"Which one of you ugly pricks wanna 1vs1 me?” she said, spitting to the side. Kara decided to give this business another try, but with a slight variation to her opening line.

They were a five group party with four men and one woman. Two of the men were Wolfs. In Kara’s eyes, they differed little from the last vagabond group she had conversed with. Some were burley, some were scrawny, but they all had that gaunt look upon their faces.

Their reaction, on the other hand, couldn’t be more different. She barely got another word out before a barrage of snickers, insults, taunts, and unexpectedly detailed descriptions of what they were going to do to her mother came out one after another.

But seriously, what my mother have to do with this?

Instead of fighting her right then, however, they first fought among themselves for the right to grant mercy upon the mentally deranged kid, as they put it

After a short discussion, the Wolf among the Cubs stepped out. He was no typical peasant worker—he either soldiered or hunted monsters for a living.

A fervor rose within Kara’s heart as she faced her opponent. Her fingers itched fiercely, tightening and untightening her grasp on the hilt of her sword, unable to contain herself any longer. She shook her feet, one after another.

“Do you know,” Kara began, a smile spreading on her face, “Of freedom? To move and twist without shattering like glass?”

“This will be a quickie,” he said, brandishing his blade across the frigid air. “Good luck next time, sorry you got fucked up. Happens to the best of us."

He must have invested in external Life Force skills. Considering he did not debuff her already, he most likely leaned towards the offensive branch. Life Force Blast, Slash, Pierce, and Burst were the common ones at this level. His 3rd Rank Life Force didn't seem to be a rare variant either. It provided 40% of his current HP as a Shield.

Regarding his sword buff, it seemed to be either a sharpness, weight, or some type of on-effect toggle with low requirements. Even though she wasn’t using any Life Force skills, he wasn’t completely underestimating her. He was treating her like a Wolf. His reaction was understandable, though. For her to be anything higher than a Wolf at her age and with such poor equipment was ridiculous.

But life could be so absurd, little human. I doubt you’ll learn that no matter how many lives you have.

Kara gathered her Notes around her, using another Wrath Song. This time, she didn't the Song itself. She focused on all her current emotions, her desires, and the life she felt.

Hunter’s Awakening

Song Rarity: Epic

These five sacrifices are only the beginning of your journey for justice.

Depending on the ways you kill the marked targets, you will recover up to 25% of your maximum HP.

Duration: 3 minutes.

Fortunately, even with Nilbog unconscious, her Song worked as if he was the one in control. The flavor text proved it.

Kara did not seek justice--she could care less if what Shinkro did was right or wrong. She only sought to make him experience a fifth of the agony she had felt. A quick death would be too merciful. In a twisted way, her song reading Nilbog for killing his opponents in a special way was because of her. She didn't take him to be as cruel as her.

Still, she was right. He did have a worthy goal. Survival isn't enough for a ranker--a consuming desire to achieve power at all costs was what made a ranker successful.

He lifted his blade high into the air-- too high, already giving Kara a fatal opening. Using a Life Force Burst skill the distance could be easily cut, but that would have cost her too much, and more importantly, would have dissolved the chances of Kara having a proper sword fight.

If The Game wanted style, she'll give it style.

Kara stepped back and turned to the side, letting the flash of the blade whiff by her as it went down. She struck it aside when it attempted to follow her. His sword went high up into the air while hers stayed at hip-level.

His sword had a simple weight buff. The force behind the blade was far greater than what her opponent was swinging with. He stepped after her, swinging down his blade from the top right corner.

Kara dug her feet into the ground, planting them firmly, and twisted her hips in conjunction with her upper body, swinging her sword up from below it.

His Strength was embarrassingly higher than hers, but his sword was still knocked to the side when she struck it from below. It whizzed over her head when she ducked. The abrupt change in motion, combined with his own strength, caused her opponent to stumble past her carelessly as she stepped to the side.

She clenched her teeth and swung as she dashed past him. Her sword struck his ribs, sending sparks off as it bounced off. She dealt 35 Shield Damage.

The man spun, his mouth panting and his eyes bulging out. He had turned his back on his opponent for just a second, but in a short moment, death had loomed close to his heart. He had a good amount of Shield to protect him, but one penetrating hit to a vital was all it took to bleed out.

He snapped his sword up, sweat running down his brow.

She flicked her wrists, disappointed. She was too rusty. Her flow from a defensive maneuver into an offensive went smoothly with little wasted movement, but the parry itself could have been better. The height difference and body structure made things a bit more difficult.

It also didn't help that being half their level. Even for her, this was a bit much.

“Ha! The kid is playing with him!” one of the men said. They weren’t being terribly subtle about the way they began circling Kara in attempts of preventing her escape.

“Your shaking, silly person. Finally realized you're out of your depth?" Kara said with a huff. She began stepping back, glaring at the men that attempted to encroach their duel. She began humming, focusing on her Notes. It provided increased visibility of the fight all around her, especially for the archer.

“Lucky bastard. Getting cocky, eh?” the man said, edging forward with care. He was weak but he was no fool; the difference in skill was clearly shown. A swordfight was not something he was going to win. This allowed Kara to easily anticipate his next possible move—he was going to use his skills. She focused on his left hand.

He lunged forward, raising his sword high in the air with his right arm, as his left swung behind him, out of sight.

That gave it away. She immediately sent a dozen Life Force points into her left hand as she parried his strike. This time, the force of the blow knocked the sword from his hand.

He brought his left hand forward, a visible amount of Life Force coerced within his open palms. "3rd Life Force Pal--"

She pushed his hand to the side before he finished the incantation.

A short moment later, an explosion resounded behind her. Life Force Palm. Most of them consisted of discharging a concentrated amount of Life Force in a direction.

It left him wide open. Kara’s left index and middle fingers, outstretched and tightly woven with a Life Force, thrust forward. She used an Amplification on her thrust, doubling its momentum and giving her the extra penetration she needed. Her fingers went a few inches into his neck cut to the side, spraying blood upon his teammates a few meters away.

Full Penetration!

You have dealt 42 shield Damage!

You have dealt 7 HP damage!

You have dealt Devastating Bleed Damage!

“Good day, thank you for the points,” Kara said. By the time he fell to his knees, Kara had already ran away with her sword floating back into her hands. Devastating Bleed Damage was at least 9% MAX HP damage per second. A small wound like that would have been easily covered with Life Force Texture, but no one at this level could possibly do that.

After a micro stun, the rest of the party began chasing her, throwing arrows, rocks, two hand axes, and more poorly worded insults. As she dodged and wove her way around the small trees, Kara received some good news and some very, very bad news she had been expecting.

One: the gap between this body and others were not as enormous as she thought. She could beat fools of that caliber all day long.

Two: None of his skills activated.

Things were not looking good. Requisition only said that it would dominate the body, not the Soul. It did not mention anything about gaining skills or accessing character sheets. Considering the limited power of profession skills, it was unlikely it would allow her to body-hop with no major disadvantage.

Kara didn’t want to admit it, but beyond having the pleasure of regaining her senses, she was no closer to her goal than when she first started. Nilbog’s corporation wasn’t an option anymore—it was a necessity.

Kara’s relaxed jog turned into a struggled walk. Her body was in mid-recovery. Her missing teeth grew back and the bruises, cuts, and disfigures on her body began to fix themselves. She regained 32 HP, putting her total at 70. Her apparent lack of concern made the ones behind her more livid. The nearest one to her leaped high into the air with his axe as his Life Force Enchantment sparked into full power, and was then wanked back to the ground by an Ent’s branches.

The rest of the fools were no better off as the Ents rose from the ground, upturning the earth. Their branches, now seen to be giant claws, either smashed against the ground or on soft flesh, helping them rise from their holes.

Once out, the Brwaller Ents stood half a dozen meters tall. They were effectively giant humanoids, the only difference being their skin was wood. Below it they were flesh and bone. Their arms were long and the tips of their fingers were knife-like, and they had inanimate branches sprinkled on their bodies to act as camouflage.

The other two were called Hinge Ents. Those were just trees that had four legs connected to their trunk. They had enormous eyes, a wide maw in the center of the trunk, and a dozen different thorns protruding from its body.

The inflexible wood forced the Brawler Ents to swing their entire body in one direction, slowing their attacks down, while the other two with smaller thorns were quick but relatively tame with their damage.

Though the humans took great damage from the ambush, their axes, large blades, and mostly Strength-based builds enabled them to deal decent damage to both Ent types. They were foolish but they were not completely inept. The men immediately spread and surrounded the Ents, using their cumbersome size against them. They wove directly under them, cutting away at the foundation.

They made decent progress and got into a rhythm. The Ents were relatively unintelligent creatures and were easily provoked into flaying their limbs at the tank while their damage dealers did their job.

Life Force Thrust, Slash, Burst, and party-wide buffs enabled them to deal decent portions of damage. They chopped off the wood and dug into the stiff flesh underneath, causing ooze to splutter out of the wounds.

The creatures were resistant to bleed and slash attacks, but having the branches being chopped off began to hinder them. The two people that wielded swords focused on being a distraction, while the one man with double hand axes was the core damage dealer.

Being one man down did not seem to hinder the party’s performance too much. In a few moments, they already knocked one to the ground, rendering it immobile. Their archer also proved useful, serving to be both as a distraction and a damage dealer. He hopped and weaved within the cluster of Brawler Ents, using their unmoving branches as steppingstones, and aggroing them with Life Force Infused Arrows. His attacked punctured through the layer of wood, though it was obvious that he would run out of arrows well before he could bring a single one of them down.

That was the issue with the Ranger and Mage classes. Though they had powerful attacks and buffs, most were more limited in ammunition and mana. Their resources would run out far quicker than melee fighters.

This Ranger, however, was both skilled and intelligent. Instead of using his arrows to deal damage, he instead used it as a catalyst. The Ents swung at him as he hopped across their giant bodies, unaware, or uncaring, that their claws smashed into their brethren. The ground shook as the Ents fell, sending splinters everywhere as the wood tore. He climbed, circled, and repeatedly dodged near-fatal hits.

That was a Ranger's job. So many backline archetypes believe themselves to be the damage dealers when they were more suitable to provide utility to the party.

At this point his bow was strapped to his shoulders, his focus resting solely on dodging the Hinge Ents’s thorns. He was playing a dangerous but rewarding game. His sharp focus and natural flow made his movement clean and crisp. It made him worthy of his Wolf rating. He caused two Ents to fall and hopped onto the third, throwing his arms into the air to catch a branch.

Pure instincts, or more likely Sixth Sense, saved him from being skewered by Kara as she leaped from the opposite Ent. They flew past each other, her blade aimed at his stomach. In an instant he bent forward, the odd flexibility body somehow allowing him to twist his body just in time. Kara’s blade struck his stomach at a bad angle, bouncing off without dealing much damage.

Minor penetration!

You have dealt 27 Slash damage to Ranger’s Shield!

You have dealt 4 Slash damage to Ranger’s HP!

He missed the branch and tumbled through a few with his back before he found something to grab, by which Kara had already landed on the other side, turned, and got back to chasing him.

Slipper bastard. If she had a better angle she might have dealt a good blow. She used an Amplification, too, leaving her with 3 Equilibrium.

His 2nd Rank Life Force Shield would provide 30% of his current HP in Shield, and considering how low a Rangers HP was in the first place, it probably gave him something around a 100 Shield.

She hounded him from Ent to another as the giant creatures moved and swung their limbs. Both had to constantly abandon the current Ent they were straddling and to leap onto the Ent which struck their own down, which involved not only dodging the claw, but also the thorns around it.

The Ents hindered her as much as it hindered the Ranger, who struggled with the large amounts of things attempting to kill him.

Then again, all he had to do was to hold on. Though the Ents that fell did not die, they did take substantial damage. They made easy prey for the rest of his party. All he had to do was stay alive long enough, and to keep an eye on her. “I need help up here!” the Ranger yelled.

“Right man, just give ma’ a sunset or two to get up there’ with ya!” one of the men replied as his axe took a chunk of wood off the Ent.

Kara couldn’t leave him. He was too much of a danger to stay alive. Dodging swords was one thing, but dodging Life Infused Arrows was a whole different story with this body. She could use Deviation to alter the course of the arrows, but that required her to actually face it when casting the skill.

Her opponent was no amateur either. With his greater Agility, she simply could not catch up to him. In addition, the sword which she held made climbing and swinging difficult. It allowed the Ranger to get ahead far ahead of her and to climb to the Ent’s top, by which he had the luxury to toss his bow from his shoulders to his hand.

When the Ranger leaped from the Ent, he twisted his body around mid-air, casting 3rd Rank Life Force Infusion.

Now! Infusing her legs with Life Force, Kara dashed after him, channeling Kinetic Mana to further push her from behind. When she reached the maximum Speed, she used Amplification on herself.

By the time the Ranger had his arrow pulled back, she was mere feet away, her sword reaching for him. A mixture of fear and surprise was clear on his face, but in mid-flight and at such a short distance, he held all the advantages.

Even though the Ranger was still out of her reach, Kara swung with her blade.

The Ranger released the string, causing the arrow to leave his bloodied fingers in a snap.

The arrow was too quick for her eyes to catch it, but considering how Kara had lived the decades, it wasn't quite the disadvantage. She tracked the Life Force Infused in it, the Kinetic Mana its movement caused, and finally her Notes to guide her. She struck the arrow with the flat side of her sword, causing it to bounce off. It struck bounced off, striking the Ent behind. She slashed again, this time causing her sword to finally break a line in his Armor.

Minor penetration!

You have dealt 32 Slash damage to Ranger’s Shield!

You have dealt 6 Slash damage to Ranger’s HP!

With a high-pitched scream unbefitting of his gruff looks, he cast a 2nd Rank Life Force Push before she could slash again. It slowed her enough for him to escape her striking range. He landed first and burst running in one fluid motion. He began to take the lead with a few hops, pumping Life Force through his body without care.

It was not a speed that her legs could possibly catch up to.

Penetration!

You have dealt 21 Pierce damage to Ranger’s Shield!

You have dealt 34 Pierce damage to Ranger’s HP!

You have dealt Moderate Bleed damage to Ranger!

Kara’s Kinetically thrown and Amplified sword impaled itself through the Rangers back. He glanced down mid-leap, seeing the sharp metal bulge out in between his chest, and then glanced back to see her a few meters off, her hands stretched forward.

“You...threw it?” the Ranger wheezed out as he fell. He bounced from branch to branch until he landed on the ground. Before he could pull the sword out, Kara landed directly on his chest. She felt the bones sink down as the last of his Shield began to run out.

You have dealt 17 Blunt damage to Ranger’s Shield!

You have dealt 5 Blunt damage to Ranger’s HP!

“Swords are just oversized knives,” Kara said as she took the blade out and jumped to the side as an Ent’s foot turned him into mush.