Mel blinked and turned her attention to the blessing. At first she thought it might have been a title, but it turned out to be something very different. And far more profound.

You earn the Blessing: [Blessing of the Hunt]

[Blessing of the Hunt]

(Blessing, Common)

Spirits of ancient beasts predate the Realmtree’s birth. These creatures are unknowable, but ultimately interwoven into the very fabric of the multiverse. They may not possess Anchor Runes, but the power they wield is something that even the Kindred struggle to comprehend.

The phenomenon of their existence lies outside the guidance of the gods, both Inner and Outer. As such, these primordial creatures are capable of rarely bestowing blessings upon individuals they feel a connection to. How and why these creatures choose their champions is a mystery to all but the primordial spirit.

Your spirit has taken on a portion of the primordial’s power, bringing your soul in line with those great and mysterious creatures both vile and sublime.

Imprint(Common): You can sense exceptionally powerful creatures near you. Whenever you engage in battle with a creature of great power whose strength eclipses your own, you ignore a portion of the rank disparity. The more hunts you partake in, the greater power this blessing will bestow upon you.

Mel went silent in awe.

She had never heard of something like this before. It sounded like a Notorious Monster hunt, but system-sanctioned instead of done by an adventurer’s guild.

Mel, still on her knees, read and reread the blessing again. This was better than anything a treasure chest could provide her.

More importantly, she felt like a small shred of her blood-stained soul was healed by the act of kindness. She had been confident that there would be no prize for her.

She had felt sorry for the creature. It didn’t deserve the pain it had endured.

Standing up, Mel brushed the dew from her trousers. Something felt different, like her balance was slightly off. She widened her stance and took a deep breath to center herself again.

As she did, she felt a powerful wave of pressure from the east. She opened her eyes and gazed toward the sky. There was nothing she could see over the tops of the trees, but she was certain there was a beast out there of tremendous strength.

Mel wanted to go after it, but she had business to finish here.

Immediately after the first, there came another, and another, and yet another. Powerful beasts were all around her in a complex web that she could only guess at.

It was hard to get used to the sensations of her blessing. Mel stalked out of the clearing after refilling her canteens and washing up, her gait slightly askew.

As the blessing settled on her, she developed a new equilibrium. One where she could weather the new senses. With every step, she was able to focus herself on the here and now instead of sending her awareness out like taut strings to the many powers she felt.

Each one twanged with a different frequency, whispering secrets that she couldn’t quite tease out.

It took more than a little concentration to shut down the sensations, but once she did, Mel was able to switch the blessing on and off at will.

She had originally come this way because she was shadowing a supply group from Warren’s HQ. Sneaking close to them under cover of night, she heard them talking about Jimmy. At first, she was going to torch the supplies and go about her day, but that name sent a wave of white-hot rage that seared her bones.

He had given the order to kill Sabrina, Shane, Nathan, Bernard, and Maddie. Names she would forever have etched on her heart.

Jimmy was the penultimate prize. He had been the one to give the direct order. For that, he would die. There was no other outcome she would accept. But he was not the target anymore. Warren was.

Mel had come to the realization that she could burn down everything Warren ever made, but it wouldn’t bring her friends back. If she wanted to stop him, breaking his toys wasn’t enough anymore. Killing him might not stop the beast he had created, but it’d sure be a lot easier to break apart without him there.

Paradise Oblivion had offered their support in that regard. If Mel didn’t want to join them, then they were still willing to run interference. With the Stolst gang occupied, Mel could strike at the head.

In the chaos, Paradise Oblivion and their allies would have a much easier time sweeping up their hoarded supplies to strengthen themselves.

Mel’s thirst for blood was all but sated. She only wanted to kill the ones responsible now. If Paradise Oblivion wasn’t able to follow through on their end, then she might be enticed to finish the job.

No matter what, Warren and Jimmy had to die.

The supply caravan was a very generous name. It was little more than a group of roughly 20 people who each took turns hauling the hilariously poorly constructed carts. Their wheels were practically square.

Copper strength meant that a lot of people could do things that, in all honesty, they shouldn’t. Using your sword to cut planks was possible, but it wasn’t pretty.

She returned to her usual distance, going through a newer training routine.

Turning around, she made sure the clearing was empty. Once she was sure there was nobody watching her with [Gaze of the Serpent], Mel summoned her twinblade and went through a few warm-up exercises.

She spun the blades back and forth, visualizing slicing attacks that were coming too fast for her to individually focus on. The blades blurred like a propeller. She snapped her muscles to one side, turning the blades off to the side in an impossibly swift maneuver.

Mel transitioned the attack seamlessly to a vicious throw that sent the blades spinning away like a deadly frisbee. The blades made a soft series of thumping sounds as they split through the air in an arc.

Summoning her older twinblade, Mel held herself still as her frostbite twinblade curved back like an oversized boomerang. She struck out, hitting one blade, then the other in quick succession, robbing the inertia from the spinning blades.

Her fingers stung as the vibration of the blades meeting numbed them, but Mel didn’t drop the [Exile Twinblade] which was an improvement.

The frostbite twinblade fell to her feet, and Mel went through the routine again with the [Exile Twinblade]. This time she upped the difficulty, taking out a dagger and whipping it through the air with a pulse of mana to add a curve to the throw.

Mel stooped, picked up her frostbite twinblade and batted aside the swifter-moving dagger, then the [Exile Twinblade].

She added dagger after dagger until the clearing was filled with half a dozen whistling projectiles curving back at the lone woman. Nicks and cuts lined her cheeks, legs, and arms, but she was determined to work her way up to a dozen projectiles.

Mel wasn’t sure when she would get there, but she knew her steady progress meant she would make it eventually.

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Having a partner to train against would be ideal, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

I wanted to do this alone, didn’t I?

Her training routine took up the rest of the daylight. She was confident that the supply caravan would continue to play it safe, setting up a guard and keeping a tight rein on the goods until it was light out again.

Mel hardly noticed the monsters anymore. Many of them ignored her or outrightly avoided her, especially with so many tender targets clustered a few miles away to the east.

When she finally climbed up into a tree and found a fork to fall asleep in, Mel was exhausted, and the clearing looked like she had been fighting an army.

Several trees were knocked over from her attacks, others were cut up so severely from her projectiles that they were one good hit from cracking in half.

By far, her favorite training was something she had picked up on Aldim as a Dragoon. Their main attack was [Jump]. She had been a gold elf then named Mira. She trained her iconic ability by doing increasingly ridiculous jumps.

Aldim was a very different place. It was a world on the brink of ruin, but it was not a bad place. However, she greatly preferred the ranks here to the levels there.

It always felt like there was no progression unless she gained a level there. Either a skill or a class level. It was different here. Even if she didn’t gain a new rank or even a new grade, Mel could feel the difference her training made.

Forcing her hands behind her back, Mel flipped from the ground to a low-lying branch a foot or more above her head. Normally, she would have bound her hands behind her back, but that was a little too extreme while she was by herself.

If she was suddenly attacked by a stupid monster or a wandering contestant in the Convocation, Mel didn’t want bindings slowing her down.

She flipped and leapt from one branch to the next, usually ending up flat on her back on the ground. It was hard, grueling work, but she had long ago learned to embrace the pain. To love it and appreciate every glorious ache as a badge of honor.

How else did you know you were alive?

When she was done, Mel looked over her status.

[Mel Harper]

Race: Human

Standing: [# 101 ] Exile (G-League) [1st Echelon]

Class: Mystic

Rank: Copper

Next Rank: Iron (30%)

[==Attributes==]

Strength [Divine Aspect]: Copper (Grade 3 )

Agility [Mist Aspect]: Copper (Grade 6 )

Vigor [Blood Aspect]: Copper (Grade 5 )

Sense [Serpent Aspect]: Copper (Grade 6 )

Arcane [Omen Aspect]: Copper (Grade 4 )

[==Aspects==]

[Divine Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 3)

• [Tempest Heart] (Grade 3)

[Mist Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 6)

• [Hidden Mist] (Grade 7)

[Blood Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 5)

• [Sanguine Coat] (Grade 6)

[Serpent Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 6)

• [Gaze of the Serpent] (Grade 7)

[Omen Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 4)

• [Omen Mark] (Grade 3)

• [Bane of Tartarus] (Grade 4)

Later the next day, she shadowed the group from the grassy hill plateau to a swamp plateau nearby. Something about it seemed off to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. It made sense to have a base in a highly defensible location, but it seemed asinine to build an HQ in a swamp.

Hal had complained about that too, Mel thought to herself. At least the swamp here isn’t freezing like the Shiverglades. Though she did miss being a Dragoon.

I wonder how Naitese is doing now? Are her kids okay?

Mel kept herself hidden, trying to work out why she felt uneasy about this. It was almost too easy to ambush them in the confusing topography of the swamp plateau. That was part of it.

The Stolst gang weren’t geniuses, but they didn’t usually make it this easy for her to get close and strike at them.

Honestly, it hurt her. Professionals have standards . This was practically screaming at her to come take it.

Mel wasn’t about to let herself be drawn into an obvious trap. She was about to make her exit when she felt something.

She looked around for the source, but couldn’t find it.

The stunted twisted trees of the swamp dropped visibility to near-zero. Bogs and deep pools of black water stood waiting to swallow unwary travelers. The ever-present fog created plentiful opportunities for ambush.

Mel felt a powerful twanging cord announce the presence of a beast she could hunt, but she shut it out. That wasn’t what she felt.

The supply caravan met up with another group of five cloaked men and a prisoner. They were powerful. Each one was Copper, and not a newly minted Copper either. Despite her distance, Mel immediately recognized the wild-eyed stare of the prisoner.

It was Jimmy.

He looked like he’d fallen on hard times.

Serves him right.

From what gossip she had overheard, Jimmy had done something to piss off Warren. All signs pointed to Mel being the reason, though nobody directly seemed to know what it was he did. There was plenty of discussion about the Emerald-eyed Demoness, but there always was whenever Mel managed to eavesdrop.

It was hard to ignore a bogeywoman who was making her way slowly but steadily through your ranks.

She could leave. It was an obvious trap. But the bait was just too good to pass up.

Dammit.