'Bastard king, the moment I gain power I'm going to kill you.'
I swore through clenched teeth as I reflected on the massacres caused by him.
Power was everything in this world.
I saw an entire forest destroyed because of a pointless confrontation.
I saw a massacre occur because a king wanted more power than he already had.
Crazy bastards!
However.
I could stop all of this from happening, if only I had power as well.
This world was insane, but only as long as insane people governed it.
If I were the one up there, everything would be different.
I sighed deeply as once again my mind seemed to clear and my legacy spirit grew stronger.
The days that followed were strange…
At Euphy's request, I was supposed to wait some time before the journey, since my body needed to get used to the mutations and she needed time for some preparations.
And by order of the king I had to stay close to Agnes… after all, we were tutor and student.
We had to deal with each other…
Agnes cultivated on her bed peacefully day after day, so calm it became a cutting coldness.
I slept beside her every night since the king's return, and only that cutting coldness greeted me day after day.
It felt like we were a couple on the verge of divorce, only missing the signature on the papers.
The only difference is that in this world, husband and wife could duke it out and force the other to accept their terms.
Which was concerning.
But what made me afraid… was that she stopped using talismans.
Now Agnes had abandoned their use and started employing hand seals that until now had produced no effect.
However, she repeated them incessantly to the point where her fingertips began to bleed and the skin peeled.
Fear filled my heart—at some point she would succeed and then everything would be harder for me.
'She's becoming quite a danger… just like her siblings.'
I took note of that.
Therefore, I went back to training my skills.
There were three main skills that would certainly increase my power and could become powerful evolutions: Aura, Consciousness , Circulation.
Of the three, I had minimal accomplishments and didn't even understand the concept of Circulation or how this skill affected me.
In little time, I realized all those concepts were very illusory and that I didn't understand any of them.
I didn't know what Aura was.
The Consciousness skill had been given to me, so I understood even less about it than aura.
And Circulation was completely accidental, and I didn't even know what effect it produced, only how to activate it.
With a deep sigh, I abandoned everything complicated and returned to the root of it all and trained the basics: physical combat and concealment.
Finally, the day arrived…
Agnes was called to reveal her progress to the king.
Meanwhile, in the princess's room.
I waited patiently for a signal from Euphy for us to depart on our journey.
Until suddenly a shadow projected over me, blocking the sun.
I frowned as simultaneously my eyes widened in surprise with an expression I didn't even know I could make.
[ All set? ]
Euphy smiled, sitting above the balcony wall, having once again invaded the castle.
However, this time the king was around.
The same king who massacred his own kingdom for minimal reasons.
If he did that to his own citizens, what the hell would he do to her as an intruder and thief?
[ Aren't you afraid of the king discovering you? ]
She laughed and gently shook her head, then spoke in a mysterious and strangely seductive voice.
[ I have my own means… don't worry, my dear companion. ]
[ If you say so… ]
I sighed before stretching, dozens of bones cracking from days of inactivity.
It had been a long time since I needed to exercise.
Soon I joined her on the balcony wall.
I never expected to leave through the front door, nor did she.
[ How about a bet? ]
Euphy said as we both looked at the city below, beyond the castle wall, and I immediately felt at a disadvantage.
[ Do as you prefer. ]
She laughed at my reply before stretching and taking a deep breath in preparation.
[ The first to cross the wall's gates owes the other a favor, how about that? ]
[ Just that? ]
[ Just that! ]
She said with a mischievous smile far too mischievous to be "just that."
Even so, I agreed.
Before I even realized it, she immediately shot downward, gaining momentum on several small structures before jumping above the castle wall.
She soon leapt over a house on the outside and continued advancing rapidly in a zigzag.
I stared at her once more in shock.
'I thought she'd count to three… I guess I expected too much from a mischievous raccoon.'
I looked down again and wondered whether I could even pull that off.
Her body was far more acrobatic than mine…
Tigers aren't known for acrobatics—quite the opposite in fact.
Snorting, I pushed all doubtful thoughts out of my mind and tried to mimic her feat in my own way, using my claws repeatedly to latch onto windows and other crevices in the castle.
I wasn't as elegant, but I wasn't that bad either.
In little time, I caught up to her and saw a crowd of common people watching us in admiration as we jumped above the houses.
[ Tsk! ]
Euphy clicked her tongue, startling me, her expression turning dark.
Hundreds of aura arrows formed above her.
'Damn cheater!' I quickly accelerated my consciousness while manifesting aura and counterattacking.
The people watched in awe as hundreds of sparks appeared like fireworks across the city.
[ Why don't you fall already?! Be a gentleman! ]
Euphy transmitted as I felt more and more pressured.
'Damn!Damn!Damn!'
She kept transmitting to distract me while more and more arrows fell on me.
I couldn't even respond!
My head ached, there was so much to notice at once. The battle, the parkour, the city below.
[ Your feats have been recognized; you have gained the skill [Acrobatics (Lv.1)] ]
The more we jumped, the more fluid my movements became, and before I realized it, the city walls began to approach.
[ Acrobatics 1 → 2 ]
Euphy's face seemed to sharpen more and more, determined to win.
Her mind worked so fast it was almost smoking, searching for a path to victory.
Suddenly, her eyes seemed to shine as a sadistic smile formed on her lips.
'Crap… I know that smile…'
I had smiled like that a thousand times… I knew what it meant.
Enlightenment!
She had evolved some skill!
Suddenly, her aura condensed, gathering hundreds of arrows into a single one, this one resembling a ballista bolt rather than an arrow.
However, that single arrow seemed more terrifying than all the hundreds or even thousands of individual arrows.
Euphy smiled playfully as terror filled my heart.
[ What a pity, I think I won! ]
BOOM
She transmitted and with a thud the ballista arrow shot forward, distorting the air around it.
The arrow immediately found its target—me—in midair, piercing through me.
My body suddenly seemed to shut down along with my mind as I fell onto a shop, destroying stalls and scattering apples and lemons everywhere.
Terrible— the pain was terrible.
My mind felt like it would shatter.
My body felt alien.
Aura—what the hell was that?!
[ Pain Tolerance 4 → 6 ]
[ Fainting Tolerance 5 → 8 ]
My consciousness disconnected from my body and plunged into an endless void.
I entered a coma.
Even so, my mind fought, refusing to shut down.
Her aura, this time, didn't disperse naturally but instead clung tightly to me.
Her aura wasn't going to fade.
Her aura could put someone into a permanent coma!
What a terrifying enemy!
Guided by my instincts screaming as if I had encountered a mortal enemy rather than a friend—
I understood more about aura and located my mind.
It was strange to think this, but only by entering a coma did I understand where the mind resided.
I soon understood the sickness enveloping me and cleansed it accordingly with my aura.
[ Resistance to Mental Attacks 1 → 3 ]
[ Aura Control 1 → 2 ]
'She doesn't know how to play…'
If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have even stood up after that blow.
Only because it was me could this be considered a game and not a mortal battle.
In the real world, mere instants had passed, and no one perceived the life-or-death crisis I had just endured.
Quickly, I got up and ran along the roads to the other side of the gate, where Euphy awaited me with a smile.
[ Two to one. ]
She reminded me of the score once again with a mischievous grin.
[ You shot me with a ballista bolt and you're worried about the score?! ]
[ Oh, please, don't be a sore loser! ]
She said dramatically and playfully, clearly not thinking much of the situation.
I just sighed.
'I hope earthly demons aren't all like her, otherwise… my life will be complicated.'
[ Anyway, it's two to one for me, congratulations on your first victory. ]
Euphy looked at me in surprise for a few moments, remembering our first encounter.
It was a duel of arrows, and I landed the first shot before she became a sore loser and attacked me with hundreds of them.
[ No,no,no! It's two to one for me! ]
I snorted before laughing in amusement.
[ Think as you prefer, reality won't change anyway. ]
She watched my posture in shock for a few seconds and then…
She abruptly changed her stance, as if everyone were beneath her, and told me arrogantly:
[ You're right, reality doesn't change according to our preferences. K-A-I. ]
I laughed and ignored her, preferring to change the subject.
We continued advancing toward the forest while chatting carefreely.
However, I was tired of castle life and longed to return to hunting in the forest.
Or rather, I was excited for my first hunt in a real forest, considering I came from a sanctuary.
Besides, it was finally time to evolve my muscles.