A dwarven guard, arms broken but still hobbling around, growled something in a language Amelia did not recognize. Presumably Dwarven, but who knew, in this city?

“I’ll ask one more time,” Amelia said. “Tell me about the operations here. Anything you know.”

He spat on the floor.

She sighed and pummeled him with [Throwing Hands].

All around her, bodies laid motionless, or about to be motionless. Boxes, chairs, entire shelves overturned, and most of it was just from Amelia throwing guards into them. This whole building was a cluttered mess, so any real attack she made was sure to start a cascade of items falling.

She stepped over a spilled-out bag of fertilizer and walked up to one still-living guard. The myxo, whose gelatin-like body bobbed with each breath like the whole thing was about to disintegrate, met Amelia’s eyes without as much terror as the others.

“From the pools I came, and to the pools I return,” the myxo muttered with an accordion-like voice.

“Listen. I just want to ask about Fourland,” Amelia said. “Tell me something, and I promise I’ll deliver you back to the pools.”

But then the myxo breathed its last breath, and its body really did disintegrate, leaving slime all over the floor, and one mushy central organ, its former brain. Then, only a second later, the brain, too, collapsed into a pile of goop.

Well, at least Amelia would not be forced to break any promises today. There were no myxo colonies on Sunwell, none ever discovered at least. This one here was probably from a continent away; it should have known it would have never made it back to a primordial pool.

She knelt down and sucked up as much energy as she could from the myxo before it started to evaporate. It filled two medium-sized soul gems, and she did not even manage to absorb all of it before it faded into the air.

That was Amelia’s first-ever myxo kill. When she absorbed this soul gem later, she decided she would incorporate its memories into her system, just to see what a being like this lived like. Sometimes, Amelia had genuine curiosity, she would admit.

Well then, that was the last of the guards. With everyone dead, it unfortunately meant that tonight was almost completely worthless. She took some bad people off the streets, but without more information, it—

“Gyah!”

Suddenly, Amelia felt sharp pain from both her shoulders and both her thighs. A huge weight on her back, and the putrid breath of a screaming maniac.

That felid drug dealer, Liss, was still alive, and had just latched onto her like a craven animal.

She wrestled with her, trying to shake her body enough to throw the woman off, but she only dug in her claws deeper.

“Agh! Get off!”

Might I suggest something?

“Do it! Boost Module!”

Her soul cranked into gear and her body overclocked itself. The sheer pain of twenty different tiny stabs faded a little, and her mind let her focus just enough to get out of this attack.

She bent her knees, lowered her body, and leapt with all the force she could manage. A full foot in the air, maybe two.

And then she somersaulted, spun completely around, and landed back on her feet.

The felid was unable to hang on. Whatever it was, the jump and the spin were too much for her, and she let go, crashing on the ground next to one of the dead dwarves’ bodies. Landed right on her back.

The pain of all those claws throbbed over her whole body, but she ignored it, because Liss was still alive, shockingly. No more moving for a while, but still alive. Perfect.

“Ready to speak?” Amelia asked, looming over the injured woman.

“Help me...”

“A lot of loyalty for a hired gun,” Amelia said.

Liss coughed up blood. “Why do you wear that mask?”

“Oh, this?” Amelia had forgotten she still had it on. No point when she had nothing to hide. She took it off and shoved it in her pocket.

The woman saw Amelia’s cracked, ragged face in full and gasped.

“I’ll tell you about myself. Why I wear that mask,” Amelia says. “I’m a golem. My core is here.” She pointed to her chest, and that faint purple glow beneath her jacket. “I want some information on Fourland, or North Sunwell if you have it. Because I’m going to destroy them both.”

Another round of coughing. “I don’t know anything,” she insisted. “I’m just some thug they picked up. Fourland doesn’t even like me.”

“You dealt deadly drugs to poor and vulnerable people,” Amelia said. “You will face judgment for your crimes.”

“The police won’t—ack—do it,” Liss said. “Fourland pays them off. The whole city. North Sunwell’s blessing. Long as they keep researching crystal ferns.”

“Ah, so you DO know something.”

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Her eyes widened at the realization. “Please don’t kill me...”

“Do you know how many people have asked me that this month?”

“I have a family,” she begged. “A wife, a child. Please.”

Amelia snapped. “That irks me. Using your family to buy yourself mercy. Despicable.” She began to pace around the fallen felid. “Your family might be innocent. I don’t know them. I only know you, and you deserve nothing. If I kill you, maybe your kid will seek revenge. Maybe in twenty years they’ll find me and gut me. Or maybe they’ll find out about your career and decide it’s not worth it. Which do you think?”

She did not respond.

“I had a family, too,” Amelia continued. “A girlfriend I loved, a partner I lived with for more than four years. Then the North Sunwell Company took her from me. I need information to get her back.”

“Oh, Gods...”

“No God will save you.”

Liss cried, her sobs broken up by coughs. “I was about to run an op today,” she said. “We smuggle synth through the dungeon. It’s made down there, and there’s secret tunnels everywhere we use to sneak it to the surface. I was going to pick up a batch and sell it. I won’t now, I promise.”

“Where in the dungeon?” Amelia asked.

“Fourth floor and below,” she said. “I don’t know, really. It’s a huge facility. I only go to one part of it. Honest, that’s all I know.”

Amelia stepped back and nodded. “Okay. I believe you.”

“I... I never hurt anyone. I—”

“Free to go.”

Liss shivered like she had just passed away. “What?”

“I’m not merciless,” Amelia told her. “I’ll spare you.”

She coughed up more blood, and then struggled to get herself back on her feet. Amelia did not help her.

Liss looked absolutely pathetic. Clearly remorseless for the pain she had caused. Focused solely on her own life, and in denial even to this very moment. She said she never hurt anyone. A lot of synth dealers had told Amelia that very same thing.

Just about when she had gotten to her knees, Amelia bowed her head in deference. “Say hi to the family for me. Love them well.”

“Do you—”

“Just kidding.” Amelia raised her right hand up to Liss’s forehead and activated [Mana Burst.]

The stench of burnt skin entered her nose.

She might have let the felid go, had she displayed any real sense of repentance. Gods knew Amelia had done some horrible things in her life, including just in this very moment. But Amelia had made a mistake. She told her about Ed, and about her own origin.

There was no choice after that, no matter what kind of begging Liss had done.

Amelia felt terrible, in a way. Not for the woman, but for her wife, for her child. They might never know the truth, she realized, about what a bad person Liss turned out to be. But she was probably just putting clothes on their backs. She was evil, but not wholly.

The price she paid for revenge sunk in for a moment. All the pain Amelia had caused, indirectly, to all these other people. Then again, If Liss had not been stopped, she would have picked up more synth in the dungeon, would have sold it to more people and ruined their lives, too.

The chain of consequences was not instant. And so, reluctantly, Amelia had to shove it away in some deep compartment of her mind, ready to address after her revenge was already complete.

Now was not the time for regret. It was the time to use these dead people’s souls to enhance her systems.

With all the time in the world to herself, she collected each and every one of the souls of the departed. She set the myxo’s gems aside, but the rest she would absorb right here and now.

She pressed them against her chest, all at once.

Pure power pulsed within her core, wound around and through her spirit, intertwined with it. The sensation was like feeling entire essence of oneself taken, copied, and then shoved back against itself.

Amelia felt like twice of herself. The moment was a brief flare, but it was beautiful.

Souls converted successfully!

You now have abundant mana in reserves. You’re overflowing.

What would you like to upgrade?

What WOULD she like to upgrade?

Her modules had all degraded over the past year. Without maintenance, and without a sufficient amount of soul energy, she had lost a lot of the power she once had. The modules needed mana, too, and if she hardly had enough for herself, then they began to suffer as well. If Ed saw her in this state, a shadow of the warrior she was a year ago, Amelia would feel extremely embarrassed.

So, before anything else, she devoted some mana to each of her modules. Boost, Scan, Combat, Repair, and the Access Core. All of them needed an extra bit to keep them fresh, and she delivered well.

With no modules active at the moment except for the Access Core, she did not feel the effects directly. But she knew they were very pleased by this turn of events.

There was still more mana left over, though. Her reserves were overfilled, and the rest of the energy would go to waste if it was not spent now.

What could she upgrade next?

My recommendation. :)

Upgrade the Combat Module.

There is enough energy to reactivate [Harmonic Ring.]

You'll use it very soon, I bet.

The Access Core was right. Amelia’s dwindling array of combat skills was not a major hurdle yet, but the more deadly of opponents she fought, the more likely it would be that she would need new options.

Luckily, Ed had already designed one of those options, and Amelia finally managed to reactivate it.

[Harmonic Ring] was always a useful power: When selected, Amelia’s body vibrated at an incredible frequency for a short period to charge herself up. Then, with enough sonic and kinetic energy built up, she was able to launch an attack whenever she wanted, a blast on all sides around her that could knock down any nearby person or loose object. As a killing move, it was not that useful, but in combination with other tactics, it was a life-saver.

And now Amelia had it back, after six or more months gone. She was so happy she thought she might cry, if only her body could let her.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps, loud and fast, echoed through the building.

More Fourland thugs were coming, and they were prepared this time.

Amelia punched out the dim mana light next to her, and used her Combat Module to activate night vision. No need to give a fair fight, she thought.

As the Fourland reinforcements found her and attempted to attack in the dark, Amelia realized this was just the thing she needed to juice her spirits after dealing with the felid. No questioning needed this time. Just killing.

She was just happy to get a chance for even more souls.