4.4

Exiting the Dungeon allowed Eve to witness a scene of partial devastation. Smoking craters were interspersed with massive swaths of rubble. Almost sixty percent of the town was either on fire, in pieces, or gone. On the other hand, the population was clearly sheltering behind a massive dome-shield of thick mana centered on the town hall.

Eve nodded at the sight. It was clear the emergency defensive drills that the secondary target she had questioned after S’velt had told her about kept the majority of people alive. It had been a gamble, to be sure, but glancing down at the azure crystal snug on her belt in a pouch made for it, the result was worth it all. Shifting her paper-thin disguise to resemble one of the younger serpent folk females again, she moved towards the path home.

There was no way to remain untraceable in this world unless she had a farming method that would limit her impact on the surrounding environment. Only so many lakes could die before someone high-level with appropriate tracking skills arrived to hunt her down. The same issue would occur if she farmed Nests, hunted in the Forest, or murdered sapient populations. The only way to follow Rule One was to get a private, untraceable experience farm in a manner that didn't hamstring her.

Hence the desperate gamble to get a Core.

Felix will solve almost all my current issues. Eve thought, salivating at the idea of endless legions to gain power from. The end justifies the means if it keeps the death toll down in the long run. Right, Sarge?

Eve sighed as she moved quietly through the less destroyed portion of town. This had been the best shot at hitting multiple birds with a single stone. Without a doubt, the military would clean up and investigate from here. Eve understood how military men thought, as she had been around enough of them. They wouldn’t go searching for things that didn’t fit. No, they would immediately send scouts out.

Securing an area was a basic military principle, and once they ensured the town’s safety, the questions would start. Interrogations would commence checking for infiltration among the residents. Since both sources of the disaster had been human, one of their primary drives would be to find if there were any more nearby, of course.

Which will coincidentally lead them right to the pursuers sure to exist behind me. Eve thought. That will clean up any loose ends and keep suspicion off me completely. KISS principle at the most basic level.

Right before Eve exited the heavily destroyed town, a child’s shriek turned her head to the left to witness a small standoff. A very young female child defended an even shorter one from three young-looking thugs on a small pile of rubble. Shrugging, she moved to turn away before the glint of slave collars shone into her eyes from a casual ray of sunlight that pierced the choking dust.

I could leave. Eve thought, even as her feet turned to lead. I could leave and pretend I saw nothing.

Except her feet wouldn’t move. Traitorously they turned in the direction of the small children. Rationalization started a moment later as Eve slowly talked herself into action.

I have a bunch of puppies. What’s one or two more non-humans at Eve’s School for Gifted Endless Forest Orphans. Eve thought, shrugging. I doubt anyone is looking for these kids, not with this disaster.

A quick check with Celestial’s Five Senses removed all doubt that these were anything except level one orphan snake munchkins. There was no mana on their clothing, hidden in their flesh, swimming in their blood, or engraved on their bones. Eve’s Celestial Mind calculated the chances of a problem in the future at barely above zero, which could be chalked up to random accidents.

As she approached the two groups, the leader glanced over his target prey's heads to see her. Eve could see his eyes struggle to move up from her chest area, and when he saw her face, his eyes lit up gleefully.

“Well, well. Another wonderful catch, boys.” the thug’s leader said.

Since she was out of KP Diamond rounds from the fight with Felix, Eve threw three sheets of paper at the thugs, decapitating them effortlessly. More paper wrapped the bodies before she pulled them into her inventory. Smaller pieces wrapped the blood-stained rubble removing all traces of combat. Paper shredded the two girl’s clothing as they looked at her with dazed eyes. Like that she wore for her own clothing, softer paper covered them effortlessly, lifting them to follow her in miniature harnesses.

Two small fake-chocolate bars and two small paper glasses of fake milk courtesy of Kudzu’s experiments floated in front of the little children. As the older-looking one attempted to speak, they were silenced by the food floating into their mouth held up by paper wrappers.

“Don’t talk. If you draw attention to me while I am leaving, I will be unhappy.” Eve said, sparing a glance at them both. The younger girl utterly ignored her warning as she consumed the chocolate bar with sparkling eyes. The ambient fire noises around them drowned out the crunchy noise of delicious chocolate bars and gulping gasps of milk. The older child kept a close watch on Eve as she took more cautious bites of her food, with clear body language that said attempting to remove the chocolate bar would trigger a duel to the death.

As soon as they reached the trees and were safely inside, Eve pulled the children close. Her eyes flashed at the feeling of bones so close to the surface as she snuggled them into her arms before the diamond shield form wrapped everyone up. Speed and leaving as few traces as possible took priority now to make a clean escape.

Focusing her mind, Eve felt the pull of her house as Celestial Mind oriented her in the correct direction. Rising into the canopy, she shot off in the direction of her home.

Moving through the canopy reminded her of the single time she had been taken up in a fighter jet to experience powered combat-speed flight. With the massive increase from Celestial’s Five Senses, it felt less like driving a speeding plane and more like following a master’s dance steps. A glance at her new charges showed the older one’s eyes glued shut in terror while the younger one was staring awestruck.

Yeah, that’s the expression I would be wearing if I had gotten to do this as a kid. Eve thought, grinning in glee. I guess it would be ok to do a few tricks.

Barrel loops, flips, spins, sharp turns, and a few other aerial maneuvers later made Eve create a hasty paper bag for the older child. The younger one, however, was clearly destined for the skies. Landing on the roof, Eve entered the small topside cavern that led to stairs before entering the house.

Album met her, giving the two floating children a long look before sighing and saying, “Eve, are you going to collect younglings constantly?”

Eve gave an evil laugh before saying in the common serpent tongue, “These little ones will be perfect experimental subjects for Kudzu, muahahaha!”

The smaller child teared up, preparing to cry, while the older one grabbed her to shield her defensively.

Album rolled her eyes before saying in the serpent's tongue, “Ignore this idiot cook and follow me.”

Eve grinned while waving as the two children were bamboozled by a sudden surge of puppies investigating the newcomers. Like sheep being herded, they were slowly separated and moved off deeper into guest quarters in the house.

As soon as the two children were gone, multiple vines started to poke Eve excitedly.

“Are they really? Mine? Mine to experiment on? Really, please, please, please, Slicer! Give me them, pleeeease!”

Eve facepalmed before saying, “Only if they agree! No tricking them into it with candy, either! No luring them into the garden with cute mice either!”

“Fiiiiiine. Such a slavedriver. How am I ever going to get doses safe if I don’t have anyone to experiment on? You are too far from baseline humanity right now for me to get decent readings! Unfair! Unfaaaair!” Kudzu said, his vines waving in emphasis before he continued, “How can I become a better Grandmaster God Alchemist without test subjects? Quick, level up so we can conquer a small kingdom and use the prisoners in the jails for Sciencelike that story you told me before!”

Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Eve thought. If I had known my stories would result in such a monster, I would have kept my mouth shut!

Sighing, she glanced at her Status, adjusting to remove the discomfort of leveling up a few times before moving off towards the kitchen to make an early dinner.

Race: Human

Class: Celestial Scholar

Level: 79

Health: 1,250/1,250 (12.5 HPs regen)

Mana: 3,750/3,750 (3,750 MPs regen)

Stats: Str 125, Dex 125, Con 125, Wis 375, Int 375

Free Stats: 275

S/S Slots: 22

Skills:

Paperweight I (2%)

Origami Ascension I (2%)

Celestial’s Five Senses (57%)

Spells:

Domain of Celestial Paper I (75%)

Mental Traits:

Celestial Mind (95%)

Physical Traits:

Ascendant’s Physique (6%)

Celestial Body (95%)