Pepe was startled by the swift and sudden attack, but she quickly reacted, sidestepping the dagger's air-cutting stab. She drew her own weapon, the best wand from Little River village—the Pro Wand (+1)—and held it defensively before her.

The assailant's pupils contracted, only for him to burst into crazed laughter, the sound somewhat muffled through his mask. "Ha! A pint-sized mage? Interesting backup, but you're barking up the wrong tree, kiddo!" he cackled, sending arcs of sword energy towards Pepe while advancing with acrobatic leaps off the surrounding flora.

Thanks to her "nonexistent" scuffle with Connor, Pepe was seasoned in close-quarters combat. Facing her eager adversary, she launched a dark ray while leaping back for distance.

Caught off guard, the man took a hit to the shoulder, and an odd sensation quickly spread through him.

This was the first time Pepe's Decay Ray had hit a human, and she was morbidly curious about the outcome.

"What the devil did you do?!" the man growled in alarm, retreating behind a tree to inspect the curious affliction on his shoulder.

Where his flesh should have been youthful, there now was a discolored patch that felt unnaturally cold and withered, like something you'd find on a man thrice his age.

Frantically probing the changing skin, which continued to spread down his arm, he suddenly felt a sharp blow to the back of his head.

"Ugh—" Before he could cry out, he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Prodding the incapacitated man with her wand, Pepe eyed the mutated skin section. "That was just one times the energy... what about twenty times?" she mused as she walked away.

---

Pepe emerged from the woods onto the main road, just in time to witness the aftermath of a ferocious confrontation.

The entire stretch was a melee mess, with trenches from close-quarters tussles and a smattering of impact craters, looking, Pepe recalled with a snicker, "Like someone had ploughed the land."

Scattered corpses decorated the chaos. One masked man and a civilian-dressed combatant were relentlessly pursuing the maid, who, covered in wounds, was close to collapse.

Back-to-back with the maid was a blonde girl, locked in a standoff with an assailant. Both bore wounds, though none appeared fatal.

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Two others circled the perimeter, seeking an opening.

"Oh dear, have I interrupted something important?" Pepe quipped, as the clash hesitated at her arrival.

"Cody! Ryan! Take her out first!" the ringleader commanded, and the circling pair pivoted without hesitation towards Pepe.

Sensing again the direction from her guiding orb, Pepe knew the maid and the blonde were whom she needed to assist. Raising her wand, she tangled with the charging duo.

Dodging two neck-bound energy blades, she channeled her life force and fired another Decay Ray.

These two, however, were leagues ahead of the previous challenger, nimbly evading Pepe's attack.

Cornered into close-quarters combat—a foolhardy move for any self-respecting mage—Pepe resorted to her Shadow Step, exploiting the interplay of light and darkness to confound her pursuers.

"This isn't working," Pepe pondered, as her adversaries were too swift, stabbing at her fleeting shadows.

Then, inspiration struck: If they liked chasing so much, she'd ensure they had their fill.

Maintaining the chase, Pepe fortified her next Decay Ray but held the power within the gemstone of her wand, not releasing it just yet.

Ducking under a backhanded slash and a piercing thrust, she dove into the shadow of a large tree again.

"Where do you think you're going, runt?" shouted one of the men, feeling a surety that the distance between them was narrowing, a sure sign the kid's magic was waning.

After all, a child only seven or eight years old couldn't have that much mana, could they?

Filled with the certainty of an imminent catch, he thrust his dagger deep into the shadow.

"That's a strange sensation..." he pondered. It was neither the give of soil nor the resistance of flesh, but more like... stabbing a rock?

As confusion set in, a peculiar force surged into his right arm. This sensation wasn't new; it was eerily like the magic that runt had used earlier. Feeling the creeping weakness travel from his fingertips to his forearm, moving past the elbow to his upper arm, and finally heading straight for his heart, he panicked.

"What's... happening?" Clutching his chest, he let go of the dagger and fell backward onto the soil.

"Cody?!" Ryan exclaimed, perplexed and terrified upon seeing his comrade inexplicably hit the ground.

Emerging from the shady tree, Pepe fixed a smile on the bewildered Ryan. That look sent chills down his spine. Who was this kid? Barely twenty levels by his guess, tops; How had she felled Cody in mere moments? More importantly, was he even alive?

Swallowing hard, Ryan gripped his dagger tighter. Fleeing wasn't an option—not with the Duke and their own leader to answer to.

Resigned to whatever fate awaited, he charged toward Pepe with a vengeful roar.

Pepe, still focused on the man laid out on the ground, murmured, "Is it really that bad? I only used triple the power..."

----------

Publicly available intelligence (strictly confidential):

Mid-tier monsters: Gargoyles, Ghosts, Ogres. Level cap is sixty, with many capable of surpassing it through determination (such as tumbling off a cliff to find a legacy left by a predecessor).

However, the literacy rate among monsters has hit all-time lows in recent years, so many discovered legacies remain unused.

Additional note: There is a branch of transformed Ghosts, though they're scarce in number.

Further note: One corpse can transform only into a Zombie, Skeleton, or Ghost, depending on the extent of injury before death, the state of decay, the location of death, and a touch of luck.