As we walk side by side with Avarice wrapping her hand around my shoulder, after passing the blinding light, we entered… a Colosseum.

But it’s empty, mostly.

*BOOOM *BOOOOM *Bwoooooosh *BOOOOM

Two people are fighting, but there’s not a single eye watching them. “Fuh,” as she stroked my head, “You’re going to like this one. We have just gotten ourselves a new batch of freshly killed corpses recently…” leaning onto the platform, “And that beauty over there is going to determine which one for us to keep.”

Floating in the air. Another pale beauty, but even paler than Malice. She rocks a skimpy armor breastplate and a black panty, multiple straps on her legs, tight wrappings on her foot, but razor-sharp claws coming out of her black edging gloves.

Her hair almost has the same type and length as mine. There’s also a black chopstick on her lips, making her overall look even hotter, but her terrorizing orange eyes turn all of the temperatures in my body to minus degrees.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"What~ were you not listening. All right. You see, you're not the only candidate that I'm seeing to fulfill the role of my next project..."

*BOOOM *BOOOOOOM

"... You and I, our powers are only slightly compatible with each other, and thus, I can't do anything to assist you in that regard. However, that beauty over there might just be."

Does that mean, "Wait, are you saying that you're going to leave-"

*BOOOOOOOM*

Blasting away while covered in flames, the opponent that the woman faced grunted, “Feh, you demon always defies all logic as you want. Why don’t you tone it down a little, huh? Let my bombs hit you a bit?” the voice of an adult man muffled by his mask.

A pyromancer— no, that outfit is not even close, and also, squinting my eyes a little bit over the thing on his hand, I can see… a gun. Some kind of a flintlock pistol - not familiar enough with old tech but...

“Heheh,” her voice echoes, “Should be saying that to yourself. Don't you think that your flame is a bit distracting?”

“…”

*Bang*

A bullet was shot at a supersonic speed, leaving a trail of fire, was stopped effortlessly by the woman as she glanced at me.

‘No pun intended, but hot damn, she flicked it off just like that?’

“It seems that we have a guest. What a blissful luck you have, it seems that your death will have to be postponed for another time.”

“As if I need such a thing. Come, demon! I’ll have your head today!” launching himself towards her after grabbing multiple bombs strapped together with a string from the inside of his coat, “True Art of Flame, Blaze Concoction!”

My eyes widened.

*BAM*

In a slow-motion, before he can even hug her with his bombs, she… bitch slapped him to the wall.

*BOOOOOOOOOOM*

I couldn’t believe it… I mean sure, she didn’t actually bitch slapping and instead, punching him with the back of her hand, but still… without even looking at it, she treats it as if that suicidal attack is nothing to worry about.

Is it because her flame resistance is high? I mean, demons do have almost a complete immunity for it, but… wait, is Avarice a demon too?

Looking at her tail, she might be.

Floating towards us, the woman giggled to herself, “My-my, if it isn’t the ass-licking bitch, the self-proclaimed Alpha and the Omega herself. What has brought you to my humble domain, sister? Last time I hear, you were busy impregnating the only friend you have. Oh oops, I forgot. You don’t have the tools to do it.”

“Hoho, it looks like the cock-sucking bitch, the former Mage of the Abyss herself is still quite spiteful as always, huh. Last time I see those tits, they were flapping on the ground while that mouth screeching on the floor. Crying like a little bitch.”

Closing in on her, the woman pushed up her chest onto Avarice’s bosom and their forehead touched each other as they both grinned like a madwoman.

The woman mumbled heavily, “Glad it wasn’t to you.”

I don’t know what the hell is going on, but what I do know is that these two seem not being on the best of terms, and there’s no resemblance of them being sisters.

“And who’s that lamb? Another one of your gay friends?”

“Heh,” moving away from her, Avarice wrapped her hand around on my shoulder, “Meet… well, she doesn’t have a name yet, so let’s call her… hmm, Luosa! Yes, let’s call her Luosa, and she’s the newest member of our little community - about to be.”

The woman glanced at Avarice, “You’re gonna get in trouble for that.”

“Pff, you treat it as if it's a forbidden word or something – and Luosa… this homophobe is called Replica. Be sure to respect your elders, okay? Because who knows, she might die tomorrow.”

“Hahahah, that mouth really needs to be stitched with a pike.”

Grinning after mocking her, it clear to see that they are in a hostile meter right now. Replica shifted her eyes towards me, “So, Luosa… is it?”

Me, glancing left and right, not knowing what to do.

“Why did you bring her here?”

As she’s stroking my arm, Avarice's tone of voice changed, “Initiation. She’s a mage, you’re a mage. Think I can entrust you with her?”

“I am not a caretaker, and you yourself are a mage.”

"You know what I'm talking about."

'Wait what? Avarice is a mage? I didn't really see any part of her resembling that of a mage though.' Avarice lifted her index finger slowly and then pressed her own forehead with it, “Lord Ludtleth, I have an important matter to dis—”

Replica’s eyes widened, “Wait!” squeezing her brows, “Fine, I’ll do it.”

With a wide grin on her face, Avarice moved her finger away. Obviously, she was bluffing, it made Replica even more furious but she didn’t retaliate.

‘I don’t like this at all. That woman doesn’t look friendly in the slightest. If possible, I would like to go with Avarice instead, but do I even have a choice?’ Well I asked, “Um, Avarice, c-can I go with you,” shadow covering my face, “… instead...”

Replica’s eyes grew even wider as she’s looking down at me, “Uhh… um…” my legs are shaking real bad right now!

Avarice poked my cheek with her finger, “Fufu, don’t worry. Despite her ugly appearance, this old hag is actually very kind to her own kind.”

“Huh?”

She hugged me once more before leaving without looking back at me, "I'll leave her to you, cock-sucker."

“Bitch."

Shifting her eyes to me, "So, Luosa…”

I turned around in shock, “Um, yes?”

“… don’t ever call yourself by that name if you value your life.”

Fidgeting, “A-Are you going to kill me if I do?”

Narrowing her eyes down to a slit made me shivers, “No,” lowering her upper body, “But someone far worse will.”

*Gulp*

“Now then,”

*Grab *Wooosh

Suddenly choking me out of nowhere and threw me into the field, “Gyaaaaaaaah!” my eyes suddenly tightening as my instinct moves my body to roll around on its own.

Stepping onto the platform, she descended into the field, “Decent reflexes. Had you land flat, I would’ve killed you there and then.”

“Eh?”

“Let’s begin.”

*Snap*

I don’t know why she’s snapping her finger, but when I turned around, I finally know why. The body of that man is floating while being supported by a cloud of black smoke.

Behind that mask, his eyes moved, ‘What - he’s still alive?’

*Woosh*

Thrown away into the darkness behind the gate in such speed, ‘That was not the normal telekinesis. I mean Telekinesis in general can only control items, maybe it's controlling his clothes? No, that shouldn't be possible. Shit, I didn’t know you can do something like that.’

“Keep that curiosity intact…”

Looking back at her and the woman started leaking out ominous energy.

“… That might just be the most useful thing to have in your arsenal from this point onward,” moving her hand rhythmically in a pattern I don’t recognize, she then muttered, “Transcendental Law of the Abyss…”

My eyes widened, ‘Transcend— Does that mean, she’s the same rank as Avarice and Malice? An Ethereal?!’

For three Ethereal Rank to be in the same faction… it’s simply unheard of because most of them prefer to wander off alone, 'No, I too was able to use Transcendental Magic when I was not even a Transcendental Ranks.'

Stopped for a moment. She forms a grin as our eyes met before chanting her spell, opening one of her eyes, “Colorful Words Unknown.”

*Wooooom*

Black substance instantly appeared above her head and coated her body entirely until it all goes down and sweep the entire area with it before exploding into smoke.

*Bwoooooooooosh*

My eyes were closed to avoid them, but that was truly a one-of-a-kind experience, to witness such magic.

Words have appeared on the ground. Symbols that I haven't seen, quite satanic. It’s like some kind of ritual or something.

“First, that eye. A Wonderer, I see. There’s not many of your kind out there and some that I found often die in the hands of a goblin.”

Avarice said that she and I are the same kinds, I thought for sure that she was this ‘Wanderer’ as well, but if not… that means… she wasn’t referring to me being a Wanderer… but a human.

‘Impossible. You’re telling me, a human NPC can actually achieve the Transcendental Rank? No wait, Solind Arlond, she too is a human and was able to achieve the rank of God, becoming the 9th goddess in terms of influence. But I never heard of the story of her journey of becoming a God.’

“Look here.”

“Mm?”

*Stab*

Everything has suddenly gone dark.

(-1000)

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaahk!” I fell and went squirming left and right, ‘Wha-What just happened! What is going on??? No, more importantly… Hm? I don’t feel pain.’

! {Innate Ability Advanced}

~ {Immortality / Rank 2 / Defy death upon reaching 0% Health. Negate any fatal wound and increase Pain Resistance to Maximum}

“You won’t last long in the vast world out there with these eyes.”

“Umm… Miss Replica?”

“Miss?” chuckled. She grabbed my head and fiddles with my eyes, “Hmph, all right, Luosa. My impression of you improved a bit. What is it?”

“Can you tell me what are we actually going to be doing? Miss Avarice told me that there are trials of some sort that I need to do before joining the… family? Quite odd since it said that I have joined the Faction already.”

“What, so you weren’t forced to join us?”

“Um… yes.”

“…”

“Miss Replica?”

“Oh, um, nothing. What we will be doing from here is simple. When I’m done prepping you down here, I’ll send you to the surface to run a few errands for me.”

“Oh, okay.”

“…”

I don’t know what she’s doing since everything is so dark in here, but it seems that she’s not doing anything harmful so this is fine.

“Tell me. Do you have a family… on the other side?”

“…” stunned me for a bit, “Hehe, nothing for you to worry about, miss Replica.”

“Is that so?”

I nodded, cheerfully, “Mhm.”

Sometimes, I wonder myself whether I hate them or not. Hate is quite a strong word, but for the things they’ve done to me, I can’t simply go back to them nor do I can forgive what they did.

Sighing unconsciously.

All of a sudden, my vision returns albeit a little bit stuttering at first opening.

“There you go. Now, how does it feel?”

When my sight fully adjusted, they’re bright and full of colors, but not only that. The dim overlay and the 101 numbers have gone. Looking down, I see that the words beneath shook violently and then a mirror appears after Miss Replica snapped her finger.

I can see the reflection of myself in there, and my eyes... they’re glowing in orange.

“Th-This is amazing.”

One side of Miss Replica’s lip tilted, “Of course it is.”

Going around and resting her elbow on the mirror, I noticed that… parts of her nipples and areola seem to be visible from the top of her armor. Also, her abs are looking real hot as well since it’s so bare in the open.

“Luosa.”

“Ahh, yes?”

“If you have any regrets, take this opportunity to wash them away before we proceed as I will not be offering my services free of charge again.”

‘Regrets? Is she telling me—”

All of a sudden, my profile status appeared beside me, and the whole system of the same Character Creation from the first time I boot the game up appeared around the mirror. Some functions are gone, but it’s essentially the same CC as before.

I’ve never heard that you can change your appearance after you got into the game.

Glancing at miss Replica, she simply tilted her head, as if saying “Go on” but still, this is too sudden for me. I didn’t have a plan to change my appearance, but should I?