When the thugs guarding the Flock’s underground gambling den rose to block her way, Eve didn’t use more force than required to pass.

A few cheesy karate neck chops took care of everything.

Once all the thugs were unconscious, Eve spent a moment searching for space in the casino underground with Aura and Domain. Finding a vacant room, she teleported down into the clear space. Upon appearing, she noted that tiny cracks had started running throughout her body. The cracks glowed faintly before vanishing.

Perhaps manipulating space has a cost? Eve thought as she looked around with Aura. Something to check later.

Following a trail of small claw marks in the surroundings to where Tim was located was effortless. A look inside the room with Aura allowed her to see the boy chatting with the Flock leader, who sat behind a massive desk. Tim’s expression was growing progressively worse as she watched both him and the Flock’s leader talk. A quick scan showed nothing else in the bare room, which the criminals built for subordinates giving reports, and nothing else.

“Mr. Henry, I have the money required to leave like you requested when I asked earlier,” Tim said, holding a decent-sized bag heavy with the clink of coin pulled from a smaller pouch of his own.

“Oh? Did I say something like that? My mistake Tim, I’m afraid I gave you the wrong price. It isn’t fifty gold to leave. The price is actually double that amount.” Henry said, his voice sickly sweet. Eve could clearly tell the breakdown of negotiations was already well underway.

“I’m sure you would be willing to add a discount, so that information on the fey slave summoning project you are running doesn’t leak,” Tim said, his eyes narrowing.

Eve was impressed. It was pretty amazing for a shorty like Tim to threaten someone that was almost ten times his level. Such stupidity usually ended only one way, with a dead body fed to the Forest or farm pigs. However, lucky for Tim, she had been warned by Pan about the scent of fey wind-tainted he carried. While the boy had clearly not been a warlock or elemental binder of any kind, the fact that the wind mouse could scent something was troubling. Shadow had slipped into Tim’s own shadow to ensure no issue tracking the boy to provide surety.

Eve was a bit surprised by Henry’s idiocy. If there was one thing almost every nation, even those at war, agreed upon in this world, it was summoning anything from outside the world was illegal. Angels and demons were both listed as banned entities by the Second World War. Fey was a close second, although native fey races from before The Pro Pace World Treaty were allowed to remain.

In the wake of the massive global battles from the war, everyone involved, including the Serpent Empire, banned many things from use or abuse. Close to the top of the list within the Treaty would be enslaving immortal servants such as fey since it never ended well for anyone. Eve had looked into investing quite a bit of history during her reading time in the last few years, knowing this was only natural.

Since I was already planning to clean up a little before we leave, I might as well take care of this too. Eve thought. A rogue such as Tim could be extremely useful exploring ruins. It would be a simple matter to power level him a bit, too. It might still be a trap, but likely not for me specifically.

Decision made, Eve watched the drama continue unfolding.

Henry appeared to purple with rage, yet he didn’t strike out without warning. Instead, the middle-aged leader of the Flock got ahold of his temper before calming down in seconds.

“Tim, think about this logically. The moment you expose anything, the Flock will have no choice except to kill you.” Henry said, “I know you have friends in the orphanage. If you force my hand, I’ll have to strike at them as well.”

Eve raised an eyebrow before calmly taking a draw on her pipe and teleporting in to sit right behind Tim on a paper chair that appeared underneath her. She exhaled the long puff on her pipe before blowing a smoke ring towards Henry and said, “Threatening my orphans. Tell me more. I love to hear the dead speak.”

Henry’s expression was confused when she appeared, which slowly shifted into anger as she finished. It was clear he couldn’t even see through her new looks. Had she appeared in her granny form, Eve was sure he would be quivering in terror. Lack of fear appeared to be something common for now with her new form.

“This bitch is who you think can keep you safe, Tim? Ridiculous!” Henry said before attacking in a blatant attempt to remove the boy’s support.

Eve felt the shift in space as Henry attacked with a cutting chain burst of wind arrows. Grabbing the weaker of them, Tim, with a thought, pulled him directly behind her as the arrows of pure air struck her body without effect. She let a small smirk pass across her features as the wind wasn’t even able to force her hat to shift, preventing the reveal of deep cold silver eyes now alighting with fury. Paper armor and paper clothing were the same to Eve these days. The fact that Henry was barely sixty percent of her own level added to the amusement she felt.

Like an ant blowing air at a titan. Eve thought, suppressing a giggle.

“Henry, is that the best you can do? For shame, a level three hundred waste of space! I bet your family had to pay through the nose to get you assigned here. The Flock would never accept such an idiot otherwise.” Eve said, her tone musing.

Time to spend. Eve thought her Bibliotheca Mind accelerating her personal time, turning lightning-quick flickers of chemical speed into stretched moments of eternity. Sixty-two free stat points and forty Slots were fed by Eve to the System to gain a new twist to her power. Her normal method of solving problems violently here would end up causing untold casualties, so a softer approach was required. It wouldn’t be due to accidentally dismember someone of actual importance, which happened to be gambling. Even the weakest guard that might run in to help could be well-connected. It was a strange situation where an organization's leader was actually easier to dispose of than the weaker members. Just my luck, there’s some random nobody here who has a relative at two-thousand plus. Even with Aura, I cannot control the actions or idiocy of others. Instead, I will control myself. As long as my actions fall under defending my territory, Henry’s own family powerhouses cannot move without breaking the underworld rules.

A look at the new Spell purchased before it was eaten by the Domain made her smirk in amusement.

Paper Puppet

Title Limited Spell.

Must have the Title, Witch of the Library.

Only available if mana regeneration is higher than 20,000.

Sacrifice 5% of your mana regeneration.

Your mana regeneration can never exceed your total mana.

The Domain of Paper can be applied to Bibliotheca Body.

Bodies in motion are books made flesh. Bend thy flesh to shatter their bones!

Eve had trained her body slowly over the years, and the sad realization took time to arrive.

Eve was no kung-fu fighter, not by a long shot.

However, here in the wonderful world filled with a System, it was possible to push past that lack of ability with the proper payment. Paper Puppet was the solution Eve arrived at after a quick scan through her new Titled Class Spell and Skill List. Why bother learning complex martial arts or training muscle memory when they were utterly outclassed?

Henry moved like a bullet aided by his own specialty of wind. Without sound, he barreled from behind the desk he’d previously been sitting at a picture of violence. A fist covered in the austere emerald green of wind mana struck like a wrecking ball at Eve with crushing force. It met the perfect counter of her open palm with a soft press which dispersed the force of the punch effortlessly. The wind blew past her chair, ruffling Tim’s hair but doing little else.

“Mistake,” Eve said before she shifted her pipe, taking a long draw on it. The glowing gleam of lit pipe tobacco left a fiery afterimage as her body moved into motion.

Motion is thought. Thought is motion. Eve chanted in her mind, even as her body flexed with inevitable might.

Bibliotheca Body responded to Paper Puppet, causing Eve’s shape to flicker into a blur as she struck with merciless force against Henry. A palm to his stomach caused the Flock leader to bend over the strike. She deftly nudged his head, so the vomit landed sideways of them both. Without pause, a second palm blurred into a blade-like motion aiming for his extremities. Eve’s brutal knife hand blows cruelly struck onto elbows, knees, and collarbone as her form twisted in mind-bending motions exactly like a boneless puppet with invisible strings.

By the time Henry struck the ground, he had been thoroughly crippled, and Eve could see the anger give way to fear. Her body's motions had been so precise that her pipe never lost a spark. A single soft puff sent a smoke-shaped skull careening into the downed man.

The power of absolute control of my own motion, just as powerful as I imagined. Eve thought. I can finally act like a proper ninja witch librarian!

“What to do with you…” Eve said, plans spinning in her mind. A pulse of mana flickered from Henry, and she sighed before saying, “Henry. Henry. Use that weak muscle between your ears. If you can’t beat me, what makes you think more trash will have a chance?”

Eve’s spinning Runic Paper Die separated from the necklace spinning into place over her head like a crown. Soft black flames started to flicker around each die as various colors joined the flames. Each color corresponded to one of the runes and denoted a piece of her weapon's imbued power.

Eve checked her status before Aura informed her of multiple enemies arriving from separate points of attack.

Race: Witch

Class: Witch of the Library

Profession: Talismanic Librarian

Level: 500

Health: 9,000/9,000 (90 HPs regen)

Mana: 27,000/27,000 (27,000 MPs regen)

Stats: Str 900; Dex; 900; Con 900; Wis 2,700; Int 2,700; Charm 0

Free Stats: 350

S/S Slots: 360

Skills:

Aura of the Library I (0%)

Spells:

Domain of the Library I (0%)

Mental Traits:

Bibliotheca Mind (0%)

Physical Traits:

Bibliotheca Body (0%)

The loss of so many free stats and Slots was annoying. However, Eve was thrilled at the feeling of perfect movement. While she would never be able to combat a physical version of her own build, weaker enemies like those approaching were out of luck.

Once, she had controlled a paper golem.

Now, instead of a golem, her own body could be the weapon.

Eve pointedly did not think about how she could defeat Sara, Ren, and Rin at dance contests, finally.

Her motivation of choice had been purely for combat, yes!