Finally! 2 digits chapter!

And all chapters are red (hot thread, 150+ views I think?)

We're almost at 200 average views.

Thanks for the support, everyone!

Here's the 10th chapter for you!

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Rayhlee stared at Kristine with wide eyes. Everything ended in an instant. She thought that they would end up with a terrible fate after seeing her hit by the taser, but what Kristine did afterwards surprised her so much she forgot all her fears.

She discharged the electric currents to the ground. It was an impossible feat for an ordinary person to do, but here was a person who just did what was said to be impossible. In her heat, a feeling grew. It was a combination of respect and adoration.

Kristine weakly kicked the limp figure in front of her a few times, then turned around to check on Rayhlee.

"Are you okay?" Rayhlee asked, seeing her red eyes. It had already reduced the coloration a bit, and now it appeared as if they were bloodshot. Rayhlee quickly stood up and fixed Kristine's hair for her. Oddly enough, she just stood there, letting the short girl do what she want. Her body was very hot, and her breath produced steam against the cold afternoon air.

"I'm... fine," she answered. "Just let me... cool down a bit."

Rayhlee gently guided Kristine out of the dark alley, leaving the groaning assailants behind. They were in the shopping district. Stores selling a multitude of products lined the streets. They entered a cafe that had a few customers and occupied a table at the back. Rayhlee brought over two glasses of iced coffee.

"...Thanks," Kristine murmured with her head bowed, still taking deep breaths.

"This is the least I can do," Rayhlee answered.

They sat there silently for half an hour. It was Kristine who broke the ice.

"Don't you want to know what happened?" she asked. She had already calmed down, and her eyes and body temperature were back to normal.

"I do, but I don't really care right now. I'm just glad we made it out of that situation safely, and it's all thanks to you," Rayhlee said with a smile and reached out over the table, holding Kristine's hand. Tears suddenly flowed out of Rayhlee's eyes. "I was so scared... I'm so glad you were there..."

Kristine opened her eyes wide. With a gentle and warm smile, she held her hand firmly and said, "Let's go. I'll walk you home."

* * *

It was already past 7:00 pm when Kristine got home. The dinner she bought almost got ruined, but it was still edible. She finished eating it in an instant. After that, she soaked in the bath and thought about what happened earlier.

When the taser hit her, she temporarily lost control over her body. As she fell, she saw Rayhlee crouching in the corner, trembling in fear. She remembered what Magnum Max said, and it filled her with rage. This caused some of the dormant genes she acquired from her great-grandfather to awaken. She forcefully discharged the currents in her body to the ground, releasing herself from the paralyzed state. She then striked back. Everything that happened afterwards was hazy. She was in a semi-conscious state as the blood pumped into her head at an alarming rate.

"That was dangerous," she murmured as she opened and clenched her fists. Her great-grandfather had always warned her of this. It was fine to use it as a last resort, but he kept on warning her not to overuse it or stay at that state at too long a period of time. He mentioned about his comrades back in the war falling not due to enemy bullets or weaponries, but because of overusing this ability.

After getting out of the bath, she sent Rayhlee an e-mail if she was going online tonight. Rayhlee declined. She said that she was exhausted from the shock of what happened earlier and apologized.

Kristine decided to go solo again, tonight.

She woke up inside a room of the inn in Lancendai, hugging the turtle which she decided to call as Leafy. Checking the time, it was 9:02 pm in real-time, and 6:04 am in game-time. She quickly went down to the plaza to check the items being sold. Right now, she had more than 200 gold, mostly from selling meat and monster cores.

It was still early morning, so there were only few stalls being set up. One of the merchants took notice of Pristine and called out to her.

"You, over there. Come, come." She was wearing a simple white dress with accessories attached here and there. Pristine guessed she was a player because of her outfit. Regular NPCs wouldn't wear something so disorderly.

Pristine approached her and asked what she wanted.

"You, you're the one who dueled that ape yesterday, right?" the merchant asked.

"Uh... yes?"

"That was a great job, there. You broke his pride in very well. I hope his skin isn't as thick as his armor, and he won't come back here to abuse the ignorance of the newbies." She was clapping her hands while saying that.

"Thanks, I guess?" Pristine didn't know how to respond to the sudden praise.

"Oh, don't tell me... you're also a newbie? How long have you been playing?" she asked while suddenly leaning close towards Pristine. Their noses almost touched.

"Three days... in real-time," Pristine answered in a quiet voice. Thinking back on her actions, she's been doing pretty well for a newbie, but if people knew about how short she has been playing the game and compared it to her performance, it would seem like she has been cheating.

"That's awesome! Are you some sort of genius? Wahaha! It's so nice to meet someone like you. Oh, where are my manners? I go by the name of Regina. Regina Ultima." She then looked at the emblem on Pristine's chest. "I see. So that's how it is. No wonder you're so strong!"

"Huh?" Pristine tilted her head. She felt like she was struck by a confusion status debuff for a while now.

"You're a member of New Eden, right? Everyone knows that all members of New Eden or a league above the rest."

"I-I didn't know that." She truly didn't know. The seniors never told her anything about it. And she was still in the newbie area, so there was no way for her to compare her strength to actual veteran players. She did win against a beta tester, but it felt like a lucky win more than anything else.

"No need to be humble. Have you met Deus Ultima? He's your Guildmaster, right?" This merchant, Regina, doesn't seem like she will ever stop speaking.

"Yes." She then noticed their names, Deus Ultima and Regina Ultima. Was there a connection?

"You figured it out?" Regina asked while laughing. "We played together back in alpha. Man was he awesome. He was the strongest player I've ever met. He did a lot of crazy stuff no one would ever think about, and the funny thing was, that was what made him strong. I didn't see him about a couple of years after the game went officially live, but his name suddenly popped out of nowhere along with the New Eden guild. I knew it was him. No one would be shameless enough to call himself Deus Ultima, aside from me."

"I see." Pristine saw a tinge of regret and loneliness in Regina's face as she spoke. "Were you two... a couple?" She tried asking.

"What?!? Where did that come from? Goodness, no! I was only eleven back then. It was my brother who had the alpha key, but he was busy with his work, so I played the game instead of him."

"Eleven? Weren't you too young to be playing this kind of game?"

"Ahahaha! Back then there was less combat and more socializing and exploring. During the alpha stage, there were only few monsters, and most of the beasts were harmless. The exploration area was also pretty small, only about until the area around Lancendai. Back then I rolled Tailor on randomization, and now I've changed classes quite a bit already. I've gone through a lot of crafting classes. I was more into creating stuff than killing, obviously since I was just a little girl back then. Tailor was the perfect first job for me." She had a proud look on her face.

Only few players dared to class-change. The penalties for class-changing involves the reduction of your stats' ranks by two. So what happens when your rank is less than expert? You enter a negative rank and will need to raise the rank back to beginner without getting any benefits from the stats. You lose all the unique skills of your previous class, only retaining one. The retained unique skill can not be raised.

The only benefit of class-changing is that the unique skill you retained can still be used, and it is retained again after class-changing once more. If you class-changed enough, you can retain a number of unique skills normally not available to your latest class. This is a tedious process, and no ordinary player would want to do this.

"Sounds like a stupid thing to do, right?" Regina asked, reading Pristine's thoughts. "I did not name myself as Regina Ultima for nothing. I aim to be the best, the queen among queens." She then stared far away and whispered, "and stand by his side as one of the strongest." Pristine did not miss those words.

"I'm sure you're almost there." Pristine encouraged her with a smile.

"No, no, no. Flattery's not going to work, girl. I won't give you a discount," she said laughing loudly. "But when you meet with your Guildmaster, tell him a certain queen is looking for him, and that he owes that queen an apology. Tell him, 'The promise still stands'."

"I will."

"Good, good. See you later then. Oh, and when you have stuff to sell or things to repair, come to me. I'll give you the best service at the right price."

"I'll take you on that offer. See you later."

Pristine set off with a small smile on her face. She has made a connection with someone other than those in the guild. The person may be weird and talkative, but at least she was fun to be with.

* * *

Pristine left the town of Lancendai and headed North. Before leaving town, she spent almost all her gold on potions, food, water, and an instruction manual for a new skill.

[ Lightning Weapon: Beginner ( 0% ) ]

[ Imbues the weapon with lightning elemental energy. The imbued weapon may cause random lightning damage on the enemy on hit. It may also cause paralysis. ]

The mana consumption of the skill was a bit high, around 50%, but it lasts for an hour. She also found out that sheathing the sword while it was enhanced by Lightning Weapon causes some of the lightning to transfer on the inside of the sheath, causing a minor repelling force inside. When she drew the sword, it felt like it was shooting out of the sheath, increasing her drawing speed.

She ignored the harmless beasts roaming around the forest, and came upon a river flowing downstream from the north-west. She walked along the river to find a place to cross safely. The current was not too strong, but she would like to avoid risking it.

After a few minutes of walking along the river edge, she found a small group of humanoid monsters dancing around a corpse of a beast. They were wearing shabby leather armor over their pale gray skin. They were about four feet tall and equipped with daggers, clubs, and wooden bucklers. Their eyes were red, and faint red lines could be seen all over their skin. There were five of them, and one of them was wearing a torn up robe and holding a staff. It was the only one who wasn't dancing. Instead, it was quite vigilant of the surroundings.

'This is the first time I've met humanoid monsters,' she thought as an icon flashed on her screen.

[ Ajicanus ]

[ Ajicanii are the failed products of a God's creation. They are beings born with low intelligence and low physical abilities. Because of that, they tend to group together. ]

[ Every now and then, Ajicanus with superior intelligence would be born, blessed by the God that created them. They have innate talent for magic and leadership. The regular Ajicanii would treat them as their leader. ]

Leaving Leafy to hide under a raised tree root, Pristine slowly approached the group of Ajicanii feasting on the corpse by the riverside by circling through the forest, using the trees and shrubs for cover.

Suddenly, the robed Ajicanus turned its head to the forest. Its red eyes met with her. Raising its staff, it shouted something towards the other Ajicanii, prompting them to raise their heads, their jaws still covered with chunks of meat and blood.

'Not good,' Pristine thought as she turned to run, but she was a beat too slow. A fireball landed on her back, exploding and scorching the trees and shrubbery around her. She fell flat on her chest, and feeling the burning sensation on her back, she quickly rolled on the ground, putting the flames out. Her Vitality had decreased by 30%.

Quickly, she crawled over the ground, staying as low as possible to avoid their line of sight. She could hear their voices as they searched for her. Hiding behind a tree trunk, she paused to catch her breath and think of what to do while drinking a bottle of potion.

She have to take the robed one down. If she was right, that was the one acting as a leader and was a 'blessed one' amongst the Ajicanii.

'I have to take that one down first,' she thought. She never knew fighting against a mage as a melee fighter was this difficult. She regretted not buying an instruction manual for a ranged spell.

Suddenly a figure appeared beside her, walking from behind the tree trunk. It was the robed Ajicanus.

"Wha---!?" Surprised, Pristine decided to strike it before it could make its move. As she was about to draw her sword, the Ajicanus made a weird smile on its face as it suddenly disappeared, and reappeared a distance away, causing her attack to hit empty space. "Teleportation!?!" Another fireball hit her from the front, throwing her backwards landing near a surprised Ajicanus. She quickly rolled to put out the fire and slashed at the Ajicanus, hitting its raised buckler. Lightning jumped over the buckler, but it did not deal any damage.

She put her weight on the sword and pushed the short humanoid monster towards a tree, knocking its breath out. She then grabbed the buckler and stole it from its grasp, then stabbed it on the center of its chest. It cried out in a weird voice as it died.

Feeling the hair on her nape tingling, Pristine swiftly turned around and raised the wooden buckler, partially blocking another fireball. She was now down to 20% Vitality, but the previous kill and damage she received allowed her to cast Impetu Parvu and Munio Parvu. Seeing the lightning currents jumping around on the corpse, she touched it and casted Icio Ruo, dodging another fireball by dashing to the right.

There was another Ajucanis to the place she dodged into. She had now changed her plans. She couldn't easily approach the robed Ajucanis. The only thing she could do now was to kill all the other regular Ajucanii, stack up Impetu Parvu and Munio Parvu, and use Icio Ruo whenever possible to move towards the next target.

With only 3% Vitality left, she had killed the last regular Ajucanis. She was now drenched in blood and covered in burns. She had casted Heal Minor Wounds earlier, but now it was ineffective for any of her current injuries. The potion was taking its effect, but the regeneration was still slow. With only 10% mana left, she doesn't have enough to cast multiple Shock Grasps and Icio Ruos.

The robed Ajicanus snarled at her.

"What? You're discontent after I killed your minions? You can't blame me. You pushed me this far into a corner." She sheathed her sword and with a demonic smile on her face, she said, "After I kill you, I'll search the surrounding forests for any more of your race... and wipe you all out!"

With that she used Icio Ruo on the corpse which still had remnant lightning currents on it from the sword strike that killed it. She made a mad dash towards the robed Ajicanus. It casted a fireball spell, but after seeing that spell a couple of times already, she already knew its properties.

Waiting for the fireball spell to approach her as close as possible, she then casted Foresight and Increase Reflex for an instant as she dodged to the right. The heat of the fireball drained her Vitality down to 1%, and now her mana was enough for one last Icio Ruo.

She was close enough to slash at the robed Ajicanus, but it realized this and warped away with a wild smile on its face, sure of its victory. In contrast, Pristine was calm as she thought, 'I knew you would do that.'

She drew her sword out of the sheath, the lightning inside causing a repulsion increasing her drawing speed. It was a quick-draw strike beyond compare. But there was no target in front of her. It had already warped away.

As the robed Ajicanus prepared to cast fireball to end the life of the human that massacred its companions, it noticed the movement of her lips.

"Icio Ruo."

The lightning currents which were jumping between the sheath and the sword disappeared, along with Pristine's figure.

"Kkkkkk-----!!!" The robed Ajicanus tried to scream, but blood spurted out from its neck as its head fell down. Pristine was standing behind its corpse, as it fell down on its knees and landed powerlessly on the ground.

"Whew." Pristine took a deep breath and sighed. It was a hard battle, harder than the Crystal Buzzard.

"Pya!" Leafy cried out as it crawled out of its hiding place and approached her. She sat down in front of it while drinking a potion.

"I'm alright, don't worry." Leafy rubbed its head on her hand.

She rested there for a while until her health and mana was full. She then looted the corpses of the Ajucanii. As she looked down on the robed Ajucanis' corpse, she smiled and said, "Now, then. It's time I wipe you out."

She scoured the forests for Ajucanis and found small groups of them. There were no 'blessed ones' among them and she easily took them out. Soon, she found an abandoned mine which seemed to be their hiding place and breeding grounds. There were over 300 of them inside, most of them digging through the rocks in search of ore. There were three 'blessed ones' among them. There was also a boss, an Ajucanis Chieftain, which was also a 'blessed one'.

Needless to say, as a War Chanter she had easily killed off the regular Ajucanii, easily reaching over 300 stacks of Impetu Parvu and more than 30 permanent stacks. Every now and then, she would hide behind rocks and crevices in the walls, to regenerate her mana and vitality with potions within the time limit of 30 seconds, then come out to continue the slaughter.

At the end she one-hit killed the boss. It was bigger than her and wearing a full body heavy armor. It used a huge two-handed sword as its weapon, while casting warp and frost skills.

She used the same strategy for the first robed Ajucanis she fought. She dodged the attack of the boss using Foresight and Increase Reflex, then used Icio Ruo while drawing her sword. With Sharpen Blade and consuming all her Impetu Parvu buffs with the Impetu War Chant, she sliced the boss in half after it tried to warp away.

Name: Pristine Void

Class: War Chanter

[ Stats ]

Strength: Expert ( 100% )

Agility: Expert ( 100% )

Dexterity: Expert ( 100% )

Endurance: Expert ( 100% )

Intelligence: Expert ( 100% )

Wisdom: Expert ( 100% )

[ Unique Skills ]

War Chant: Expert ( 100% )

Impetu Parvu: Expert ( 100% )

Munio Parvu: Expert ( 100% )

Icio Ruo: Expert ( 91% )

Impetu: Beginner ( 88% )

[ Non-unique Skills ]

Combat Mastery: Expert ( 100% )

Unarmed Combat Mastery: Expert ( 71% )

Holy Elemental Mastery: Expert ( 22% )

Heal Minor Wounds: Expert ( 22% )

Lightning Elemental Mastery: Expert ( 100% )

Shock Grasp: Expert ( 100% )

Lightning Weapon: Apprentice ( 11% )

Light Armor Mastery: Expert ( 100% )

Butchery: Expert ( 100% )

Beast Anatomy: Expert ( 11% )

Knife Mastery: Apprentice ( 88% )

Sword Mastery: Expert ( 72% )

One-hand Sword Mastery: Expert ( 72% )

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And that's it.

Finally leaving the zone for beginners, Pristine finally finds tougher enemies.

So, is she really OP, or not?

I guess it depends on the opponent, right? Just like rock, paper, scissors... lava. XD