["Oh? Do we have a twinsies this time? Judging from your look, are you two sisters?”]
When the angel shows up, the entire room are in an uproar.
To put a note on the atmosphere riling up, it's as if a crowd of fans meets their favorite idol, and among the cheering and the fawning, Carana stay silent, getting caught a bit off-guard.
Though, not that she can said for herself.
“So, is that Tessa The Testament, internally known as Tessa-chan?” (Carana)
“Yep.” (Head Chief)
The Head Chief, also staying calm, reply to her. He also doesn't scream to the top of his lung in fawning, for multiple obvious reasons.
“The one that’s rank 8 within the overall female popularity ranking, and rank 1 within the company’s female popularity ranking. Striking the cord of the people liking her with the gap moe between her cute, petite, and angelic-like appearance, and her rough, jaded, and tomboy-ish personality when she broke down her act, yet never failing in her task of guiding people. The plights she experienced as a corporate drone and a deeply experienced veteran in her own work strike a particular cord within these corporate drones and deeply experienced veterans.... and that's basically it. Speaking of, you don't seem to be as enthusiastic as those guys..."
Carana commented, as she strike a glance toward the riling crowds....
“Oooo~, they unlock Tessa-chan's Veteran mode so fast! Did they know that to get her to act the best, they need to ignore the opening cutscene?"
“I don't think these new players know that, otherwise she wouldn't have opened herself up like such, not to mention the chance of meeting her, in particular, is like 1/100000...These guys are natural disaster newbies, down to their lottery luck!”
“Aww, look at her swelling up her cheeks as being ignored and play around with...Tessa The Teasable is cute as always!”
Looking at the peanut galleries all joining together in simping their head over heels, Head Chief once again pinch his forehead for the n-times today. 'If only they put in even a tenth of that enthusiasm for actually balancing this game', he wishpered to himself.
"Well yeah, I'm already a married man, so Tessa looks more like a daughter to me. You don't seem as enthusiastic either." (Head Chief)
“The No.1 of my heart will always be Maria-chan, so of course I don’t. Speaking of, look at how cute it is for her to comfort and teach Tessa of her flaw instead~~.” (Carana)
“Being teasable is a feature, instead of a flaw though...Looking at how she so easily bites back with every tease just reminds me so much of my daughter at home." (Head Chief)
As they watch further, getting wrapped with admiring Tessa cuteness, eventually the moderator team notices something odd.
“Speaking of, Tessa’s getting teased is cute and all that, but the fact that even a pet can tease her with Yuri-joke...” (Mod)
“In fact, isn’t it weird that the monitor lizard can talk in the first place?”
“Wait, isn't it a trend nowadays to have pets that can speak like a human? It's partly our fault as well..."
“Yeah, but to be able to freely move in human form as well...Disregarding the control support system, for her to perform as if she’s a real human athlete...”
As the Moderators began to talk with themselves, Head Chief quickly whisper with Laplace once again.
"(Hey, at this rate, wouldn't they find out that something truly strange is going on with their dragon pet?)" (Head Chief)
“([Not to worry. With limited information and impaired reasoning capability, the only thing they would have thought of is...])" (Laplace)
“...Hey, what if the pet isn’t a pet, but someone dressing up as a pet instead?” (Mod)
As if it’s a natural conclusion, the Moderator began to talk themselves into this thought process.
“Wait, but she appears as a monitor lizard in the first place, right? How can they be a person then?"
“Don't we have a feature that allows them to appear as their internal Avatar instead? It's basically a cosmetic feature, which we advertise to allow them to always look like what they want..."
“Yeah, but the system itself categorizes them as a pet, right? The console specification wouldn't be wrong..."
"Hmph! If they were indeed hackers, being able to change a simple specification like that is a piece of cake. Why would they wasting this much effort into being a scalie is beyond me though..." (Alex)
As even the Head Moderator is buying into this theory, as biased as he was, the Head Chief breeze a sign of relief. Laplace chimed in for him after that.
"([As I said, nothing to worry about.])" (Laplace)
"(Thank goodness...Now the dragon itself has some weird rumor on her though.)" (Head Chief)
“([The information would stay internally for a long time, so there will be no leakage issues for now.])” (Laplace)
As the Head Chief breath a sigh of relief, not having to pop another pill for the day, the peanuts continued to watch what's happening, while the mod team keep throwing out speculation.
“Wait, but if that was true, then why would Maria be associating with this weirdo?” (Mod)
"Hmph! It just goes to show how understanding she is, to accept even the most outcast of people! You should be ashamed to even think bad of her for that." (Carana)
“...Well, considering how she acts so far, that would be true." (Mod)
With even Carana chiming in, leading them toward that conclusion, the Moderator soon stopped discussing that, and instead focused on the rest of the footage.
“Speaking of, the way they clear the requirement to get the Origin race is kinda strange.” (Mod)
“How the three all add up the species number using Synch Mode is strange enough, though within the function of the mode itself to allow people sharing the same house to be the same race...But the fact that they can acquire familiarities with each of them instantly shows blatant proof of cheating."
“Even on the race with have no proper form as well, and how they perfectly manipulate and utilize the Origin race as well, despite being their first time meeting it...It just goes to show that they either have prior knowledge of it as some sort of internal tester, or have been installing illegal movement support mod to their VR pod. This should be proof enough that they have something to do on your side, right?” (Alex)
“Hm? But Boss, don’t we already conclude that they have nothing to do with our company through checking the list?” (Mod)
“And didn't I say before that they clearly have falsified their profile to hide who they really are? Your brain must have fried from all the screen-cooking." (Alex)
Looking smugly at him (while chastified his employee), the Head Moderator glared dagger at Head Chief, sure in himself to finally be able to put him on the stake at last...
"Ho? But Laplace themselves said that what all of them does is legit though? You can see it that they have constant surveillance onto them, to ensure that it's so." (Head Chief)
“Or is it perhaps to insure that their meddling will go unnoticed? Seriously, to even use company’s resource this haphazardly as well is a clear breach of authority-” (Alex)
"Oh yeah, that reminds me, you seem to know a lot about how this game work...especially the inner machination of Synch Mode.” (Head Chief)
With Head Chief's sudden word, the Head Moderator flinched for a bit.
However, quickly recovering himself, he smugly asserted himself again.
“Hmph, obviously, as Moderator, we’re supposed to know the machination of the game in-and-out, in order to find out the flaw of your shitty-ass game...” (Alex)
"Hm, true...But, to know the hidden mechanic within the new console mode, before we officially released it for you guys, is kinnnda strange, isn't it? It was supposed to be tested internally by a separate team, before having the official version be released to the Moderator team around today, when it first released...” (Head Chief)
“For you to have prior access to the information before company’s policy...who is breaching authority, here?”
With piercing sentences of frost, Head Chief froze his mouth, making him unable to move his mouth.
"...H-Hmph! Not of your concern! With how much info you have been keeping from us all this time, it makes sense that I have to make connections to access it!" (Alex)
"Ho, so that's what it was, huh...I wonder if that would bite you back, later.” (Head Chief)
“Heh, you should worry about yourself first! We’re already at the halfway point!” (Alex)
Looking at the scene of Yukari convincing Maria to state out her worried and resolve it, he pointed dramatically toward it.
“Aww~, look at them joking and teasing and being close with each other~. As expected, Yukari sure is a worthy blood sister toward Maria, being so ever-thoughtful and kind and-" (Carana)
“According to the log, the greatest change to their status happened after this point of their registration. With how big of a change it is, no matter how subtle they made it, there is no way they could disguise illegal modification of a change that big!” (Alex)
“And with the undisputed proof near at hand, your meddling as the sole developer team of Isekai Online will soon be finished!! No way half of you doesn’t get canned after this now, Muahahahaha!!!!”
Ignoring the rambling of the prime peanut gallery as she’s bending over backward on the ground, the Head Moderator dramatically make his assured statement, laughing like a cheap-ass villain while they’re at it.
“...Like I said many times before, Laplace's judgment is always just. There can be nothing wrong or erroneous which can escape their eyes.” (Head Chief)
“Hah, still going on and on about that? This isn’t a VR novel you know, for you to have that absolutely massive ball.” (Alex)
“Then, we shall see if that statement is correct or not, soon enough.” (Head Chief)
“We shall see then.” (Alex)
With a glaring match between the two of them, intense enough to spark out a full-on anime fight scene, the peanut gallery then noticed hand -ign behind his back once again.
(Prepare yourself, the next scene is R-18) (Head Chief_
Alarmed with his warning, the entire team tensed themselves up, preparing for what comes next...
(Huh, R-18? Wouldn’t it just be Maria and Yukari having an intimate time together...Kya!! Not in a public place like that, Maria-chan!!) (Carana)
...Except for Carana, who is heading way too deep into her delusion.
This will cost her greatly, as she will soon find herself on the ground, fainting with spit bubbling from her mouth.
----------------------------------------
“You see, I have a problem with getting my status to reach 0, even with the Instant Status Change.” (Martia)
It started innocently enough, with Martia opening up her status for Violet and Blanc to see.
[
STR: 0 * 115% = 0
AGL: (0+10) * 115% = 11.5
END: 0 * 115% = 0
DEX: (100+60) * 115% = 184
INT: 0 * 115% = 0
]
“Hm...so specifically, it’s your Agility and Dexterity stat that can’t get down to 0, huh. That is indeed a problem.” (Violet)
“Kyu (Indeed, indeed).” (Blanc)
“Fucking hell...Only you three have problems looking a gift horse at its mouth." (Tessa)
Once again seeing them thinking about something absurd, Tessa the angel swore toward them, lying down in the air, looking at them with dead fish eyes, tired of all this shit.
Meanwhile, the trio looks at the cause of it all.
[Acrobatic
Effect: DEX +10
AGL +10
Description: Granted to the one who is flexible and nimble with their body]
[Eagle Eyes
Effect: Dex +50
Description: Achievement for hitting a target 1 km away.]
“Hm, look like Instant Status Change can't touch the status increase which comes from titles itself..." (Violet)
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"And since it's a permanent part of our status, that means we can't reduce it below the cumulative stat gain." (Martia)
“Kyu (Hm, troublesome indeed)” (Blanc)
“Again, I have never seen people actually complaining about getting rewarded for your hard work. What’s wrong with not being able to weaken yourself, anyway?” (Tessa)
“Hm...If I have to explain why, the status itself makes me feel uncomfortable I guess, Sis.” (Martia)
Responding to Tessa’s tired question, Martia replied, tilting her head to the side with her eyes closed troublingly, ponderingly crossing her arm.
“...Uncomfortable?” (Tessa)
“Well, not really uncomfortable, and more like...just feeling off, I guess.” (Martia)
“Off? You mean having increased status hinders you in some way?" (Tessa)
“In a manner of speaking...I guess it’s faster to just show you.” (Martia)
Keeping her Dexterity stat the same as it was, she then goes to the side, and lay herself down into a simple kata, in which she bends her knee into a horse stance, and rests her fist on her hip.
*PAK*
Then, with a simple straightening of her arm from her hip to the front, the simple punch she made a clear sound of muscle tensing and wind striking.
A simple, yet perfect form, embodying both stillness and strength. As an angel who has watched over many warriors developing their prowess over the years, she can recognize, through looking at her punch, that the one in front of her is a martial artist deeply trained in her way.
“(Well that explains some of the weirdness these guys exude out of their way) So? I see that you have performed a perfect punch, so what is the problem?" (Tessa)
“...Well, let me then remove all of my points out of DEX.” (Martia)
[
STR: 0 * 115% = 0
AGL: (0+10) * 115% = 11.5
END: 0 * 115% = 0
DEX: (0+60) * 115% = 69
INT: 100 * 115% = 115
Unallocated stat: 0
]
“Sis, you see that all of my points have been unallocated , right?” (Martia)
“Yeah yeah, I confirmed it.” (Tessa)
“Good, now I will do the same move, again.” (Martia)
Finished removing all of her points, she then readied herself in the same stance again, as Tessa watched on in ponder
(Okay, so she now drops her stat even lower. What’s she going to show me, her punch getting clumsie-) (Tessa)
*BANG!!!*
A huge shockwave, vibrating through space itself.
More accurately, it was space itself that shook.
Through the quaking of space, the punch "leave" from her fist, down toward the horizon. Even in the endless dark sky only illuminated by the dim light from below, the shockwave makes itself clearly visible, as it travels at the speed of sound.
As the punch leave Tessa jaw-dropped and eye-popping, finding her gaze stuck at the fist clenched tightly in her hand, Martia calmly explained, while lowering it again.
“A perfect stance, a perfect form, a perfect fist, lead to a perfect punch.” (Martia)
“If one is sure of their way, and trained until they can realize it with but a thought, or a whim...The perfect way they conduct themselves, will clearly imprint themselves upon the world, without needing to conduct yourself through strength.”
“ Then, all you need to do, is to perform that punch perfectly, assuredly, and absolutely. Then, in response, the world will answer...”
“An absolute punch, will be answered with absolute verberation.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“...Hey, what the hell is this?” (Alex)
Just like Tessa, the entire peanut galleries all stand stunned, at what they just witnessed.
Only when Head Moderator is yelling at the Head Chief, do they regain their soul.
“How the heck can she do that, Head Chief! What kind of hack can allow her to do that, you tell me!!” (Alex)
"...It isn't hacking." (Head Chief)
"Don't give me that shit, if it isn't hacked, then what it is!?" (Alex)
“Well, don’t you already have an inkling of it yourself?” (Head Chief)
Replying calmly, the Head Chief talks back with a stern face, as he is secretly clenching his teeth, stopping himself from also dropping his jaw.
“To vibrate the world with just a simple form, is the same as to bend the world with just one’s will...Through the conceptualization of a “perfect punch”, she delivered her desired result onto the world around her itself...” (Head Chief)
“Fucking hell, I knew that’s what it is. Don't you think I haven't watched enough players performing this bullshit countless times before!? What I am asking is..." (Alex)
“(Aww, Maria is so cool!!! Can’t believe she done it while...)” (Carana)
As the Head Moderator is screaming in indignation, and Carana screaming in admiration...
----------------------------------------
“...How the heck can you do it, while being weaker???” (Tessa)
Just like the peanut gallery, watching their footage in the future, Tessa also is questioning Martia loudly, in complete befuddlement.
“? I’m already telling you what I have done right? You should know what exactly did I do as well.” (Martia)
“Of fucking course I know what conceptualization is, you dingus. What I was asking is how you did it, while being a complete newbie whose's status doesn't even reach 4 digits...And more importantly, how the heck did you do it, when you dropped your stat to 2 digits!? What trickery did you pull off here, I swear to Laplace...!" (Tessa)
As Tessa found herself repeating shaking Martia around, in complete inquisition mode...
A killer aura suddenly appeared behind her, as if a guillotine is aimed directly at her head.
“(...!Who the fuck is behind me, wanting to chop me to death...!)” (Tessa)
“It’s okay, Big Sis. She isn’t harming me, you know.” (Martia)
Immediately sensing that killer aura completely vanished, Tessa quickly turned around, only to find a hand chop landing directly on her face.
"I know. I just want to catch her attention that way." (Violet)
With a blank look on her face, Violet honestly stated so, which make Tessa want to retort even harder.
“(Fucking liar, you were clearly about to kill me back then!)” (Tessa)
“I really don’t, you know? Generally, this is the most effective method I used to snap people out of their stupor.” (Violet)
"Isn't that because no fucking body wants to become a chopped body under your fist!? Also stop reading my mind, for fuck sake!" (Tessa)
Having the two of them (along with Blanc, while she is at it) taking a seiza in front of her, she began questioning again.
“So, ignoring the stuff about you performing impossible stuff like that for your age, why can you be able to do it better when being weaker?” (Tessa)
"Well, I wouldn't say weaker, but more like being under less influence, to put it simply." (Martia)
“???” (Tessa)
Finding herself completely unable to understand Martia's word, this time it's Violet's turn to explain what she meant.
“Well, when your Dexterity status goes up, for instance, what effect does it have for players?” (Violet)
“? Well, all of your tasks involving accuracy and precision get better, in general. You get better as aiming arrow, or making detailed carving, or being able to perform more beautiful dance...” (Tessa)
“Then, how does the increase in the dexterity status, help out the players in being able to perform those tasks better?" (Violet)
Hearing that question, Tessa froze for a bit, as she find herself pondering. It’s as if she found it difficult to explain the details of it, rather than not being able to explain it at all...
"Of course, you can explain it in layman's terms. We don't mind you having to hide detail you don't want to reveal, so no need to worry.” (Violet)
"...Again, stop reading my mind. Ahem, so, in layman's term, a corrective modifier is applied to every action you made, that will guide you to a better direction, and the degree of correction depend upon the amount of dexterity stat you have..." (Tessa)
“That corrective force, is what we have a problem with.” (Violet)
“!” (Tessa)
It's Violet's turn next, to demonstrate to her what she meant.
A simple hand knife gesture, rising from up to down, as naturally as possible.
To the untrained eyes of the crowd, that gesture looks straight, beautiful, and look just like it is supposed to be. The line she draws in the air is so clean, that a perfect curve could be seen from the air, visualized in the mind of everyone.
Yet, to Tessa's eyes, it looks wrong.
Or, to be more explicit, it was made, so that it was clearly shown to be wrong.
She doesn’t completely grasp why Violet can make her feel like such.
The signs which lead toward it, are too imperceptible for her to properly comprehend.
“When we raise our dexterity stat, a law is imposed upon us.” (Violet)
She raises her hand again, chops it down again, slowly raise it, and repeats.
"That law guides the hand, from up, to down, onto a perfect line, in the eyes of the world.”
Like a chalkboard sound just barely audible.
“That law, however, is incompatible with us.”
Like countless tiny gear slightly jamming and cracking.
"Because, for a multitude of reasons, the law doesn't account for people like me, her, and the dragon."
Like static noise appearing intermittently, within the broadcasting of a TV.
"As such, for each simple action, for each simple breath, for every single undulation of heartbeat that we owe our existence..."
For each time she swings her hand up and down, such imagery appears in front of her, not just from Violet's hand, but from her entire body.
“The law stood in the way of conflict, preventing us ever so slightly, to exist as we are.”
It was as if the one she see before her, is suffering, as the world itself slightly grind its gear against her skin, her muscle, and her bone.
“Don’t worry! It isn’t as dramatic as you think it would be!” (Martia)
Suddenly glancing back at Martia beside her, she saw her smile at her, comfortably and brightly.
Yet, suddenly knowing what she knows, she can't help but suddenly saw the same grinding exist against the body of the little girl in front of her, and of the little dragon on top of her head.
The image can’t stop overlapping.
The imagery can’t stop showing repeatedly within her eyes, again and again and again and again and...
“Big Sis, you can stop now, you know! Sis is acting pretty weird~~!” (Martia)
Then, the image stopped.
Violet has stopped raising her hand up and down, making a hand-knife gesture each time.
Hence, the imagery stopped, along with the churning feeling within her chest.
The confusion then, is what remained.
“Don’t worry, sis! We aren’t suffering living here or anything!” (Martia)
Then, to clear up the confusion, it’s now Martia’s turn to explain once again.
“You see, what Big Sis was showing to you, is just an exaggeration of what is happening to us when we are trying to do something serious.” (Martia)
“Normally, it’s just something like our action just deviate reallllly slightly from what we wanted it to be. Not like it’s something that bad, more like just getting 9.9999/10 as your exam grade! What Big Sis does is just to make you notice the 0.00001 points off, like a perfectionist obsessively looking over every wrinkle!”
“Still, that remains a noticeable difference, that prevent us from achieving our optimal form, in the most efficient of manner-" (Violet)
“No one is as perfect-driven as you are in the first place, Big Sis. In most cases, even the teacher just round it up to 10 and called it a day you know~. " (Martia)
With them bouncing words with each other again, the mood completely flips around.
“Besides, the problem would completely disappear, if we just remove the imposing law which tries to correct our behavior!" (Martia)
“Exactly, look at how I can chop this space up like tofu.” (Violet)
As the younger sister is trying to convince her with a smile on her face, and as the older sister is cutting up space and leaving marks everywhere, the mood reverts back to when they keep constantly teasing her, is what she felt.
However...
“However, not like the problem completely disappear, which put us in quite a pickle.” (Martia)
“Mm, for as long as we can’t conclusively return to the lowest possible state of 0, there would be some hindrance in our usual training and optimizing ourselves...though it isn’t as if this isn’t a great chance of training as well.” (Violet)
“Kyu...(Though that's true, your head is filled with training all the time huh)" (Blanc)
“Kyu (That’s right)” (Violet)
“Kyu! (Oi, don’t copy my gimmick, meathead Bossess!)” (Blanc)
However, it isn’t as if the uncomfortable feeling completely disappear from her chest.
In fact, looking at Violet’s clumsy effort of trying to lighten the mood, only make her more irritated.
“(Goddamn it, look at how absurd they were, and then trying to flip it around as if nothing is happening at all...)” (Tessa)
"(Not to mention they also can "dive deep into the state of my consciousness" or some pretentious shit like that...)"
“(Making me mad that they’re being considerate of me, when it’s my fucking job of doing otherwise.)”
Feeling deeply annoyed at their effort, Tessa then comes closer to them...
“Though, not as if there isn’t potentially a way to solve this, but the requirement of it is a bit troublesome...” (Martia)
“...You three are talking about upgrading your Status Change skill, into Advance Status Change, right?” (Tessa)
Then, acting aloof and uncaringly, she casually unveiled a certain skill, while putting her hand behind her head.
“Advance Status Change...so that skill does exist after all.” (Violet)
“Hmph, of course it exists." (Tessa)
With a harumph, she immediately shows a certain skill panel for the three of them.
[Advance Status Change
Requirement: Changing your base status 100,000 times
Effect: Allowing you to change your base, and numerical bonus status instantly.]
“If I know that croney old bastard and his love for Status Change, there should be 3-4 more of those skill upgrades after this..." (Tessa)
“So you know of the one who is behind the skill, sis?” (Martia)
“I prefer that I don’t, that slimy old bastard...No comment on my relationship with that shitty old bastard, by the way.” (Tessa)
Looking even more annoyed than when Blanc is messing with her, Tessa can be seen furiously stomping her feet with a face more twisted than an orge.
Ignoring all that, Violet look at the details of the skill closely.
“Numerical bonus stat...If this is true, this should solve most of our problems. If there is indeed even more upgraded version of the skill after this, this should solve all of it.” (Violet)
“Thank you, angel sis! You’re the best!” (Martia)
“To be thanked for just showing that fucking cursed skill….ARGHHHHHH!!!” (Tessa)
In the midst of Tessa screaming at the top of her lung, cursing the void, the trio continued their discussion.
“Still though, 100,000 times status change...Sis, I don’t know the game very much, but does anyone actually reach this skill?” (Martia)
“ARGHHHHah, hah….Most don’t bother, and only the people who fanatically chase after Status Change have it and above. The guy I told you before has the upgraded version of it, last time I heard." (Tessa)
“So he does have it, as I suspected...Too bad that we don’t have much time to chase after the upgraded version now, but we can always get it later.” (Violet)
Exchanging looks with each other, they then began to move far away from each other, each standing an equal distance against 2 others.
“For now, we can immediately get that skill, before finishing our registration process and join the game properly. We can even test out some other feature as well, to hit multiple birds with one stone." (Violet)
“You said it, Big Sis...I am ready when you are!” (Martia)
“Kyu!” (Blanc)
As they began stretching up their body, Tessa noticed that they were doing something far away, before shouting at them.
"Heyyy, how the hell are you going to get that skill in a short time frame? Wouldn't it take at least a day, even if you change your status 1 time/ second?" (Tessa)
“Simple, we just need to do it more than 100 times/second, then we can get it done within 15 minutes.” (Martia)
"...It's theoretically possible, sure, but wouldn't your brain be fried from doing that constantly? And still, what are you guys stretching your body for, anyway?" (Tessa)
“We’re preparing.” (Violet)
“What? To do status change speedrun?” (Tessa)
“No.” (Violet)
Instantly, she can feel their aura sharply changing.
Violet, still as calmly as ever, calmly draw out her Starter Sword from the ether, a wooden sword all player can get at the start. Despite that, however, the sword suddenly exudes out a much sharper edge, than its usual blunt appearance would exhibit.
Still with the same carefree smile, Martia brings out her Starter Gauntlets, a simple fingerless gauntlet made out of leather. As she tighten and loosened her fist a few times, the sound she made from clenching her fist rang out like the heartbeat of giants.
Blanc, now on all four, started clawing the floor with her sharp talon, digging deep onto the ground. With a wide smile baring all her fangs, her visage now looks like that of a thirsty predator, instead of a gentle fluffy mascot.
"So, you guys are ready, right?" (Violet)
“Yes!” (Martia)
“Kryu!” (Blanc)
As their gaze is sharpened to the limit, to the bewildering eyes of Tessa…
“..Ready for what?” (Tessa)
“...Ready for the practical application of our skills.” (Violet)
With Tessa’s concerning word as the signal, they all immediately jump into each other.
And the bloodbath begins.