Kara couldn't understand how he could do that. He couldn’t possibly be a human Cub, yet even when she studied his body again, she found no discrepancies. It was a human body, at the very least.

Mother always said: If you don’t know something, just ask.

She pumped more Life Force into her bone, making it sturdier. It was more to handle the stress of movement rather than for the extra Armor it provided. She couldn’t show Life Force usage outside of her body—it would be a dead giveaway of her identity, and people were looking for her. Not many Sentients were able to Dual-Wield Life Force and Mana.

Using Puppeteer, she hurled her body towards him. There were too many unknowns to use skills on him without causing permanent damage. Whatever was boosting his defense could run out if she used more power. She needed to understand what he was without risking hurting him, in the case he would prove useful, even if it meant she had to risk getting closer. Considering how strange that kid was, however, Kara made an extra precaution. She spent 50 mana to use 2rd Rank Kinetic Shield. A 200 hundred hit point worth shield covered her clothes. Anything more than that would be an overkill.

He turned around just as she swung her cane. One injury was probably enough to calm him down for a little talk.

Instead of retreating, he stood his ground. He had two daggers--he needed to get close, and there was no escaping Kara. He was about block with one and stab with the other, but once he saw the speed and Strength behind the cane, he immediately brought both daggers together to receive it.

It still wasn’t enough--the difference was far too large. He buckled as the enforced wood met his daggers, the impact nearly crushing his wrists. He received the cane at an angle, however, and instead of pushing back he pushed to the side, redirecting some of the force away from him.

For a Cub, he’s certainly proficient. Parring was a great close combat technique, but even with the right skills exceptional timing was still needed. Most didn’t risk it and fought with a shield instead.

Once the cane bounced off, Kara felt one knife beginning to leave contact with the cane—that

was a mistake. He should have kicked. It wouldn’t have worked, but it was better than thinking she was using her full strength. He obviously did not have experience fighting against people a hundred levels higher than him.

The cane, even though it would have been difficult to swing it from her position, was made wholly irrelevant by the sheer difference of her Puppeteer. She only needed to spend more Mana to move faster. Even at the worst of times, the laws of momentum did not apply to her.

She pushed, immediately forcing him to guard with both weapons again. This time, not being able to deflect it to the side, he jumped back. The sheer strength of Kara’s swing he flew half a dozen meters into the air.

Bummer. Most wouldn’t have guarded with both daggers the second time, but that one was strangely, and rightfully, paranoid.

She dashed after him, aiming for his legs while he was in the air. Every movement cost her precious Mana and risked his death.

He spun in the air, doing a backflip, and returning upright with a dagger flying straight towards her.

He was desperate. The dagger wasn’t even Life Force Infused. Kara sprinted on, ignoring it.

She cast a 2nd Rank Kinetic Wind. A gust of air launched from her forehead, striking the dagger. Even if the attack was highly resistant to Crowd-Control, her shield could still take a good hit.

She brought her cane up. It probably wouldn’t hurt him too much. She still wanted to ask him a couple of questions, maybe do a little experimentation, and give him a few silver for his troubles if she was wrong. Some monsters were highly intelligent, self-aware creatures. It didn--

Time Metaphorize Dodge Activated.

Time slowed to a crawl, and all Kara could do was widen her senses. She searched for any abnormal Mana, Life Force, or sounds.

She was in critical danger, but how? Who? No one was in the near vicinity--she did not turn off her Siren’s Web, and Sixth Sense would have made bugs eat the inside of her skin if someone prepared a sneak attack.

His last attack? Kara checked for the dagger. It was a few inches away from her forehead. It was going to connect the moment time resumes.

What’s that doing there? How would a normal dagger penetrate her Kinetic Shield? She didn’t completely power it up, but it should hold itself against a Wolf.

Should she let it strike her? Even if it would penetrate her Kinetic Shield and then her Life Force Infused skull, it would take more Mana to repair the wounds that would be caused by her dodging it then if it would if it pierces her head. It wouldn’t kill her, of course, but it will force her to stop using Mana while she fixed her bone structure.

But if that was the case, why did Time Metaphorize Dodge activate? It was an Epic rank, activating whenever critical damage was about to occur. The Game did not make mistakes. It would never misinterpret something like this. If she does nothing then severe damage is inevitable.

Two accursed words echoed in her mind: Healing Reduction.

Assuming a Cub could have an upward of 70% Shield Penetration and unnaturally high Strength, then why wouldn’t it have another absurd effect? Using Life Force to up her Armor was still out of the question, and without knowing the true danger, using Kinetic Blast to blow it away might not even work unless she upped it to the 4th rank—but at that point, the kid would also get caught in the radius.

Time resumed at its normal speed.

Having little else, Kara used an extra burst of Kinetic Mana to push her head to the side. The dagger dealt 50 damage to her Kinetic Shield, ignored the rest her shield, slid across her cheeks, cut through her teeth, and took off an earlobe as it flew by.

Her fragile spine snapped from the abrupt movement, forcing her to stop moving mid-lung. She immediately converted a couple of hundred Mana into Life Force to prevent it from splintering. This was the consequence of cheeping out and only using 3rd Empowerment. It would be a nightmare if the bones got into her blood circulation—she would have to spend days if not weeks separating them before she could channel Mana safely.

The kid rolled a short distance before he leaped to his feet, one dagger up in guard. He stared at her for a few seconds. Now that Kara stopped moving, he probably began to wonder whether to retreat or to attack.

Things became dicey. Kara could pull from the 75% of Mana she locked away, but with her spine in that condition, the risk of her spine bursting became even higher. It was one of the most heavily taxed bone structures that Mana traveled through. At most she could handle a skill or two before the risk of having her body explode would become real.

Could she use her Siren Song? No, it had no offensive capabilities. His Soul Defense was impossibly high. She needed her full attention to have a chance at it.

She would have to risk hitting him with a 5th rank Kinetic Blast if he attacked, damn the penalties and her instincts not to, but after a few hesitating steps backward, he booked it in the other way. He kept glancing behind him until he fully rounded a building.

Kara did not move for some time. Kinetic Shield soon ran out, causing the rain to drench her in a few short seconds.

There was a rhythm in how the droplets fell on the roofs, how it went down the sides of her nose and dripped from her chin. She lifted up her head, trying to imagine how water felt, but even the cold was difficult to recall.

She leaned on her cane with both hands for a minute, slowly and delicately putting herself back together. It took much more than usual to close the wound on her cheek. A minute of complete healing reduction. That was some monster rank A non-sense. The rest of the math did not make sense.

75% Armor Penetration didn’t mean 75% increased Armor Damage—it just meant it bypassed 75% of the Armor and the damage reductions it had. Considering that the shield only blocked 50 damage, his attack must have ignored 75% of the shield’s value, which was exactly 50. Dealing that much damage was difficult but doable.

Absurd skills weren’t unheard of—Unique and Legendary rarities weren’t valued just because they sounded appealing. No, the real absurdity here was that a Cub that must have been lower than level 30 could have such a ridiculous skill. Even if he was a Wolf it still didn’t make sense. This type of unbalanced power was only possessed by the most bothersome bosses, and even then, there was always a telegraph that a powerful effect was about to occur. An increase in Life Force, Mana, or at least a… a color change.

If the telegraph for that attack was just a color change, then it was impossible for Kara to see it.

Even after completely healing her body, Kara found it hard to walk.

It always was chore, but this time it was even more arduous. She almost didn’t have it in her to keep the act up. Tossing her body with Kinetic Mana would have been much easier.

She stuck with it, though. She moved the leg forward, supporting it with Kinetic Mana at the sides, enforcing it with Life Force to prevent it from breaking, and moved the opposite shoulder forward. The other leg was next, followed by its opposite arm.

That was how the Puppeteer skill worked. It was how she was able to move her corpse. Every part needed to be moved with individually if she wanted to maintain the illusion, both to her, and to others.

She stepped past the two unconscious men, pausing. She whacked one of them with the end of her cane, denting his head. She pulled it up into the air, ready to do the same for the other, but gave up half-way when she realized it wouldn’t change anything.

The First Ranker, Sayrina The Marauder, Kara The Defier, Kara The Blind Mage, was unable to capture a Cub.

She wouldn’t have died if that dagger had penetrated her brain, but the damage to her skull would have been an issue. The pelvis, sternum, spine, and skull were vital to using Mana. It was especially more so for Kara’s fragile body.

It almost made her chuckle how backward everything was. She tilted her head sideways out of habit. “What do I do now?” she said out loud. “Just what can I do when I’m this weak?”