“What do you mean you can’t afford it? You’ve been waiting for Roland to release a Rogue weapon since… Wait a minute. Don’t tell me you died again.”

“Tee-hee! Sorry, Sis! You know how the train goes!”

“Don’t ‘tee-hee’ me, you idiot. You accepted another crazy quest, don’t you?”

“Only because no one is brave enough to do them!”

“Because they’re too risky! Your style of fighting too. Why don’t you think more about your future, Marissa? Our future? You heard the Administrators. This was a test all along. Do you want to be as poor as those low-level losers hiding in the starter towns? When all of this is over, you won’t able to afford even a stun pistol.”

Marissa let out a loud grunt. “Gold comes and goes, Red. Besides, those ‘risky’ quests give more gold than what a level 50 can earn in a month!”

“Only if you survive…”

“And there’s also the Guild’s salary.” Marissa made a hand gesture. “Eh, eh?”

“When we get out of here, I won’t lend you any money. You hear that?”

“Come on, Sis, give me a break! Remember what Astrid says…”

“Please don’t.”

“‘It’s better to have skill than owe a piece of junk’.”

“When did she say that?”

“I may be misremembering it. Listen, the point is that we can’t compete against the Actives, anyway. So it won’t matter if they buy all the weapons on the ship. In the end, they’ll need people that know how to fight. So I’ll rather hone my abilities here, where it’s still safe, than get worried about money at all times.”

“You just contradicted yourself.”

“Huh? No way.”

Amelia got close to her sister and grabbed her by the cheeks. “If you’re really training for whatever dangerous mission you think we’ll have at the end of this voyage, you should learn how to fight without dying then.”

“That sounds… about right,” Marissa said with plump cheeks. “I’ll consider it, okay?”

Amelia sighed and let her go. “Since this won’t happen anytime soon, let’s do this instead. Every time you get a large amount of gold, transfer it to me and I’ll keep it safe for you.”

“Why don’t we use a Bank service?”

Amelia sneered. “Are you kidding me? Those services rely on storing all the gold in their employees, anyway. Trust me, the gold will be safer with me. Tell me, when was the last time you saw me die?”

***

“So that’s your Unique Skill, huh?” The Stranded Hell Princess snickered, looking at an injured Scarlett regenerating in front of her eyes.

Scarlett’s burned skin turned olive and soft again, and although her armor shown sights of damage, it could still endure another round. “I suppose I cannot hide it any longer, huh?”

So she’ll keep regenerating if I don’t finish her off? The demoness-looking Amelia thought. If she combines that Unique Skill with the Berserk Active Skill, she’ll continue to grow stronger indefinitely. She pointed her katana forward. “I could not ask for a better punching bag.”

“Are you sure about this, princess? You may get more than you can chew on.”

“That’s the spirit!” With her left hand, she waved her staff around her head, making appear a fire snake that quickly became a metal dragon. The beast charged at Scarlett, who had received a new system notification.

** Your Berserk State has increased your Vitality rank! From Gold A → Platinum E! **

“Congratulations, princess!” Scarlett shouted, sneering. “Your wish has been granted! My strength is finally comparable to the Golden Comet’s! Fire Style, Comet Punch!” She hit the dragon’s head with all of her might, but the elongated monster only recoiled before snarling annoyed. Huh? That punch alone should have been enough to obliterate it.

“Platinum E, huh?” The demoness appeared beside her, wielding her katana in her right hand. “It’s not enough yet.” Amelia tried to cut her, but Scarlett used her forearm to shield herself, yet, she experimented a piercing pain that traveled all the way to her toes.

Freaking magic sword! Scarlett grunted. And how was she able to see my stats? Does she have Eye of the Sage? Before she could counterattack, the dragon closed her maw around her, and she barely avoided being swallowed by stopping the closing mandible with her feet. “I’m getting tired of this bitch!”

“Come on, don’t be shy!” Amelia shouted, kicking her inside the esophagus. “I bet it’s pretty comfy in there! Now, you just need one little push.”

Amelia jumped back as the elongated dragon glowed with intensity and exploded, deforesting the eastern side of Unus’ outskirts. The resulting column of fire got frozen in time and turned black, imploding to form a 13 feet radius metal ball. From it, Scarlett’s fist came out, wearing golden spiked brass knuckles.

Amelia used her ‘Eye of the Sage’ Passive Skill to examine the weapon. Platinum Quality… So she’s finally taking this seriously. The only reason she fights so careless is because of that Unique Skill of hers.

Once Scarlett got free of her metal prison, she sneered triumphantly.

Vitality Platinum C... Amelia examined while getting into a more cautious fighting stance. I got carried away. This time it will really feel like fighting that stupid shortie.

“That’s a very nice form you have,” Scarlett started saying, planting both feet deep in the ground, causing a slight quake. “It gives you plenty of fake Vitality even though you’re a ‘Torrent’ Mage, huh... BUT! ...Your Spirit rank and mana pool remain the same.” She clicked her teeth. “It’s pretty lacking for a so-called ‘Triumph Card’.” She chuckled, before exerting a fire aura. “Path of the Berserk!”

“Oh, crap…” Amelia muttered, using her Pyrokinetic Construction to turn her short staff and katana into shield gauntlets.

“I’m Scarlett, the red light in the sky… The Falling Satellite!” Her chestplate and faulds changed to white and gold, and the armor around her limbs looked covered in reflective diamonds.

Amelia was as bewildered as confused. What the? A Super Mode, just like a Unique Skill, is a representation of a User’s psyche…. So why in the hell does this woman feel attached to a freaking--

A memory from when she was little invaded her mind. Of a bizarre nightly spectacle, when she admired hundreds of falling stars at the same time. “Look, daddy! Make a wish!” she giggled, but when she glanced at her father, he had an expression of horror and disbelief on his face.

“Y-you’re one too!” Amelia cried while taking a fighting stance.

“Princess,” Scarlett said, before charging, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

She’s The Singular too! The woman called Serenity is not the only one! Amelia barely blocked a punch directed to her stomach with her left shield gauntlet, and her passive Overshield automatically blocked a second hit targeted at her face. She’s faster! Amelia wanted to use her Eye of the Sage to see what had changed, but Scarlett had started a series of consecutive strikes.

“I tried to warn you, you would get more than you could chew on!”

As Amelia blocked hits with her gauntlets out of instinct, another punch would reach her body. She was hit in the ribs, chest, and on her left forearm. Although the magically constructed body absorbed the damage, Amelia could feel the painful impact of each one of them.

I have little experience in hand-to-hand combat. At this rate, she’ll wipe the floor with me! Come on, Amelia! This form is supposed to beat Astrid’s gorilla fighting style!

“Twisted Firestarter!” Amelia cast, blazing everything around them. The overwhelming heat was enough to melt the very ground they were standing on, but it soon ended when the flames turned into flexible metal.

Four gigantic arms were now bending towards Scarlett. “It won’t work this time!” she roared, punching one of the gigantic fists, making it instantly shatter.

I got what I wanted, Amelia thought, sweating cold. Her brute force has finally surpassed my mana output.

Amelia attacked with the other three arms anyway, but Scarlett would break them with ease.

“Come on!” Scarlett laughed out loud before dashing to punch the demoness in the face. “Now that I have finally broken my limits, give me more of a challenge! After all, you made the long journey worth it! I never expected someone like you to hang out with that loser!”

Their fight leveled hills. Trees were like chopsticks getting in their way. Amelia released a breath of fire, but it would not slow down her enemy, not even when the burst transformed into arrows. Scarlett’s armor would ignore any incoming attack every single time.

“Why are you doing this?!” Amelia cried after her left gauntlet broke. “What’s the point of having a non-official battle here! You won’t get exp nor gold out of this fight!”

“I’m just the insurance that everything will go according to plan! I was tasked to crush any opposition while Serenity catches our prey, and I’m fucking glad that you were here!”

“Why?! What did Alan do to you?!”

“Stop acting dumb! You called me one of them! And I’m so damn proud of being one!”

I need a freaking break! Amelia sprouted bat-like wings and jumped upwards, away from her pursuer’s reach. But for Scarlett that was just an inconvenience.

“Rocket Jump!” Scarlett shouted, propelling herself with a burst of fire produced out of the plant of her feet. “A satellite’s place is up in the far reaches of the sky!”

Amelia looked in shock at the incoming menace and shut her eyes. This is going to hurt...