The trip into the seaside city was only briefly interrupted by the appearance of an evil black hellhound-looking creature with a missing front paw. The identification said it was a [Dip - lvl 9].

Titus made Alice fight it alone, but she was allowed to borrow the shovel this time. Holding it with both hands, she kept the dog at a distance. Whenever it got close, she stabbed at its nose, which appeared to be very sensitive. Each time she struck, it would shake its head and sneeze.

It was a slow fight that took nearly twenty minutes of her constant attention. By the time she was done, her neck and shoulders ached with the strain. Her hands had blisters on them from the haft of the shovel as she repeatedly had to stab and whack it, the motion rubbing her delicate hands raw. But soon the dog creature, made of shadow and blood, was lying dead at her feet. To her triumph, a list of possible skills for reaching level seven appeared in front of her.

"Congrats," Titus said. "What are you going to get for the third general skill?"

"I was planning on picking something like [Tech Interface] to make it so much easier to set up an interface with the supercomputer and stuff so we could actually achieve our goals," Alice said. "But I don't think I'll make it to the next evolution without some help."

Titus nodded. "Yeah, I don't think melee combat is ever going to be your forte. Though, you should definitely keep training a little bit," he said as he bandaged up her palms where a few blisters had burst. "You looked a little bit clumsy there."

"I would have appreciated some advice," Alice said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Titus waved his hand. "You were doing well enough, and I didn't want to distract you. But I agree, I think you need some sort of ranged attack, maybe something with archery or guns as an option."

Alice shook her head. "No, actually….." She chose her skill, and [Mana Bolt] was added to her skill list. "Perhaps [Mana Sight] was a prerequisite. But I think this is better..."

She thrust out her palm, and a shimmering, glowing bolt visible only to her shot off and struck a nearby rock, leaving a small black scorch mark. The rock didn't move—it was several hundred pounds—but still, it was a little bit disappointing. Now, her head throbbed in pain from the lack of energy.

"Oof," she said, putting her hand to her forehead, a little dizzy now. "That took a lot out of me."

But Titus was already over by the rock, inspecting the damage. "Wow. Impressive. Look, you actually chipped the granite," he said. "You're a real wizard now."

"Yay," Alice said, the act of talking making her head throb. "Can you bandage my head? I think my concussion is flaring up again."

"Sure, sure," Titus said, removing a bandana he had tied around his neck and wrapping it around her temples. Somehow, the simple act caused his [First Aid] skill to activate, and the pain in her head subsided slightly. She could feel the magic within her slowly refilling from the outside. A few minutes later, she felt she could cast the spell again without causing extreme pain.

She held off as they climbed back into their borrowed car and made it the rest of the way into the city. In the city, though, it was just like back on campus. There were monsters every couple of blocks, most of which they actually worked together to fight. Now that Alice could contribute without being in danger, Titus always let her get the first shot in.

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There was an odd mix of monsters from traditional Mediterranean myths, normally stemming from Greek or Roman origins, despite the fact that they were in Spain. She recognized some of them from Moroccan mythology as well. Titus would tell her the stories about some of them if she asked. He seemed to know almost every myth they'd come across, but just as many of the creatures were ones she had never seen or heard of, nor had Titus. They were constructs of the Systems, just a few odd animals or myths mashed together into a questionable usefulness. Those were oftentimes easier to fight, as their powers or abilities didn't seem to always mesh with each other well.

The fights were all rather similar, not that she could contribute from a safe distance. They would always open with Alice casting [Mana Bolt] if she had the mana available.Sometimes, it would kill it outright if it was weak enough, usually only those that were level five or less. Otherwise, it would stun it or cause injury, and then Titus would move in to finish it off with his ax or shovel. It was a slow gain of experience for Titus, as he had to share it with Alice, and he was at a higher level. But for her, helping take down things nearly twice her level, or sometimes more, was rapidly improving her abilities.

By the time they reached the water, still not having found the consortium they were looking for, she had reached level eight. Alice looked at her now almost balanced stats and smiled.

Name: Alice Wright

Titles: Mother of All

Perks: Quick Learner

Level: 8 - F

Speed: 10

Power: 9

Control: 10

—

Physical: 2

Magic: 5

* Gen Skills

* System Identification

* Mana sight

1. Mana

She had been focusing a bit on power after getting her speed and control up to level ten, and she felt like she was moving like a real athlete. Every once in a while, she actually dared to draw her knife and didn't even cut herself. When she hit level eight and added two points to power, her mana bolts started having real oomph, and she was pretty sure they could punch through the side of a car if she wanted to. They were much slower moving than a bullet, yet they had a much greater impact. A few more levels, and she might actually get a class.

They started moving along the water, following a path a couple of hundred feet back from the beach and heading towards several large boats docked at a pier. This was a bit risky, as oftentimes monsters came up from the water to challenge them. But at least they weren't being surprised from both sides by things coming around the buildings. The encounters happened infrequently enough that Alice was oftentimes able to fully recharge her mana reserves before the next opponent.

It took nearly another hour of walking and fighting before Titus finally reacted and pumped a fist in the air. Alice inspected him, seeing that he was now level twelve.

"Fuck yeah," he said. "That was awesome." She could tell that the added eight points of stats from the single level were making a difference. He was already moving significantly faster.

"You put four points into speed?" she asked, and he nodded.

"It's at twenty-one now," he said as he sprinted a couple of steps forward and back, moving at least thirty or forty miles an hour. The air around him cracked, and she felt her hair ruffle as he moved past, leaving a small vacuum.

"Wow," she said. "That is impressive."

"Yeah, these improved stats are really worthwhile. I can't recommend getting to E-grade enough." He pointed towards the place where all the boats were docked. "Also, I think I see what we're looking for."

Alice looked confused. "Um, I just see a small collection of buildings."

"Yeah, but one of those buildings' signs, I'm pretty sure, has the word 'consortium' in Spanish. It's been a while since I practiced Spanish, though."

"I can't even make out the signs. Is this that [Eagle's Vision] skill of yours?"

Titus shrugged. "Hard to tell. It's active all the time. It has gotten to level two, though."

Alice grumbled jealousy, but they headed off with renewed purpose. It would be interesting to see what they could get.