Novels2Search
Youjo Kodama
Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It is said that at the end of one’s rope, one should make a knot and hang on for dear life… Those are wise words and should be heeded but unfortunately some resorts to alcohol at the end of their rope, which left only one hand holding the rope as they drink from the liquid of doom.

As more drinks are being consumed, the weaker one’s grip became until their grip on reality became lost and their demise are hastened and ensured.

Alcohol is an insidious poison for being safe to consume and for the creeping negative health ramification stalking the body until alcohol addiction already rooted firmly in the mind, but above all the most potent poison is for changing the mind into a beast without reason, further isolating them from help provided by those who cared until they can no longer care anymore.

One should really wonder, if one’s true self can be seen in their action in the face of dire situation… Then what does depending on alcohol say about them? Perhaps a coward? Perhaps one without support from friends or family? Salvation from the demons haunting their memories?

Whatever it is, Raine has already seen the effect of abusing alcohol when taken in excess and the lucky ones are taken care and watched over by friends and families, the unlucky ones gain an alcohol addiction and their life spirals into a miserable existence and ended in a long time of pain because of liver failures on the streets or on the hospital bed.

Even the stupid and relatively painless end like a graduate student who drink tainted alcohol and jump off from their hotel room because they thought they can fly, still leaves behind shattered and broken hearts of their friends and families.

Knowing this, then why does Raine continued walking towards a bar to get some alcoholic drinks? She knows what it can do, even though she thought she know better in her head, her troubled heart still insisted over her head and thus she walk in a mixture of self-loathing and the need to be carefree once more.

“Why are you brooding Raine? We are going to a bar not a funeral, lighten up or as seniors we will also become troubled.” Said N-007 from the front as she turns her head towards Raine while walking forward towards their destination.

While still walking, Raine touched both her index fingers together, the elder Yggdrasil branch still held in one of her grip. Raine then mumbles despondently to N-007 query, not really answering N-007’s question.

“Come out of it N-007. Didn’t we hate alcohol before we transcend from humanity?” Said M-007 nonchalantly beside Raine.

“Oh, I forget about that! To be fair, it has been like… Forever since we first arrived in the citadel.” Said M-014 walking beside Raine

“Speak for yourself granny, if you aren’t so scatter brained you would have still remembered the fact about your own life as well.” Said M-007 with some venom to her words.

“What! We are almost the same age! Who are you to call me a granny? If I am, then you are as well!” Exclaimed M-014 with indignation.

“Stow it you two, we’re here!” Said N-007 sternly as she pointed towards the Purgatory Bar entrance in front of their group.

Raine follows the direction N-007 index finger is pointing at and looks at the bar entrance. There are already a long line of people like her queuing in order to gain entry into the bar.

However, Raine’s attention and eyebrows are raised as high as they can, as she sees the bouncer for the Purgatory Bar is a she-hulking version of herself. At 6 feet 8 inches or 203 cm or close to 2 metres tall, said version of her can only be considered as a powerhouse or a brute wearing a yellow sleeveless midriff, a blue denim shorts, a pair of sunglasses, and a massive pairs of breasts. The she-hulk appearances screams bouncer you do not want to mess with. Raine discreetly hides behind N-007’s back the moment she saw such an imposing figure.

N-007 though, approaches the she-hulk nonchalantly and greets her amicably, with Raine hiding behind N-007’s back.

“Yo! Big sister! Good to see business are peaking up. How are things around here?” Said N-007  good-naturedly as she raised a hand in greeting.

“Ah little sister! Things are good, we are getting busy since we just got ourselves a fresh batch of great dragon blood. One of our younger member just slayed the last great dragon in her universe. It should be a good batch since the dragon is ancient enough and powerful enough to earn a name. What was it again? Oh yeah the dragon’s name is Smaug, the one that slays it said he is a smug bastard.” Said the she-hulk version of Raine with maybe a G-cup breast, G for Gigantic that is.

“Badum Tish!” Said M-014 with relish.

Everyone then stares at M-014 with a questioning gaze after she interrupted the flow of conversation.

“What? She was asking for it!” Said M-014 with consternation.

“Why do I even bother partnering with you I would never understand..” Said M-007 with a sigh.

“Anyway, are you here for business or pleasure little sister?” Said the she-hulking version of Raine.

“A bit of both actually, this sapling here is actually my first charge as a Guardian and she is bit drained from the naturalization process. It’s actually quite fortunate that the bar is able to procure itself some great dragon blood as I think C-137 here needs it more than we do.” Said N-007 with some relief as she pushes Raine from behind her back and into the she-hulk’s under cleavage.

“You don’t say? Where is the sapling though? I don’t see anyone like that around.” Said the G cup version of Raine as she swivels around looking for anyone fitting the description of a sapling around the entrance to the bar.

Raine’s head has become stuck in-between the she-hulk’s cleavage, instead of fat, Raine is certain the she-hulk’s breasts consist of 75 percent solid muscle and is packing such strength that Raine’s body is also lifted from the ground. Unfortunately, as the she-hulk swivel her head and body looking for her, so does Raine’s small and light body. Raine is starting to get a neck pain from the movement so admits defeats and cried out.

“Nyaaaa! It hurts…” Cried Raine pitifully.

“Ohhh, there you are! How cute! I never seen such a cute little cat sapling before. You’re so cute I can just gobble you up!” Gushes the she-hulk as she spread apart her breasts, therefore exposing and releasing the vulnerable Raine within, and as Raine fell to the ground, she makes sure to hide her face behind the mask given by Mrs. Ashi.

Raine then suffered the indignity of being petted, hugged, stroked and smothered by the she-hulk’s affection.

“Ahhh, it’s been awhile since I have seen another small sapling! They grow up so fast! Who’s the cute one? Yes you are, yes you are! Let big sister Q-001 take care of you alright?” Said Q-001 with heart-filled eyes and a wide grin as she rubbed cheeks with Raine’s mask while Q-001 arms and breasts are holding Raine’s suspended body midair.

“Big sis, so can we go in without queuing? Come on, do it as a favour for me please?” Pleaded N-007 distracting Q-001 from her pleasure session.

“Oh, sure, come on in. Now now kitty, don’t fuss. Remember big sister Q-001 every time you come to the citadel ok? I’ll be right here waiting in the bar for you. Give me a kiss and I’ll throw in a glass of bloody mary for you.” Cooed Q-001 with a satisfied voice as she released Raine to the ground and waved Raine’s group into the Purgatory Bar to the groans of the group still lining in queue.

“Thanks sis! Now let’s enjoy ourselves shall we?” Said N-007 as she walks leading the way into the Purgatory Bar bringing Raine and her subordinates in with her.

Inside the bar, Raine can see the typical dimmed environment with all the typical things that should be in a bar. Freezing cold environment, bright lights from the advertisements, the beat of techno music, the drink bar with the bartenders and stools, the dancing pole with naked versions of her pole-dancing…

“That doesn’t look right…” Said Raine with a pale face behind her mask as she stares at the gyrating naked forms dancing on the pole, moving with great dexterity and grace.

“Now C-137, you cannot discriminate on other’s choice of profession. Those girls choose a profession with great need for agility and dexterity, this is one method to train those stats. Some are choosing to train with bikinis and skirts instead see.” Admonished M-007 behind Raine as she pointed at a pair wearing a skintight black bikini and skirt, pole dancing happily to the techno beat.

“... Those are even sexier than being naked.” Said Raine with her face heating up from mortification.

“ It’s still better than the two girls in the corner there, dancing on one pole together and kissing each other right?” Said M-014 unhelpfully from beside M-007.

“... I am definitely in hell now.” Said Raine paling again.

“Oh close, but we are actually in Purgatory but I can understand the confusion because of the similarity  though. The more important question is, when both of them are having sex. Does it count as incest or masturbation, C-137?” Said M-014 fanning the flame of mortification into an inferno.

“Oh God, they’re using tongues?! I think I am going to hurl.” Said Raine with weak knees.

“M-014! Stop teasing her! Don’t listen to her C-137, everyone knows it’s less of an incest and more than a masturbation as far as the rating goes. Rather you should be grateful that we don’t get pregnant if we happen to have relationship with each other.” Said N-007 as she slapped the back of the head of M-014.

“I don’t think you are helping matters N-007. She’s out for the count now.” Said M-007 as she propped up the slumping Raine with Raine’s soul escaping from Raine’s mouth.

The group panicked a bit, surrounding Raine and dragged her unconscious form to the nearest table booth. As the group propped up Raine’s head on the table, N-007 hailed a waiter and proceed to order a pick-me-up drink for the unconscious Raine.

“Waiter! Give me an emergency Bloody Mary for this table here! Just human blood would be enough! And give me a funnel with that order!” Exclaimed N-007 to the hurried waiter.

After a short-while, the waiter brings a glass of Bloody Mary and a funnel as requested by the group of customers who just came in. N-007 gratefully accepted the glass of drink and the funnel.

“Thanks, put it in my tab please.” Said N-007 as she holds the glass and pass the funnel to M-014.

“So I open her mouth and hold the funnel while you pour the Bloody Mary?” Asked M-014 as she holds the funnel in one hand and the other hand lifting up Raine’s body so it’s standing straight.

“Yes M-014, remove her mask first, then hold the funnel in her mouth and finally make sure her head is facing up. M-007, please hold her body replacing M-014.” Asked N-007 as she gets ready to pour the drink inside Raine’s mouth.

“Clear.” Said M-014 as she removed Raine’s mask and then hold Raine’s head and the funnel in Raine’s mouth.

“Ready.” Said M-007 as she holds Raine’s body securely upright.

“Fire in the hole!” Said N-007 as she poured the Bloody Mary down Raine’s throat.

As the red thick liquid flows through Raine’s throat, the skin of Raine’s face starts to flush until with a start, Raine jolted awake.

“Ahh! That’s nasty! What did I just drink?!” Complained Raine with a jolt.

The group sighed with relief now that Raine is awake and well.

“Bloody Mary, just human blood though. We do not want to waste the more expensive blood just to jump start you.” Explained N-007 as she reclined against the bar’s sofa.

“Why would you do that?” Asked Raine as she tried to wash down the coppery taste out of her mouth by swallowing often.

“The easy explanation, C-137, is we run on blood charged with mana. This body we used, beside our tree as the tree is our main body, runs on blood charged with rich mana. Now the mileage we get from the blood depends on the amount of mana being hold by the blood. Rarer and more powerful beings’ blood are able to hold more concentrated and/or more abundant mana in their blood. Just now we have to give you human blood, they are a more abundant source and can hold a decent amount of mana and mana density, as most of the blood in your body was taken by the heart tree for the naturalization process. If not, worse come to worse, your current body dies and you will wake up inside your tree again. Making a new body is inconvenient as it takes time and resource to make after all.” Explained N-007.

“Oh, so I’m a vampire as well now? Do I need to suck blood from someone’s neck everyday?” Grumbled Raine.

“It doesn’t work that way unless the blood comes with mana naturally, like the great dragon blood we are in the bar for, we need to charge the blood with mana that is generated by the world tree, which is our tree. Once it is charged, then we can store it inside our humanoid body, where it will be used as a fuel tank to move the body, maintain it and used it for spells and magical enhancement. It can get depleted so we have to replenish it by docking inside our tree or store the charged blood inside a magically sealed container to keep it fresh. Drinking blood does almost nothing to us, only a miniscule amount are absorbed on the way down to the throat before it disappears inside our stomach, being stored in our extra-dimensional inventory.” Explained N-007.

“Yes, I can still feel it inside my core an empty void and a feeling of weakness throughout my body.” Said Raine weakly as she held a hand over her flat chest.

“That is so, not to worry a glass of great dragon blood will take care of that. Waiter! We would like to order four glasses of great dragon blood for this table please! Put it in my tab also!” Exclaimed N-007 as she waved to attract the attention of a waiter.

The bar waiter noticed N-007, nodded and go in the kitchen bar to prepare Raine’s group order. After a short while, the waiter comes out again carrying a tray of 4 glasses of great dragon blood inside. The blood are ruby red with a thick viscosity and are glowing beautifully as the waiter passes the drink to each individual in Raine’s group. Raine can smell the coppery scent of blood and the heady scent of alcohol mixed in the blood, her eyes can also sense the fluctuation of heavy and rich mana within and above the sparkling ruby liquid. Yet Raine hesitates to drink alcohol as she hates it so.

“Now Raine, we didn't have the time to explain it to you earlier in the entrance but I am telling you now. We cannot get drunk, it’s physically impossible for us. We do not have a brain for the alcohol to affect us, we only added it for the taste and the fact that the alcohol keeps anything we consume from spoiling.” Explained M-014 helpfully as she noticed Raine’s hesitance.

“So we’re heartless and brainless? Not a comforting thought..” Said Raine with consternation.

“Doesn’t mean we are without compassion or the ability to think and reason without the organ though. If that is universally true, then when people die and become a ghost, what did they use without a physical body and all?” Said M-007 adding the explanation of her partner.

“Plus the inside of our head are needed for the roots and stems for processing the energy gained from our leaves after all, you know photosynthesis and all that. Just add sunlight, water and dirt in our roots and we get sugary goodness for our humanoid body!” Explained M-014 again.

“We do not need a brain C-137, instead we have a neural core which linked this humanoid body with the neural core in our primary body, the world tree back in our home universe.” Explained N-007 helpfully.  

Raine became relieved and assured after she heard their explanation. She then raised her glass of elder dragon blood to her lips in order to drink, but was stopped as her wrist is being held by N-007. Raine then looks at N-007 with questioning eyes.

“No, I am not having you wasting such a precious commodity by having it disappears within the extra-dimensional inventory in our stomach, C-137. We did it with the Bloody Mary because it’s cheap and abundant, but I will be damned if I let you waste this one. You do not drink this from your mouth.” Said N-007

“No offense, but how else am I going to drink this?” Asked Raine with a raised eyebrow.

“You have another mouth don’t you? A lower one compared to the one on your head?” Said M-014 with a wide grin.

“... You expect me to drink this using my genital?” Asked Raine with a paling face as she gazes down southward to her crotch.

M-014 was then slapped behind the back of her head by N-007 as N-007 admonished M-014 for her crude jest.

“Of course not C-137, here let me show you how to drink this correctly.” Explained N-007 gently as she puts the glass on the table and with one hand on the glass, the round bulge at the back of her hand opens as a slit and from inside come out a tentacle, green in colour, with sharp teeth at the edge, it looks horrifyingly like a green lamprey eel is coming out from the back of her hand.

To Raine’s horror the green lamprey eel tentacle from hell are moving into the glass and starts sucking the blood until the glass became empty, accompanied by the sound of sighs of pleasure from N-007 as her skins glows with vitality from the rich and concentrated mana in the glass of great dragon blood. Once the glass became empty, the green lamprey eel tentacle from hell withdraws back into the the round bulge at the back of N-007 hand and then the slit closed.

“What the hell was that?” Asked Raine once again with surprise.

“It’s our leech vine, it’s in each of our arms and come out from the back of our hands. The blood we consume using the leech vine are circulated inside our body instead of being stored in the inventory in our stomach. Plus when we drink water from rivers on the ground, we can use the leech vine to drink while our other hand is on our weapon, staying alert for danger. In emergency you can also use it as a vine whip as well, but for maximum impact try to move the suckers into the eye alright?” Answered N-007 as she let out her leech vines again from both her hands and makes it dance and wiggle in the air in front of Raine’s eyes.

“Plus, you can use the leech vines for something else beside drinking and self defense weapon.” Said M-007 suggestively.

“I’ve read enough hentai to know where this is going and my answer is, no thank you.” Said Raine flatly.

M-007 shrugged and stretches her back and reclined more comfortably against the sofa beside M-014.

M-007 and M-014 already let out their leech vines and are in the process of enjoying their own great dragon blood drink in front of them while gesturing at Raine with the other free hand to let Raine try.

With some hesitance, Raine puts the glass on the table and with one hand on the glass she attempted to let out her leech vine from the back of her hand. Now that she concentrate on the feeling, she can feel something within that if she relax, the slit can open. As she relaxes, the slit on the back of her hand opens and out comes her leech vine. To Raine’s delight, it’s as easy moving it as if it’s her own human limbs. Raine then move the leech vine’s sucker into the glass of the elder dragon blood and start sucking the liquid into her body. As the hot and throbbing liquid flows into Raine, she can feel it invigorating her and revitalizing her psyche. As the glass became empty, Raine withdraws back her leech vine into the back of her hand and crooned softly with pleasure from the afterglow of the drink currently circulating inside her body.

“You can get used to it right? Now while you’re lost in the bliss of pleasure, I took the liberty of ordering a barrel of uncharged human blood for you to finish. When you go back to your universe, the tree will store it and charge it overnight with mana generated from the Yggdrasil drive. With your discretion, you can decide how much to store within your humanoid body once you decided to roam outside of your tree again.” Said N-007 as the waiter came back and puts a large oak barrel filled full with normal human blood in front of Raine’s face.

Raine took one look at the barrel filled with human blood as tall as she is and pales as she sees M-014 holding a funnel in her hand and M-007 cracking her knuckles together.

Suffice to say, Raine went through hell again as her body is being hold tight by M-007 and her mouth and throat are forcefully opened and held by M-014’s leech vines as N-007 is holding the open barrel over her head and pouring it into her open mouth. The blood are flowing like a raging river through Raine’s mouth and going through Raine’s throat, which is being held open by M-014 leech vine lodged deep in her throat. The whole thing took 15 minutes to finish until everything inside the barrel disappears into her stomach. At the end of the ordeal, Raine feels pretty much violated as she equipped her mask back unto her face in order to protect her from further harm.

“That was hell…” Said Raine weakly.

“It’s for your own good Raine, now remember to charge the blood first as everything in your inventory are sorted and stored by the tree before injecting it inside your humanoid body.” Said N-007.

“Plus we were subjected to the same treatment during our first trip to the citadel as well, so it was kind of therapeutic to be on the other side this time.” Said M-014 as she was slapped on the back of her head again by N-007.

“Now that is all over with, let’s drop you off in the Citadel Nexus for your trip back to home C-137. I think you have had enough for one day. When you are back in the citadel next time perhaps we can bring you to the emporium to do some window shopping.” Sighed N-007 as she stands from her seat, followed by her subordinates getting ready to leave as well.

Raine was the last to stand as she was still queasy from the amount of blood that she drank. As their group exits the bar, their group are thanked by the employees of the bar. Back on the bar entrance Raine is once again hugged and petted by Q-001 but for one she was glad to leave behind the cold air, the loud music, the naked bodies, and the nightmare behind at the bar.

The group’s next destination is the citadel nexus, on their way there though Raine notices that all the inhabitants of the titanic station are all the same versions of her. She cannot see other individuals beside the one with her face and body.

“Hey, I just noticed this but why is there no one else around but different versions of us?” Asked Raine to the Guardians around her.

“Oh, that have something to do with this station housing six elder Yggdrasil world tree of the Yggdrasil council. This titanic station have six rotating arms and each arm contains it own biosphere where at the center of the arm resides a Yggdrasil world tree belonging to one of the Yggdrasil council. All six Yggdrasil world tree concentrated in one spot? It forces any living being that enters the station to magically mutate into a magical beast and to find them depends on their type and the environment they live in. As each Yggdrasil world tree and biosphere in each arm specializes in different environment. We have desert biosphere, oceanic biosphere, plains biosphere, forest biosphere, magma biosphere, and arctic biosphere. Perhaps when you are strong enough we can let you hunt in the plains biosphere, the magical beasts and monsters you encounter in the biosphere can be harvested for monster cores and materials.” Explained N-007 as she walks ahead of Raine.

Raine just nodded, filing this information in her mind and continues walking in silence as her Guardians clears the foot traffic to the citadel nexus. Once their group reached the citadel nexus, Raine greeted F-035 again and was cleared by F-035 to enter one of the available teleporter.

“So, see you around C-137, when you are here again just contact us by using any of the available command console on the wall there to use the chat command, and put our designation first before typing the message. One of us will pick you up in the citadel nexus, if one of us is not available then you can contact the others to see if she can accompany you. Oh before I forget, once you are back in your Yggdrasil world tree, the authorization to use the Ragnarok system that is housed in your breast will run automatically. You should choose your first profession and update your stats and skills accordingly beforehand. As is tradition we will not influence your profession choice.” Said N-007 as she said her goodbye together with her subordinates behind her.

Raine nodded and with the blood red elder Yggdrasil branch on her hand, she steps forward across the hallway and enters one of the empty teleporter pod.

“Thanks for everything!” Said Raine as she waved at her group of Guardians before the door to the teleporter pod closes.

Yggdrasil universe C-137 detected, micro Yggdrasil Drive spooling up for teleportation. Destination: Yggdrasil Universe C-137.

Raine stands still as her body starts transforming into particles of light and eventually her whole body and everything on her has already converted into particles of light, but she was still not launched into space. However she can hear the Yggdrasil Drive of the teleporter spooling up and the sound is getting louder until finally she was ready to be launched across time and space.

Yggdrasil universe C-137 ready for launch… Mana launcher at maximum capacity… Teleportation sequence imminent, destination: C-137 universe… Thank you for visiting the Citadel and God speed to you…

Raine hears the announcement before her incorporeal particles of light body are launched through space and time and just like her trip to the citadel station she can see planets, moons, and stars passing around her in the wormhole tunnel like in a spaceship of a sci-fi movie.

After minutes of traveling she can see the end of her destination as she slammed back into her tree. And just like before as her humanoid body materializes physically within her tree, she sees darkness surrounding her. Once her body are fully materialized she can hear the announcement within her tree again.

Secondary body docked… Ragnarok System detected… Downloading.... Ragnarok System patched… Applying patch to the main Yggdrasil Neural Core… Separating secondary neural core during the updating process...

Once again she can see her humanoid body closes it’s eyes as she went through an out of body experience again as she hovers around her humanoid body as an orb of light. Interestingly, she can see the pulsing core of the Ragnarok System exit her humanoid body’s breasts and into the bigger and brighter core above her, shining like a sun. Once the pulsing core of the Ragnarok System joins the sun, which she assumed to be her main Yggdrasil Neural core. She can feel information directly copied into her being and she notices that it is adding new mana lattices to her own Mana network floating around her main Neural core. Raine can also see everything gets brighter as the mana lattices spread around the chamber where her tree is located.

Ragnarok System Online… Raw materials detected in secondary inventory… Relocating everything into the primary inventory… Sufficient experience point have been reached… Base Lvl 10 reached… Job level Lvl 10 reached… Novice status can progress into 1st base profession… Profession classes available are: Swordman, Mage, Archer, Merchant, Thief, Acolyte.

Expanding the basic description for each 1st base profession available.

Swordmans are disciples and masters of the sword, which is their namesake. They are known to be able to take large amounts of damage without being defeated too easily.

Mages are imbued with the power of elemental magic.

Archers are skilled with the bow and have the ability to accurately hit their targets from long distances.

Merchants are the backbone of any nation's economy.

Thieves are quick and clever individuals whose ability to take what's not theirs their specialty.

Acolytes are natural healers and supporters with the ability to use Holy magic.

Awaiting for decision on profession to be undertaken before proceeding to the next phase…

Raine tilted her incorporeal head at the selection, seems that she can choose out of six job class as her first profession. Considering the job class and the description… Archers and Thieves are out since she does not really want to strip naked and dance on a pole just to train her dexterity and agility stats. So that leaves the swordman, mage, merchant, and acolyte available for her selection…

Swordman is out as well since she does not fancy getting in close with a sword against firearms in a futuristic world she is in. Merchant… Is not a bad idea but would not be her first profession choice as she would have difficulty progressing on a non-combat sounding profession…

This left mage and acolyte as her only real choice… Since the only combat role in that selection is only the mage with their elemental attribute magic, she would have to cross out the acolyte as well. This makes the mage as her only real choice. Raine finalizes her decision to choose mage as her first job class profession.

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You have chosen Mage as your choice as your 1st job class base profession… Confirm? Yes / No

Raine sent a mental confirmation confirming her selection. Raine then can see from her main neural core, red lightnings started to congregate from the neural main Yggdrasil core towards her humanoid body below.

Secondary body class profession have been updated to that of a mage… You have 100 stat points available and 50 skill points available to be distributed to 6 stats attribute and 8 available skills selection.

Expanding the basic description for each stats.

Strength: This stat affects the "melee" physical power of the character, allowing it to deal damage even if no weapons are equipped if a sufficient amount of STR is invested. The STR value is also multiplied to the Weapon ATK value for even more damage increase. Every point of STR increased will also increase maximum weight limit by 30 kilogram per point of strength.

Agility: This stat affects the speed of the character in many aspects, allowing it to attack faster and dodge attacks more often. Every point of AGI increased will also increase maximum speed by 1 kilometre/hour per point of AGI.

Vitality: This stat affects the endurance, Hit Points, and restorative power of the character, allowing it to last longer against monsters and to regain more life with healing items. Every point of VIT increased will increase max HP by 1%, healing items’ effectiveness by 2%, reduce chance of getting a negative status effect by 1%, increase the natural regeneration of HP by 1% per point of VIT.

Intelligence: This stat affects the mental power of the character, allowing to deal magic damage even if no weapons are equipped if a sufficient amount of INT is invested. Every point of INT increased will increase Magical Attack (MATK) by 1%, max Spell Points to use magic by 1%, healing item effectiveness by 1%, decreasing cast time by 1% per point of INT.

Dexterity: This stat affects the accuracy (HIT) of the character in many aspects, allowing it to land hits easier, among other things. It is also the primary stat for "ranged" physical damage, and the primary stat for decreasing cast time. Every point of DEX increased will increase HIT rate by 1, decreases spell cast time by 0.1 sec, increase success chance when creating items by 1% per point of DEX.

Luck: This stat affects the fortune of the character in some aspects, allowing it to deal Critical hits more often, luckily dodging enemy attacks more often, among several other small bonuses. Every point of LUK increased will increase critical  (CRIT) rate by 0.5% per point of LUK and every 3 points of LUK will raise Physical Attack (PATK) and Magical Attack (MATK) by 1 and accuracy (HIT) rate by 1.

You have 100 stat points available to be distributed to the six attributes above. Every 10 stat attributes, the cost to increase said stats will keep increasing progressively by 1 stat point.

Raine memorize each stats function given and contemplates how best to distribute her stats using her available stat points wisely in regard to her chosen profession of a mage. Currently with all her stat points at 1 across the board and with 100 stat points at her base LVL 10… She decided to spread it evenly across five stat attributes, Agility, Intelligence, Vitality, Dexterity and Luck. This nets her stat points to increase evenly across those five attributes to 11, except Strength which remains at 1. Raine decided on utilizing her stat points to the maximum as the cost increased once 10 points has been allocated. Raine noticed that it costs 2 stat points to increase a point of stat at the value of 1, now she noticed that it will cost 3 Stat points to increase the stat point from 11 to 12, and she believes the cost will increase again as she reached the stat point 21. Raine sends a mental command to confirm her selection.

Confirming stat distributions:

    STR: 1

       INT: 1 + 10

       AGI: 1 + 10

       DEX: 1 + 10

       VIT: 1 + 10

       LUK: 1 + 10

Confirm: Yes/No

Raine once again sent the affirmative confirmation for her selection.

Stat allocation confirmed… Updating the status of secondary core…

Once again Raine sees red lightning arcing from the primary neural core towards her humanoid body and she can see physical improvement to her humanoid body being made in front of her eyes. Raine can see her body becoming slightly taller and more athletic, but she is still thin though, perhaps because she did not spend any points to increase her strength.

Secondary core status updated…

Name: Raine Sioux Species: Dryad - Base Lvl 10 STR 1 INT 11 AGI 11 DEX 11 VIT 11 LUK 11

Current status will be displayed after calculating secondary core status update as follow:

Name: Raine Sioux Job: Mage - Base Lvl 10 MAX HP 152 MAX SP 105 PDEF 14 + 15 MDEF 20 + 5 HIT 205 FLEE 127 + 63.5 SPD 11 Km/hour + 5.5 Km/hour P.DODGE 2 CRIT 4 + 20 PATK 10 + 140 MATK 26 ASPD 154.64 HP REGEN 2 + 2 SP REGEN 4

Raine noticed some of her status attributes are increased arbitrarily without regards to her stats update. Then she noticed that the status actually take into consideration the equipment she is wearing on her body as well.

The mask given by Mrs. Ashi is especially good as it increases her flee rate, her speed by another half and her physical regeneration by double the rate. And her physical ATK must be affected by the ‘Blackprey’ ZN-28 Nova Knife given to her by Mr. Jack as well. There is some minor increase in her physical defense and magical defense but her undersuit given to her by Mrs. Ashi depends more on stealth and although it have some ballistic resistance, it doesn't give much physical and magical protection for her.

Raine sent a mental command to check her equipment status.

Equipment status displayed as follows:

Name: Raine Sioux - Gender: Female Species: Dryad - Job: Mage Upper Head: Black Cat Ears Hairband Mid Head: Mask of The Daughters of Aku Lower Head: Assassin Mask Body: Caldari Stealth Undersuit Mk.3 (Black) Left Hand: ‘Blackprey’ ZN-28 Nova Knife Right Hand: Orange Omnitool 8th Generation (White) Robe: None Shoes: Caldari Stealth Combat Boots Accessory: Pyromaniac Black Cat Tail Belt Accessory: None

Raine considers her current equipment and the reflected status does make sense if she considers it with her current equipment. Raine then realizes that she still hasn’t spend her skill points. Raine then proceed to send a projected mental command to update her skills.

Skill selections highlighted, expanding the basic description for each available skills.

Cold Bolt

Launch 1~10 cold bolt(s) to target foe, each dealing MATK*1 Ice-element damage. The higher the skill level, the more damage inflicted and the longer the cast time.

Fire Bolt

Launch 1~10 fire bolt(s) to target foe, each dealing MATK*1 Fire-element damage. The higher the skill level, the more damage inflicted and the longer the cast time.

Lightning Bolt

Launch 1~10 lightning bolt(s) to target foe, each dealing MATK*1 Lightning-element damage. The higher the skill level, the more damage inflicted and the longer the cast time.

Stone Curse

Attempt to turn target into stone, rendering it immobile and turning it to Earth element. The higher the skill level, the higher the success chance and the longer the cast time. Does not work on Undead / Ghost type enemies. At maximum level 10, success rate is at 60% and to use this skill you would need a red gemstone to be consumed in order to utilize the spell at all skill level.

Napalm Beat

Deal between 80% to 170% MATK Ghost-element damage to target and all enemies in a 3m×3m area around it.

Sight

Reveal hidden enemies in a 7m ×7m area around the user. A skill with 1 level only.

Increase SP Recovery

Passively increases SP recovery speed when not moving. Also increases efficiency of SP-restoring items consumed and thrown by an Alchemist

Energy Coat

Reduces damage from incoming physical attacks while consuming SP. Special Skill, 1 level only and cost 5 skill points to gain. Reduce physical damage up to a maximum of 50% depending on the percentage of mana available, the less the available mana the less physical damage reduction will be applied.

Raine is intrigued by the skill selection available to her and with 50 skill points available to her she could really spend it to their maximum level. Raine could be a jack of all trades in her stats selection but in this case she can afford to be specialised in her selection.

After some consideration, Raine would maximize Lightning Bolt, Napalm Beat, Stone Curse, Increase SP recovery. And Raine decided to take Sight and spend the heavy cost of Energy Coat as well, leaving her with 4 points left to spend on Fire Bolt. Raine then send a mental projection to confirm her selection.

Confirming Skill selections:

 Lightning Bolt: Lvl 10 (Max Level) 10 bolts maximum, 8 sec cast time.

    Napalm Beat: Lvl 10 (Max Level) 170% MATK over a 3m x 3m area, 0.5 sec cast time.

    Stone Curse: Lvl 10 (Max Level) 60% success rate, red gemstone catalyst needed.

    Increase SP Recovery: Lvl 10 (Max Level) +30 SP/10 sec & +20% SP item recovery.

    Sight: Lvl 1 (Max Level): Nullifies hide, tunnel drive & cloaking effect in a 7m x 7m area.

    Energy Coat: Lvl 1 (Max Level): 80%-100% mana capacity, reduce Pdamage by 50%.

    Fire Bolt: Lvl 4 (10 Level): 4 bolts maximum, 3.6 sec cast time.

Raine contemplates on her skill selections and are quite happy with her decision. Maximum Lightning bolt for use against futuristic mechanical enemies. Maximum Napalm Beat as an instant cast shotgun when cast at close range and as a Jedi force push analogue when cast over a modest range. Maximum Stone Curse as an elite killer as they became statues. Max increase SP Recovery to keep her casting and keep on killing. Sight as a counter for Mrs. Ashi’s type of enemies. Energy Coat for defensive purpose. And finally some points spent on Fire Bolt in case she need to make something explode. In truth she can spend some in Cold Bolt if she ever need to assassinate someone and leave no murder weapon behind, but that’s not really what she sees herself doing in the future. Raine finalizes her decision and sending a mental projection to confirm her selection.

Skill selection confirmed… Updating the status of the secondary neural core…

Raine then sees the same red lightning arcing over the primary neural core connecting with her humanoid body. This time she could not see any physical change on her body but she is certain she just need to practice the skill next time she enters her humanoid body again and she would be able to use her skills perfectly.

Secondary neural core status updated…

Name: Raine Sioux - Species: Dryad Job: Mage - Job Lvl 50 Lightning Bolt Lvl 10 (Max Level) 10 bolts maximum, 8 sec cast time. Napalm Beat Lvl 10 (Max Level) 170% MATK over a 3m x 3m area, 0.5 sec cast time. Stone Curse Lvl 10 (Max Level) 60% success rate, red gemstone catalyst needed. Increase SP Recovery Lvl 10 (Max Level) +30 SP/10 sec & +20% SP item recovery. Sight Lvl 1 (Max Level) Nullifies hide, tunnel drive & cloaking effect in a 7mx7m. Energy Coat Lvl 1 (Max Level) 80%-100% mana capacity, reduce Pdamage by 50%. Fire Bolt Lvl 4 (10 Level): 4 bolts maximum, 3.6 sec cast time.

New skills gained after applying confirmed skills selection…

Displaying newly available skills, expanding basic description of new skills.

Thunder Storm

Foes within target 5m x 5m area are hit 1~10 times, each for MATK*1 Lightning-element damage. The higher the skill level, the more damage inflicted and the longer the cast time. This skill is a higher class of skill, for every level raised it would need 2 skill points to level up.

Soul Strike

Ghost-element attack dealing up to 5× MATK damage to a single target. Does additional damage to Undead-element enemies. Does extra 5% damage per SkillLV to Undead property Monsters. This skill is a higher class of skill, for every level raised it would need 2 skill points to level up.

Fire Ball

Attack a target and enemies in a 5m × 5m area around it for MATK*1.6~3.4 Fire-element damage. Enemies at the edge of the area will take 75% of the damage. The casting time for this skill would be 0.8 sec no matter the mastered skill level. This skill is a higher class of skill, for every level raised it would need 1.5 skill points to level up.

Raine is impressed with the new skills description, as expected of a higher rank skills although it needs to have a higher cost to compensate the benefit as well… She have no more skill points though… So gaining those skills would have to wait until she gains more skill points and the knowledge of what kind of enemies would she encounter in this futuristic world first. Raine then sent a mental projection to skip the skill selection this time as she have no available skill points left.

Familiar Token available in the primary inventory… Would you like to create your Guardian Force now?

Raine excitedly send a mental projection to confirm the creation of her Guardian Force.

Confirming… Checking primary inventory… No Slime cores are available to create the Guardian Force… Aborting process and returning the familiar token to the primary inventory…

Raine became disappointed after the announcement… She really need to find some slime cores soon as she really wanted to create her own Guardian Force. With disappointment, she sent a mental projection to move on to the next phase.

Uncharged human blood confirmed in the storage in the primary inventory. Would you like to charge the blood with mana and store it within the humanoid body?

Raine remembers that the charged blood is used as fuel for her humanoid body and as fuel for her spells so she sent a mental projection to confirm her acceptance to store it within her humanoid body.

Confirmation accepted… Charging the blood with mana would be an overnight process. Would you like to sleep while waiting as the process runs automatically? How much would you like to store the charged mana within the secondary body?

It seems that Raine needs to wait while the blood are being charged overnight and it will be pumped automatically into her humanoid body. Raine would prefer to sleep rather than wait for topping up her mana charged blood reserve, so she would follow the advice of the notice.

However for the amount of the stored charged mana capacity within her body… Raine thinks the more she have, the better it would be for her spell work. So Raine sent a mental projection for confirmation to sleep and to set the storing of charged blood with mana within her humanoid body to the maximum.

Confirmation accepted… connecting neural cores and setting up mana charged blood storage within the secondary body to the maximum. No outstanding notice at this point… Entering sleep mode…

Raine then feels her incorporeal form get sucked into her humanoid body and can feel her consciousness slipping as everything went dark around her. Raine is unsure how long she spent sleeping but she can hear someone calling out her name.

With a start Raine wakes up and can feel her sluggish body reacting to her name being called. Raine sees darkness surrounding her but can feel her body being heavy and becoming more sluggish after waking up. It takes a while before she recognizes the sound of her name being called as belonging to Mrs. Alakoni. She remembers that today Mrs. Alakoni would be introducing her to her new bodyguards which would be why Mrs. Alakoni is outside her tree calling out for her.

Hurriedly Raine sent a mental projection in order to exit the tree and to meet up with Mrs. Alakoni and her promised bodyguards.

Secondary body request for undocking… Notice… Storing of charged blood with mana within secondary body are complete… Capacity… Maximum… Movement speed may be affected when walking and moving on terrestrial land.... Undocking secondary body...Undocking…

Raine can feel her body moving from within the tree, heading for the exit. However she wonders if storing the mana charged blood to the maximum capacity means that her body now has become fat or chubby.

Raine then wonders if she should meet Mrs. Alakoni and her bodyguards at this point, but the point has become moot as she fully exits her tree and became fully materialized.

While standing at the base of her tree, Mrs. Alakoni and three new armored individuals standing behind her are already in front of Raine within a short distance away and all of them are looking at Raine’s sudden appearance like a ghost appears from within a tree shell.

While she cannot see the armored individuals’ facial expressions as all of them are covered by helmets, she can certainly see Mrs. Alakoni reactions… Mrs. Alakoni eyes are bulging and her face is getting redder by the second.

“Ms. Raine! What in the world has happened to you?” Shrieked Mrs. Alakoni.

“... So I get slightly taller and more athletic… And maybe chubbier…So?” Said Raine while she raised an eyebrow at Mrs. Alakoni extreme reaction.

“Ms. Raine... I have no problem with you getting taller and more athletic as that can only be a good thing in my book… But if you didn't realize, something else has certainly gotten larger during my absence…” Said Mrs. Alakoni with exasperation as she pointed downwards toward Raine’s body.

With a huff Raine looks down, expecting to see a bigger stomach. Only to be shocked when she sees how big her breasts has become! She now has breasts almost as big as her head! Thankfully the black undersuit given by Mrs. Ashi can stretch and adjusts to the change in her cup size and height, but it makes it worse as the undersuit are stretched to their maximum capacity, making her pair of breasts looks sexier as it clings to the fabric looking more tight fitting.

Raine then pokes at her new pair of breasts and remembers the fact that before she sleep, she did asks the mana charged blood to be stored to the maximum capacity within her humanoid body… So they did store it within her body, but she did not expect her breasts to be used as the storage tanks.

On the other hand, she feel nothing from poking her breasts. Raine concludes that there is no nerve endings surrounding her breast, hence she doesn’t feel any sensitivity at all as she rubbed her pair of breasts vigorously.

“Ms. Raine! Are you really rubbing your breasts in front of us!” Shrieked Mrs. Alakoni alarmingly.

“It’s ok, they’re just my fat reserve… It’s fine for them to see anyway as I am still clothed…” Said Raine with a flat tone as she tries to kill her shame and trying not to make it worse by panicking.

“Sigh… As you wish Ms. Raine… The reason for me calling you is to introduce you to your bodyguards behind me. I will introduce you to them now. We managed to get a Lai Dai affiliated, Adamantine-ranked Mercenary Squad to serve as your bodyguards under a discreet corporate contract. The Squad behind me are the famous Inferno Squad. Their leader is Iden Versio, a long time friend of the Lai Dai Corporation.” Said Mrs. Alakoni as she gestured behind her to the leading figure with black armour and helmet as well as a small drone hovering above said person.

As Raine watched, the tall and imposing figure steps forward from behind Mrs. Alakoni, approaches Raine and proceeds to take off the black helmet to expose a middle aged woman with black hairs tied from behind in a single bun. The middle-aged woman have dark brown skin and brown eyes. The soldier… As the woman cannot be anything but a soldier with the stern face and a strict countenance says.

“I waited 30 years for this… The chance to see the mythical Yggdrasil tree long whispered within the halls of Lai Dai corporation since I first heard of it when I was but a teenager holding my first handgun. It is an honour to meet you Ms. Raine and to see confirmation of such an amazing existence in the universe.” Said the woman, Iden Versio, as she offered her hand towards Raine for a handshake.

Raine returns the handshake with no hesitation and look at her in the eyes as is proper within the business community as avoiding eye contact means untrustworthiness.

“Likewise Ms. Iden Versio. I hope we can get along and work together as you serve as my bodyguard…” Said Raine as she became calmer and calmer as she successfully mentally grappled with her turmoil caused by her massive breasts.

“The pleasure is all mine, especially seeing such a cute assassin with cat ears and tail coming out of a mythical tree has in fact made my day Ms. Raine. And as you know, my name is Iden Versio and my role within this squad is to act as an Infiltrator Commando. I lead my squad and provide long distance fire support for them. Let me introduce you to my subordinates.” Said Ms. Iden Versio with a happy cheer as she turns and gestured for the two armored individuals behind Mrs. Alakoni to join her in greeting Raine.

As Raine watched, one of the armored individual approaches and took of the black helmet, exposing the face of a man in his thirties with a black hair and brown eyes.

“Greetings miss. It’s an honour to meet you, my name is Kaidan Alenko. I am a sentinel, if you have any tech problem whether it's repairing, scanning or hacking electronics you can look for me as I am your combat tech support for the squad.” Said Kaidan Alenko with a smile.

“Likewise Mr. Kaidan Alenko, I hope we can get along…” Said Raine modestly.

Before Kaidan can reply, Mrs. Alakoni interrupted both of them by joining them in their convesation.

“Ms. Raine is often quiet and doesn’t talk much so I hope you can forgive her. I have noticed most of the time she is doing her own thing and lost in her own world …” Said Mrs. Alakoni.

Raine ignored Mrs. Alakoni and just stands there acting like she cannot hear her. It has always worked with trolls and annoying people, so she sees no reason to change her tactic against them now.

“I can see your point director Alakoni, then let us move along after our last member has introduced himself…” Said Iden Versio as she gestured towards the final member of her squad, but to her confusion she can see the last member adopting a constipated pose halfway to the ground with both fists clenched tightly.

“What is wrong? Are you poisoned on the way here!?” Said Iden Versio as she commanded the last member with a no nonsense tone.

As Raine watched the last member of Inferno Squad ripped the black helmet open and Raine can see exposed underneath, a man, also in his thirties, with blonde hair, fair skin and freckled face, with brown eyes. Pumping his fists in excitement and hollering loudly.

“Hell yeah!!! Life is worth living! I never dreamed I would one day see an actual kuudere loli oppai kuro nekomimi in real life before! Oh if she was actually a meganekko as well that would be even more perfect!” Shouted the last member of the famous inferno squad.

“Ron Stoppable! Explain yourself in english! You are in the presence of an esteemed client!” Admonished Iden Versio towards the misbehaving member of her squad.

Raine happens to understand what Ron Stoppable is saying so she understand that he is one big pervert.

“Oh! Yes Chief! I was just referring to her as a cute catgirl before and was lamenting that she wasn’t wearing glasses!” Said Ron Stoppable as he salutes Iden Versio.

… And apparently a decent liar as well since he did not actually lie, he just deliberately decided not to divulge some of the things he actually said.

“Honestly! Go and introduce yourself first in front of the client so we can move onto more important things!” Said Iden Versio as she continues to admonish Ron Stoppable.

“Yes mam! Sorry for the spectacle there! My name is Ron Stoppable and I am a Combat Vanguard! Master of the martial art Tai Shing Pek Kwar or otherwise known as monkey kungfu! You need someone’s head bashed? Well don’t wait around and just look for me! And as an apology, allow me to sing a rap about how cute you are! I fancy myself a rapper you see and it would take only three minutes of your time! Rufus! Help me out with the beat and recording buddy!” Said Ron Stoppable excitedly as the drone hovering above Iden Versio chirped and start laying down a musical beat and starts recording Ron Stoppable dancing and singing in front of Raine.

“Are you going to allow this?!” Protested Mrs. Alakoni watching the spectacle in front of her.

“Unfortunately, I promised this jerk as his reward for being a Vanguard for the squad. Plus it’s his hobby, let it be, the recording shan’t be a problem as she will travel in public spaces in her current attire anyway.” Sighed Iden Versio as she gives the go ahead to the spectacles.

Raine then looks with bewilderment as Ron Stoppable sings and dance around her, praising the concept of cat girls. To Raine’s delight the beat was catchy and the lyrics amusing so she really enjoyed listening to Ron Stoppable’s performance. After 3 minutes as promised, Ron Stoppable’s singing and dancing performance wraps up and he stands in front of her waiting for a clap. To Ron’s delight, Raine did enjoy the performance and therefore gives Ron a hearty round of claps.

“Thank you! Thank you my lady! I hope you enjoyed the performance and forgive me for my earlier transgression!” Said Ron Stopable with a goofy and wide smile.

“I will! As long as you give me the recording of your performance!” Said Raine as she smiled with a lighter heart.

“Oho! That’s easy! Give me your right arm with the omnitool, and I will send over the link to the recording in the extranet, as I will also upload this to my blog and my followers can appreciate it as well! I am expecting another hit with this rap I can feel it!” Said Ron Stoppable as she requested Raine’s right arm where her omnitool is located.

Raine then offered her right arm and Ron starts to fiddle with the control panel.

“There! Done! I have saved the link in your control panel! So you can watch it any time if you need any pick me up!” Said Ron as he holds the omnitool holographic screen in front of Raine’s face.

Raine sees the link available inside her omnitool and can see the link saved in her control panel.

It reads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Im7K8e40hI it seems theirtube still prevailed even after the apocalypse, interesting.

Raine laughed happily at Ron’s antic and performance, she got the feeling that she would love traveling with this squad as she travel and explore this universe.

“Amazing, I have never seen Ms. Raine looks so happy before. I have to say your team is extraordinary. As expected of an Adamantine-ranked Mercenary Squad. I have high expectations for this venture that I hope you can deliver Iden Versio.” Said Alakoni as she gazes at the happy face of Raine and the silly antics of Ron Stoppable as Alakoni stand flanked by Iden Versio and Kaidan Alenko.

“Not to worry director Alakoni, we would take care of Ms. Raine. You have nothing to worry about with Inferno Squad backing up Ms. Raine’s travel. And with how amazing and pleasant the client is and with the reward you have given Inferno Squad, we would even consider doing this contract with the term above and beyond our stated duty as well. As we can see that this would be one magical ride for everyone involved and we have no intention to miss any of it.” Said Iden Versio with a grinning face and Kaidan smiling beside her as well, enjoying the spectacle in front of them.

“That might be so Iden Versio… That might be so…” Said Director Alakoni as she stares happily at Raine’s childish antics from playing with Rufus the drone and Ron Stoppable in front of her. It seems even an esteemed ancestor like her is childish at heart. Thought Alakoni as she secretly took pictures of her cute ancestor.