As Kara roamed the streets, dodging ambushes and people that might prove troublesome, a small group entered her Web.

She focused her Notes there, finding one young man attempting to escape the pursuit of two larger ones. They were a couple of blocks away, and would soon intersect her path. She was about to avoid them, but strangely enough, her instincts urged her forward.

The sound one of them was creating in her web--it seemed familiar somehow.

He turned the corner, the men gaining distance on him. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she felt like she had met him before.

Until she heard him speak, she wouldn’t know for certain. Her Notes couldn’t identify him, either. They bounced off as they clashed against his Soul Defense. Not only did they fail, but they also seemed to activate some buff, as he became noticeably faster. Much faster, actually. The Speed itself wasn’t high, but relatively speaking it was a strangely high buff.

She frowned, folding her arms as he neared. He was part of her faction, while his pursuers were Animus hovering around the low levels. All three were Cubs. How could someone of that caliber defend against her Soul Offense? Even stranger, the kid wasn’t using any Life Force but he still out sped the Life Empowered grunts behind him.

“How fortunate of you to meet me, mate. Wait here,” she told him as he wheezed by her. She was curious. Maybe he was one of the soldiers under her? Kara never did pay attention to those. It was an honorary position, anyway.

The kid, not realizing how generous she was being, did not wait. In fact, he seemed to run faster than ever.

She shook her head and turned towards the other group marching towards her. They were two old men, dirty and not entirely pleasant on the eye. A couple of thugs who went in from the Third District for better loot and prettier women, no doubt.

Upon seeing her, a wide grin spread on their face. One of them opened his mouth, revealing a set of mostly broken teeth. Kara didn't need a functioning nose to tell they probably smelled of dirt and muck.

“We’ll take you instead!” he yelled, switching to her.

Kara curled her lips, more disgusted by another showing of stupidity rather than anything else. Why did no one respect the question marks?

2nd Rank Gravity Field. Once again, she turned her Mana into Gravitational Mana. This time, it went out through her heels. A purple shadow shot from her feet in the form of a ray.

Kara The Defier: ???>Wolf*

By the time they noticed it crawling towards them, their faces were against the ground, the rain crashing on top of their like tiny rocks. Everything in a five-meter circle was pressed down.

The channel ran out of Mana by the time they lost consciousness. There was no point in finishing them. Killing those much weaker under you was extremely discouraged with a set of nasty debuffs by The Game.

She turned one shoulder towards the kid. He had not stopped running. “I just want to ask you…and he’s not even listening.” She tapped her heels, casting the same skill. The ray shot across the ground, but before it activated the kid jumped to the side, escaping its range.

Kara raised an eyebrow. He must also have Sixth Sense or a way to sense Mana—he didn’t even turn around to see it crawl towards him. She cast the spell two more times, both being dodged moments before the barrage of rain went down. She stared wordlessly for a couple of seconds, utterly baffled.

This elusive feeling…. It’s him!

He got away once, but twice was something she was not willing to accept. Not only some of her pride remind, something about him pulled her in. Maybe it was her curiosity in understanding how he could have possibly defended against her Soul Attack, or maybe it was something her new powers wanted to explore. Whatever it was, she wanted to use Life Siren’s Song on him.

There was no more fooling around. Gravity Field was a skill that required a minimum rank of 2nd Gravity proficiency and went up all the way to rank seven. Each rank doubled the Mana cost while increased the speed, range, area of effect, and power. She would have to be careful not to kill him. She changed it from 2nd to 3rd, hoping it wouldn’t severely injure him.

The shockwave threw Kara’s hair back and ruffled her clothes as a purple circle shot across the ground. Barely a moment later it exploded right below him. The air and rain yanked him to the ground before he could react.

For starters,

she needed to understand why he could do things that did not match his Cub Danger Rank.

His body was practically devoid of Life Force—it was as if he never used it before. The veins connecting his Life Source to the rest of his body were largely absent. His Mana Source did not show any signs of usage, either.

So just how did he successfully defend himself against her? And how did he out-run those behind him? What type of power did he use? She couldn’t think of a single skill or class that could do this.

“What in the spirits is going on…” Kara began, her words fading as the kid struggled to his feet. He limped for a few steps, fell, got up, fell again, and finally crawled out of the gravity zone.