Mia so far had gotten six high tier kills, maybe not high tier, I suppose I'd be considered high tier and they were fairly easy to kill, so they were mid tier. Mia had so far gotten six mid tier kills, and to her surprise, but also happiness, the fourth one had actually gotten her a level up! So, her plan was going well. Within twenty or so minutes she'd gotten a relatively risk free level up. All the while satisfying that suicidal little voice in the back of her head that told her to cast herself into the horde!

So as far as she was concerned, this was going great! She kept her stealth active, avoided any stray bumps, stayed out of human sight, made absolutely certain to stay out of the mages (who she now knew was Mira's) bombing zone... And picked off above average monsters over time!

Currently, she was watching a monster that was somewhat similar to her, some sort of wolf but one that was much less focused on stealth. It overpowered its opponents within short order but also let its presence do a lot of the work instead of butchering any opposition. I swear, I can feel some sort of nagging in the back of my head, no, it's not the pull... Oh, oh! That's it! That thing LITERALLY has some sort of presence, maybe a skill? Either way it's unsettling.

It might be some sort of thing where it's like, cumulative stats are compared to each other and if you have less then the source of the aura you get scared? Given I'm well, pretty much immune, I'm going to assume that means I'm stronger then whatever this is. But it's above average, so in I go!

With that cheerful declaration of impending murder, Mia took off towards the wolf for a sneak attack, hoping to kill it within an attack or two. Initially, she was just going to try and put a claw through it's face, but something about it did genuinely get under her skin, so she decided to go a little bit overboard.

Mana conversion skill with a long name but is actually shorter than what I'm calling it go! Activating that said Mana-Life Boost, Mia felt the mana in her body once again turn into a source of physical strength. It was a somewhat intoxicating feeling, and there was no discomfort with it besides the usual rapid draining of mana. She was almost tempted to keep it on after taking down her target, but quickly shooed the thought away without a moments hesitation. That was just too much mana to use.

So, with incredible speed, she dashed forward with her claws outstretched. The wolf saw her within the corner of it's vision, but it was simply much too slow to even react to the attack. It shifted its mass a little bit, yet it was far too late to actually escape the attack. Within the blink of an eye Mia shot past the monster, ripping a sizable chunk of its body out as she passed by.

She glanced back as she dipped down into the crowd, activating stealth once again. It stood for a short moment, before its body literally folded in on itself. It wasn't as if it could support itself what not with literally half of its torso missing. It was dead, very very dead. Mia got on the move again, searching for any monsters similar to the one she'd just cleaved.

For reference, basically every encounter she had was similar to this in some way. Some were durable enough to not instantly die, but certainly not strong enough to manage any actual resistance. Whatever she set upon died without exception. Speaking of exceptions though, Mia was beginning to find herself quite perplexed with the initial encounter she'd had in this battle.

Nothing even came close to the level of strength that the badger thing had, she wasn't quite sure what was going on with that one. There were certainly creatures above the average, but that had been the only actual challenge that Mia had faced so far. She figured she'd run into some creatures of similar calibers to it during her little hunting project, but so far no luck. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly complaining about that, but I would like to level up as quickly as possible. Difficult fights seem to do that for me, so something like the badger would be helpful... Not necessarily needed though I suppose.

Wondering if it would be possible for me to go work with the humans? If the pull works how I think it does it should naturally be drawing monsters towards a larger source of mana, which is why Mira was able to offset it with her presence alone. So theoretically, shouldn't the stronger monsters head towards that larger source of mana? Or would they be smart enough to not march to certain doom?

Hmmm... Testing is required. Mia nodded to herself for a moment before stealthily making her way towards the line of human defenders. She moved slowly, purposefully avoiding killing anything just on the off chance that she'd be noticed, before eventually getting within eye sight of the humans. Not that they noticed her, not at this distance anyways. I'm sure they have some form of magic that would let them know if something got close to them, surely, right? Otherwise anything that's good with stealth could just kind of... Slip inside?

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

So, she just kind of of watched any approaching monsters, occasionally pivoting and repositioning to avoid any stray creatures that may have bumped into her. It wasn't particularly difficult to avoid notice when everything else was in some way or another focused on defending themselves.

What's the best way I can put this, my theoretical audience? Anybody ever played Team Fortress Two? Yes? Great! Imagine it like playing the spy during a 5v5 clash between the two teams. Everyone is focused on dodging bullets and shooting the enemy, nobody is looking behind them on the off chance they're about to be stabbed in the back. Not that I'm stabbing anybody in the back or anything. I'm just watching, looking for a monster to kill... Huh, guess I am planning on stabbing somebody in the back.

Anyways, that was what she was doing, watching and waiting. It was a little bit boring, compared to what she was doing before. But there was a certain feeling of superiority that came from spectating this while completely safe. That she could literally decimate a good chunk of the creatures present if she really put her mind to it... Muhahahaha... Euuughhh... Down with you ego! Sit I say, sit!

So, that's what they did, for the next... Hour. Yup, just an hour of watching, and Mia had to say, absolutely nothing worthwhile ever ended up actually crashing the humans way. Just when Mia thought she might spot something worthwhile it was either shot down by the archers above, minced by one of the groups of humans roaming the battlefield, or turned away just before making contact. Which also made her think, if every combatant worth their salt was doing this, was her initial quarry still alive? Was that badger still running around here somewhere heavily wounded? Or was it dead by now?

Well, not getting many results around here, might as well check no? So, with a small stretch, (cause she'd managed to find a sweet spot inbetween the hordes of monsters and humans that never actually got trampled over) she stood up and yawned... Eh? That's odd, I don't feel very tired... I suppose all the physical effort must be getting to me. I have been doing a lot of work throughout this life, and that spot was comfortable despite... Well... Everything. Meh, oh well, gotta get moving anyways.

So, she got moving yet again. Not without eliciting a small shout of alarm from the humans she'd been nearby all this time, which she specifically noted was about her, not that it mattered, but regardless. Within short order, she was back to searching the fields. Something in her gut told her that the badger wasn't dead.

It was smart enough to run, so it's probably been able to avoid humans. But how would it have done it? There's no way it's actually dead without any intervention from something strong, and other then me I haven't seen anything here that would be strong enough to kill it...

Then her heart skipped a beat as she stepped forward and her paw hit open air, Mia stumbled for a moment and leaped backwards, clearly exposing her and cancelling her stealth. The monsters around her turned immediately, and she sighed internally. Ah crap, hell was that though?!

One session of murderizing later and she was surrounded by a posse of bloodied bodies. Then she turned her attention back onto where she'd misstepped. It was a hole in the ground. It was a very odd hole, clearly dug recently as well, the dirt was still fresh and somewhat untrampled. It was also narrow, and most monsters wouldn't be able to fit inside of it. Unfortunately for whatever had dug it, Mia was not most monsters.

Alright... Let me just... After a short moment, Mia managed to wiggle her way inside. She could feel the dirt coating her blood soaked fur, and frankly, Mia was not a fan. She wanted out as soon as possible.

Slowly, she wriggled around the tunnels. Her body wasn't exactly built for this, but it'd work. Eventually, she crawled into a more open space with a few creatures inside of it. All of which were badgers of a very similar stature. Or well, other world magical badgers with cool patterns and such, but come on you get the point. And, what do you know? One heavily wounded beastie with a angry gaze to match. What, is this like, a family? Sorry to uh... Intrude?

They growled and hissed at her angrily, advancing towards Mia slowly. She moved to position herself, before quickly remembering that she was in a very, very, enclosed space.

Oh dear. I may have made a uh... Slight mistake? Wonder if diplomacy is an option...? I certainly have more mana to work with now, feels like my recovery has sped up so maybe I can talk? "High, Link, High, Translation." Target, uh... I dunno, everyone?

"Hello?"

"TRESSPASSER!"

"WOUNDED MOTHER!"

"THREAT!"

"LEAVE NOW!"

"Oh dear."

This already didn't appear to be panning out all that well.