Westchester Atlanta Hospital, Boulevard Avenue, Old Fourth Ward, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 2019. 16:00

She was going to become purple from all the bruises that were adding up. But right now, the girl's adrenaline was running higher than ever.

Sara ran as fast as she could while zig-zagging sideways at random intervals. Bullets rained on her from at least three shooters on the hospital's rooftop and she took another three grazing shots before she reached the building. She jumped a rail and entered a small plaza. The shots stopped without reason. She wasn't in a blind angle. Concerned, she looked up and saw black spheres falling down on her.

Grenades.

The girl ran straight south and jumped down into an access ramp to the basement garage. She let her body roll along the inclination when the grenades went off, once more without the Hollywood pyrotechnics, sending a shower of shrapnel and breaking dozens of glass windows. She reached the garage door and thanked Providence for not getting pelted with grenade shrapnel. She retrieved her spear which she had dropped during the jump.

"Damn." She was feeling dizzy from rolling down the ramp.

Sara had no time to waste. She couldn't see the rooftop from there but it would be obvious to them she was still alive when they failed to find a corpse. She drew Maloney's hunting knife, infused it, and opened a door in the garage door like it was a tin of sardines in a cartoon.

She ran until she found the stairs, then slashed the fire door latch next to the door frame off and opened it, spending only 1 MP on the stunt. She climbed the stairs in the dark, jumping three steps at a time, a hand firmly on the railing to know when to turn, trying to make the least amount of sound while she listened to any signs of people. With her superhuman coordination, senses, and reflexes, she reached the top.

The stairs ended and she saw sunlight filtering around the fire door frame. It was old and a bit bent on the upper left corner where most light seeped into the staircase. She heard voices and stood behind the door as flush with the wall as she could.

It opened. The door scraped the floor as it swung almost entirely open but Sara grabbed the panic bar, stopping it before it could crush her or make a sound.

"Go downstairs and find the boy's body. Pump it full of lead, I'm sure I hit the bastard at least twice." A man spoke.

BOY?

"Yes, boss." Another man replied.

She counted three shadows moving into the staircase, the door closed as two flashlights turned on. The third man who'd closed the door widened his eyes as he saw her. Before he could scream, she closed her eyes and threw a wild punch roughly at his face. She felt it connect and heard a bone break under her hand.

She didn't feel any mana entering her body, though. Sara trembled as she cracked an eye open. The left side of the man's face was caved in, cheek, eye, nose crushed. It was like he was hit with a wrecking ball. He... he wasn't breathing.

"Who's there?" One of the other two turned around to ask, the flashlight blinded Sara.

She shrieked. Did she... no. No mana came from the man, he was alive.

The girl ground her teeth as she used all her focus to keep herself from sobbing. No, the man was no better than a ghoul. A cannibal and rapist. They were shooting at her. Cannonball and rapturist. It didn't make sense. Hannibal Lecter and Jack the Ripper. Scumbags. She had to be an angel of death to them. They deserved to die. Her gums ached, her jaw was locked in place, pressing her teeth together. She smelled blood with every breath. Blood she spilled. Human... no. Monster blood.

She unfocused. Her mind tried to run away from there, even though her body was unmoving.

The System would heavily punish rapists. It should raise restrictions against killing and even put a bounty on these monsters' heads. With it being aware of every person's every move and most thoughts, it would be easy to separate consensual sex from true rape. She was even willing to concede and not punish via System fiat borderline cases. Unless they happened to often with the same people. Also, both male and female rape should be punished equally.

"He killed Johnny," the second man in the staircase stated with abject horror. Two flashlights blinding Sara.

She took shallow breaths. Her eyes stung; she could only stare at the flashlights. No, Johnny was still alive. Barely.

"Is that a spear?" The first man asked.

> MP: 243 / 1626

Johnny was not alive. Oh, God. Sara was never a religious person before, but please. She didn't want to be a murderer. God, please.

"I think it's a girl?" The second guy said as he heard Sara weep.

"She doesn't seem dangerous," the first one argued.

"Dude, look at her clothes. She has all these bruises but almost no blood. Where did she get all those bruises?"

"Do you think?"

Abby urged.

The only reason she wasn't a bawling mess on the ground right now was her {Composure} Skill.

Abby's pep talk didn't reassure her. But her anger at the parasite broke her paralysis.

Sara bolted, a roaring scream of outrage and pain, spear in hand, infused, a wild swing. It bashed the two goons at the shaft, breaking bones, slamming them against the railing, then down into the next flight of stairs.

No Mana. Still alive. She heard grunts coming from below. She heard some gunshots from the roof. Maybe Hainsworth was trading lead with the rest. With the raucous noise outside, perhaps they hadn't heard anything coming from the staircase.

Whoever this boss was, he had just sent three goons downstairs. Instead of running the Sorting Algorithm of Evil, she would go for the gang leader first.

Someone tried to open the door. Sara braced against it.

"Damn door is stuck again!" A fourth man said.

"Leave it," the boss barked. "Keep an eye on the apartment building. The kid is not alone, there's someone else in there.

"Let me use the bazooka!"

She heard a loud slap.

"Our guys are in there too, dumbass."

Damn. If they fired a bazooka at the wooden apartment building, there was a chance bigger than zero that Hainsworth would get injured.

Sara stepped out and her sneakers made a squelching sound, their soles soaked in blood.

"Who's there?" A man with an AR-15 rifle turned to face her.

Sara threw the spear at him. the weapon struck the man in the eye, then ran through his skull, stopping halfway. The man dropped down, dead.

> MP: 339 / 1626

"What the hell?" Gang boss was leaning on the concrete railing watching the street. He spun around and saw Sara. He had a big rifle but not as big as Hainsworth's Barret. Sara knew shit about gun types.

Sara drew her pistol. Gang boss raised his rifle. Unnerved, the girl threw the pistol at him and jumped sideways, turning into a safety roll. A hail of bullets followed her.

Springing on her feet after the roll. Sara kicked the concrete roof as hard as she could, then threw her body to the left and made a sharp turn. Her bloody sneaker slipped and she felt friction fail her as she entered free fall. The world froze to a standstill. All Sara could think was, "bullet time. Time to get shot by bullets. Fuck my life."

Turning her head to look at the gang boss, she had only one choice. She threw one of the knives at him and joined her forearms over her head as he fired upon her. Five bullets struck her arms, one caught her all the way back in the calf, then she kissed the hospital roof. Literally.

She didn't feel Mana again. Gang Boss wasn't dead yet. Sara would love to spend the rest of the afternoon on her date the sunbaked concrete rooftop but she was in the middle of a fight. A fight to the death.

With a groan, she braced down and raised her head. She got a glimpse of two outlines downstairs, too small to be of concern now. And Gang Boss... he was leaning with his arm against the railing, assault rifle hanging by his side slung in a shoulder strap, and her stepfather's knife sticking out of his solar plexus. He had both hands on the shaft. Two trickles of blood leaked from the corners of his mouth and his half-glazed eyes stared at the girl with hatred.

She had no idea where her pistol went. She also felt extremely dumb for tossing her firearm but she was basically on the verge of panicking even with her maxed Composure. The only weapon left for her was Maloney's knife. She drew the weapon and noticed blood dripping from her forearms. Damn armor-piercing rounds.

The guy was incapacitated, but she was boiling with rage. She took each step deliberately, a hand over the last weapon on her. No more good girl. Not that she had ever been one.

"Joe send his regards," Sara said. "From Hell."

"Beet–Shh," Gang boss hissed and gurgled blood.

Sara approached. He tracked her movements with his eyes. The man was trembling. How many of his victims felt this powerless before him? She unclipped the assault rifle strap, removed the magazine, cocked the lever to empty the chamber, then tossed the disarmed weapon aside. She drew his pistol and fired at his knee. It was a police model but it fit her holster just fine.

"Rapist and cannibal," she told him. The words felt right to her, "I am here to deliver your judgment. You are not worthy."

She grabbed the spear shaft and pulled it out of the corpse. She pulled a Transylvanian Twist on Gang Boss, lifting him with just a bit of effort. After retrieving her stepfather's knife, Sara swung the spear over the balcony railing, then pulled the weapon out of the wound, consigning Gang Boss to gravity's embrace. He fell seven floors into the plaza below. Sara didn't look down.

> MP: 405 / 1626

Sara cut the legs of Knife-Eye pants to wipe the blood off of her weapons, then looted the body. With everything in place and more 9mm ammo secured, she took her earpiece radio.

"I hope you are okay over there," she said over the encrypted channel.

"Glad to hear you," Hainsworth replied. "Status?"

"Took some AP shots. Buzzers sting like hell."

A chortled from the other side decorated her snide remark. "AP rounds sting like hell. How many did you take?"

"A dozen or so. I'll be okay but damn if they don't hurt. There's two on the loose. Stay safe. I think they have bazookas."

"Probably RPG launchers."

"Whatever. I'm off to hunt. Did you off the two stooges with you?"

"Positive."

"Then there's twenty left if Cannibal is to be believed. I have two in my sights, eighteen on the lose."

"Roger that."

The device went dead.

The girl leaned against a dead HVAC machine. Sara whimpered, sniffled, sobbed a little, then used a wet wipe to clean her face. Then used a handkerchief to clean the blood the wet wipe smeared. Then she threw the bloody handkerchief down and decided it was war paint. Not her blood anyway. Most of it. She hoped.

She stowed the radio and heard a buzz. One of Kyle's drones hovered down and took a panoramic shot of the rooftop. Sara being Sara, she flipped the bird at the drone. "Fuck off, Kyle. This is not reality TV."

The drone bobbed up and down like a nodding head. Then it zipped upward. Sara took the stairs. In the next episode, she would prowl in the dark hospital corridors to stalk, bully, and murder two scared Cannibal Rapist Thugs.

*

*

2nd floor Nurse Lounge, Westchester Atlanta Hospital, Boulevard Avenue, Old Fourth Ward, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 2019. 16:00

Playing "Here's Johnny" with Cannibal Rapists was tiresome and a burden on the soul. Sara felt exhausted and ready to sleep for a week. The only thing keeping her moving like a puppeteer's strings were Composure and her body enhancement powers.

Sara found a couch with a nice view on the southwest corner of the building and paused for some well-earned respite. Once she started to relax and let her tension fade, a slew of messages flew in her face. Hallucinations caused by an alien parasite.

> MP: 467 / 1626

> You gained 1 point of Adroitness. This Skill is maxed out. Upgrade your Class to progress further.

> You gained 1 point of Prowess. This Skill is maxed out. Upgrade your Class to progress further.

> You gained 1 point of Rapid Healing. This Skill is maxed out. Upgrade your Class to progress further.

Abby chimed in with a summary of her gains so far.

Name:

Sara

Species:

Human* (+2 Skill Slots - usage: 10/12)

Bloodline:

Half-Celestial (inactive)

Magic Type:

Mage - Enhancer (Exclusive)

Special trait:

See through the Veil

(Able to see into the ethereal)

Special trait:

Personal Core

(Treat Core Strength as levels in a main Class).

Main Class:

N/A

Secondary Class:

N/A

Development

System Core Strength (SCS)

25

The System Core becomes stronger and better at generating its own energy.

Core Strength is maxed out. It requires a connection to the main System Core to evolve.

1 - You can have a maximum of 10 skill points per level of Core Strength.

2 - Active Skills' upkeep can be fractioned.

3 - A maxed-out Personal Core Increases max MP pool by 50%

Mana Conductivity (MC)

58%

(83%)

A measure of how clear the body's Mana Channel (Meridian) system is.

1 - Mana conductivity impacts environmental energy absorption and channeling directly.

Purity of Body

Digestive,

Epithelial,

Skeletal,

Muscular,

Circulatory.

Increase the efficiency of all cleansed body systems efficiency by MC.

1 - Skin, Muscle, and Bone: Increase damage resistance by an additional MC/2.

2 - Muscle and Bone: Increase physical strength by an additional MC/2.

3 - Digestive and Circulatory: increase immunity and resistance to external pathogens and toxins by MC/2.

4 - Cleansed body improves MP pool and all recovery rates by MC.

Purity of Spirit

Svadhishthana

Opened Chakra nodes grant enhanced functionality to related systems.

They may grant comprehension, resistance, and sensibility to an element.

The Muladhara Chakra is not opened. No synergy available.

Opening another Chakra before the Muladhara is inadvisable.

1 - Svadhishthana; Sacral Chakra (water, gonads, reproductive organs) - Increase MP pool by 50%.

Mage - Enhancer (Exclusive)

25%

Your mana channels greatly enhance internal circulation but suffer at projecting and controlling external mana.

All External Mana Manipulation is 10 times less effective. Cannot cultivate or actively use Qi.

1 - Add a linear 25% to your mana conductivity for internal manipulation purposes (includes Purity of Body).

2 - Multiply MP pool, all Physical and internal manipulation Skills by [internal MC]

3 - Mana Conductivity does not increase your mana signature unless you are actively using MP.

4 - You do not leak at low or zero mana densities.

Cold Affinity (major)

50%

You have a great affinity with the Cold element.

1 - Increase all Cold-related effects and resistances by 50%.

2 - Add 50% to MC when converting Mana into Cold Mana.

MP Pool

1626

(297/day)

Available Energy for Active Skills. Equals to (10*SCS) * MC. Recovers (10*MC)% per day under normal mana density.

Skills: Physical (140)

Adroitness

25 72%

The Skill of moving one's body with grace and precision. Increases speed and coordination and reduces reflex delay by Rank%.

Composure

20 115%

Staying calm under pressure or pain.

This Skill's effect is capped at 90%. The remainder offsets penalties from magical effects.

When under duress, reduces penalties to mental stability, logical reasoning, and self-control by 2*Rank%.

Prowess

25 72%

Making the most of one physique during stressful situations.

Lower reflex delay, increases melee combat damage and physical power by Rank%.

Brawn

25 72%

Muscular toughness and physical endurance.

Reduces stamina consumption and damage taken, increases lifting and carrying capacity by Rank%.

Rapid Healing

25 145%

Accelerates and optimizes body recovery.

Increases healing rate, reduces the odds of permanent damage, including scars, by 2*Rank%.

Thermostasis

20 57 hot

85 cold

Widened temperature comfort range and resistance to detrimental heat exchange.

Increase comfort temperature range by 1F per rank. Modify body heat conductivity by Rank%.

Skills: Social(32)

Flattery

16

50%

Making graceful compliments and answering them appropriately.

Increases reactions during and after intimate interactions by 2*Rank%.

Presence

16

50%

Motivating people with the power of your personality.

Increases reactions during and after social interactions by 2*Rank%.

Skills: Mystical(35)

Mana Infusion

17

98%

Infuse Mana into tools and melee weapons. Adds 2*Rank% to tool effectiveness, tenacity, hardness, and damage.

Infused objects can interact with incorporeal entities. This is considered an internal manipulation Skill.

Active Skill: Activation time: instantaneous. Cost: 1 MP/6 seconds or 10 MP/attack.

Skill Boost

18

56%

104%

Specialized supplemental Mana flow to a Skill.

Boosts effects of a Skill by 2*Rank%. This is considered in the same category as the affected Skill.

Active Skill: Activation time, 1 minute. Cost, 1 MP/6 seconds

Total Skill Points: 207 / 250

Four maxed Skills. Wait, with boost going over 100% bonus and Brawn at 72%...

To keep her mind away from the horrible deeds she committed in the hospital corridors, she decided to talk shop with the "fairy" living inside her.

"Wouldn't I become invincible with boosted Brawn?"

"Dunno?"

"So, how stronger am I if compared to baseline, unaugmented Sara?"

"What?"

"Bitch, please."

*

*

Westchester Atlanta Hospital, Boulevard Avenue, Old Fourth Ward, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 2019. 16:20

"You can come out; the coast is clear."

"Did you?"

"Had to."

"Okay. I'm joining you."

Sara stood right by the front door. Remembering her PE classes, she looked up, crouched, brought both arms behind her, and sprung up as she rotated them. She added a bit of forward motion just to reach the building. The tip of her hands indeed touched the third-floor windowsill, but instead of gripping the concrete she pulled out a piece of broken glass that was lying there. Gravity ate her momentum and dragged her back. She landed in a crouch with cat-like grace.

"Boost Adroitness!" She shouted, then jumped again. She grabbed the sixth-floor window and pulled, dragging her body up with sheer arm strength and then kicking up. She landed on the rooftop balcony.

"Take that, Batman!" She pumped a victorious fist in the air. She turned the boost off, wasting only two MP for the stunt.

Kyle's drone buzzed nearby and rotated around her, startling the girl.

"Goddammit, Kyle! You don't want me angry at you!" She waved the same fist at the drone.

The drone bobbed and she imagined Kyle laughing at her all the way back at the container park.

"I want to see you coming down now!" Hainsworth shouted from the street. Because of course everyone saw it. Including her shouting commands like an idiot.

"Boost Brawn," she whispered, then jumped down. She had some angular momentum and landed on her side like a bag of potatoes. Immediately after, she sprung to her feet, making a pose like a clown doing a skit. "I'm okay!"

Yes, clown sounded better than mass murderer. No, stay locked, dark thoughts.

The Major jogged next to her, face pale. "Do you want to kill me, girl? For one moment I thought you would end up like that guy over there," he pointed at Gang Boss's corpse.

"That's the gang boss, by the way," Sara said. "Come, let's go fetch your daughter. It's getting dark in less than three hours."

In three hours, All Hallows Eve would start. She didn't want to be out and about for a Halloween Special episode.