted to you big time now. Is there anything I could do to help you? I feel wretched for not being able to repay my debt". The instructor was dumfounded. Kifirin was... such a brainiac. But she obviously had willpower... and SECRETS. From what she had gathered, the girl had competed the advanced training... in more or less 2 months. She told her it would take 2 dozen years, which made it an impossibility for the trainee to have finished it already. How would she know of the reward though if she hadn't? Unless... time warping? It would explain the unbelievable speed.

Yes, this was an oddball alright, and as she knew from experience, oddballs always had the most amazing skills of all...

"Now that you're talking about it, I wouldn't mind an introduction to a cook or a restaurant. I need to make money -sick of the jerky- and I'd like to learn the skill so ... do you know any?" Kif smiled. That would be helpful.

Wow... the girl had totally raised the flag, so she couldn’t condemn her for taking it. She smiled sweetly as she answered "Hmm my flatmate Deidre is a retired cook but I'm sure she'd be happy to teach you the basics if I ask her to. She's very nice and cute as a button. Don't question her about her age though. She looks twelve years old but is way older than you and me thrown together. It has to do with a curse or something, and is a very sore point to her. Be tactful. Just go to XXX Carmen street and give her this badge, she'll known it's from me" Fireworks, there were going to be fireworks ...

Pocketing the item after noting down Johannes' contact information, Kifirin decided to make a stop at the library and complete a few errands before meeting Deidre. She bid the woman goodbye and left for the merc administration. It was an office located near the entrance of the coliseum's underground level. The clerk was free, so she engaged him in conversation.

..............

Lucas sneered as he saw the newbie approaching him. She still wore the beginner's gear for fuck's sake, so what was she doing at the administration's office? She should be training, not wasting his time. Then he saw her title and reconsidered. That was the brainiac battle maniac. Hmm she was probably here for the copper rank rewards. It was a nice opportunity to get to the truth of the matter about the book. The stakes of the bet were very high... and he could make a killing for getting the info.

He put on a fake smile

....................

"Hi, I'm here for the mercenary rewards up to Crystal-rank. I'm also asking for the basic training prizes. For the rest I'll need your oath or your superior"

".... I'm sorry? Crystal rank? My oath? Are you kidding me? You may be the dagger-maniac but don't let it go up your head newbie, we're serious people here! Go away, and don't ever appear before me again. Pff, noobs!"

"Is it a way to treat guild members? You're awfully impolite... I should file a complaint"

He snorted "Yeah right, like they'll listen to you. I'm gold-rank honey, and as far as I'm concerned, you're nobody. Don't think I'll ever let you register. So... shoooo!"

She raised a eyebrow "Well then I'll be asking for your superior. You have no right to refuse me this. The one overstepping his bounds here is you, not me"

"Hahaha! Hilarious. Leave now, before I throw you out for misconduct. And before you mouth off about it know that it would be your word against mine, and.... I'm gold rank, sooo.... get the picture?"

"I do" She smiled coldly. It was frightful and the guy found himself shivering. "Rank is king isn't it? Show mercenary rank to clerk"

The guy looked at the system window and paled ".... Kifirin-sama it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. What may I do for you?" His tone was sticky-sweet.

"Get me your superior" *Now that's a one-eighty if I haven't seen one*

His eyes shifted nervously and he answered meekly "Umm... huuuhh... That is... Lord Dahariel is busy" Lucas knew he had screwed up, and if it came to the ears of his superior there would be hell to pay. Nobody fucked with a higher rank... even the more so when it was a Crystal rank. Dakinum ranks were virtually non-existent, so as far as he could tell, Crystal ranks were the law.

"Is he? Somehow I don't believe you. Maybe I should go get him myself?

"That... That won't be necessary! I'm sure he'll be able to make time for you once I apprise him of your situation"

"Thought so too" She watched the clerk leave for the underground level as if his ass had caught on fire.

He was a native then. The player at the library central administration library hadn't seemed that concerned by her rank. He had been more like Are-you-crazy-sista-this-is-insane than Of-course-my-queen-right-away-my-queen

...........

Dahariel Vrionac was tying off loose ends related to Clyde. Apparently the forced leave of absence had been received badly, and his lowly relative had decided to take things into his own hands by getting revenge on his female colleague. Dahariel wondered whether he should have directly dealt with the dolt when he first heard of the harassment... As the Vrionac family head and mercenary guild regional chief (elder councilor), he had every right to do so, but had decided that the matter was inconsequential and dismissed it without a second thought. It was a mistake

The guild telepath had formally registered the nefarious intent this time, so he just had to bring Clyde to the local jail and the problem would be taken off his hands. He had also excised the moron from the family register so there would be no repercussions on their reputation. So... there should be nothing to worry about.

SHOULD BE

Yep. Right now he was sweating bullets... and worrying, alright. Why? Because the convict had been snatched right under his nose! Him, a proud Crystal rank couldn't even lift a finger against the red force that took his prisoner. Frightful. It was at least an immortal-rank.

The one good point of the giant clusterfuck was that said force had seemed to be seething. He still felt the rage in the air. Dahariel guessed that Clyde wouldn't be bothering anybody any longer.

He would be quite dead.

Still trying to understand the ramifications of the event, as well as the reason why the force was out for Clyde's blood, he saw Lucas sheepishly enter his study.

"Yes? Is a matter requiring my attention?" He didn't know if Clyde's demise was related to the brainiac-dagger-maniac or Johannes, but it probably was. The dolt had behaved exemplarily until the "events", and didn't seem to have enemies. He decided to thread carefully if he ever entered in direct contact with any of the two girls. Instinct told him it had to do with brainiac. Johannes had been Clyde's victim for months and nothing happened, but right after he raised his hand at the other girl, he got taken in a whirlpool of murderous rage.

"Lord Vrionac" The clerk bowed. "A trainee needs to register the Crystal mercenary rank and has asked for either my oath or a superior. I though you may want to get to the heart of the matter, as a lowly gold-rank such as me couldn't even begi--"

"-- Crystal rank? Are you sure?" interrupted Dahariel. If the trainee had yet to register it, then it meant that it hadn't been bought from guild-points.... so it was the advanced training? However it was a well hidden secret that only a few -carefully selected- initiates were allowed to learn. The trainee was suspicious... and possibly a threat if he wasn't under oath to keep it to himself. Well, he knew how to deal with threats...

"Yes my lord, quite sure, I verified it myself"

"Alright, take a break. I'll take care of it"

"Yes my lord"

.............

Kifirin impatiently waited for the "superior" to arrive. *Maybe I should just call it a day and come back later? I've got a lot of things to do... Ah? He's here.*

A handsome long-haired elf was purposefully walking towards her. His stride was noble and his eyes had a calculating glint. He seemed unhappy.*Gloups. It feels like he wants me dead. Hmm? Now he looks surprised though...*

Indeed, Elfy had stopped in his tracks and was watching her intently. *??? What? Do I have lettuce stuck between my front teeth? ... ara ara that's stupid he's too far away, and moreover, if anything was amiss with me clerk douchebag would certainly have put me on the spot with it. So..... dunno what's wrong with Elfy here*

The Elf shook his head and got back to business. As soon as he reached Kifirin, he led her to a private office and presented himself

...............

"Hello miss Kifirin, I'm Lord Dahariel Vrionac, an elder of the Mercenary guild as well as a Crystal rank. I've heard that you're here to register the Crystal-rank, which means that you got it from training right? May I ask how you came to learn of this? Aren't you a shifter?" He wasn't pleased when he found out that Brainiac-dagger-maniac WAS the trainee in question. It made things complicated.

"... Vrionac? You wouldn't be related to Clyde the moron... wouldn't you?"

"Yes I am, but it is not relevant to the situation at hands"

"Well shit.... he's a barbarian, and you’re an elf. The Vrionac seems to be all about diversity, aren't they? Anyways let me tell you that I intend to see him locked up for good. The dude is seriously messed up"

He sighted "Clyde is... ah no, I mean was. He was the bastard son of a distant cousin. He is a child of rape, but as pregnancies are rare for our kind his mother kept him." Here, he had baited her, let's see how she reacted to that. If she had no knowledge of the abduction, then she probably wasn't involved in it, which would allow him to get his answers more or less forcefully from her. He was mighty curious at her completing the training in a few months. *This could be something big. She could also become a useful pawn if the questioning doesn't take too much out of her. The thing is that she's a shifter so I'll have to use THAT*

"Was? What do you mean 'was'? What happened to him?" The trainee seemed genuinely surprised. A cold smile graced Dahariel's lips. *Uninvolved then... time to -- AAAH!*

Behind the oblivious girl... the presence was back! This time it was exuding an extremely cold warning. Clearly, it wasn't pleased with Dahariel's thoughts, and made it plain that Kifirin was under its protection. Somehow the elf felt that Brainiac had no idea of either the existence of her backing or the situation it just saved her from. *I... I understand Ô great one, I shall not touch a hair from her head, please be merciful towards this lowly misguided soul*

As Lord Vrionac trembled in fright of the force, Kifirin found herself wondering what the hell was going on.

................

"Sir? Sir? Are you alright? Do you need water?" Elfy was behaving mighty strange. If the situation was different, Kifirin would have thought that he was scared shitless but it couldn't be it. Then what was it? She had absolutely no idea and it made her uncomfortable.

Dahariel shakily smoothed out his shirt and answered the mysterious shifter. The presence had left. "Ah no, thank you, I... I'm subject to fainting spells but I was somehow able to avoid the last one, thanks for the concern. Now where were we? Ah yes, Clyde... About him, well something snatched him from us with murderous intent, so we're making the educated guess that he's dead. I can't give you more information, because even I am left wondering at what really happened."

"I see... Well let's get back to business then. As you already guessed, I'm a shifter, so nobody told me about the advanced training. I know for sure that I am the sole of my kin to have achieved it, and from what I've gathered, none are aware of its existence. I don't plan on sharing the love by the way, so don't worry about it becoming common knowledge. Personally, I stumbled upon it while reading"

"What do you mean by that? It's not recorded anywhere" Vrionac frowned.

Kif blushed "Ah well, umm... I love reading, so after completing the basic mental training I continued the knowledge feast for a while. It was a real surprise when I got the system notification for the advanced training. Then it was kinda obvious that if the basic trainings mirrored themselves, so would the advanced ones. I got it right, and I would bet that the S-ranks also do so"

Dahariel swallowed wrongly and began stuttering "... S.... S-rank? What... what are you talking about?"

*Oops. I said too much. They didn't know about this one. Oh well... the cat's out of the bag...*

She sighted. "Rather than explaining I'd better show you. Show Mental S-rank training window to Lord Dahariel Vrionac"

The lord was gaping as he read the window. It was not really elf-like. Not noble enough maybe... ? *Screenshot! That one's gold*

"I won't try my hand at the Physical S-rank training for obvious reasons but you're free to do so. It took me around 30 years of constant reading at extremely fast speeds to achieve the S-mental one. When I know that the advanced physical T took me around 26 years, which is more or less 7 time what it took me for the advanced mental one.....

Well... I'll remind you that I'm insane, not masochistic"

"That... that.... that's unbelievable. There were rumors of mercenary king Azazël's legacy but we all thought it was hidden within the labyrinth... not that it was a secret training! The information you just gave the guild is priceless.... Spirit!" He totally ignored the mention of her insanity

"As an elder councilor of the guild I have the authority... so I'll be transferring 100 000 000 guild credits to your account as soon as I register you, and you'll benefit from half prices on all your purchases. Elder level Information will also be freely shared with you". Then he registered her, gave her his contact information and left faster than a rocket.

In his haste to discuss the news with his fellow councilors, he totally forgot to ask her about her cramming years and years of training in the span of a few months. Well, she wouldn't have answered anyways, so she was appreciative of his forgetfulness.

He had also given her 1x D-rank, 1x C-rank, 1x B-rank, 1x A-rank and 2x AA-rank skill-books as well as 12 levels worth of experience. She didn't activate the level up stats this time either and decided to use another AA-rank skill-book.

Ding!

System notice: New skill! (AA knowledge library skill-book)

Split personality Disorder Aka Persona / chaotic

As a being of unlimited boiling Chaos, you are quite insane, thus you have the ability to take on a created persona that has stats and titles selected during its creation (skills and stats may be capped if you feel the need to)

A persona may be modified after its creation, but the fame and infamy generated by a persona cannot be removed.

The persona's name and class can also be chosen (a list of unlocked class will be opened for you to choose from at persona creation)

NPC will always see you as a different person unless you change persona right under their nose, but shifters may recognize your face.

You may create up to 10 personas.

Current Available personas:

• To be created

• (locked) Chaos persona

Persona that gets forcefully equipped whenever you enter a chaos streak. As soon as you unlock your profession this persona will become available for equip

*Interesting.... that solves the infamy problem! I wonder about the description though... I don't have NO split personality disorder. At least I don't think so.... probably not? Oh well it's useful so no complaints here. I'll need to create an innocent seeming persona for tights spots, a rogue persona for everyday use, a mage persona in case it's ever needed, and finally a PK persona for the real fun. Now for the face thingy... it'd be nice to have a shape-shifting skill or something...*

Ding!

System notice: Persona related skill available!

The system has recognized your insight and allows you to use an AA-rank skillbook in order to get the modified shape-shifting skill. (AA-rank Skillbooks left: x2)

Do you wish to learn the shape-shifting skill at the cost of 1x AA-rank skillbook?

YesNo

Obviously, she selected yes. Like the persona-skill, the new skill had no level, but was extremely helpful as it allowed her to shapeshift her body at will. From baby to dragon, she could become whatever she wanted.

She went to work and created her personas.

Ding!

System notice: Skill update!

(VAR) Split personality Disorder Aka Persona / chaotic

As a being of Unlimited boiling Chaos, you are quite insane, thus you have the ability to take on a created persona (Press here to read the rest of the description)

Current available personas

# (Equipped) Red Rogue persona - Kifirin

Persona you created for your everyday use. This persona seems like an average Red Rogue (all suspect stats are hidden or capped) and has no bounty on it.

You lowered certain stats, and as a result, equipping this persona lowers your overall strenght unless you deactivate the seal.

Red rogue : The red rogue is a chaos-oriented master of the art of silent death and subterfuges.

Skilled and cunning adversary of those who are not looking into the shadows to see what lurks there; It is the profession of those that seek the adventures of stalking in silent forests, dimly lit halls, and heavily guarded strongholds.

Using trickery in combat and able to vanish at the slightest distraction, the red rogue is deadly to those he catch unaware.

Deadly master of stealth, he is the whispers in shadowy corners and the hooded figure crossing dark fields.

Skilled with daggers, this vagabond/bandit skulks about the word seeking targets and profits.

# PK persona - Kiri

Persona you created to do bad deeds. It has all your stats and will probably have many bounties on it.

Because you have a twisted sense of humor, you made it so that Kiri can choose between the appearance of a cute and innocent blue-eyed blond-haired 12 years old girl, or an older version in her twenties

# Innocent seeming NPC persona - Finn

Persona to be used in order to get out of tight spots. It has the stats of a lvl 10 sickly child and the appearance of an ordinary 8 years old boy, Finn.

He may give quests.

# Battle-mage persona - Rin

Emo version of the real you, the battle-mage persona has the stats of an extremely high level mage that has no problems with fighting. Thanks to her high vitality, she is no glass cannon, which will be a surprise to her foes.

Perceived as a talented oddball, Rin is appreciated by her peers regardless of her strange quirks

Thanks to your high Spirit affinity, focus (5 elements wielding) wisdom, intelligence and vitality, Rin is a force to be reckoned with.

The Battle-mage is a DPS caster that specializes in burst damage and area of effect spells. His primary role in a group is damage dealing and crowd control

# Blue singer persona - Rinne

Royal blue haired and bang-less version of you, Rinne is an elemental singer that greatly buff her allies. She is a support character and does not attack.

Her stats are the same as you, however they are hidden and thus not perceived. Her fighting spirit cannot be used offensively, only for defense.

# (locked) Chaos persona

Persona that gets forcefully equipped whenever you enter a chaos streak. As soon as you unlock your profession this persona will become available for equip

Yep, she had created a few personas alright, and though the merc guild, she used guild points to get the skillbooks she wanted. Right now, here skills were thus:

She obviously had some serious grinding to do, but yeah that was it. Kifirin would be a rogue (not that she wouldn't use blink from time to time), Rin a battlemage (the "weapon" of choice would be unarmed combat mastery until she had a better idea) and Rinne a Singer that acted as support.

Kiri would obviously use nothing and everything to confuse and throttle her foes.

............

Far, far away, on another continent, a barbarian was screaming in agony. His mind was already broken beyond recognition, his body was but a giant wound... and yet he was still being kept alive. He had not yet completed the promise made to his captor and would stay in this pitiful state until he did. Only then would he be allowed the mercy of death.

"I'm sorry" was screaming the shell of a man. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

10 billion time he had to say it. His captor was keeping track as what used to be Clyde alternated between screams, ramblings, whispers and wails.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"I'm sorry!"

[...]

***************