With the final palm strike landing on the chest of formida, the battle was over. Just like the one before her, she stood there for a moment with blood dripping from her mouth and then fell to the ground.

Unlike her 'sister', no one managed to injure her, so she probably treated this fight as a game. Surprised expression still could be seen on her human part of the face.

You have gained 3514 experience points for overcoming your adversary.

Level Up.

You have reached level 20.

Mana Manipulation reached level 6. Mana Perception reached level 9. Analyze reached level 2. Alchemy reached level 9. Leatherworking reached level 4. Tailoring reached level 8. Blacksmithing reached maximum level. With the influence of Enhanced mana pool, Blacksmithing has evolved into "Arcana Blacksmithing". With the influence of Arcana Blacksmithing, special skill "Metal Manipulation" learned. Metal Manipulation - ability to control and shape any metal with your will and mana. With the influence of Reaver class and Space Time Magic, special skill "Phantom Shift" learned. Phantom Shift - By partially entering another realm, your body becomes intangible. Uses 960 mana/min to sustain. Choose two of your skills to rise by one level.

Just as before, I choose 'enhanced mind' and 'body manipulation' to raise by one level, and the moment I did so, for the first time I am in this world, I could feel absolute control over mana, it was now fully part of my body.

I summoned my phantom tail and by changing its shape started experimenting with mana control. It was becoming sharper and longer. Six meters long, seven, eight .. when it reached ten meters long, I stopped, I felt that battle efficiency would drop if I extended it even further.

Mana Perception reached maximum level. Mana Manipulation reached level 7. Mana Manipulation reached level 8. Mana Manipulation reached level 9. Mana Manipulation reached maximum level. Phantom Tail has reached level 4. Phantom Tail has reached level 5. Phantom Tail has reached level 6.

And this wasn't all, I realized that now I could raise my mind power as well, just like I usually do with strength and other stats. There were limits how far I can go without a help of the system, but the choice was there. Fufufu, just you wait, Phoenix. Soon even my mana will be higher than yours.

I then hurriedly glanced at our surroundings.

"Amateurs!" snorted Darson.

"Hey! We are grateful for your help, but that doesn't give you right to insult us! We weren't prepared to face two of them." said minotaur with upset tone while Phoenix was healing his wounds.

"Pay him no mind, he is always like this..." joined Tia.

There were no monsters nearby so I quickly lost interest in their chatter, I couldn't wait to test my metal manipulation. I had high hopes for this skill. I could already see myself in a role of certain villain, tossing cars at enemies with my mind alone. There are no cars in this world? That's just insignificant detail. One can always find something to toss! Yes! A swarm of swords is even better.

I unsheathed my sword, this poor weapon still saw no action and was nothing more than a decoration, and activated metal manipulation.

The sword wobbly hovered in the air, but that was limits of what I could do. How .. disappointing!

Sure, the skill probably can be useful in blacksmithing, as it is possible to shape melted metal into a weapon with incredible precision, and almost without any tools .. but what about my shattered dreams?! No! It's too soon to give up! This skill is only at level one. There is still hope with higher levels.

*Sigh*

Let's see what this "Phantom Shift" is.

The moment I activated the skill, for the lack of better words, I felt as if I entered an underwater world. I could see and even hear (though sounds were muffled), but each movement was restricted and I didn't dare to breathe in this liquid like air. I should never activate this skill with open mouth... Next, I touched the nearby tree and my hand passed through it as if I was a ghost.

I soon discovered that I could 'step' on the air. If not for the lack of air to breathe and large consumption of mana, this skill could be used as indirect means to fly.

Next, I decided to test if there are other dangers besides suffocating or drowning. In the movies, if you stop using a similar skill while passing through a wall, it would mean your death. The body and wall, merge into one.

It shouldn't be a problem if it's only a finger. In the worse case, I can just cut it off and regrow a new.

I stabbed the tree with my pinky and then canceled the phantom shift. When I did so, for a moment I felt a slight resistance, as if the tree was pushing me away. Once I was back in the real world, the finger was healthy, but the same couldn't be said about the tree. The stabbed part now was missing.

Interesting, I think I just found a new way to attack. Just to be sure I activated phantom shift again and this time stabbed my hand up to the elbow. While I was in the phantom shift, just out of curiosity I looked for the missing part of a tree ... sadly, without any luck. Either, each time I activate phantom shift I enter a different part of the plane .. or it was erased from the existence.

Anyway, it works. When I canceled phantom shift again, my hand was healthy, and the tree had a new hole.

Note for myself, don't put your hand into metal when mana is low. It might be hard to withdraw without phantom shift...

*

All of us together were now walking back to the portal. We decided to make a break and return to the city for a lunch. Mostly it was because Elmor needed new weapons. As a friendly person, I offered to fix them .. for a price.

After experimenting a bit with phantom claws I was sure that from now, learning mana based skills or magic should be easy. Next, I spent attribute points I gained from level up, and altered my body to the limits.

> Name: Melissa Health: 976/976 Level: 20 Mana: 745/1099 Race: Cat Beastkin Stamina: 1032/1034 Gender: Female Strength: 164 Age: 15 Agility: 193 Class: Reaver Endurance: 162 Subclass: Alchemist, Tailor, Leatherworker, Arcana Blacksmith Mind Power: 157 State: Healthy Unallocated attribute points 0 > ACTIVE Body Manipulation (Unique) LVL 6 Mana Manipulation LVL MAX Dragon Claws LVL 3 Scent manipulation LVL 1 Phantom Claws(Special) LVL 5 Sprint LVL MAX Phantom Tail(Special) LVL 6 Synthesis LVL 8 Devour Mana(Special) LVL 4 Analyze LVL 2 Phantom Shift(Special)(NEW) LVL 1 Intimidation LVL 3 Limit Break LVL 4 Metal Manipulation(NEW) LVL 1 Though Acceleration LVL 2 PASSIVE Eternal LVL MAX Nightvision LVL 2 Corrosion Resistance LVL 3 Enhanced Smell LVL 4 Mental Resistance LVL MAX Enhanced Hearing LVL 5 Poison Resistance LVL MAX Enhanced Sight LVL 4 Paralysis Resistance LVL MAX Enhanced Mind (Special) LVL 5 Heat Resistance LVL 2 Enhanced Mana Pool LVL 1 Mana Perception LVL MAX Enhanced Health LVL 1 Godly Accuracy LVL 1 Enhanced Stamina LVL 1 Alchemy LVL 9 Unknown Martial Arts LVL 9 Leatherworking LVL 4 Lie Detection LVL 3 Tailoring LVL 8 Bow Mastery LVL 3 Arcana Blacksmithing(NEW) LVL 1 Handgun Mastery LVL MAX Acrobatics LVL 5 Regeneration LVL 5 > Space Time Magic(Special) LVL 2

Not bad!

After that, I started 'reading' DNA obtained from formida. Uhh, I don't want to remember how I did that. It was so gross!

With body manipulation at level six, changing DNA was even easier now. I already had a vague idea how I should alter my bones to imitate her's, but just to be sure, I will do that after checking it at least hundreds times ...

I glanced at her hereditary memories and an interesting thought suddenly hit me. Without delay, I started to work.

First of all, I separated a bit of my blood from the rest and started to alter its DNA. The process was actually harmful to the cells, and they wouldn't live long. But there should be enough time to accomplish what I wanted. Regeneration was ruining all my work by restoring cells back to normal, so I had to use body manipulation to suppress it.

When I was done, I poured altered blood into an empty potion and gave it to Phoenix.

"Blood?" asked Phoenix while looking at the bottle from all sides.

"Yes. Now, be a good boy and drink." I smiled in response and when he gulped it down, continued. "Use body manipulation to look into hereditary memories."

"Kitty! This is.." shouted Phoenix with excitement when realized what I was offering.

"Yes, those memories contain my understanding of skills I know. It's impossible to teach high level 'enhanced mind' and 'body manipulation' by normal means. But as you can see, I found a way." I said with a grin. Too bad he is already level twenty. We could exploit the system for its offered choice to raise levels of skills...

*

After we reached the city, our first visit was the guild. There we received our reward for the hunted monsters, and split it evenly. As always, most of the gold was from formida. It was a sad sight seeing so much gold going into separate hands, but it's ok, we can always hunt more...

"Kitty, why are you crying?" asked Phoenix.

"I am not crying!" I quickly wiped my eyes with a hand.

When Darson paid us two hundred gold coins, my mood was lifted, and I happily followed Tia with Phoenix. She said she knows a nice place where we can eat something delicious! Ahh! This isn't good! I am already drooling. I should restrain myself. In my dimension, I already have some nutrients for emergency regeneration (just a few hundred kilos, but it's enough for now). Yep, this time not more than twenty servings. I don't want others to think I am a gluttony...

*

Metal Manipulation reached level 2. Metal Manipulation reached level 3. Heat Resistance reached level 3.

It was so easy to improve skills when mana was fully under my control. With level three, metal manipulation finally started to show its potential. I could already bend or lift anything made of metal with my mind alone. Well, almost anything. The limit was three hundred kilos ... and the metal has to be 'marked' with my mana.

At this point, it's easier to lift with hands.

"Wow! So fast! It takes almost half day for Gregor." exclaimed Tia while looking at the sword in my hands.

"Fufufu. It's only natural. I am a master blacksmith." I said and stabbed the sword into the ground.

The Greatsword was nothing like before. I completely remade it by using advanced knowledge of metallurgy. Normally, it would be nearly impossible to change the composition of metal. But with my metal manipulation, it was a child's play. Even if some metals were mixed, after melting it down, I can easily separate each component.

His sword now was even better than the sword at my waist. Actually, I should remake it already .. but it's the first weapon Phoenix has bought me. Somehow I am reluctant to part with it. I know, I will just keep it as a memento.

"Kitty.." Phoenix shook his head while looking at me.

"What?! I am really master blacksmith now." I pouted at him.

So what if I am blacksmith less than a week.

"Of course you are, Kitty. But what we will say to Rick? We already did a lot of damage to the interior of this building." said Phoenix while gesturing around us.

There were many dents in the walls. They were there from the time my failed guns were exploding. I looked at a new hole in the ground I just made with the sword.

"Oops." I smiled embarrassedly.