18.5

ACT 963161069-26889.20.02-Eve-Smith-Silver Prime


Ignoring the Summoner, who was already unconscious, Eve took a closer look at the surroundings as she asked the four party members questions. Crystal Core would parse the information, so she didn’t need to focus on the interrogation too much. From what was visible, it appeared she was deep underground. Mana swirled in currents along the walls like the veins of some great beast. As the mana flow congealed in the rock walls, it would form creatures. Such creatures appeared to be in some stasis because none of the monsters were bursting out to attack the party.

Something intelligent is watching. Eve thought as her eyes narrowed. Dungeon Core? No, the mana manipulations are not precise enough. There isn’t any Core Aura, either. How very odd.

“Stop, go over that last part again,” Eve said, finally pulling her attention back to the two men babbling answers. She had learned the group had only first names. Xiao, Erica, Chen, and Marco were the four conscious individuals. Thomas the Summoner was out cold from pulling her into this world.

“The Dungeon is strictly monitored. Oro Oro, the city above, won’t allow a humanoid monster to escape. Even if you kill us, that won’t stop the Guild’s investigators from finding you.” Marco said bravely. It appeared he had gained chicken blood from her defeating the monster threat. Without the worry of being eaten, the man had a measure of courage. Foolish.

“Marco, are you valuable?” Eve said, her eyes glittering in the dark. “Valuable enough that keeping you alive can keep the Guild off me?”

The man’s silence answered. Eve watched Marco scramble to his feet and try to run. The massive backpack fell off in an attempt to delay the pursuit. The other three wore surprised expressions as he abandoned them. It was almost comical as Marco barely managed a few steps before the wind of Eve’s arrival swept past him. She administered a sharp chop knocking the coward out with the precise blow.

It was effortless to drag him back to the fallen backpack. Basic Abilities took the place of Stats in this world. Eve looked at the other three, that was just now registering fear. Three chops later, she had four unconscious bodies. A few minutes were spent tying up the adventuring party. Eve used rope plundered from their two backpacks to hobble everyone. Strips of cloth blindfolded them, and more cloth plugged the ears of everyone except Marco.

How innocent. They appeared to believe they would get out of this alive. Eve thought with disdain. I have no Contracts here. Therefore, I cannot take any chances.

All attempts to summon a Contract had failed, cutting out one of her most valuable tools for non-lethal assistance. Witch’s Dust was able to spawn her Jian, but no other large items worked. She could craft spoons and other small trinkets, but anything more significant was no good. When she attempted to craft a stone dagger, it became clear she had minimal amounts to work with. Her total dust was perhaps a tiny golf ball in liquid form.

Eve spent several minutes trying to devour anything around her to create more Witch’s Dust. Crystal Core theorized that the materials of this world were too foreign at the moment. Without more analysis, she couldn’t break down the basic mana structures of existence in this new place. Following that hypothesis, she gritted her teeth and let the Witch’s Dust sink into her bloodstream. The results were instantaneous and exceptional. Even after passing through the Crystal Wall defense, her body wasn't foreign and could host without issues. Giving a deep sigh, she began the process of Multiply to increase reserves. Moments later, she stopped. She needed to supply sufficient food, or she would turn into a skeletal witch!

Status. Eve thought, pulling up her Basic Abilities section.

Basic Abilities:

Strength (SSS-1500)

Endurance: (SSS-1500)

Dexterity: (SSS-1500)

Agility: (SSS-1500)

Magic: (SSS-1500)

Eve noted that adding Witch’s Dust had boosted her by an entire +1. In irritation, she slapped Marco awake. With evident fury, she said, “What are Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Agility, and Magic? Be specific, or be in pain.”

“Basic Abilities?” Marco said, confusion overtaking his fear.

“What do they do?” Eve said with annoyance.

“They control different aspects of an Adventurer’s Body,” Marco said. “Don’t you even know something so obvious? Where the hell did Thomas summon such an idiot from?”

That’s it. Eve thought, looking down at the future corpse with dead eyes. My patience has run out. She glanced at the Curses before lifting Marco and bringing him close to her mouth. Watching him shiver as her fangs elongated into visible form was gratifying, even though he couldn’t see something deep within his mind existed that told him to be afraid.

“Please, don’t kill me. I ca-” Marco whispered in terror before being cut off by her words.

Eve sunk her fangs into the man’s jugular. There was a short struggle before Marco’s tense body slackened into complete relaxation. He suddenly hung from her hand like dead weight. When he relaxed, she could sense something like venom exiting her fangs. It took only a minor effort of will to let some of her Witch’s Dust out to trace the substance.

Oh? Interesting. Eve thought as her tool tracked exactly what the venom was doing. She didn’t fail to note how holding a fully grown human male felt no different from a feather. Two components? No, three. One part of the substance paralyzed the victim in place by relaxing their muscles. Another part was highly addictive in addition also increasing arousal. The third and final part of the venom predictably produced a euphoric feeling of absolute bliss.

All three components worked seamlessly to enthrall anyone she fed from. Eve suspected they would be more willing and completely subservient at a certain point with enough feeding. In this manner, it wouldn’t be hard to feed repeatedly. Witch’s Dust told her in no uncertain terms that Marco was now thoroughly under her un-booted heel. His mind's electrical and mana patterns had altered into calm waves denoting obedience.

Eve hesitated for a moment before she shrugged. It wasn’t slavery as long as she didn’t keep them alive afterward. Yes, let’s go with that logic to keep me sane.

The enthralled man spilled his guts like a broken water pouch in the desert. After almost thirty minutes of information overload, she drew back with a frown.

Eve was deeply concerned about the information she received. This planet had Divine Statues that assisted the world’s races. That by itself was not a problem. The real issue was these icons granted Blessings and power to the mortals in exchange for Magic Stones and Excelia. It seemed beautiful, but she could easily see the shadow of control hidden behind the façade of care. It took barely a few seconds of ripping one of the monsters from the wall to confirm Excelia was Experience. In other words, the so-called Excelia was Mana structures. Like all such things, they were patterned to improve a person’s mind, body, or soul.

For most of the world’s people, Status couldn’t be improved without a Divine Statue personally doing the Inscription to improve it. This was common knowledge. The few rare exceptions were individuals who received Development Abilities that bypassed the restriction.

In other words, the mortal races were almost entirely at the mercy of their wise and intelligent superiors. It was a sickening concept. If anyone should be ruling a planet, it should be Eve. Thankfully her powers didn’t depend on the Divine Statues to progress. Being a Witch Race had clear bonuses here.

Looking at the Curses section of her Status, Eve understood that entering the Crystal Wall also had clear detriments. Even containing most of her power within the Library of Dust hadn’t been enough to skate by free and unhindered. Blood V and Thirst V made it abundantly clear there were penalties applied for entering.

She proceeded to test her two Curses on Marco thoroughly. His unseeing eyes belied the blissful expression pasted on his features. Eventually, in the interest of science, she drank him completely dry of life-giving substance. That was how she learned that the blood of the dead was unpleasant to drink.

Elongated fangs, the venom that gives euphoria, a thirst for blood. Great, I’m a vampiric witch now. Eve thought with annoyance. She had tested her bite enough to have learned the basics. Each pint of blood is about a day’s worth of functioning. I’ll need a food supplier to keep existing.

Blood wasn’t just a desire; it was a requirement. Eve had no plans to learn what happened when she didn’t get enough sustenance. Creating a silver mirror, she exuded enough Witch’s Dust to make a tiny light to allow for seeing clearly. In her opinion, if she were going to fit in, the best race wouldn’t be humans or elves. Looking at the girl, who was some wolf beastkin, she began the process of shape-shifting. Unlike at Tier Six, where it took merely thought the process was prolonged now. Witch’s Dust, in combination with Crystal Core, altered her body inch by inch. She was thankful there was no pain as her pain receptors had been turned off for the shapeshifting.

She had to pause to feed on the remaining three individuals during the process. While she felt no pain, her ravenous appetite resulted in three more corpses. Note to self. Shapeshifting requires copious amounts of food.

After completely altering her form into a white wolf-eared woman with a bushy tail of the same color, she started rifling through the possessions of the dead. The backpacks contained many food items that Eve tested. After the first three disgusting tastes, it was straightforward: regular food was no longer palatable. She dumped it in favor of making more space. The rest of the bags contained an assortment of camping gear. Organizing the equipment into one bag took another hour. She made sure to leave room for monster-dropped magic crystals.

There was a big difference between a poor amnesiac adventurer and a wealthy adventurer. Class divide existed in this new world without a doubt going by the clothing of her victims.

Is this elf going to stay unconscious forever? Eve thought after finishing her packing and looking at the sleeping summoner. Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, she cut the Summoner’s tendons. Once his arms and legs were no longer functional, her eyes narrowed. Is this guy still out like a light? Mana deprivation must be seriously horrific here. She couldn’t imagine a mage doing anything solo without protection. Run out of mana, and the monsters would surely devour such a helpless mage without remorse.

It was no wonder Thomas had been traveling with four others. As she waited for the elf to awaken, a disturbing thought occurred. Why was such a prepared party put in such a desperate situation?

Indeed, it could have been due to a lack of training. Eve didn’t think so, though. She started sniffing the air as her new form had exceptional senses. Now that she was paying attention, a distinct scent separated from the rest. Her eyes grew wide as she realized someone had planned the death of this party. Monster lure. A smell was sure to draw and enrage the monsters in a specific area.

Tracing the scent led her directly to the corpse of Erica. The smell was strongly wafting from the dead woman. It was a terrible discovery that revealed a disturbing fact. Someone had fed her a monster lure without detection.

Eve grimaced before her face calmed. She was sure that whoever had murdered these five wouldn’t want a survivor. Her plan to have no connection to the missing adventurers was set in stone now. It made her feel slightly better, knowing they were doomed by another's hand.

On the other hand, this corpse offered a massive opportunity. Eve was currently penniless by the standards of this society. Accessing her Storage wasn’t possible as it had been part of the many components placed into the Library of Dust. Building new storage would take time and money. In that vein, Erica’s corpse was a premier monster lure, even dead. Monsters meant crystals, and crystals intended money.

There was a slight struggle before the practical side of Eve won. She stuffed the woman’s corpse into the second backpack tying it off with spare rope bits. Another longer length of rope would allow her to pull the repurposed lure in her left hand. The first lava or acid pit I find after filling my backpack, and this bait is gone. That or I’ll dump it in another ant area.

After finishing the grisly business, she burned the clothing for everyone else. The fresh corpses where Eve saw a high concentration of mana denoting new-formed monsters. There were still traces of blood, but she scrubbed her scent from the air using Witch’s Dust. In a burst of brilliance from Crystal Core, she poisoned the elf with vampiric venom in small doses. The longer he remained unconscious, the more pliable he would be when he woke up. If I didn’t need the coordinates of this world, I wouldn’t have spared him for so long.

Exiting the world would require rebuilding her power from the ground up. Eve wasn’t worried about Charlotte’s world because the Crystal Wall would always have a time factor built in. Without such a thing, eldritch creatures would be able to enter quickly. Divine Statues denoted divinities around and meant she needed to be slightly more circumspect. All it will take to leave is careful planning and time. I have both in abundance.

The possibility of Skills or Spells that could speak precisely what happened here was slim. There was also the fact that the party’s killer had been able to feed Erica a monster lure. That meant they were either alchemically skilled or highly trusted. Such a person wouldn’t want a competent investigation. It would be bizarre if the Guild ran counter to their wishes. That would mean the killer took an enormous risk, and someone who prepares such a lure shows minimal risk tolerance.

No, there might be a minor investigation, but it wouldn’t be enough to reveal her traces. People died every day in the Dungeon. According to Marco, one more or less corpse made no difference. Investigations were carried out only for essential individuals, not the rank and file. There was also the added truth that investigating was life-threatening, carrying a high cost. No one would hunt down missing people specifically unless the wage were worth it.

After organizing her thoughts, Eve finally noted the Summoner stirring. The banked coals of her rage ignited, causing her to take a moment to reign them in. After being certain she wouldn’t pulp, the elf, by accident, squatted down in front of Thomas. She watched him twitch awake and saw the exact moment he despaired.

“Summoner,” Eve said, her tone ice.

“So, it worked,” Thomas said with an arrogant tone, his eyes roaming over her before darkening. “Those clothes…”

“Indeed. Your companions didn’t make it.” Eve said without expression. She was wearing Marco’s pants and shirt. Tailoring and cleaning them had been straightforward with Witch’s Dust.

“I summoned you to save us, not kill us all,” Thomas snarled.

Eve’s silver eyes went dead as she calmly reached over and snapped Thomas’s thumb. There was a soft crunch before the broken digit caused him to scream in agony. Slapping the elf, she said, “You reached outside reality as you know it. The magic forced me to choose between saving myself or letting those I was carrying with me die. I am displeased.”

The silver glow of her eyes grew bright enough to cast light on Thomas’s face. “You have no idea how utterly stupid what you did is. It is by pure Luck that I answered the call instead of something from the Void.”

“How dare you strike your master!” Thomas spat with anger. He was practically frothing at the mouth in anger. She supposed the rage he displayed had numbed the pain of a broken thumb.

“You have no idea the things that lurk beyond the skies of your world. No clue what the boundaries of reality protect you from. Trust me, it is.” Eve said relentlessly with ice in her voice once again. “For example, I have only sent your friends into the cycle of reincarnation. I have not eaten their souls; I have not devoured their bodies, turning them into sick mockeries.”

“What would you know about such things!” Thomas said derisively.

Eve stared at him for a long moment before making a cold, calculating decision. This level of arrogance was asinine. The world would be better off without the elf. She didn't know how he had even reached the level of power to Summon her. Since a picture was worth a thousand words, she would paint him a portrait. At the same time, it would get the coordinates she needed from his mind. The method was cruel, but the elf thought they were in the right. So, let’s break that preconception before we consign his soul to the cycle.

Silver light gathered on the tip of Eve’s right ring finger. When it had become bright enough to blind, she reached forward, tapping Thomas’s forehead. “Knowledge for knowledge, the bargain is struck along the old rules.” She went on, holding his jaw open as she sent Witch’s Dust down to cut his vocal cords. There was no need to let some passing adventurer save him due to incoherent screaming.

Eve’s mind was given a string of symbols correlating to the magical coordinates of the world. She heaved a deep sigh of relief that at least this part of reality functioned adequately. It wasn’t good enough to fashion a genuine binding like a Contract, but it worked well enough for something small. At the same time, Thomas was treated to pictures of her escaping Tal Mor through the Void.

Unsurprisingly the elf’s mind cracked like an egg.

Eve waited until he was a mindless husk before she drank deeply from the broken elf letting his last moments in this world be pleasurable. Once she finished, the elf was just another corpse. She stripped his body, consigning everything to the flames still dimly burning. His body was tossed to the pile with the others.

She nodded and started the long trek from her current position on the 9th Floor toward the surface.