The door opened behind Selene, and she froze mid-motion. Stepping through the doorway was a slight woman in a black and white uniform, like an old-fashioned housemaid.

Selene looked back at the woman with dread, but she hadn’t noticed yet. Her head was turned back, and she was asking someone to wait.

Selene found her limbs unresponsive as she watched the maid close the door, and turn fully into the room.

The maid’s eyes widened in shock as she locked eyes with Selene, and took in her ragged state. Selene, who hadn’t dared look at herself, didn’t know that he dress was torn at the shoulder, and she had deliberately ignored the blood that was splattered all over her. The maid certainly noticed, and it looked like she was about to scream.

Selene watched the maid’s mouth open and heard the intake of air. She could only close her eyes in resignation, expecting the scream that would surely follow, and knowing that the guards would be prompt in their response.

Selene’s heart raced, and she frowned when she realised the scream didn’t come. She opened her eyes and saw the maid with both hands clasped over her mouth, and tears in her eyes.

She’d gone pale, and her eyes darted between Selene and the window before she seemed to come to a decision.

She lowered her hands and waved them.

“Is she-?” Selene couldn’t believe her eyes. “Is she waving me off? Is she telling me to flee?”

The question was obvious in her expression, as she also glanced at the window. The maid smiled, and nodded, but didn’t dare speak. She pointed at the window before she nodded at Selene. After a glance behind her, she moved over and turned the faucet on the sink.

“Go,” she whispered to the frightened girl. “Quickly, go, now!”

Not daring to argue, or wait, Selene scrambled up and squeezed out of the window. She landed on soft grass, and quickly glanced around, before she looked back up at the window, where she saw the maid wave at her, before closing it.

She saw no one else, and a quick glance told her that to her left would bring her further into the garden, while her right was blocked by a tall wall, and hedge. Putting her questions, and concern about the maid out of her mind, she darted to the corner, where the building met the hedge, and looked around.

“I can’t follow the hedge,” she thought. “There’s no cover. I’ll be spotted for sure. The hedge is too tall for me to jump, and not solid enough to climb. Too thick to break through, and even if I did, there’s the wall.”

She frowned in consternation as she considered her options. Her eyes widened for a moment before she narrowed her eyes and looked at her hand.

“I’ve ascended,” she thought back to the surge of emotions, and something else. The System had recognized her and granted her abilities. “Chill of the Grave doesn’t seem like something that’ll work quickly, though freezing the hedge might make it possible for me to break through. Spirit Echoes is a sensory skill, so that’s no good right now, but Shadow Strike might. Am I able to shape, and maintain it, or is it a momentary thing?”

She focused on her hand and willed the skill to function. It felt like she’d always known how to do it, which made it easy.

A dark film spread over her hand, and she learned that she could maintain it, and mold it, though only slightly.

Along the side of her hand, she formed a sharpened edge which she used to start cutting a path through the hedge.

It didn’t take long before she reached the wall. It was made from solid metal, formed into thick rods. They only had a few centimetres between them, so Selene wouldn’t be able to squeeze through, but if she could remove a section of one rod, she might.

It was torturously slow going, and Selene kept glancing back, expecting to see guards swarming toward her, but no such thing happened.

Slowly, but surely, she cut through the fence, silently thanking whoever would listen for Lon Thrast’s greed. He wouldn’t splurge on enchanted fences when he had so many guards.

The rod fell, leaving a decently sized hole behind, but Selene didn’t immediately rush through. She felt a strange tiredness, unlike anything she’d experienced before.

“Must be whatever resource I used to maintain the skill,” she thought as she rubbed her temples. “I need to rest before going on.”

She quickly moved some of the branches she’d cut off back and covered the hole she’d made. She had no way of knowing if it looked good from the outside, but it was better than a gaping hole.

Having done her best to conceal herself, she sat back, closed her eyes, and regulated her breathing.

“Calm down,” she tried to recall the small tidbits she’d heard about the System throughout her life. “Restful meditation is supposed to help, right? Shit! I don’t remember, but it’s all I can do.”

She sat in silence, breathing softly, and she felt herself recovering quickly, but she still took some extra time to start the process of moving on from her recent trauma.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Each memory was painful, every time she tried to recall the events of the last hours, she felt her stomach twist, and her heart race. Images of the dead Lon Thrast flashed in her mind.

“I’ve gotten revenge on him,” she thought. “He died before he could carry out his intentions, thank the heavens. I avenged his countless previous victims.”

The thoughts, which she had to struggle to keep rational, filled her with a deep sense of satisfaction. The thought of bringing vengeance on those who had abused, tortured and killed her people filled her with a fervour that was difficult to dispel.

“They shall feel the grip of death, the chill grasp Hel!” she thought, and felt as if the thought resonated within her. Her breathing became rushed, and her heart raced.

The feeling dissipated after a minute or so, and Selene was left confused.

“What was that?” she asked herself. “Hel? What?”

No answers made themselves apparent, so she shook her head and prepared for the last leg of her escape.

She used the Shadow Strike skill again, and cut away the majority of the hedge on the other side of the fence, leaving only a small layer in front of her.

“Alright, this is it!” she thought. “As far as I can recall, there’s an open space between the palace entrance and the forest line. I’ll have to run and evade them. I’ll lose them in the shanty town. My sudden appearance and escape might make some of them check on their boss, which could sow some confusion as well.”

She took a breath and slashed through the remaining part of the hedge, and dashed forward.

It didn’t take long before she heard sounds of pursuit, but she didn’t look behind. She kept running and reached the forest in short order.

She weaved through the forest, dodging branches and trees, using every trick in her book to confuse her followers. The sounds of pursuit grew louder, implying that they were catching up to her.

Selene kept running, despite her bare feet getting torn, and cut. She powered through, remembering the feeling of satisfaction, or wholeness she felt before, and drawing strength from it.

She had ascended! She was among the select few earthlings who had managed this feat after the integration.

“I will not share their fate,” she resolved. “I will succeed, and bring about Earth’s liberation. I will bring vengeance upon our slavers, and abuser.”

The forest rushed past in a blur, but the sounds of pursuit kept growing louder. She wouldn’t make it to the town.

She ventured a glance behind and saw one of the guards was only a few metres from her. He wielded a short sword in one hand and had an angry frown on his face. He saw nobody else. Wanting to test out her new skills, she activated Spirit Echoes.

It looked like a film had been drawn across her vision, draping everything in a light blueish-white hue. Her pursuer lit up in a multitude of colours, though it was primarily a dull brown tone. A strange sense flashed through her, telling her that he was fast but weak.

“I can beat him,” she thought as she returned her gaze to the front. “But, I’ll need to catch him off guard. There!”

She turned slightly, changing her direction to run toward a large tree. Its trunk was wide enough to conceal her, but she had to move quickly.

She dashed around the trunk, and the guard lost sight of her momentarily. Selene used this moment to activate Chill of the Grave.

The underbrush of the forest started to crinkle, and she saw a very slight layer of frost form nearly instantly. It spanned about five metres in radius originating from her body and successfully caught the rushing guard by surprise.

The effect of the skill took hold and weakened him, and with his momentum, he could no longer adjust properly. He careened around the trunk, where Selene was waiting for him, Shadow Strike ready, and punched forward. His blade narrowly missed her torso, as her fist struck true.

A spray of blood appeared behind the guard, and he grunted in surprise as Selene’s fist burst through his chest. A slight gurgle was the last sound he managed before his eyes rolled back, and he fell limp.

Selene stood rooted for several long minutes before she managed to shake off the shock. She heard a notification from the System, but she ignored it in favour of picking up the guard’s sword and quickly checking his pockets.

She found a few credit chips, which were the lowest denomination of money in this System, and a few paper strips with writing on them. In her Spirit sight, it was alight with a fiery aura, and she had a suspicion about what they were.

She’d seen the rulers use these kinds of things before and suspected that these ones could be used to create fire. An idea formed in her head, and she quickly stripped off the man’s uniform.

It didn’t fit her, at all, but she tore off strips from the dress and used them as belts, and straps to hold the uniform on her. She pocketed the credits, and all but one of the fire charms.

She steeled her resolve, and injected some of her energy into it, similar to how she used skills.

As the charm lit up, she threw it at the corpse in front of her, and looked at it for a second, frowning.

“I won’t feel sorry for you,” Selene thought. “I won’t pity the dead invaders.”

She turned, and continued her flight, now wearing a gaudy, though ill-fitting, white and gold uniform with dark purple belts and straps.

She took a few detours, ensuring that she didn’t enter the town from the nearest point from the fire, since it was bound to draw attention.

“Hopefully,” she thought as she skulked between the ramshackle huts, the scent of despair assailing her nose. “The fire will damage the corpse enough that they won’t realise how he died. It’ll be better if no one knows I’ve ascended for as long as possible. They’ll hunt me nonetheless, but they’ll send stronger, more capable people if they know that.”

She hadn’t gotten his scabbard, so she strapped the sword to her side using the remnants of the dress and moved around quietly until she found an abandoned shack. It used to belong to one of her best friends, Bella, but she and her family disappeared a few months before. It had stood empty since then, and would now serve as her hide-out. For the time being, at least.

“I can’t stay here. The death of the lord will bring attention to the area, so the best thing I can do for the people here is to leave. If the Lords think they’ve harboured a fugitive, an ascended one at that, they’ll suffer far more. It’s time to say goodbye to Lon Lon Town.”