The fight against the Siren had been exhausting in multiple ways. Countering the area of effect flood with a pressurized paper bubble took extreme calculations. The melee fight had actually been far simpler to win.

Of course, the final blow had been Thirst.

Musing on the fight was interrupted, and Eve chose to disengage Savage Survival Mind at a knock from the waiting room door. It wouldn't do to meet people under the effect it created. Since it was only the flip of a switch, the risk was minimal. Glancing longingly at the food on her table, Eve decided that eating and bathing could wait. However, she could sense two female figures outside, and curiosity caused her to remove the paper divider and unlock the door.

Standing in front of her were two well-endowed female fighters, one tall and supermodel sexy, the other a short adorable cutie.

“Good evening, Lady Eve, could we have a moment of your time?” the taller one said as the shorty bounced up and down with excitement.

Eve shrugged before moving back to allow both women to enter her waiting room. Then, moving to the table laden with food, she started eating as the two sat down opposite her.

“Thank you for your time. My name is Vivian, and this little person is Bridgette. We’ve been watching your fights, and both of us have come to the conclusion that victory against you would be impossible without sacrifices we do not wish to make.” the taller fighter, Vivian, said.

Eve raised one eyebrow as the shorty, Bridgette, said, “Truth!”

Allowing her armor to unweave into the normal five swords, daggers, and rings, Eve started eating as her clothing shifted into a sexier mode of dress. She would never admit to enjoying the look of astonishment as her Charm struck both women at full force.

“Aren’t you both Champions?” Eve said as she started devouring a plate of chicken drumsticks, “Why would you think you can’t win?”

“You have used the High Elements, Space and Time, in your fights. While I can completely counter Curses, that means little if you teleport me to the top of the Arena shield and let me fall. I have no doubt our fight would end with my death. I am ashamed to admit I let greed cloud my mind earlier.” Vivien said.

“I can counter Space and Curses but not Time,” Bridgette said, grabbing a muffin with Eve’s blessing to start eating.

“What ranks are you both?” Eve questioned, finishing her plate of drumsticks and moving to one filled with pork katsu.

“First,” Vivien said.

“Second,” Bridgette said around a mouthful of muffin.

Normally I would be willing to let it slide, but these two are worth over three hundred and fifty million Slots. Eve thought her eyes growing cold before they grew thoughtful. On the other hand, desperate people do desperate things. If they go in willing to take me down with them at any cost instead of fighting…

“What are you offering in exchange for your lives? I’m looking at losing over three hundred and fifty million Slots to say nothing of the Free Stats.” Eve said, her tone cold.

“Eternal service.” Vivien and Bridgette both said that as Vivien took up a steak, she layered it with red pastiche sauce.

Eve tapped her foot, considering the offer before she asked, “Are both of you worth three hundred and fifty million Slots?”

“Absolutely.” Vivien said, pointing the knife she was using to delicately cut her steak up at Eve before continuing, “Even if we were not, I am willing to swear on the System we both have the means to kill you while committing suicide if there is no other option.” Bridgette nodded as she scarfed another muffin down before saying, “I couldn’t kill you, but I could sacrifice my life to put a permanent debuff on you. Vivien would then sacrifice her life to enact a ritual that killed anyone with a lower Stat total than her Intelligence at the cost of her life. It would kill us both, but you won’t survive either. Mutually assured, uh, death?”

“Destruction, dear,” Vivien said, taking a piece of steak and chewing slowly as she stared at Eve.

Not worth the risk. Eve thought, glad she had turned Savage Survival Mind off. Best to hedge my bets.

“There’s always the possibility the Fifth, Fourth, or Third Champion might kill me….” Eve said.

Both fighters across from her looked at each other and broke out in maniacal peals of laughter.

“No chance. For one, they are all male, which means your Charm will make fighting them a breeze. Second, they are all specialized in fighting in anti-mana environments, which will be meaningless against you.” Vivien said, finishing her laughter and taking another bite of her steak.

“While you won’t be able to use the telekinetic aspect of your weapons, nothing is stopping you from manipulating them as you hold the hilts. There is zero doubt in my mind that you have the physical skills to fight in melee from watching your battles.” Bridgette said, as her laughter died into giggles before she started finishing her muffin and moving to grab an apple.

“A simple application of sharpness and chopping plate armor, chainmail, and leather is easily achieved,” Vivien said as she finished her steak and moved on to a pasta dish.

“It’s pretty much the method we both used to beat them,” Bridget said, taking a bowl of applesauce to go with her actual apple.

Both women looked at each other with a devious grin and said in unison, "Tits and ass are pretty distracting. Luckily for them, our fights were not to the death."

Eve nodded as her confusion cleared. Anti-mana or anti-magic fields in slang would be a perfect counter to the Elemental fighters preventing them from reaching the highest Champion ranks. On the other hand, if an enemy fighter was good enough to fight within an anti-magic field the method became a double-edged sword. It made even more sense since the Arena was a closed environment. While in a real battle, simply running away would allow bombardment through the A.M. field from range, in the Arena that wasn’t viable method of fighting due to the space constraints.

“I can see from your expressions, Lady Eve, you are still wondering if it would be worth fighting us, even with the threat of guaranteed death for both parties. Yet, have you considered the benefits? Currently, we are all at the Third Tier. Climbing higher will take a great deal of time no matter the method used.” Vivien said, waving a pasta laden fork at Eve’s face, “Think of the valuable resource of time that you save by having two more Tier Three servants to handle issues while you are busy Leveling! Well worth just over a third of a billion Slots, by far. I am specialized in transportation and speed, while Bridgette is specialized in affliction along with preservation. I have been told you are actively searching for methods to extend the lives of those who serve you, too.”

Eve’s eyebrow twitched in irritation as Bridgette moved a hand towards the chocolate cake. Noticing the glare, the smaller woman switched immediately to an apple pie instead.

“Don’t you have owners or managers or something that requires you to keep fighting?” Eve asked as she swiftly moved the chocolate cake to her side of the table.

Vivien’s face grew solemn as she said, “I regret to tell you there has been a tragic loss of life recently. My owner died an accidental death ingesting tainted poison water. At almost the same time, Bridgette’s owner seems to have decided to leap from a high place, creating a disturbing work of art on the street below.”

Eve raised her eyebrow as Bridgette paused in eating her apple pie to say, “Our contracts specifically prevented us from harming our owners in any way, you understand?”

What a clear loophole to exploit. Eve thought. What can you expect from amateur contract writers, though?

“Wilson, are they on the up and up?” Eve said, watching as both women narrowed their eyes at her.

The System doesn’t gamble, neither should Eve Smith.

Eve sighed. Three hundred and fifty million Slots, along with a massive chunk of Free Stats, went out of reach with her choice. “I have confirmation from a trusted friend that you are on the up and up. Take a look at these Contracts, and let us talk business before the next match.” Eve said before she slid two contracts pulled from her inventory across the table, one to each woman. A gesture re-sealed the door, and Eve turned into a whirling food devouring dervish. Minutes later the table was empty except for the apple pie Bridgette was working on, and the pasta dish Vivien was still eating.

Eve flexed, creating a bath, and moved to sink into it. She didn’t miss how both women evaluated her bare form, which was normal since Charm affected both genders, though in highly different amounts. Then, using her Domain, Eve created brushes and hair scrubbing tools working the long blonde tresses that she had bundled up in concealing robes for so long.

Practically to the length of my lower back. Fantasy world magic land sure promotes killer hair growth. Eve thought with annoyance. If there is going to be anti-magic in play, it is best to keep the hair short to prevent grappling.

Cleaning and drying her long hair, Eve proceeded to wrap the entire package of long hair in a curly paper tube that smoothly adjusted into a fancy yet fashionable hairpiece complete with glowing glyphs that screamed magic. Her mind turned to the problem of anti-magic field, which was a misnomer, since they didn’t actually stop magic from what she understood, they drained it by multiplying the cost in mana the further the effect was from the body. An enchanted sword would suffer minimal problems in an anti-magic field, but an enchanted sword that could fly would fail mere inches from skin contact. Perhaps failure wasn’t the right word. Instead, the cost of keeping the sword afloat would increase to the point that it could drain a mana pool dry in seconds.

In other words, Blood, along with most of her Curse weaponry, would still be effective as long as they were close to her body. A punch could trigger Shatter, too. A stab could let Thirst work unimpeded without a doubt. Curses would still take effect, even with the field active, though she wasn't quite sure why. Teleporting would be out of the realm of possibility, but her ability to track things within her Domain with Aura shouldn’t have issues.

Of course, the reverse was true for her opponents. Cursed weapons, enchanted gear, several things would still work anti-magic, and Champions likely had a few. So it was time to double down on her current power alignment.

Status.

Race: Witch

Class: Witch of the Library

Profession: Talismanic Librarian

Level: 500

Health: 27,000/27,000 (270 HPs regen)

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

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

Free Stats: 101,800

S/S Slots: 12, 276,000

Skills:

Bond Familiar (25%)

Phylactery (Familiar) (10%)

Aura of the Library I (52%)

Spells:

Transcendent Transfusion (25%)

Paper Plating (25%)

Domain of the Library I (52%)

Mental Traits:

Traveler’s Immortal Core V

Acuity V

Savage Survival Mind V

Bibliotheca Mind (60%)

Physical Traits:

Traveler’s Immortal Core V

Grace V

Resist All Basic Elements V

Bibliotheca Body (60%)

Eve dumped all her spare Free Stats to the Dragon Bank, except the amount required to maximize them all the way to Tier Six. It was a basic guess on the amount, as any change to her Title wasn’t something she could plan effectively.

She then purchased in alignment with her previous plans. It cost her all her Slots, but the changes were worth it. Reviewing the new Rank V's in her Traits a grin split Eve’s face.

Grace V

Requires an Aura

Perfect balance. Perfect form. Perfect motion.

The motion of your body has a minor enchantment effect increased by Charm.

You cannot be Stunned.

Expected and completely in line with her previous plan, Grace V was now another weapon in her arsenal.

Traveler’s Immortal Core V

Requires: Bibliotheca Mind, Bibliotheca Body, Witch Race

Devour ambient energy in any form for any Regeneration.

Prevents the effects of Chaos upon the Mind, Body, and Soul.

True Travelers depend on none except themselves in the Deeps!

Traveler’s Immortal Core V showed a terrifying concept from the addition of a single word. Soul. If the things in the Deeps could alter a person’s Soul, they were approaching the Brown Effect in power.

Acuity V

Requires Mana Regeneration equal to Total Mana Pool.

Your Mind is always accelerated without burden upon the Body.

Every additional Rank above the first grants another stream of consciousness.

As her mind read the final line in Acuity V it was like a flower opening to the light of the sun. Four separate streams of consciousness joined the first allowing true multi-tasking for the first time in Eve’s life. She immediately set one stream aside to plan for her future build. Another stream was assigned handling calculations in combat. A third was directed to plan to gain achievements for Class upgrading. The fourth and final stream was dedicated to hosting Savage Survival Mind V which gave her one hundred percent pain tolerance, at the same time it provided a cold clinical outlook on the world.

Resist Elemental Earth V

You resist 95% of Elemental Earth’s effects.

You are Immune to Petrification.

Resist Elemental Water V

You resist 95% of Elemental Water’s effects.

You are Immune to Slow.

Resist Elemental Wind V

You resist 95% of Elemental Wind’s effects.

You are Immune to Knockdown.

Resist Elemental Fire V

You resist 95% of Elemental Fire’s effects.

You are Immune to Disintegration.

Eve looked at the previously unchecked effects attached to Resist All Elements Rank V with narrowed eyes. Ninety-five percent still wouldn’t have stopped the Stonesmash Giant’s club from turning her into meat pastiche. Five percent of ten million damage was still enough to one-shot Eve. A one-shot would expose her ability to return to life, and that would lead to final death. Immunity to Slow, Knockdown, Disintegration, and Petrification showed a rather logical breakdown.

They were all effects that led to an instant kill or were one.

Immortality is not invincibility. Eve thought grimly, looking at her Skills and Spells.

Bond Familiar

The witch bonds a familiar from the current dimension sharing power and price with them.

Together, forever.

Phylactery (Familiar)

A witch’s familiar is more than an ally. They contain a shard of their master’s soul. Without the destruction of the shard, true death cannot occur for a witch.

Death is only the beginning…for others!

Transcendent Transfusion

A witch can transfer damage to others as long as a Phylactery exists to act as a conduit. There is no limit to the amount of damage that the witch can transfer.

Stronger than steel, more robust than rubies!

Paper Plating

Mitigate the damage to all Familiars from the Witch by 100%.

Mitigate the damage to all Pacts from the Witch by 100%.

Any entity sharing a Phylactery with you cannot attack.

Any entity sharing a Phylactery with you splits all Experience.

Mana can heal any entity sharing a Phylactery with you.

Eve knew her combination of familiar, phylactery, paper plating, and transcendent transfusion was a loop that could be broken. With enough power, Nota could be frozen in time, placed in another dimension, or even wiped from existence long enough for Eve to be killed. At that point, her Inventory would be revealed as the phylactery brought Eve back to life, and it would be child’s play to give her the final death. Anything that could bypass Nota’s damage reduction could easily discover the Inventory and breach it in her opinion, so Eve equated dying once for now, with true death.

Transcendent Transfusion and Paper Plating were useful for cuts, but severing a finger, for instance, caused progressive continuous damage. Eve could transfer the damage, and heal Nota, but it would great an ongoing drain making it worse than useless!

She turned her attention back to the final Trait to reach Rank V.

Savage Survival Mind V

You can reach into the part of your mind that survives.

You are the mirror of the mind.

Pain Tolerance increased by 100%.

Reflect mental attacks? Eve thought as she read the middle line in Savage Survival Mind V. She might not understand now, but Eve was willing to bet that any Trait requiring just under three million Slots to upgrade was useful.

Turning her thoughts once more to the upcoming battle, Eve decided to alter her Soul Sheets once more. With her previous experience in making armor, Eve got to work in the comfort of her warm bath.

Summoning her Soul Sheets to float, Truth turned into a pair of sexy librarian spectacles with a hearing aid combination that would assist in countering illusions for both sight and sound. While the opponent might not be able to project images, there was nothing stopping them from concealing what they had on them to fight.

Shatter became a pair of custom leather gloves with brass knuckle additions, giving no confusion about its best performance.

Disease became a pair of custom leather boots, poisoning the ground she walked upon with their power.

The rest of her Soul Sheets with the exception of Thirst shifted, wrapping around each other until a Jian was formed. The fight against the Siren had allowed her to master shifting the layers of her armor, which followed through to her new weapon. A Jian was better than a gladius, following the theory that an inch longer was an inch stronger, especially when that inch was the distance to your heart.

Being a sword, it was effective at both cutting and thrusting. But, while she was no sword master, Eve didn’t need to be as the weapon would be wielding her in a macabre change of the dance.

Thirst changed into a form-fitting dress that wouldn’t look out of place on one of the girls working at Glenwood’s old Gem Shop. It was a look built to take full advantage of Grace V and Eve’s high Charm.

Eve didn’t like being on display, but dead was worse. She knew from personal experience. Men found it hard to fight when watching a pair of bouncing tits. Even the most hardened killers on the planet could be distracted by a nice figure and revealing dress. They might not stay distracted, but when seconds counted, it mattered.

Eve took a glance at the Spell and Skill that formed the foundation of her fighting style.

Aura of the Library I

Where the Librarian exists, so is the Library.

Skills that were used during Class Evolution by Eve Smith to make this Aura still apply.

Skill Penalties that were used during Class Evolution by Eve Smith to make this Aura still apply.

A Librarian knows what occurs in the Library.

The more books in the Library, the greater the range.

The fewer books in the Library, the more knowledge gleaned.

Knowledge is power unconstrained by mortal minds!

Eve removed twenty-five books from her library, placing them back into Inventory. Fifty meters was plenty of distance when teleportation was impossible.

Domain of the Library I

Where the Library exists, so does the Librarian’s Domain.

Skills that were used during Class Evolution by Eve Smith to make this Domain still apply.

Skill Penalties that were used during Class Evolution by Eve Smith to make this Aura still apply.

A Librarian rules their Domain uncontested.

The more books in the Library, the greater the range.

The fewer books in the Library, the more precise force flows.

Knowledge is power unconstrained by mortal bonds!

The change from thirty books in her Library to five caused Domain and Aura to sharpen. Eve felt as if the world had been slightly out of focus yet was now utterly within her grasp.

Eve realized that her control had increased by several magnitudes, like a muscle that had been constantly practiced. Where before she was a graceful painter, now she was a precise stereographic machine.

Rising from her bath with minutes to spare on her internal timer, normal paper fluffy towels dried Eve off. Thirst slipped on first, followed by Shatter, and finally Disease. Then, grasping her Jian, she struck a martial pose before Vivien and Bridgette.

“If you are quite done with the photoshoot, we have questions,” Vivien said, pointing to her Contract with a devious grin.

Rolling her eyes, Eve moved over to hash out the best deal. Unfortunately, not every contract was made with people who had little position to bargain after all.