7.1

Eve was unimpressed with the Tier Threes within the Arena. To date, after a mere ten rounds, only a single team had managed to injure her. It wasn’t that they didn’t have power, for there was power aplenty in every team.

The application of power among these teams, though, is abysmal. Eve thought. Do they expect me to stand still? To wait until their perfect encirclements are complete? Or perhaps I should target the metal meatheads first instead of the soft, weak mages?

Whatever the case, quite a few had fallen to Rot and her mimicry of physical speed through spatial manipulation. As each round had progressed, Eve had become more expert in using space for combat purposes instead of mere transportation. Her final opponents this past round were the Rank One team, Abyss, who used hair-thin threads of darkness to chop enemies into pieces. Eve had taken a single wound from them, as even with her abilities, she was still struck by the overwhelming amount of threads in the air. The threads of darkness, combined with the darkness spread throughout the Arena sands, had managed to conceal a single thread from her notice.

Lucky for me, it only severed my finger instead of my neck. Eve thought as she fed mana into her Bibliotheca Body to rebuild the severed finger’s connection to her hand. If I lost my head in front of so many people and then appeared just fine moments later, it would likely lead to complications beyond my ability to handle.

Eve glanced around the waiting room she had redecorated to appear as a palatial den of iniquity. Iron’s information was apparently correct, as not a single attempt had been made to breach the room’s defenses during her bouts. There were no attempts to arrange accidents, poison her food, or disturb her rest. All in all, Eve was more impressed with the Arena’s security than the fighters she had fought so far.

Abyss, as the highest Ranked Team, had taught Eve a valuable lesson. Certainly, she was strong, but all it took was one bout of bad luck from becoming arrogant to end the money train. Removing all five swords and daggers from their sheaths, Eve arrayed them out on the table in front of her. A few flickers of will and talismans glowing with mana drenched in the scent of power adorned each blade’s hilt.

Watching as the weapons floated up from the table, Eve’s face split in a wide grin. She had been playing the part of a physical sword using master for quite a few rounds. However, the smart among the masses could clearly tell something was up. Now, by revealing that she was more than just a talented strong-arm, everything would make sense.

Clearly, I’m not just a physical type. I’m actually a hybrid Class! Eve thought as the blades began to weave around her. Not only that, by using talismans, I will explain why I have Nota strapped to my side. I’m sure quite a few people were wondering why I was carrying a book that I never used around for life and death fights!

Nota floated from Eve’s side, opening to a small bit of wisdom she had managed to hold on from her brother. It was a tiny fraction of the advice she had previously had access to, but it echoed ever more sweetly within the Arena. Eve glanced at the page, her eyes growing colder.

Let them cut flesh to break bones.

Let them break bones to shatter dreams.

Let them shatter dreams to devour the soul.

These precious three lines were one of the few fragments that remained, and Eve treasured them. Her brother might be paranoid, he might be insane even by a slight stretch of meaning, but he meant well towards family, and that was all that really mattered to her. A soft chime echoed within the room, a new component that the Arena had added to notify her of the next fight.

Rising from her comfortable chair, Rot, Disease, Blood, Feebleness, and Weaknesstook their place in the parallel sheaths on her back. Not to be beaten in speed, Slow, Blind, Thirst, Confusion, and Laughter sped to her waist to be sheathed as well. Eve checked the five rings doubling as hidden weapons on her right hand before striding up the ramp with firm paper-booted steps.

Stepping out on the sands, the announcer once more introduced her with flair.

“Our newest challenger, at a fantastic score of ten wins, zero draws, and zero losses…LADY EVE!”

Eve stepped onto the starting stone platform acknowledging the announcement with a calm nod. Her eyes watched as a man burning with fire mana took his place on the platform opposite her.

Fire mage? No, no, that’s much more than a mere mage. Eve thought.

“The resident Rank Ten Champion, Blaze, has chosen to grace our sands one more! Will this signal the end of our challenger, or can she have power yet to display?”

Eve watched as the fire mana rippled around Blaze, focusing tighter and tighter until his entire form burst into flames. A simple glance at the sand around his stone starting platform allowed her to witness the process of glass creation. Making a snap decision, Eve launched Blind directly at the enemy with a flick of her fingers.

There’s only one opportunity before he realizes my blades can cleave his non-physical form. Eve thought, witnessing the dagger sink into the burning man’s thigh. Rot, Disease, Blood, Feebleness, and Weakness won’t be effective. Slow won’t tip the scales, while Thirst, Confusion, and Laughter will only delay him. Blind, however, is a critical strike.

Eve teleported directly above the now sightless enemy before allowing gravity to take hold. Her fist slammed down on the crown of Blaze’s head as he attempted to pull Blind from his thigh. Immediately upon contact, she released Soul Burning through the crack created from her blow. The tiny tear-shaped droplet bounced around inside Blaze’s skull, piercing the elemental body and turning his real brains to mulch before slipping out to rejoin the ring it had adorned.

With shocking fanfare, Eve landed on the sands while Blaze slumped to the ground beneath her. Reaching down, she grabbed her dagger, Blind, before raising it in a victorious motion to the surrounding crowd. Eve carefully let her robe’s sleeve cover the hand she struck the enemy down with. The short pause before the roar of excitement merely added flair to the fallen foe.

That’s right. I can cut fire, sever smoke, slice water, chop wood, break the earth, and cut the wind. Fear me, little elemental idiots. Eve thought as she worked for the crowd with salutes to the four cardinal corners. The next nine will know I can kill through their elemental defenses, a small price to pay for teaching fear. A person who fears will fight conservatively, giving me more opportunities. No one needs to know how close that actually was.

Eve turned to flick the dagger Blind sharply to dump all blood into the sands. Due to the mana imbued within them, the Soul Sheetshad an almost frictionless quality granted to each. Carefully showing no weakness, she moved to her exit ramp. Eve steadfastly held in her mental screams, only letting tears darken her eyes once she was out of sight.

Once she was safely ensconced in her room, Eve let the paper covering that mimicked her uninjured right-hand drop. The burned claw Eve revealed caused sweat to break out on her forehead. With no one around, she allowed the screams that had been held within to be released. Bibliotheca Mind kept her from gibbering in horror, but it didn’t stop the pain from an elemental wound from clawing at her nerves. It took an exhaustive amount of mana to drive the invading fires out before Eve was able to regrow the flesh of her hand, allowing the final extracted ashes to fall to the floor.

Lesson learned. Eve thought grimly. Elemental mana is agony. I’ve been playing to the crowd, but there’s no more time for that.

The pain was a great teacher reigning in a rather hefty chunk of arrogance that had started to take root. Such pain demonstrated without question that she had been taking things too lightly. The Ranked Teams had lulled her into a false sense of complacency. Champions were a far different breed of beast, specialized in winning against all odds. Spatial manipulation was an advantage, but already she could see ways to disrupt it. Taking a glance at her Status, her breath caught.

Race: Witch

Class: Witch of the Library

Profession: Talismanic Librarian

Level: 500

Health: 9,000/9,000 (900 HPs regen)

Mana: 27,000/27,000 (27,000 MPs regen)

Stats: Str 900; Dex; 900; Con 900; Wis 2,700; Int 2,700; Charm 0

Free Stats: 31, 912

S/S Slots: 511,500

Skills:

Bond Familiar (20%)

Phylactery (Familiar) (10%)

Aura of the Library I (33%)

Spells:

Transcendent Transfusion (20%)

Paper Plating (20%)

Domain of the Library I (33%)

Mental Traits:

Bibliotheca Mind (51%)

Physical Traits:

Bibliotheca Body (51%)

Just over half a million Slots and almost thirty-two thousand Free Stats. It was enough to make even her wildest choices possible. Eve had kept the promise to herself not to make any changes, but Champions required more than her current toolkit.

Opening her Class Skill and Spell List, she took a long hard look at the build she had envisioned previously in her wildest dreams.

Grace I (100k SS Points)

Requires an Aura

Perfect balance. Perfect form. Perfect motion.

You cannot be Stunned.

Traveler’s Immortal Core (100k SS Points)

Requires: Bibliotheca Mind, Bibliotheca Body, Witch Race

Devour ambient energy in any form for Mana Regeneration.

Prevents the effects of Chaos upon the Mind and Body.

True Travelers depend on none except themselves in the Deeps!

Acuity I (100k SS Points)

Requires All Stats in Balance.

Requires Mana Regeneration equal to Total Mana Pool.

Your Mind is always accelerated without burden upon the Body.

Every additional Rank grants another stream of consciousness.

Resist Elemental Earth I (25k SS Points)

You resist 19% of Elemental Earth’s effects.

Resist Elemental Water I (25k SS Points)

You resist 19% of Elemental Water’s effects.

Resist Elemental Wind I (25k SS Points)

You resist 19% of Elemental Wind’s effects.

Resist Elemental Fire I (25k SS Points)

You resist 19% of Elemental Fire’s effects.

Savage Survival Mind I (100k SS Points)

You can reach into the part of your mind that survives.

Pain Tolerance increased by 20%.

Half a million Slots vanished in the blink of an eye.

You have gained Resist All Basic Elements I. Cost does not decrease.

Once the choices were finalized, Eve took another look at her Status.

Race: Witch

Class: Witch of the Library

Profession: Talismanic Librarian

Level: 500

Health: 27,000/27,000 (2,700 HPs regen)

Mana: 27,000/27,000 (27,000 MPs regen)

Stats: Str 2,700; Dex; 2,700; Con 2,700; Wis 2,700; Int 2,700; Charm 2,700

Free Stats: 23,812

S/S Slots: 11,500

Skills:

Bond Familiar (20%)

Phylactery (Familiar) (10%)

Aura of the Library I (33%)

Spells:

Transcendent Transfusion (20%)

Paper Plating (20%)

Domain of the Library I (33%)

Mental Traits:

Traveler’s Immortal Core

Acuity I

Savage Survival Mind I

Bibliotheca Mind (51%)

Physical Traits:

Traveler’s Immortal Core

Grace I

Resist All Basic Elements I

Bibliotheca Body (51%)

More than words, Eve felt the changes in her power. As a Witch, she was more deeply conscious of alterations than when she had been only human. Several deep breaths passed as she considered the options available to ensure survival in the next nine matches.

Blitzkrieg it is then. Eve decided grimly. Taking a deep breath, she funneled her thoughts in a particular manner. Eve’s eyes slowly gained a blank look like a switch being turned as she activated Savage Survival Mind. The ability had a wealth of potential, and this trick was one Eve had long been unable to afford. It was essentially pushing her conscious mind into the back, while the brutal part that concerned itself with nothing except survival took the wheel. There were downsides, but Eve wasn’t going to be signing contracts with it on.

The soft chime echoed within Eve’s waiting room once more, and she stood her face blank, eyes unfocused like a soulless doll. Her body turned and moved up the ramp in eerie synchronous silence. Every physical movement was now affected by Grace I and using the least amount of effort. The moment she reached the now-familiar raised stone stage upon the sands, her body started to float a few inches gently above the dais. The soft murmur of surprise from the Arena crowd as she floated meant nothing to Eve.

Eve wasn’t in the zone. She was the zone.

“Lady Eve is demonstrating why she’s managed to remain alive!” the announcer said in a jubilant tone.

“Another of our Champions has taken the stage in an attempt to end her current streak of wins! Let’s hear it for Starlight an Elder Faerie of the Winter Court!”

After the crowd finished cheering, the announcer said, “Let our eleventh round begin!”

Faerie. Winter Court. Eve’s mind processed without interruption. Attempting Charm? Sword Alpha Strike.

Rot, Disease, Blood, Feebleness, and Weakness were unsheathed from Eve’s back, and a blink later, all five swords were buried in the Faerie’s cooling corpse. The soft sucking sounds punctuated a sudden silence in the Arena as her blades exited the dead enemy. Each blade twisted at the same time, dumping all blood onto the sands with mechanical precision. Once cleaned, there was a flicker, and Eve's power once again sheathed each sword. Without bothering to attempt to work for the crowd, Eve turned and departed for her exit ramp.

Playtime was over.