8.7

Eve’s eyes snapped open and the world turned silver.

Consume was a command written in silver, and inked with black doom. Silver dust blasted out from Eve’s form in a choking cloud of metallic spores. The moment the dust made contact with the various monsters, humanoid or not, her Zone expanded as the nanomachines replicated endlessly with the command to Multiply. She used Manipulate to control the silver spores causing them to expand in violation of all gas laws. She used Sight to prioritize targets of opportunity with aimbot-level speed. Her vision eliminated the highest mana value targets first allowing nothing to escape her cloud of annihilation. Even the power of Craft was at work in the background carefully using Devour to turn the enemies into workable components for later use. Everything was possible because Dust Affinity was not just a Higher Element, it was a Primordial Element from before the System’s existence. The rules that bound normal Elements found no purchase on Dust.

The mana of Eve’s kills went to expanding the silver death cloud of metallic spores. Nothing was wasted, and everything was eaten clean. Where her power passed, only Kudzu’s vines, mud, water, insects, small plants, and the Hut remained a wasteland that declared the arrival of a consummate devouring monster.

Eve stared at the destruction she had wrought and felt nothing but fleeting satisfaction. The few lizardmen and frogmen alive outside of her range gaped in horror as their fellow tribesmen were left without even a corpse. Eve gave no opportunity for tales to spread of her existence teleporting directly to the farthest opponents, before then wiping out all but a few for information purposes. When she was finished, only silence remained, albeit marred slightly by sounds from the swamp further afield.

“Kudzu, expand the perimeter without detection,” Eve said. Moments later Kudzu’s vines sank to below knee height as he started to shift his form into something less obtrusive, though no less predatory. Flowers were accompanied by tiny blue fruits, and she instantly understood the strategy that was about to be employed. Scented flowers would lure creatures in, and the blue fruit orbs would disable them with ecstasy-induced pleasure when consumed. Eve nodded in appreciation, Kudzu might be a horrific monster to others, but he was a reliable partner in the art of obstacle elimination. A few thorn cages were created to place one snake, frog, and lizard-man in isolation.

The next day was spent slowly expanding to the limits of the swamp. Eve allowed nothing to survive, her insatiable appetite consuming almost everything except the smallest insects and plants. Small hunting groups from the tribes of both lizard, frog, and snake-men vanished from the swamp their mana, flesh, blood, and bone fuel for a few new runes on her Talisman of Dust.

Six additional runes allowed Eve to look with satisfaction at her new Status.

Level: 560

Race: Dust Witch

Class: Witch of the Dust Library

Profession: Dust-Talisman Librarian

Affinities (4): Paper, Ink, Space, Dust

Health: 30,000/30,000 (3,000 HPs regen)

Mana: 30,000/30,000 (30,000 MPs regen)

Stats: Str 3,000; Dex; 3,000; Con 3,000; Wis 3,000; Int 3,000; Charm 3,000

Free Stats: 100,000

At the end of the day, Eve was standing on solid ground at the edge of the swamp’s domain her expression puzzled from examining the Balance of Power of the Talisman of Dust.

Balance of Power (Unique)

Peace is a lie. You have learned that in power, balance. Imbalance, Power. As long as you know this truth, and practice it, limits are meaningless!

Grants Full Stat Use.

The wording was beyond vague, bordering into the territory of absolute confusion. Eve looked at the scraggly bushes eking out a living by the swamp’s edge as she stared at the titanic forest in the distance. Giving up understanding the vagaries of the System, she turned to one of Kudzu’s vines. “How are we doing for coverage?” Eve asked the vine. A soft green symbol of fifteen hovered over the vine as Kudzu used life affinity mana to give a response without words.

“You are so broken. I spent like three minutes teaching that technique from one of the famous animations from my world. It took you what, like a minute to master and start improving it?” Eve grumbled watching the insects dance about in the air around her. Insects refused to approach her, which was possibly the most disturbing thing, yet. Who knows the best mosquito repellent was an eldritch monstrosity? Kudzu’s vine shrugged, it clearly wasn’t his concern if people were slow. She had been exploring to find where the swamp ended for several reasons. The most pressing reason was to find where enemies above the primitive tribal level could encroach.

Eve watched the vine plant itself before multiplying into several bushes that blended in with the nearby ones. As small blue fruits appeared on the bushes a twisted grin flashed across her face. These tiny blueberry duplicates contained the combined results of Kudzu’s drug research for the last half-decade. Unlike the earlier versions, they were not an instant burst of ecstasy. Instead, a person would first feel a gentle relaxing buzz that rapidly turned into a pleasurable sensation. The orgasmic feeling would last much longer, and the addictive properties were without peer. The addiction itself took root in a person’s mana structures, embedding itself like a Curse courtesy of a bit of tampering from Eve’s Zone.

The best part was none of the bait showed as harmful with identity or similar abilities. That bit was a secret that Kudzu still refused to explain. Eve only learned from the conniving plant that medicine and poison were two sides of the same coin. For a plant-obsessed with alchemy, he was such a geezer sometimes. The fruit on the edge of the swamp was merely a taste, as stronger, harder, and more addictive ones were located further inside. These plant-based traps were simply an easy method of whittling a party down. While the surrounding territory of the swamp didn’t appear to have anything above Tier Three outside the water, Eve took nothing for granted.

If we assume the leaders of each tribe, and their shaman are Tier Four as reported after questioning the current crop of prisoners, the power dynamics of the current tribes make sense. Eve thought. The only information we lack is how often outsiders enter the swamp, and how strong are creatures further inside.

The fact that it had only taken less than a day to entrap a few prisoners from each tribe was easily attributed to Kudzu’s demonic hunting and trap skills. Granted, he wasn’t exactly competing with the best and brightest of each tribe. Results were all that mattered to Eve though, and the vine pulled through with a perfect score. She was worried he wouldn’t be able to feed his appetites, but the ability to eat from the Aether still remained.

The tribes, monsters, and plants will need to all be eaten. Eve thought staring at the tree line again. Rapid expansion or slow strangulation?

Eve grinned mirthlessly as she consigned the entire swamp as food for her own group. From the information available from the prisoners, the frogs were the weakest group. A large amount of almost Tier Fours led by a single Tier Four shaman sounded like a banquet. Taking one last look at the trees in the distance, Eve teleported back to the Hut.

Felix had taken major damage during the journey to this new place, and the Hut hadn’t done much better. Kudzu’s damage was easily mended by consuming the plentiful supply of fish. Eve hadn’t taken more damage than the missing arm and leg which were remedied with a prosthetic made of Dust and Paper inked in runes of blood. Her priorities were clear to heal Felix and the Hut while expanding rapidly.

Moving to the side where prisoners were contained within thorn cages, Eve stared at the frogman and said, “Tell me more about your village.”

Defiant eyes filled with rage glared back until she pulled out a small bottle of blueberries from within her robes. As soon as the frog saw the small potion bottle filled with berries, his entire demeanor changed. Gone was the defiance, hate, and rage replaced by addicted desire.

Uncapping the bottle, Eve let the tantalizing scent enter the frogman’s cage. It took barely a minute before he was spilling the beans on everything he knew about his village. Guard schedules, hunting areas, important individuals, and more were detailed with unerring accuracy. Truth ensured there were no discrepancies or false information slipped into the conversation. Once she had everything she needed the bottle of berries was tossed into the thorn cage.

Stepping back Eve looked up at the enormous Fire Elemental that had been bound as a substitute for the sun. The runes circling the elemental far above in the sky were clearly visible to Sight. It was a blatant reminder that her current location was far more dangerous than Tal Mor. In this Plane walked those that could enslave the epitome of power from a well-known Race simply to make a larger version of the light orb spell.

The little knowledge each of the captives told Eve indicated the swamp was a minor territory held by a Tier Five serpent in the center. Eve couldn’t get anything more reliable as each tribe had conflicting information. The only thing that everyone agreed on was that the creature in the center of the swamp had scales, was poisonous and ate large quantities of meat.

Which is practically every demon, dragon, and beast in existence. Eve thought rolling her eyes to look back at the placid water surrounding her small island turf. It doesn’t matter, the central part of the swamp can be last. No matter what is in the center, I’ll figure out a way to make it into food.

For now, frogs.

“Kudzu, can you please infiltrate the frog’s territory first?” Eve asked getting assent from a nearby vine. Once that was taken care of it was only a matter of time to verify all the information the captive had given her. She glanced at the now-dead frogman before letting a small cloud of silver spores consume the body, berries, and vial. She had been merciful enough to leave the frog an easy way out, and he’d taken it with haste.

Eve slightly regretted creating the Talisman of Dust as she no longer had the luxury of sleep. The closest thing to the rejuvenating power of sleep was a meditative trance while using Craft. It might be worth researching something longer-term. A small inkling of an idea percolated through her mind before one of Kudzu’s vines tapped her on the shoulder.

“Done already?” Eve asked surprised it had taken so little time to infiltrate the frog tribe. A glance at the sun overhead caused her to realize she had lost something in the area of several hours while pondering the future. Pulling her Soul Sheets with the exception of Blood that formed her loose-fitting combat attire, she wiped the Curses from the majority of the ten sheets. Truth and Blood were the only ones she kept in place leaving eight blank Soul Sheets. Her nanomachines, or Dust, could duplicate the effects of all the others so she had no need for them. Blood assisted in creating ink so it was spared, and Truth guaranteed reliable information.

Never mind that wiping Blood clean would leave her naked unless she robed herself in Truth. That had nothing to do with her reluctance to wipe the Curse clean from her Soul Sheet.

Not at all.

Eve followed one of Kudzu’s vines to a concealed outlook which allowed her to view the Frogmen’s village. Hours passed as night approached and the village grew darker. The lack of electric lights meant that darkness had a stronger presence than back on Earth. Torches were no replacement for stable electrical lighting and only served to allow the shadows to provide ample protection from detection. Kudzu surrounded the village in the darkness with rapid quiet growth. An hour after midnight, Eve started to quietly remove sentries. Every sentry that was removed was replaced by a Kudzu plant clone. They wouldn’t pass muster in the daylight, to be sure, but under torch light in heavy darkness the chance of detection was minimal.

As the guard change for the frog tribe’s sentries took place around three in the morning, the plant clones were easily able to murder their oncoming replacements. Eve took no chances, carefully using her silver spores to slice the wards inside the village without triggering them. Stepping through her nanomachines, or nanites for short, sewed the mana-constructed wards behind her. Tribal wards were nowhere near the level of complexity required to stop her abilities.

Once inside the village proper, Eve went from hut to hut killing the sleeping frogs. Fighting fair was something that honorable people did, but she had been trained to win by some of the most twisted bastards on Earth. A fight where not a single cry was raised as thousands died was a near-perfect victory. The only exception to the slaughter was the tribe’s leader’s hut. The ward in that home was stronger than the one in the village, and it was structured so that cutting any part would collapse the entire thing.

Penetrating the tribe leader’s hut would be simple, but doing so without warning them was impossible. So, instead, Eve watched as Kudzu invaded the village. Every hut with the exception of the leaders was quietly deconstructed and removed. The large palisade that surround the village was also removed leaving a massive open space. Once there was nothing except the leader’s hut remaining, Eve moved out into the marsh.

I could probably fight and win against the Tier Four leader. Eve thought. Why risk it though, better to use a borrowed knife to kill.

Luring a party of the Snake tribe into the thicket Kudzu had created around the Frog tribe was simplicity. From there she deconstructed her body into sliver spores to watch the entertainment. It didn’t take long for the Snake tribesmen to realize the Frog tribe was gone with the exception of the leader’s hut. She watched as the hunting party argued before finally sending a runner back to their own village to report. Eve had no doubt the Tier Four from the Snake tribe would be lured out. It was a golden opportunity to battle on favorable terms. They knew the leader had to still be in their hut because the ward still surrounded it.

Eve’s trust in the treachery of mortals was completely rewarded. Not only did the Snake tribe send a Tier Four based on the report of the hunting party, but they also sent an elite Tier Three as well. The entire force did a rapid reconnaissance of the area, their footsteps muffled by magic, skill, or both. Eve had no worry that she would leave any traces, as her silver spores left no clues. Kudzu had turned the soil with skill smoothing the mud to remove all traces. The entire strike force of the Snake tribe decided to attribute the bad fortune of their enemy to falling out of the divine’s favor. At least that was according to what Kudzu could pick up from the chatter.

The resulting fight involved was actually rather short compared to what Eve expected. Of course, when she looked at it analytically, it wasn’t very surprising. On one end was a completely unaware Tier Four frog shaman, while on the other was a well-prepared group of Snake ambushers. The battle did teach her several things as her silver eyes watched the byplay of mana. Tier Three was where a person started to select the Affinity, such as Fire, Water, or what have you. Tier Four she could now confirm was where partial-elementization gave a breakthrough. The frog shaman was clearly a Water user as his body took minimal physical damage. Manipulating the swamp surrounding the combatants the frog shaman attempted to utilize his mastery of Water and escape.

Unfortunately for the frog, the Tier Four shaman on the Snake’s side specialized in an Element that Eve hadn’t previously seen, Poison. The difference between the Element of Poison, and normal poison was incredibly clear in the fight. Normal poison would act on the body, and very rarely might be strong enough to affect the mana. Poison Element, on the other hand, affected the Soul, then the Mana, and finally the body with explosive speed. Eve’s Dust Affinity allowed her to pick the Poison Element apart piece by piece as she watched the effects from a safe distance.

Dust Affinity primordial shenanigans at work, without a doubt.

The fight ended with the frog tribe in the area being wiped out. Eve took note of how the Snake tribe members gathered the body. While there were never bodies left over when she fought, it would be interesting to find what was done with one. Craft could work with physical materials, providing an unparalleled level of precision working at the micrometer size.

Eve’s straight lines were now practically runes of their own.

Once the Snake Tribe had left completely Kudzu’s more visible vines claimed the territory quickly removing all traces of battle. It was certainly a few eyebrows would be raised at the rapid expansion of plant life, but the swamp was fecund enough. Insects, plants, and even the fish had learned that you grew when you could, or were food for those who did. The swamp in Eve’s opinion was a microcosm of the world at large. Either you made it to the limit of power, skill, Spell, Skill, or had a Trait of such magnitude, or you were fodder for those below.

Dog eat dog, indeed. Eve thought remembering a saying from Earth. I miss my family. This swamp has no cute little girls to snuggle and teach. There are no hunks of beef to watch work muscles of steel.

Eve sighed as she teleported back to her Hut. Raising her left hand, silver spores poured out engulfing the small abode completely. Concentrating, she ignored the small trickle of blood from her nose as tiny runes crafted themselves onto the house. In a dizzying display of precision, the runes of Feed, Repair, and Recovery were looped in endless hypergraphia.

With the runes in place, Eve fed her Hut with the mana stored in the Zone. The storage function was part of her Library although she had no idea if it was as effective as Inventory. There were several downsides to the process currently, not the least being it was not instantaneous. Nota, her familiar, slept inside the storage space. By doing so, the book explained, it could gradually adapt to the loss of the bond. The Skill was essentially an instant creation compared to the lengthy process a true familiar bond would create. By soaking in her Library storage, the process of creating a Soul Bond, instead of the System’s Skill version was hastened. Absorbing the Paper and Ink affinities from being within Eve’s Zone allowed Nota to improve on the previous bond.

Eve watched as the Hut repaired itself in real-time. Nota had promised that given enough mana she could go from a Grimoire to a true Tome. Granted, it would require inscribing precise runes on the book, the deviation of which would result in catastrophic destruction.

Flickering her eyes over the runes repairing the Hut, Eve smirked.

Tome upgrade easy mode unlocked. Eve thought. Shower mode unlocks is almost complete.

Sure, she was an immortal monster of questionable principles.

But hot showers were a power that transcended existential boundaries.