Moving at speeds out matching that of an arrow, Julliete made her way back to the enemy, who was already circulating his magic.

Roots from beneath the ground came at her, but the agile control she had over her body wasn’t something nature magic could overcome.

Making way through the dense roots that kept on expanding, she saw the small body, still protected by a barrier made out of hundreds of intertwining branches.

Nevertheless, she approached the monster with a lavish attitude. The aura around her wasn’t kept at bay whatsoever, the smooth edges gaining sudden roughness, as well a stronger, blue hue.

Extending the aura to cover her pale sword, Juliette used all of her momentum to thrust the rapier to her side, where the monster stood.

Noticing the oddly strong amount of strength coming from beyond the wooden barrier, the monster was about to cast another spell to vanish from the place, however, it was far too slow. Before he even started moving the mana around him, a hole the size of her sword went through the crystal keeping him going.

Falling down onto the ground, the hooded monster’s magic dispersed and the branches disappeared.

Once again, a cold gaze returned to her eyes. Daintily collecting the crystal core left alone in the torn robes, she looked at the cracks from which green energy escaped.

In the middle, there was a clean hole, right where the spirit of the monster was held. It was a shame, but she had no means to catch the core without disturbing it.

Stomping onto the core and crushing it, she simply continued on her journey.

However, as she was about to take her foot off from the robe, her senses intensified all of a sudden. The flow of time seemed to have stopped dramatically, while the feeling of her existence intensified.

Sensing everything around her as though seeing it with her own eyes, Juliette saw the clouds that immediately darkened.

The wind began to move faster than usual, while the sky poured their worries onto the cold stones making up the ground. Looking up at the rain forming and dropping, Juliette moved her sword.

Behind her body, she saw a hooded figure jump from a tree branch, with two daggers in their exposed hands. Despite the world becoming slower, the figure was relatively fast. Judging from the speed compared to her surroundings, Juliette could tell that the person had just entered the third gate.

Quickly putting up her rapier against her back, she felt as the two knives connected against her blade.

Immediately, the world reverted its speed back. Flying through the forest, she rolled on the ground that had already become muddy from the severe rain.

Soiling the previously unblemished armor, her gaze looked at the assassin slowly walking towards her, his hood already down.

Revealing a cheeky grin on the scarred face, he walked confidently towards the lady that was already back on her two feet.

“That was a nice performance there, you know? People usually get all greedy against those tree wizards and simply die.”

He applauded with daggers in the way.

Juliette didn’t reply. She stared at him while feeling the rain getting harsher against her face with each step closer he got.

Even though he was a whole grade above her, she didn’t feel helpless. No, rather, unlike the previous assailant, she wanted to fight this one, as insane as that sounded.

The brown haired rogue pouted as he heard no reply coming out of her.

“Can’t you just enjoy the moment? You’re about to die anyway. I never get people like you, it’s tiring, honestly.”

Complaining at the attitude she was putting up, deep, blue mana appeared on his daggers. Immediately, Julliette’s breath halted as she felt the sudden increase in pressure. Even though it was a mere mana enhancement, its sheer quality repelled the air and water around him.

All of a sudden, his eyes dimmed, and killing intent filled the area, dispersing any creatures that might have stayed to watch around.

The cold, bloodthirsty gaze struck her, even making her want to puke, but she stood firm and upright. She didn’t wish for the fiery fairy to come and help her again, Juliette knew that was only a one, lucky encounter.

Even if the world despised her, she had already made her resolve. Watching the incoming attacker, her aura coated her whole body, condensing into a deeper color.

Once again, the assassin attacked the sword, however, the force was substantially weaker, gaining in speed instead. Relying solely on her heightened instincts, she tried to block the attacks, but they were simply too fast.

In the time she blocked one or two, another four came. Smiling awry, the assassin attacked the spots without vital organs as much as he could.

Even though there was tough armor protecting her, she was still getting nicked and cut, feeling the high amount of pain he inflicted.

Twisting his body, the rogue delivered an unsuspected kick to her stomach, sending the girl flying.

Once again rolling on the ground, leaving deep marks in the ground, she tried to stand up, but the minute she did, he was already there, readying another strike.

With an upwards kick that bent her, she was thrown high into the sky, at least ten meters. Coughing out blood mixed with a barf, she tried to use her aura to move, but it was pointless. Aura didn’t allow for that.

Besides, looking at the black shoe that was coming at her chest, she put up her arms coated with spirit to lessen the impact.

However, in the last second, the foot of the assassin turned into a large and wide paw, with black and sharp claws.

She felt something breaking inside her arms, but that was the least of her worries. Juliette felt the tough brunt of the ground, even if it was muddy.

Skidding with deep marks through the forest floor, she hit her head on the large, protruding tree root that extended like a river. She stopped, and getting up was hard while everything was hurting and spinning around.

With shaky legs, she started to do it, only to be met with the sight of a man staring down at her. His eyes were void of light, ready to rip apart her body.

Having transformed all of his limbs to that of a lycan, the assassin grabbed her neck. Despite the intensifying rain that wanted to drill holes through his body, it was to no avail.

He stared at the lady from whom dirt began to be washed off because of the terrifying downpour. If not for mana and aura helping them, it would be hard to breathe and walk through this place, not to mention the sharp and high winds that made the enormous trees bend to obedience.

Still with his dead eyes, he began to smile as the grip of his right paw tightened. Slowly, but surely, over a long period, he meant to crush her neck, ripping the head apart in the process.

To his delight, she didn’t wiggle around trying to escape, though she tried her best at attacking him. The meager aura that was sent at him, however, was simply overpowered by the presence his mana exerted.

To him, it was funny seeing her struggles. Juliette, on the other hand, had no idea what to do. Despite her strongest wishes to defeat the man holding her, she wasn’t able to with her powers.

Closing her eyes, tears began to merge with the heavy rain as the man’s claws slowly pierced through her neck all around.

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Yet, unbeknownst to the both of them, the mana around them stirred slightly, as though hearing her call. Just as the image of death approached her mind, fearing for the worst, she gave up. This was the end of what she had yet to begin.

‘I guess I can’t ask you for that anymore.’

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she recalled something, especially someone. His colorful, bright hair and eyes etched themselves inside her head, not meaning to disappear in her last moments.

Yet, as she recalled the image of his smile, something overlapped with his face, an image that resurfaced in her dreams countless times.

‘Conall?’

She called out subconsciously before abruptly opening her eyes.

The thousands of drops of water lingered around, floating about in the air. Their slow descent made her question the reality she found herself in.

‘Am I already dead? Mom? Can you hear me?’

She tried to call out, though Juliette said it all through her thoughts. But, she couldn’t be dead. The world around her felt far too real, and she could still feel the pain, albeit with delayed sensation.

It was a familiar state to before, where she saw through everything around her. However, this time, she felt like she understood everything around her.

With a thought, the droplets around her began to move. The mana around them began to move under her sheer will, without the need to control it.

Adding on top of the mana inside her body, she enhanced her properties. With the copious amount she could move at one time in her new state, the strength far surpassed her own capabilities.

Even though she tore off the assassin’s arm, her fingers were twisted and fractured.

The world soon returned back to itself, however, her state didn’t decrease all that much, though she felt different. Now, it wasn’t exactly the mana she felt comfortable with, but the very world around her.

Blood dripped from his right arm, to which the man looked incredulous. Looking at the bright hair of her that began to glow icy blue, he spat out his confusion of the dreadful feeling he felt.

“What?”

Juliette stretched out her fractured arm and hand, merely wishing for the man to disappear from her sight.

The wind moved from beyond her at speeds that weren’t achievable naturally. Before they could fully bend, the trees broke off from the ground, moving along with the lycan human towards the unknown.

However, before they truly disappeared, Juliette moved him back, gaining somewhat of a control over the element.

The moment she suddenly changed his trajectory, a lot of his bones had already been broken, but the worst came soon after that. Guiding his back towards the biggest tree of the forest, his back hit it with a resounding noise, even in all of the rain.

Humans were able to withstand large amounts of forces, especially when they entered through gates and naturally stronger bodies. Nonetheless, they were made from flesh that garnered blood, no matter what.

Even though the assassin was of Grade Ex, the top of the top, his back cracked like a dead tree branch.

Falling to the ground, she saw the bloody mess he had become. Slowly standing up, his body wobbled as though it was made from jelly. Yet, the assassin still started to move his mana, trying to turn into a full werewolf with his transformation skill.

But, he failed to perceive the threat all around him. With a swipe of her hand, hundreds of thousands of droplets moved through his body, piercing it and simply leaving a red mist that soon collapsed as the rain ended.

Plopping down all of a sudden, Juliette quickly retrieved healing potions while sitting in the flood that was created because of the rain.

“AHHHHHHH!”

Screaming at the top of her lungs, she felt horrendous pain as the body tried to heal itself. Before long, she was gone from the forest, running back towards the capital lest another assassin came.

…

A bit less than an hour before Juliette was attacked, Conall left the antique shop and headed towards Silvana’s classroom. He slept through the entirety of Sunday, not checking in to leave his blood for the dean’s daughter.

He needed to apologize profusely. Forgetting the treatment only the second day was somewhat shameful.

Despite being so early in the day, there were many students awake, walking through the academy grounds.

Though most of the students completely ignored him, the first years couldn’t help but glance at his face with curiosity. Whispering to each other, he finally heard what made him so famous.

‘Ah, right. The point hunt was three days ago.’

He had completely forgotten about it because of the six months he spent in the dungeon. Still, once he realized the reason, he simply went on his way towards the classroom.

After a few minutes, he was finally before the classroom's doors. A couple of knocks and seconds later, the doors opened, along with the ones to the magical laboratory of the witch girl.

Walking through the path towards the last pair of doors, Conall felt a weird sensation in the air. It definitely wasn’t a usual occurrence in the lab. Usually, it smelled like all sorts of herbs and half-foul ingredients.

Suddenly inhaling the floral scents all around him wasn’t something he thought he would witness here.

To his surprise, in the middle of the lab, there was a certain girl he had never seen, even inside the game, despite scouring through almost every corner.

However, it wasn’t so hard to guess who the girl was. Standing almost a full head taller than him, pink flowers blossomed before dispersing in the air. Sometimes, only petals moved around her, blending in with her hair.

Nonetheless, she wasn’t actually real. Looking at the large pad in the middle of the floor that reflected mana from somewhere else, it was clear that the girl was training under her father’s watch while Silvana simply monitored her status when the dean had to work in the academy.

The vision of the girl dimmed slightly as Silvana waved her hand.

“What made you sleep for a full day?”

She suddenly said, catching him slightly off-guard.

“I’m really sorry for my absence, but, did you check my room?”

His question was justified. Under a concern of the student’s behavior, a professor could inspect the room without any repercussions.

She cocked her head to the side for a second before answering doubtfully.

“I guess? Though, it’s not really yours, but mine.”

Looking at her with unclear eyes, she quickly threw something to him, which was a room token with the same number as his.

“So? I still haven’t heard the answer.”

She said with the usual indifference on her face, but there was a bit of ruthlessness hidden inside. Now, instead of emotionless, her eyes seemed slightly cold.

“My body was still tired from the point hunt.”

“Hmm. A reasonable lie, but it doesn’t cover the fact that you left the academy in the middle of the night on Saturday.”

“Haa, fine, you got me. I went to a dungeon with a separate dimension. Does that fuel your curiosity?”

“Maybe. I at least know what caused that sudden uproar of mana now.”

Saying that, she turned around, but Conall couldn’t help but notice the hems of her lips raise slightly, making his own mouth open slightly.

‘Did she just tease me?’

Thinking that he was in a hallucination, he quickly recalled that those didn’t work on him anymore, once again being stunned by her performance.

“I will accept your apology since you gave us quite a shocking result. Catch.”

Once again turning around, she threw a closed flask with a pink liquid inside. Golden particles swirled around inside the glass, and he couldn’t help but ask.

“Is this the cure? Did it work?”

“To say it worked would be an understatement. It was more like an elixir than anything. All of her mana veins recovered from just one potion, whereas Lurius calculated you would have to provide blood for more than twenty days consecutively.”

“I see. Judging from the way she’s using mana, there weren’t any side effects, no?”

Although the effects of his blood were tremendous, he wouldn’t have it any other way. It came from the god of giant’s after all. If it didn’t have such a reaction, Conall would have worried that Harmis had actually scammed him.

“No, all of the crippled parts of her veins were healed up fast, but carefully. Just the day after, she was capable of using mana at free will, which was a bit surprising. They both wanted to thank you, but as you can see, he’s concerned that she will hurt herself by not using the mana properly.”

Looking at the flask in his hand, he waited for a second before throwing it back to her.

“That’s good. The only treatment that’s left is the experiments on my core, then.”

She nodded her head slowly.

“That’s right, however, don't leave yet. I still have one question to ask.”

A feeling of a bad omen arose in his head, seeing those blue eyes of her that he couldn’t read whatsoever. Unlike before, those dead eyes of her seemed to hold everything, yet nothing at once.

“Yes?”

Still, he didn’t escape, knowing very well that she wouldn’t let him leave.

“The dean had his doubts, but he simply treated it as a translation error. I don’t believe it, though. He told me you have the blood of a giant soldier, but that’s not possible. The healing prowess of that caliber couldn’t have been made with even a general’s heart, not in the body of a C Grade.”

Conall stared at her with a calm look, witnessing where the conversation was going. Although it was a shame his secret would have to be revealed so early, it wasn’t like he tried to hide deliberately.