I danced over the large boulders. I was pushing myself beyond my limit. But it was only natural. For even with the 200 stat points in Body I needed to not hesitate and to strike at my foes. The people stronger than me had been out here far longer. But they were lazy, weak, and indolent.

I was Hei Long and my kung fu would not fail me. “Hah!” I delivered a brutal axe kick on top of the black frog’s head, slamming it down into a crevice. Its mouth was out of position. I leapt after it and delivered another axe kick on top of its head with all my might. It began to turn to dust, and I snatched the crystal before it could fall away.

A level 3 crystal. I tossed it into my pack with the others. While the people were lazy, they had acquired a lot of information and knowledge. These frogs were easy to kill for level 3 monsters, but the swamp one had to cross, and these giant boulders made it impractical for carts to be dragged out here.

That was why no one else wanted to come out here compared to the more popular areas. They wanted their comforts and good food. I was not about to succumb to such weaknesses when I could shoot ahead of my opponents.

I leapt from boulder to boulder and returned to my spot at the edge of the swamp. A ruined cart was there. I had dragged it all the way from the city and left it here. Through the swamp and all the monsters in my way. I took off my pack and set it with the three others.

I saw down and had some cold vegetables. The last of my food. I would need to return and cash in all 4,000 of these level 3 crystals. That was about 1.8 million points. Once I cashed them in. I would come back here and go even faster.

I had learned that the level 4 monsters were death, and no one shared any information about them. I wanted to be properly prepared. People said one needed at least 5,000 stats before thinking about taking on a level 4 monster. I was sure I could do it sooner, but the esoteric effects like mental attacks and non-humanoid bodies was concerning.

I would get another 600 stat points. Putting them into Body. Speed and precision were key. I had been pleasantly surprised that the stat points had not ruined my kung-fu. Whatever was happening to me, I wasn’t sure about, just that I was getting stronger. I finished my vegetables, and it was getting dark.

The monsters on my return trip were annoying, but I had nothing to fear from them. I carefully put the packs on my back and set off. I could rest when I was dead, and I felt like a young woman again. I savored each and every restoration. The ability to move without pain was amazing. My movements crisp and clean in a way they hadn’t been since I had been a teenager.

A black monkey leapt at me from one of the swamp trees. My right hand shot out and crushed its throat as it tried to bite me. It turned to dust. My left hand caught the crystal. I would not waste a single one. Each one was another restoration.

I traveled through the night and the swamp water. I reached the deadlands South of the city. The monsters here were called meerkats and they let lose annoying bursts of light. I continued forward with my packs of crystals, killing each and every annoying monster that tried to blind me and bite me.

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The restoration had done more than restore my joints. It had restored my senses. I could sense the movement of the air. And their patterns were predictable like all monsters. Another reason why I didn’t dare push onto level 4 monsters yet.

Their unpredictable nature was another concern. Many people had talked about how so many people died when the city was upgraded to level 4 monsters from the sky. While I was not one to look at the failures of others as a benchmark, I would continue to learn and improve beyond them.

The sun began to rise once I reached the grasslands to the South of the city. I pushed forward. Killing the red goblins that shot balls of fire from their staffs. So many weird names. People had talked like this was a game, but that was foolish. A game would not have people die. A game would not restore my health like it had. Such talk was foolishness.

I saw five men and a cart off to the side heading for the city as well. It was time to earn some more crystals and I adjust my trajectory. They saw me and came to a stop. Their speed was slow and their equipment worn. I was the same, but I wanted to appear weak on purpose.

“What do you want old lady?” A man shouted at me. I carefully took my packs off a distance from them.

“Just coming over to talk. I could use some water if you have any. I ran out,” I said.

“We are almost to the city, seriously, these new people have no sense,” another person muttered. I just kept the smile on my face as I approached them. They were nothing. One of the men got a flask out of their cart.

“Here,” he said and held it out. I came close to him. My hand snaked out and crushed his windpipe. He collapsed to the ground unable to breathe as I moved. I delivered a kick to the gut of another man. He folded in half and collapsed on the ground wheezing.

“Fire Shot!” I spun out of the way. A sword was swung at me. My hand darted up and knocked the blade to the side as I stepped forward. My right hand darted out and hit the man in the chest. I felt a few ribs break.

“Fire Shot!” I spun around the man whose chest I had just hit and nudged him into the path of the fire attack. He screamed as he burned. I darted forward, pulling a needle from inside my tunic. I threw it.

“Ahhhh!” the skill user screamed it sank into his eye. He stumbled backwards clutching at his face. The man I had kicked in the gut was standing back up, but he was too slow. My hand darted out and struck his face, my fingers ripping an eye out.

He began to scream pitifully as well. “Force Strike!” The last uninjured man swung a sword at me. I dodged out of the way since he had used a skill and felt the reach of the blade extend beyond its physical form. Thankfully the hit was blunted, and I only stumbled. The attack would leave a bruise.

I darted forward, pain was nothing. I struck the man in the chest and followed up with another strike to his wrist as he tried to bring his blade up. My right hand went upwards from his chest striking his chin. He collapsed to the ground.

It was a simple manner to kill them after that. I put my packs in their cart and checked their crystals. Only a small amount of level 2 crystals. I carefully moved them into the top of my packs to conceal their true value and left a pack to the side of level 2 crystals for any bribes I would need to pay. I left their corpses behind to disappear and set off for the city.

A small smile was on my face. The disorganization of these lands was perfect for me. I would gather strength and then once I had enough, no one would be able to stop me. The art of kung-fu was not anything like that one silly cartoon I had seen with a talking Panda. It disgusted me. It was about having the strength to crush others.

As my grandfather liked to say, ‘the strong do what they will, the weak must bow and obey.’ I had been weak, so I had to bow. Now I was going to become strong. The strongest of them all and I would never bow again.

Where before the government and people oppressed me. I would oppress them.