Babel

After nearly seven days on the First Floor, Linnaeus had acquired a total of 829 Aether, most of which had been obtained from hunting the various oversized animals littering the seemingly endless forest.By constantly avoiding areas where people would naturally congregate, he had been able to avoid any direct encounters with other Fledglings. Instead, he focused on increasing his proficiency with his Skills, Abilities, and Magic as, even without people to use them against, the animals residing on the First Floor had become a veritable treasure trove of experience.Though he had gotten quite a bit of experience when he first started killing his pursuers in the slums, this number had decreased to between 5~20 experience after his Level had increased. Since it took an increasing amount of experience to raise his Level, these diminishing returns had been weighing heavily on his mind after reaching Level 21.Now, Linnaeus found that even relatively weak animals, such as a peculiar toothed duck and a three-meter long bottom-feeding fish, could grant him a considerable amount of experience. Some of the larger predatory animals, such as the red-furred leopard he had killed, granted a phenomenal 201 experience in a single go.It wasn't exactly easy to find animals within the forest but, by leaving corpses as bait, he had been able to draw the attention of a few sensitive predators to rapidly increase his experience gains while also training his Skills, Abilities, and Magic. He was actually surprised with how easy it was to hunt and trap animals using a combination of his [Barrier], [Stealth], [Presence Concealment], and the environment itself.After encountering traps previously, Linnaeus had decided to try and earn the [Trap Set] and [Trap Disarm] Skills on his own. With his attributes, he knew it would be very difficult to fight enemies directly so, in order to ensure he could pass through increasingly dangerous Floors, he wanted to increase his foundation as much as possible.Because of the gracious contribution of the various fauna inhabiting the forest, Linnaeus felt like his horizons had expanded exponentially. Not only was his power increasing rapidly but, for reasons he didn't quite understand, not being able to see the Tower dominating the horizon suddenly made it seem as if his future had been opened to limitless possibilities...----------------------------------------[Status]Name: Linnaeus FinnianTitle: Fledgling(+2 Spi, +1 Luk per Level)Race: Hume(50%), Manalyte(50%)Age: 15Gender: MaleLevel: 21~23(1008/3900)Health: 1120/1120Soul Power: 2971/2971Strength: 50Constitution: 50~52+4Agility: 70~79+15.8Dexterity: 51~56+2Intelligence: 82~91+50.5Wisdom: 82~90+50Spirit: 38~42+12.6Charisma: 25~28Luck: 10~13+1Free Attributes: 16Skills: [Kinu Comprehension:(-)], [Fleet-Footed:LV1~LV11], [Magus:LV1~LV14], [Resilient Mind:LV1~LV8], [Knife Mastery: LV21], [Throwing: LV14~LV15],[Sense Danger: LV29~LV30], [Presence Concealment: LV30~LV32], [Acrobatics: LV30~LV31], [Pain Tolerance: LV18~LV19], [Barrier Master:LV50~LV51], [Assassination: LV33~LV35], [Charm: LV7~LV8], [Trap Set: LV11](new), [Trap Disarm: LV6](new), [Dismantling: LV7](new)Abilities: [Steal: LV27~LV28], [Stealth: LV28~LV30], [Night Vision: LV17~LV19]Magic: [Enhance: LV26], [Barrier: LV50~LV51], [Barrier Aura: LV50]----------------------------------------Every time Linnaeus saw the increase in his experience and attributes, he couldn't help but smile as it wasn't an exaggeration to say he was more than twice as powerful as a week prior. Attributes didn't scale linearly so the difference between 40~50 Agility and 50~60 Agility was significant.Now that his attributes had increased so much, even his weakest [Barrier], using the minimum 50SP, could hold upwards of 400kg. In the past, he had only been able to support around 140kg so it was quite a sizeable increase.. Better yet, as his [Barriers] persisted for the duration of his Spirit, he could now erect them for nearly a full minute, a stark contrast to the pitiable seconds he could maintain them previously.The only downside was, after reaching Level 50, he was no longer able to arbitrarily gain experience by simply casting his Magic. He needed to proactively use them by stress-testing their resistance or actively using them in combat. It seemed that breaking through the Level 50 threshold made it a lot harder to grow unless you were willing to put in some serious effort.Despite this setback, Linnaeus was optimistic for the future as, with his SP regeneration reaching 149 per minute, it was possible for him to perform some pretty amazing feats. He had even been able to make platforms that allowed him to ascend high into the sky and, so long as he paced himself, it was possible to stay airborne indefinitely.In the future, Linnaeus was hoping he would be able to freely move his barriers around as, unless he made them dynamic from the start, they were fixed once he created them. Since the barriers had no weight to them, at least not enough to matter, there wasn't much use for a platform that simply fell to the ground the moment he created it.Using his Blessing to its limit, Linnaeus had ascended a steep cliff before making a small camp for himself on one of the larger ledges. The chances of him begin attack so far away from any other Fledglings and resources allowed him to relax, even if he never dropped his guard.In this manner, he had been able to last until the eve of the seventh day when a voice began to echo in his surroundings, saying, "You are the last Fledgling remaining on this Floor. Congratulations, Mr. Finnias, as you will be given a small bonus for your patience and cautionary nature. Though it is only a pittance compared to what the frontrunners earned, I hope to see how far someone like you is able to climb this Tower. Ufufufufu~."The moment the voice faded away, Linnaeus heard a ding as his Aether value increased to 1829. At the same time, transparent blue text appeared in his vision that said, 'You are the 577th Ranking member in your group. Due to your peculiar nature, you have been awarded the Title of Sheepish Fledgling'. (A/N: Sheepish Fledgling(+1 Wis, +1 Spi, +1 Cha)Linnaeus didn't mind the bonus 1000 Aether but, when he saw his new Title, his mind completely blanked as a feeling of loss welled up inside of him.Though some might do anything to get their hands on it, he didn't have much use for the Charisma attribute. Luck, however, was one of the most important attributes as it directly influenced the large majority of his active Abilities. Now that he no longer gained the free Luck per Level, he suddenly felt that his efforts over the last week, while fruitful, had cost him something important.Without being afforded the time to brood, Linnaeus suddenly felt his vision blacken as a nauseating sense of weightlessness seized him. Then, as if it had been an illusion, this feeling faded away as his feet were firmly planted on a hard stone floor.Unlike the previous Floor, which was a vast and open wilderness, the Second Floor reminded him of the slums. The air was very humid and, much like the alleyways he had called home for his entire life, there were tall stone walls that had pipes of different sizes passing between them. As for the ceiling, only pure darkness could be seen, even with his [Night Vision] activated.Just as he was thinking about what kind of test awaited him, a distinctly different voice from the one present on the First Floor announced, "Congratulations to everyone who had cleared the First Floor's challenge! There are now a total of 577 Fledglings remaining of the original 1,000 so I am pleasantly surprised. It isn't uncommon for only 300~400 people to make it this far so I have high hopes that this batch will complete my challenge with ease!"Since the fastest way to get Aether was to kill other Fledglings, Linnaeus wasn't surprised by the voice's words in the slightest. He was bothered by the fact he was the lowest ranking member of his entire group but that didn't really matter, so long as he survived. Unfortunately, the voice seemed to be able to read his mind, and not in a good way..."As I'm certain everyone has noticed, the Second Floor is quite a bit different from the First. I hope you all were able to enjoy the amenities provided during your wait as, from this moment onward, the only luxuries you have are the ones you collected in your Inventories! Unlike the previous Floor, you will find that the only enemies waiting for you here are other Fledglings! As for the challenge that awaits you, it is a game I like to call Hunt, Hide, and Seek. Every hour, for the duration of a single minute, a red thread will connect you and your target. In order to proceed to the next Floor, you have to either kill or team up with your target! Keep in mind that, while you are hunting others, there is also someone hunting you. Good luck, and may you one day soar amongst the Heavens~!"Though the rules of the game weren't particularly threatening, what the voice had failed to say was that the name and rank of their target and the person hunting them were both displayed in the information panel of their Status. There, Linnaeus could only stare blankly as he saw the name of his Target, Ersk Kivanh, Rank 133, and the name of his Hunter Merek Alexandros, Rank 1.Even living in the slums his entire life, Linnaeus was familiar with the names of the Eight Heavenly Families. This included the Geminis, Evendoom, Silverlake, Andromeda, Titania, Bellsprit, Goldbeard, and, last but not least, the Alexandros family. Since it was practically a death sentence to claim the surname of one of the Eight without being an actual member, Linnaeus knew that the person who was hunting him undoubtedly belonged to the Alexandros family.Without wasting any time, Linnaeus began to vault up the walls, using the pipes and footholds formed from his [Barrier] Magic to ascend as high and out of sight as possible. He didn't know how big the Floor was but, if he went high enough, Linnaeus was confident he could avoid being made easy prey for the prodigious Rank 1 Fledgling. As for fighting back, that would depend wholly on the type of Blessing his Hunter had as, unlike some of the other families, the Alexandros weren't famous for any particular Blessing.After ascending for nearly half an hour, to the point he couldn't even see the floor below any longer, Linnaeus finally reached what appeared to be the ceiling of the Second Floor. He wasn't really sure how far he had traveled but, if a person fell from this height, death was assured.Without any other materials on hand, Linnaeus began to chip away at the outer layer of the pipe, only to quickly discover the material was far harder than anything he had ever dealt with. He had actually been curious about whether or not it was possible to pass into other corridors through the pipes but this seemed to be beyond his capabilities.With few alternatives available to him, Linnaeus could only wait in his [Stealth] mode while waiting for the small timer in his information tab to finish counting down. He wasn't actually planning on hunting down his target as this meant exposing himself to the Rank 1 player while also potentially earning the ire of his target. After all, even if he could convince the person named Ersk to team up with him, the chances of them siding with him after learning he was being hunted by the Rank 1 were slim, at best.For the umpteenth time, Linneaus felt that the Tower was actively putting him into unfair situations while propping up other Fledglings, despite them not needed the help. He felt it was ridiculous that the Rank 1 Fledgling, who was already well ahead of his peers, was assigned with the lowest-ranked person in the batch. It was practically a death sentence as, by reaching the Second Floor ahead of everyone else, it was almost guaranteed that the person hunting him had no qualms about killing others...Thinking this far, Linnaeus couldn't help but release a tired sigh as he looked toward the ceiling above, missing the sky of the First Floor...

During the time Linnaeus had been lost in thought, a small ding resounded in his ears. This brought his attention to his Status before, moments later, observing a thin blue string that ran from his index finger.Due to how high he had climbed, Linnaeus wasn't surprised that his string was angled downward, extending into the adjacent wall and connecting him to his prey. He also took note of the fact that this was on the only visible string, meaning this challenge was designed so that you would know the name of your Hunter, but not their appearance and location.Linnaeus could feel a lingering dread in his heart, even though his [Sense Danger] had yet to activate. There didn't seem to be much of a chance he would make it through this particular challenge. Even if he stalled, there wasn't any information provided by the voice explaining the rules that would indicate a cutoff time for the game.Realizing his best hope was to track down his target before Merek managed to locate his position, Linnaeus began the arduous task of traveling through the peculiar stone corridors, a rather slow process considering he was trying to keep his elevation advantage.Until he knew his enemy's capabilities, Linnaeus wanted to make hunting him as inconvenient as possible. Though Merek would likely be able to leap from the pipes to get around, there was a chance his Blessing wasn't suited for ranged combat, giving him a small advantage if he played his cards right.What Linnaeus didn't expect was that, as he traveled in the direction of his prey, using the string that would appear every hour as a guide, an unexpected ding was heard in his mind. This drew his attention to his Status where, for one of two reasons, his target's name had disappeared.Linnaeus hadn't realized it before but there was a possibility that both his target and Hunter could either move on to the next Floor or be eliminated without him ever meeting them. Though it was rather unlikely, Merek might just choose to team up with the person hunting him down, removing the danger entirely.Since he had nothing better to do, Linnaeus waited until the current countdown completed but, rather than allow him a reprieve, his Status now showed a new target. This caused him to release an exasperated sigh as, for a moment, he believed it might be possible to just evade pursuit until his Hunter moved on to the next Floor. Though this could have been a mistake on his part, it gave him a much better chance than trying to reason with someone from one of the Eight Heavenly families.After thinking about his options, Linnaeus realized that it wasn't too likely for the person hunting down Merek to proactively seek them out. Unless they were very confident in their strength, they would probably wait for their own Hunter to seek them out and try to team up with them instead.Understanding this was the most likely outcome, Linnaeus knew his best chance was still to seek out his prey and either kill or ally with them. Fortunately, his current target was the 439th Ranked Fledgling, implying they were much weaker than his previous target.---As Linnaeus continued traveling high above the floor below, he would periodically hear the sound of distant explosions. There were even times when he could see brilliant flashes of light in the distance but, due to his decision to travel near the ceiling, it was impossible to make out the features of the battle's participants. All he could do was hope that one of them happened to be his pursuer and, though it wasn't likely, Linnaeus prayed they either got tired of chasing after him or became the victim of someone else's greed.With this state of mind, Linnaeus continued to travel for the better part of seventeen hours before deciding to take a break and rest.At this point, his target had already changed two additional times, indicating that the Floor was either smaller than expected, or that the entity in charge of the test put them close to their targets from the start.Linnaeus found some small comfort in knowing that his actions had become, at the very least, a small setback for the Rank 1 Fledgling. At this point, close to a hundred people should have been able to progress to the next Floor, even if only to avoid having to idle about in the cold, humid, and generally unpleasant Second Floor.What Linnaeus hadn't considered was that the Second Floor was actually filled with various traps, many being very lethal in nature. Rather than ascend to the next Floor after completing their tasks, his first target had been the unfortunate victim of a metal spike running through their right flank and piercing their heart. As for his second target, they had been killed off by the original person assigned to hunt them, as it was necessary for some targets to be shared as people continued to be eliminated.While this was going on, a man with handsome features, a muscular body, pure white hair, and blazing green eyes would periodically look up. This caused the heroic aura surrounding him to vanish for a brief moment as, rather than the confident smile he was known for, a murderous glint would flash across his eyes as a grimace form on his face.Though there were a number of people that chose to use the pipes to travel, as it allowed them to avoid many of the Floor's traps, it was still very inconvenient. Some of the pipes were separated by as much as twenty meters, making it impossible for the vast majority of Fledglings to travel between them.With his [Sword Mastery] Blessing, Merek, quite literally, had an edge against the majority of other Fledglings. Not only did he have the advantage of being groomed by one of the Eight Heavenly Families, but he had been provided a sword during his first test, allowing him to quickly cut down his opponent before slaughtering his way through the First Floor with ease.After claiming the first position in the Rankings, Merek had been full of pride at his achievement. This also afforded him a bonus 10,000 Aether and gave him the opportunity to take advantage of the amenities provided by the Second Floor as he awaited the next challenge.The rest area of the Second Floor included various luxuries, such as comfortable beds, showers, and even a massage parlor. It's most alluring aspect, however, was the plethora of strange shops, each manned by automatons that sold everything from essential supplies to powerful equipment.Though he abhorred the idea of roughing it, Merek knew there were times he would be unable to sleep on a comfortable bed. To prepare himself for this, he chose to sleep in one of the cheaper dwellings after spending the majority of his Aether on items and equipment. This was all so that he would be able to clear the Second Floor just as quickly as the first, awarding him more Aether and allowing him to remain at the head of the pack.Now, nearly a full day had passed and, with it, well over a hundred other Fledglings had either moved on or been eliminated. This left a bitter taste in Merek's mouth, replacing the jubilance he had experienced after first being assigned the lowest-ranked Fledgling as his target.Originally, Merek believed the Tower was rewarding his efforts while punishing the cowardly nature of his opponent. Now, however, he could only clench his teeth in frustration as he learned just why Linnaeus had been the last in the previous challenge. His target seemed to proactively avoid conflict and, though there were no guarantees, it seemed like their Blessing allowed them to fly or, at the very least, easily traverse the complex system of pipes.Merek had tried numerous times to ascend higher but, after you reached a certain point, it was almost impossible to cover the distance between pipes without trying to vault off walls or using something like a grappling hook. His horizontal leaping distance was a commendable fifteen meters but, even if he used [Enhance] to its limits, he could only jump a maximum of eight meters vertically.What frustrated Merek the most was that other Fledglings would randomly attack him as they attempted to steal his equipment and supplies. The first time this happened, he believed it was his Hunter but, rather than strike the young woman down, he actually lowered himself to party up with her, even temporarily. Since he didn't want his placement to be affected too greatly, he was prepared to allow his quarry to escape, at least for the time being.Unfortunately, the woman, along with everyone else that followed, were just trying to rob him. He quickly cut them down for their audacity but, every now and then, he would come across a tricky opponent. These included a hulking man whose bodily fluids, blood included, had potent acidic properties. Though he hadn't been particularly difficult to deal with, Merek lost his primary blade in the process, requiring him to use a much weaker substitute.Even more troublesome than the man with acidic blood was his encounter against a duo who were obviously members of the Shadow Guild. They had immediately attacked him on the spot and, due to the harsh training the Shadow Guild members underwent, it was a difficult fight, even for Merek.Fortunately, while they were tricky opponents, especially in terrain with multiple walls and pipes to maneuver around, they were relatively weak in direct engagements. He managed to cut off one of their legs, causing the other attacker to immediately retreat without sparing their companion a second glance. Then, as they were known to do, the crippled man activated a strange talisman, self-destructing after trying to leap toward Merek with their remaining leg.As it wasn't the first time members of the Shadow Guild had tried to assassinate him, Merek had been fully aware of their final trump card. This allowed him to leaped to one of the pipes above and, using their seemingly indestructible nature, evade the primary blast wave. Though this had left his eardrums bleeding, he recovered around twenty minutes later as he, once again, glared menacingly toward the endless darkness above...Unaware that he had become the personal enemy of a member of the Eight Heavenly Families, Linnaeus continued to make slow progress through the labyrinthine network of corridors as he sought out his constantly updating target.At this point, three days had passed so, while he had been unable to find his target, Linnaeus was confident his Hunter lacked the means to reach him. This allowed him to rest a bit easier and, by the end of the third day, a ding sounded in his mind that indicated his Hunter had changed from the Rank 1 to someone ranked 419th.When Linnaeus saw the new name, he couldn't help but laugh aloud but, rather than make his way down to proactively search for his target, he continued to stay close to the roof, well out of range for most Fledglings. Though some might call him cowardly, this was the method the weak used to survive when surrounded by the strong. There was no point in being brave if the only reward was an early death.Unlike other people, who actively sought to reach the higher Floors of the Tower, Linnaeus just wanted to survive in order to reunite with the people he cared about. He intended to leave the Tower at the first opportunity so, even if he was ridiculed, why should he care about the opinion of people who would unhesitantly kill him if it meant they could ascend to the next Floor?With this mentality, Linnaeus continued to bide his time while preserving as much of his supplies as possible. It wasn't until the end of the seventh day that he considered heading down as, rather than two different names, indicating his target and Hunter, there was now a single name between them. For the last few pings, the string on his finger had been pointing directly downward as well so, feeling now was his opportunity to proceed to the next Floor, Linnaeus began his descent.What had surprised Linnaeus the most was, rather than someone near the same Rank as him, his current target and Hunter were both ranked 13th. Though this raised a few red flags in his mind, it could be a tremendous boon if he was able to convince them to temporarily ally with him. Thus, even though he had a few inhibitions and was tempted to wait a few more days, Linnaeus slowly and carefully descended.

While Linnaeus was cautiously venturing through the First Floor, a very different scene was playing out in one of the other ninety-nine testing grounds.Though not the strongest by any means, Saht had been blazing through the First Floor test after killing her opponent during the preliminary evaluation.Unlike Linnaeus, who was very cautious and tried to avoid direct engagements, Saht had never been the type to overthink things. All she knew was that Linnaeus had also entered the Tower so, in order to reunite with him, she needed to survive and kill any enemies that stood in her way.Just as Linnaeus had broken through the restrictions of his Blessing, Saht, who spent most of her waking moments in a sem-transformed state, had already reached Level 51 in her [Demonification]. Upon reaching the Level 50 threshold, she sprouted a second set of horns, this time forming a gentle curve around her brows, while a pair of small wings now poked through the slits in her blood-red bodysuit.Due to their small size, the wings did not allow for flight but, while she was running around at high speeds, the allowed her to swerve and change direction more rapidly. If she put enough strength into her legs, she could also leap very far, using her wings to extend the distance by allowing her to glide, albeit barely.With these changes, Saht's Strength, Constitution, and Agility were all greatly enhanced. Since she was exceptionally brutal compared to most people, irrespective of being born in the megacity or slums, she had already mowed through several opponents. One had even been unfortunate enough to be pierced by her horns when she charged into them from behind.Saht didn't believe she was an unstoppable force but, so long as she trusted her instincts and tried to avoid anyone that seemed dangerous, the only thing that mattered to her was progressing to the next Floor. Because of this, she was currently chasing down a duo consisting of a muscular man with bull-like horns and a rather petite girl whose body was covered in a thin layer of white fur. She also had two tiny curved horns at the sides of her head and, while the muscular man carried her, she kept shooting beams of white light to deter Saht's berserk charge.Even with her new wings, it was difficult to dodge magic in a frontal charge but, despite taking a few direct hits and suffering some severe burns, Saht's rage made her numb to the pain. When she didn't have Linnaeus to direct her, it was as if the entire world blurred on her periphery, giving her a strong sense of tunnel-vision that only allowed her to identify the enemy.Despite her cute appearance, the petite girl had a layer of moisture in her eyes as she shouted, "Why won't this bitch just die!? Ray Burst~! Ray Burst~! Ray Buuuuuurst~!"Her companion didn't bother to answer her question as, after trying to defend against Saht's first attack, he had been sent flying several meters by the comparably smaller figure. Since this had also fractured his left arm, while simultaneously draining nearly a tenth of his health in an instant, there was no way he would fight her before whittling down her health.For the time being, he just focused on his breathing as he ran in a zig-zag pattern to evade getting skewered by the rampaging demoness. The Ba'haat tribe's [Demonification] was relatively famous so he knew it was only a matter of time before her SP ran out, causing her to enter a weakened state. It was fortunate that the girl chasing them didn't seem to have trained her control over the form so, by changing directions constantly, she was unable to overtake him despite having superior speed.As the bull-headed man expected, the only thing Saht was thinking about were the points the two had as, if she managed to kill them, her passage to the Second Floor was confirmed. This allowed her to ignore the vague feeling that her SP was dangerously low as she continued her relentless pursuit of the fleeing duo.Eventually, the girl being carried ran out of SP as, on the low end, most offensive Magic spells cost around 200SP. Even if she had been born into a prestigious family, her reserves wouldn't be greater than 4000 points, barring very few exceptions. Since the girl was just an average citizen of Heart, she had only been able to cast seventeen spells, despite pacing herself and allowing her SP to replenish.With Saht constantly gaining on him, causing a cold sweat to cover much of his body, the horned-man took exception to the fact his partner had stopped attacking. If he wasn't already heaving for air, he would have shouted at her to keep attacking. Since it was possible to overdraft your SP by eating into your Health, he knew she could keep going for a little while longer.Rather than waste his breath, the man decided he no longer needed the extra baggage, despite the girl only weighing around 37kg. He very unceremoniously tossed her body toward their attacker, an action that caused the girl's mind to blank completely as she traveled in a parabola, directly toward the girl she had been peppering with magic for the last few minutes.Though Saht was going to rip the girl apart, the actions of the man had caused her focus to lock onto him. When he turned to look back, obviously checking to see if his plan had been a success, she was already right on top of him, causing the man to roll to the side as she crashed passed him and shattered a tree into splinters.Ignoring the aches in her own body, Saht flicked her tail like a whip, allowing her to shift her center of gravity quickly as she leaped toward the fleeing man once again. He was preparing to dodge a second time but, just as he waited for the proper timing, a beam of white light smashed into his side, causing him to grimace in pain before realizing what had happened.In the distance, with her eyes, ears, and nose all leaking blood, the girl he had tried to sacrifice was glaring at him with a murderous and vindictive smile. She had overdrafted her SP by quite a bit to make sure he couldn't flee. This allowed Saht to easily close the distance and, though he tried to resist, she began to thrash his body around like a ragdoll, breaking several trees and stones in the process.Having already accepted her death, the girl took great pleasure in watching the man's brutal end. He had been nice to her when they first met so, despite not truly trusting him, she had agreed to Party with him due to their complimentary Blessings. When he picked her up and fled, she began to feel a few tender emotions toward him but, during the moment of weightlessness when he had tossed her through the air, the only thoughts in her mind were killing the traitorous bastard.Despite a considerable amount of fear, the girl didn't look away when the demoness made her way over. The latter was covered in fresh blood and, with wild pink hair, blood-red eyes, red skin, and four ivory horns, it was like looking into the face of a devil who had come to reap her soul.Against any expectations she might have had, the girl suddenly found herself pushed onto her back before, moments later, a tingling anxiety welled up from her stomach as she felt a pressure against her groin. She was absolutely certain her attacker was a woman so she had no idea what was going on as she weakly cried out, "Please...just kill me..."Rather than the reprieve of death, the girl heard the sound of someone inhaling deeply before the pressure suddenly subsided. Then, causing her mind to blank yet again, the demoness stood over her and asked in a raspy and ice-cold tone, "Have you killed...?"Though it took her a few moments to process what was being asked of her, the girl began to shake her head rapidly before stammering, "I-I-I've n-n-nev-" She wasn't able to finish her sentence as the pink-haired demon suddenly picked her up in a bridal carry before running deeper into the woods after saying, "You are innocent...I will protect you..." in a decisive tone.After this overwhelming series of events, the petite woman didn't have any words left and, as she had been in the Critical Health state after overdrafting her SP, she gave up trying to stay awake. The last thought to go through her mind before darkness claimed her was, "I'm going to get eaten..." as the trickle of blood from her nose increased slightly.---There was nothing more important to Saht than being able to reunite with Linnaeus but, no matter how brutal she was during a battle, she would not kill those who didn't fight back. She did not want to become the type of person she and Linnaeus often hunted so, after seeing the man betray his ally, most of her hatred had been directed toward him.After venting most of her frustrations on the man, even after his death, Saht had calmed down quite a bit as her SP had nearly flatlined. As her [Demonification] slowly began to wear off, she neared the girl who had previously peppered her with Magic spells. She could see the resolve to accept death in the girl's eyes, something she had seen often in young women in the slums.Once again feeling like she was comparable to the men and women she hated the most, Saht made the split-second decision to confirm something. Before the girl could react, she pushed her down and, knowing there was a distinctive smell that lingered inside a woman after she lost her virginity, Saht confirmed that the girl was untouched. After that, she asked the girl if she had ever killed and, though there was hesitation in her eyes, it didn't feel like she was lying when she began to say she had never killed anyone.Without any crimes to place on the girl other than defending herself from an attacker, Saht felt a bitter feeling in her heart. After that, she decided to repent by protecting the girl until she had the requisite Aether to move on to the next level. At the very least, she would help her until her own Aether value naturally reached a thousand points on the second day. She already had 917 points so it wouldn't be difficult for her to help another person for a short while.With her mind made up, Saht dug a burrow with her bare hands before spreading the dirt all over the surroundings to hide her tracks. She then tucked the fur-covered girl into the hole before using a decaying tree to cover the hole. After that, she quickly hunted down a massive quadrupedal creature with spear-like horns that curved backward. It hadn't taken much effort for her to snap its neck and, though she wasn't adept at cooking, due to rarely having anything to cook, even burnt meat was better than nothing when it came to treating the Critical Health status.Though it wasn't the gentlest way to wake someone up, Saht used her nail to scratch the underside of the girl's horns, knowing that her own were sensitive in the same area. This could be very pleasant if gently caressed but, if someone did it roughly, it was a very startling and painful sensation.As could be expected, the fur-covered girl awoke with a start, bonking her head on the roof and causing dirt to rain down over her. Since she was surrounded primarily by darkness, she began to panic but, before she could cry out, Saht shoved the slightly overcooked meat in front of her face, saying in the same cold tone as before, "Eat."After hearing the familiar voice, the girl remembered what had happened so she quickly viewed her own Status, finding that her health was already lower than 30%. Though the meat smelled burnt, she wasted no time in gulping it down. If given the choice between life and death, most people would obviously choose the former. Now that the adrenaline from battle had worn off, her resolution to face death had gone with it, replaced by a very strong will to survive.

Chapter 20: Cautious Nature