Class 5, again. She was only Class 4 for a few hours, but losing it felt like a knife to the gut. Progress gained after so many years of nothing, just for it to be snatched away.

No! Snap out of it! You still have your Mythic skill, and with a starting factor of over 8.89, it must be insanely powerful. This is just a temporary setback.

With her mood back in control, she thought about walking the rest of the way home. Joy ultimately decided to try her stealth ability out first, though. She was fairly certain that the random brigand that she beat up hadn’t had enough time to warn his compatriots yet, and if she was mugged one more time, she wasn’t certain that she wouldn’t just murder them.

Thinking about it, she found that she didn’t really seem to care if she became a murderer, but Joy wasn’t certain if that was Envy talking or if that was just how she was.

Stealth was passive, so she could already sort of feel the difference buzzing in the back of her head, but once she focused on it, it was like entering a different world.

Her mind dimmed, and her body became completely still and placid. Thoughts still flitted beneath the surface of her mind, but to the outside world, she became harder to focus on.

Her vision changed as well. Technically, her visual acuity was the same as always, but shadows and nooks felt as if they had been highlighted. Standing in the light, as she was doing now, made her uncomfortable. While hurrying to the nearest hiding spot, she noticed her steps came out muted. Not due to any sort of magic, but because of sheer skill.

A path lit up in her mind, it showed her a path up a building and to a lip that acted as a ledge to stand on. It was 4 meters up, but that didn’t matter to her at the moment. Focusing, she ran at the building at full speed with not even a scuff to give away her position and slid into the alley adjacent to the apartment. With a two-meter gap between the apartment and its neighbor, she had plenty of room for the maneuver she was about to pull.

Starting at the other building, she ran directly to her target apartment and jumped, before she could start slipping down the wall, she flexed her body and leaped to the opposite side, and finally, with one last great effort, she jumped again and grabbed the lip of the ledge, barely managing to pull herself up.

Laying down on the lip, it felt like she was suffocating. It took a few moments before Joy realized what was happening and stopped focusing on her stealth. Finally able to breathe without her ability telling her she was giving herself away, she laughed.

Yeah, it was pretty clear that Stealth came with acrobatics. It was also clear that it was designed for someone at Class 4 and above, and her body could barely handle that. God, that was exhilarating, she thought, before thinking to look down.

Oh, shit.

It seemed being in ‘stealth mind’ dulled her fear of heights. Well, time to turn that back on.

Better, much, much, better.

Deciding to just stealth her way back home on the edges of the primitive brick apartments, Joy actually made good time. Such good time, in fact, that she could see the random thug arguing with his fellow brigands. In front of her building.

Now, despite the earlier outbursts of the past day, Joy would like to think that she had gotten a pretty good grip on her pride and temper. Actually, she would hate to think that, but it was the truth… mostly. But, there’s only so much one woman can take, and hearing the conversation down there had just crossed her threshold. By a mile.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Guys,” Ass kicked thug started while holding his stomach, “We need to go back to the base. There’s a chick on her way here that’s gotta be enhanced or something. She hits like a fuckin’ truck. Plus, bosses orders, we can’t harass a lady after robbin’ em, and she’s already been robbed a few times.”

“So what, you got your ass kicked by a whore, and you want us to retreat? I couldn’t give a fuck about our bosses orders, as long as he doesn’t find out it doesn’t matter. What, do you take what he says seriously, Jack?” The audacious piece of shit motherfucking dead man said.

The random bandit whose ass got kicked, apparently named Jack, looked pretty shocked to hear this, but Joy couldn’t really find it in her to care.

Did he… just call me… a whore? Me? The only person in this entire goddamn city with more than three brain cells, and a lineage greater than a fucking speck of dust, me?

He didn’t even see it coming. An eagle spotted its prey, and the small rat didn’t even know he was already dead.

Silently falling through the air, Joy landed feet first on the fucker’s head, knocking him over and stunning him. He wasn’t the only one stunned, though, because all the other two-bit gangsters looked shell-shocked as well.

Shaking themselves out of their stupor, they were about to rush in when Joy looked at them, and in her eyes, they saw death. Taking an involuntary step back, they looked at each other and took stock. They calmly and rationally considered their odds at winning and - just kidding, they ran. Honor among thieves her ass, they weren’t muggers because they were brave, they were muggers because they were desperate, and with the combined effects of Demonic and Deceitful aura, they didn’t trust her to not murder them.

The only one that didn’t run was Jack. In fact, he looked resigned.

“Hold him down,” Joy said, her voice like a winter breeze, calm, frigid, and biting. Joy still hadn’t unfocused her stealth, she needed to be calm if she didn’t want him to die. Not too quickly, at least.

Joy had been called a lot of things over the years. Coward, ingrate, worthless, talentless, Scorned, but she had never been called a whore. To even insinuate that she would give her chastity to one of these… things, just the thought was revolting.

While she may no longer be a noble, such an attack on her character would not go unpunished. Unfortunately, she was woefully understocked for typical torture methods, but her family taught her everything she knew, and as much as she despised them, the Durands were known to be very… resourceful. And vengeful.

First, let’s break his spirit.

“Jack, on second thought, let him up.”

Without saying a word, he backed off.

“You- you’re gonna regret tha- that.” He barely got out, still dazed from his skull hitting the concrete.

To be fair to the man, he was built like a brick shit house. Over six feet tall with a not insignificant amount of muscle, if he was facing anyone else he might have had a shot, even dazed as he was.

But he was facing Joy former Durand, and while some noble families may get by on social influence and wealth alone, the Durands did not. They were front-line fighters, personally trained to fight in the eons-long war of their sister country.

Coming in with a strong right hook, Joy effortlessly glided beneath it, putting her leg in between his and grabbing his unprotected left wrist in one smooth move, she pulled and he toppled.

He didn’t stand a chance, and if Joy had a say in the matter, no one would.

After a few more tumbles with her, he stayed on the ground, breathless.

“Wh- why are you doing this?” He said between gasps of air

“You called me a whore.” She said, her voice still frigid.

“Just because of that! Not because I was gonna rob ya? With thinkin’ like that, you may not be a whore, but you’re just as fuckin’ stupid- AHHH” Before he could finish his last word, Joy stomped on his hand.

“Insulting the person who just kicked your ass? Not a smart move, scum,” Vitriol poured out of her mouth as she continued, “You have two options from here. Scream a little, or scream a lot, don’t worry about picking now, you have plenty of time to choose.”

“Now, jack. Hold him down.”

“Ma- ma’am, do you really want to do- do this? Don’t you think this mi- might be a tad unreasonable?” He stuttered while looking at the ground.

Once he worked up the nerve to look up, the cold fury in her eyes shut him up.

Silently, he grabbed the bandit’s arms.

Rumors abound about that block, some say it’s haunted by a banshee. Whenever Joy hears that, she smiles. The loud option was always her favorite.