Tess slipped through the shadows of the street with Stealth active. Before she had left the capital, she had arranged a place and time to check in with Shadow. She hoped that he would still show up. Ducking down an alley, she was keeping her senses sharp so as to not be caught by surprise. When she reached the third cellar door on the right down this alley, she paused to look back. Satisfied that indeed she had no pursuers, she yanked open the door and descended, making sure to close the door behind her.

The small underground room was slightly chilly, exactly like a cellar was supposed to be. The wooden shelves that lined each wall were bare as the house above was abandoned. A stool sat in the center with an unlit candle atop. Tess threw a spark at the wick, lighting the candle and settling into a corner to wait. About five minutes passed before Shadow emerged into the room.

“You’re late,” Tess said.

“You are here,” he replied.

The air was tense, but that dissipated as they both broke into grins.

“It is good to see you again. And in one piece too,” Shadow said.

“Well, several tried to fix that one piece side of things.”

“I am certain your fight against the demon lord was not easy.”

“Oh, I guess there was that too,” said Tess, feigning ignorance.

Shadow let out a small laugh.

“What can you tell me after observing her?” Tess asked, switching to a serious tone.

Shadow sighed and rubbed at his temple.

“She is a mix of contradictions. She desires a particularly greedy yet slothful existence of self indulgence, which she spends most of her time doing. However, if she perceives a threat to her ideal, she works hard to remove the obstacle. Obviously, she considers you to be such a threat. She also does not seem to care about what comes next or who she has to step on to get what she wants. She’s quite intent on keeping the prince under her thumb. Through him, she can basically acquire whatever she wants.”

Tess nodded. If this is who Olivia was, then the pressure Tess had applied back in the Tutorial to get her in motion was absolutely the wrong call.

“She makes liberal use of whatever skill it is that affects others’ minds. It does not appear to be complete, as those affected seem to fight it. She repeatedly uses it on those that fight too much. I worry about the prince in that respect most of all. Unfortunately, she has not made much, if any really, use of any other skills that I have seen.”

“She hasn’t used other skills?” Tess asked, not quite believing that she could have possibly done nothing in about a month.

Shadow shrugged.

“She does not plan ahead.”

“This should be easier than I thought then. What sort of protections does she have?” Tess asked.

Shadow looked embarrassed.

“In terms of people? None. Even the Purples she has under her sway she does not want close to her. Most she sent after you when she heard you were at the wall.”

Tess felt embarrassed. How could she have failed so badly in training someone for the world beyond the Tutorial? Clearly she hoped that Tess would be caught and dealt with before ever getting close to her again. Tess shook her head, reminding herself again that Olivia’s failures at this point were Olivia’s own fault.

“We could literally just walk in then.”

“I would suggest that we take her by surprise instead. We would not want a repeat of the events of the party. Then she can remove her influence from those she has targeted.”

“We don’t have to,” Tess commented, “I figured out how to counteract her skill. Plus I’ve gotten the blessing from the goddess. Not sure but I think that means she doesn’t have it anymore.”

Shadow took a moment to process what Tess had just said.

“Tomorrow morning? I have a group that can watch our backs,” Tess said.

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Olivia was in bed when a loud rumbling shook her awake.

“What is going on?” she mumbled in frustration.

There was another rumbling sound that shook everything. An empty bottle slid off the side table and fell to the floor. Though the space beneath was carpeted, she heard the crack of the glass.

“Shit.”

Olivia rolled off the other side of the bed from the glass and groggily made her way to the covered window. Fragments of light peaked through the cracks in the curtain separation, but it was still fairly dark inside. The sliver of light started adjusting her eyes before she flung the curtain open, though not fast enough to not be blinded for a moment.

Once able to see again, she saw the flurry of activity outside through the window. Servants and other personnel seemed to be fleeing deeper into the palace grounds while the knights flocked towards the entrance. While she did not have a view of the front gates from her room, she could surmise that whatever was causing the disturbance was clearly there.

The door to her room crashed open. The surprise appearance and entry startled her, causing her to jump and let out a small scream. The prince stood there, conflict drawn out on his face.

“Lady Champion!” he called out, “The vile heretic bitch has arrived.”

Olivia went pale. She felt the blood run cold in her veins. The worst case scenario was now upon her, even worse than the demon lord appearing before her.

Olivia swallowed dryly. No, she had a chance. She was the one blessed by the goddess after all. Not to mention that she still had the advanced gear set that Tess had put together for her. Tess surely could not best her if she was the hero.

“Lady Champion? I know I’m not supposed to…”

“Shut up,” Olivia interrupted the prince.

She marched over to him. He was dressed in his own knightly attire, ready to go to battle to defend her, just like she had implanted in his idiotic brain. He was handsome to look at, and for a moment Olivia actually did regret not just sleeping with him. Maybe she would after, as a little reward to herself for beating Tess.

“If she wants a fight, then I’ll give her one,” Olivia said.

Deceitful Implant did not work on oneself, but Olivia had convinced herself of her own forthcoming victory.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

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“Is that really necessary?” Shadow asked.

“What? It’s getting everyone’s attention,” Tess answered.

She had cast a spell to create a booming thunder. It was so close and loud that it shook the entire palace and straight down to the bone. She had even done it twice.

The knights were indeed rushing at them, though Tess activated Counter as each came into view. Every one of them fell over, clutching their head and screaming as the effects of Olivia’s skill were ripped away.

Shadow led the way through the palace, as he had spent so much time in the last month scouting the place and following Olivia around. Tess made a point of checking each room, throwing out Counter at every other person they encountered as well. The lengthy search process definitely slowed their approach. Shadow stopped her just before they reached the chambers that Olivia apparently had been utilizing.

“Something is wrong. The doors are open,” he said.

“Well, we did make a racket.”

“You made a racket.”

“Details.”

Tess approached the open doors and looked inside. A maid stood there, as though waiting for Tess to appear. She was shaking in obvious fear, but Tess did not hesitate to use Counter. The maid screamed and clutched at her head. Tess noticed a more significant trickle of blood and used a healing spell on the maid. After a moment she tried to get some answers.

“So where is Olivia?” she asked.

“The Champion? She waits for you in the arena. The prince is with her. Please, save His Highness!”

“She’s not the Champion anymore,” Tess assured.

“Thank the goddess!” the maid cried out.

“She was that bad?”

“You have no idea.”

Tess thought back to their time together in the Tutorial.

“I have a little bit of one.”

Shadow coughed from the doorway.

“Stay here,” Tess said, returning to the door, “I’m not sure how this will go.”

Tess followed Shadow, who seemed to know the way to the arena as well. Upon arriving there, she felt it less of an arena and more like a large training ground. There was a small section for observers, most likely exclusively for members of the royal family or other high nobility. It was probably a place where demonstrations or duels were held.

Olivia stood over in the distance, and Tess could not help but laugh at her gear’s appearance. It was clear that Olivia was, to put it mildly, delusional. She had used Appearance to dress herself in a pure white nun habit. It had some red accents and gold trim to it that said clearly she was of some sort of regal station. The form-fitting nature probably undermined the whole ‘pure maiden of the goddess’ aesthetic. Tess knew that there was no way that Olivia had crafted such a thing or been gifted such a thing, so it was probably something that she had pulled from Tess’s own gear sets the goddess had stripped her of back then. She was curious, so threw a Counter at the gear to target Appearance. The smirking sneer on Olivia’s face was wiped away by Tess’s genuine laughter as the gear reverted to the Magical Girl Uniform. Olivia grew red in the face before quickly changing it back to the white habit.

With Olivia stood the prince. He actually appeared somewhat regal in his knight armor. His hair was pulled back and he seemed ready to fight. The shaking he seemed unable to control undermined it all. Tess felt bad for him, and she understood what Shadow meant about those under Olivia’s influence.

“While I could probably take them both, could you maybe fight His Highness if he tries to step in while I’m dealing with her?” Tess asked Shadow.

“It should not be a problem.”

Tess walked forwards towards Olivia. At about twenty meters, she stopped and drew the Witchblade.

“You have finally come to seek your revenge,” Olivia said, “But I regret to inform you that you will not succeed. Even if you could have slain the demon lord, the fact remains that I am still chosen by Oena, goddess of this world. Therefore, I shall…”

“You aren’t the chosen one anymore,” Tess interrupted.

“..myself. I… What?”

“You aren’t chosen anymore. Have you seriously remembered nothing I taught you? Check your menu if you aren’t certain about your condition.”

Tess waited as Olivia focused on the menu for a moment. Color drained from Olivia’s face as she read, or failed to read, what Tess had suspected was no longer there.

“What does it not say, Olivia?” Tess asked.

“I… I…”

“You are no longer chosen? No longer blessed?”

Olivia’s mouth kept moving, but no sound came out. Tess could see the tears about to burst forth before there was a sudden shift as her eyes hardened into anger. Olivia spun the prince towards her. Tess felt the surge as Olivia began to utilize a skill.

“Your Highness! Not only is she here to kill me, but you as well! She’s going to destroy us, then your father and take over the empire! I will back you up, but you must help me strike her down.”

Tess watched as the prince appeared to struggle with the new scenario that Olivia warped his viewpoint with. Finally she thought she understood what it was that Olivia was doing. The truth that she desired was laced with probability based on what appeared before them, so Olivia was able to convince someone else to believe what it was that she said. Occasionally, an apprentice came through the Tutorial and automatically learned a skill or two based on their life beforehand. Tess was certain she had not taught Olivia any skill like this, and she even recognized it.

“This is Deception at work,” Tess commented.

Olivia’s head shot around to glare at Tess. A devious smile crawled over the latter’s face.

“That’s what you think.”

Tess had not expected Olivia to confirm it, but the phrasing she had chosen did not deny it either. The prince seemed to have finally made up his mind, confused as it must have been, and he started towards Tess. Once the prince was several meters into his pathetic charge, Olivia turned and started to flee.

“Shadow? If you would please. I’ll take care of her influence on him after I capture her.”

“Yes.”

Shadow stepped out from behind Tess and quickly covered the distance between her and the prince. He had to wait as the prince unsteadily drew his own blade before he started easily deflecting the poor attacks the prince put forward. Tess had to guess that the prince was trying hard to fight Olivia’s influence, but this was the best he could manage. With Shadow able to hold the prince, Tess turned her attention back to the fleeing Olivia.

Tess stepped forward, seeming to disappear from where she had been. In an instant, she now stood in Olivia’s path.

“Step one, apply your own defenses,” Tess said.

She lashed out with the Witchblade, slicing through the air just in front of Olivia, missing her on purpose. There was a shattering of magic around Olivia as her defenses were destroyed.

“Good. Step two, figure out what your target can do. Fail.”

Olivia was backpedaling as she attempted to get away. Tess rolled her shoulders as she slowly marched towards Olivia.

“Step three. Attack weaknesses.”

“Water Spurt!” Olivia shouted in desperation.

The magic burst of water bounced harmlessly off of Tess’s own magical shield.

“Fail. Step four… You’re not even worth telling step four to again.”

Chains of light sprang up, wrapping around Olivia and binding her in place. She struggled in vain to escape, only for the chains to tighten as she did so. It was already over.

“What to do with you,” Tess said with disappointment.

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Elsewhere over Iriea

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“Can we make it a System quest?” Oena asked.

“It wasn’t built with such a function. Though I suppose I can whip something together to apply to her at least,” the lesser deity replied.

“Do it. She needs to bring that liar before me.”

“Alright. It may take a couple days.”

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The Tutorial

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The man no longer wore his suit. Instead he was in sturdy, simple clothes that he wore underneath a set of leather armor. He sipped tea prepared by one of the soldiers as he flipped through a large tome that had been prominently displayed on the dining table of this tranquil little cabin. It had seen a lot of use, but still was in good shape. He admired the detail the writer had put into detailing how to acquire various skills.

“This ‘Tess,’ I would very much like to meet her,” he commented.

He stood from his seat and walked outside. With the area secured and having learned that death in the Tutorial was not permanent, the soldiers he had brought with him were busy training skills or working around the cabin to support them all. Satisfied for the moment, the man walked down the pathway into the nearby forest. He soon happened upon the strange merchant stall at the top of a hill in a small clearing.

“Hello Adventurer!” the merchant called out.

The man walked right up to the merchant, separated only by the crates with items displayed on them. In a swift, practiced motion, the man swiped a dagger across the throat of the merchant. The merchant collapsed as blood sprayed everywhere. The man only watched apathetically until the merchant disappeared completely.

“He makes a good target,” the man said, laughing in cold blood at what he had just done again.