Chapter 15: Hunting

Empress bent down and picked up the umpteenth power crystal. So far that was the only thing she had done. She hadn’t even had the opportunity to test out her arrows.

Helia was skilled. Not only did the girl attack via self-mutilation, she also employed a barrage of deadly sword strokes, swiftly dispatching all of her enemies. The downside was that she was pretty sure Helia was insane. No normal person would be willing to stab themselves repeatedly in the stomach.

However, Empress couldn’t really complain. The experience was great. She already reached level 20. 

Empress rubbed her hands together excitedly. She was an inch away from reaching level 10 in her teleportation mastery. She quickly absorbed a few power crystals, crossing the threshold she needed to level.

Minor teleportation mastery has reached level 10!

Minor teleportation mastery can now evolve.

Evolve? (Y/N)

Empress accepted without hesitation. 

Ding! 

Emotion teleportation now available!

Empress’s face went blank.

“What the heck does that do?!” Empress cried internally

Empress was aggrieved. She was hoping her evolution would finally allow her to teleport without seeing or at least let her teleport other people.

Instead, she was left with this.

She opened her status window and checked the skill description.

Emotion Teleportation: Allows the user to teleport their emotions away to their target.

Empress sighed. It was exactly as she suspected. What was the point of that?!

Suddenly, a voice spoke up.

“Hurry up slow poke,” Helia said lazily, “My level scales with yours and I want to get level one-hundred sometime this year.”

Empress frowned. The girl was pissing her off.

“You need to cut it out,” Empress told her.

“Cut what out?” Helia asked in confusion, her sleepy eyes widening.

“Your attitude. If we’re going to be partners, I need to be able to like you. Right now you’re being extremely annoying,” Empress told her bluntly.

A faint blush crept up Helia’s ears. She stuttered in reply.

“I-I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be an asshole,” Helia hung her head in shame.

“Sometimes I say things without meaning to. I promise I’ll control myself.”

Empress blinked in surprise. The girl was surprisingly meek.

“It’s okay,” Empress said quietly, “Let’s keep moving.”

Helia nodded, following slowly from behind.

The duo encroached upon a hidden valley, buried deep in the foliage of the forest. Laying on the valley floor, covered in dense fur, was a pack of around forty jaguars. Massive canines jutted out from their mouths. They had huge claws that looked able to fell a tree in a single swipe.

Helia frowned, “You sure this is a good idea, boss?”

“Scared?” Empress asked teasingly.

“I’m not scared of anything!” Helia huffed, “Those are berserker jaguars though. They’re extremely fierce and won’t stop chasing until their prey is dead.”

“As long as we don’t run into any intermediate-ranked primordial beasts we should be okay. Just keep your eyes open,” Empress replied.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Helia nodded. The sleepiness vanished from her eyes and a determined expression emerged on her face.

Empress smiled in satisfaction. The girl was serious when the time called for it.

The two slowly approached the sleeping jaguars. When they got within range, Empress put her hand on her quiver.  She activated her gauntlets, instantly teleporting all twenty of her arrows towards the throats of the sleeping jaguars.  The arrows penetrated their jugulars with ease. Their thick fur was unable to stop the costly arrows.  Empress was relieved, the arrows were truly worth the money.

Suddenly, the rest of the pack woke up. The thick smell of blood had disturbed them. They roared, causing the trees in the valley to shake.

Bloodshot eyes stared at Empress and Helia. Simultaneously, they dashed towards the two, enraged.

“Stay close,” Empress told her sidekick. Helia nodded.

Empress fired her barrier bullets at the approaching horde. Five of the creatures were downed instantly, the projectiles tearing them apart. 

She briefly considered throwing up a layered barrier to separate herself from the beasts, but after she looked at their claws she realized it would be futile.

All of a sudden the creatures stopped in place, causing Empress to frown. They opened their mouths, forming massive balls of fire.

“Boss…,” Helia said with a frown, “This doesn’t look good.”

Empress’s face turned ugly before suddenly turning back into a smile.

“Don’t worry. I have this under control.”

“You sure?” Helia asked.

“Yeah,” Empress said, nodding seriously.

The tension immediately flowed out of Helia’s body. The laziness returned to her eyes. She trusted Empress’s judgement.

With a boom, the fireballs flew out of jaguar’s mouths, flying towards the pair.

Empress calmly summoned a barrier, protecting them. This one shimmered and glowed.

The fireballs struck the barrier with a loud thud. The shield shook, causing Empress to doubt her herself briefly. However, before the force field could break, the fireballs rebounded like a spring, flying back towards the beasts.

She had used her reflective barrier for the first time.

The creatures didn’t manage to dodge in time. The fireballs returned to their users, crashing into them and setting them on fire. They howled in agony as they were burnt to a crisp by their own attacks.

“That was…impressive,” Helia grudgingly admitted.

“Thanks,” Empress beamed, knowing that was the best compliment she was going to get.

Empress coughed. 

“It’s your turn to pick up the power crystals.”

Helia rolled her eyes and walked forward towards the nearest corpse, prepared to loot it.

All of a sudden, Empress’s eye went wide in horror. She immediately teleported forward and shoved Helia out of the way.

With a loud boom, a colossal cheetah appeared, smacking into Empress’s side with staggering speed.

Empress was sent flying through the air before skidding across the ground. She started wheezing, a rib had punctured her lung. She patched it up with a barrier, but she needed to get to Helia quickly.

She summoned her strength and teleported forward. The cheetah wouldn’t allow it though. A third eye opened up on its head. It swiped at empty space. Right as its claws entered the zone, Empress appeared.

The claw struck her leg, causing deep gashes that touched revealed bone.

Empress cursed.

“Be careful!” she yelled to Helia, “It has some kind of foresight. Run away!”

NPC death was permanent. The girl was a little hot-headed but Empress grimaced at the thought of her dying.

Helia grit her teeth in frustration. She knew there wasn’t anything she could do to help. She quickly turned around, dashing into the forest.

The jaguar let her go, determining that Empress was more of a threat.

Panic raced through Empress’s mind.

“What should I do?”