Nia put the last bite of her steak into her mouth. The juices of the masterfully prepared piece of meat flowed out as she chewed it. And it was only cooked by a chef, not even in the triple digits. What for culinary delicatessens would she be able to find once she advanced to higher realms?
Finishing her meal, the girl beckoned over the waiter. “I would like to order one piece of the specialty cake of this restaurant.”
Yet the mood of the waiter soured. “We are sorry to inform you that we are unfortunately out of cake, as well as most other dishes and desserts.” He pointed to the back of the eatery, plates upon plates could be seen building towers. “A recent guest has ordered basically our entire stock…”
The man bowed apologetically.
It was unexpected for the girl. She didn’t expect that the restaurant had run out of ingredients, or that someone would order that much food. The buffs gained from food could only get one so far and the prices for even a single dish easily surpassed multiple stays in an inn.
Though she had the buff she was here for, so it wasn’t that bad for her.
“Okay, well, in that case, thanks for the meal. Until next time.”
“Thanks for your order.”
Checking her equipment, she stood up and left the restaurant. She had already paid for her food when it was brought to her.
Now it was time to hunt. Her five day, ten percent buff on spell duration only lasted that long.
Recalling her conversation with her informant, her targets should leave The First Meadow in the next two to three days. There were also some rumors about Hannibal, though she dismissed those. It was good to know them, just in case, but it wasn’t likely, that he would try a summoning. He would only make himself a bigger target than he already was, with him being an usurper.
Quickly walking out of the settlement, she passed the walls and gate and entered the grass filled plains. It would take her a few more minutes to reach the rift.
Lying on a branch of a tree in a shadowy spot near the entrant to the Forest of eternal Twilight the girl was waiting for her prey. More than two days had already passed according to the clock in her vision provided by Eas and the remaining duration of the buff. Looking for the day and night cycle unfortunately didn’t work as a lot of realms had weird ones. Like this one which was unsurprisingly clad in eternal twilight. The girl could have counted the times she recast her darkness magic covering her or how fast her mana or stamina regenerated, but that was fortunately not necessary with the system around.
A group entered the forest. One level 16, three level 15. The strongest of them seemed to be the tank of their group. Wearing plate armor, covering basically their complete body. A sword and shield already in hand, vigilantly looking around. Their equipment seemed to be used but through care it was still in good condition. Next to them a young man with metal reinforced leather armor was walking. His weapons were two swords, one longer, one shorter. Either he had some extraordinary skills or classes or, what was more likely, a hero-wannabe. While he had still drawn his weapons, he didn’t look around.
If Nia had to guess the armored person was the leader and used the other three to level faster. Probably gaining experience for defending their party or fighting multiple opponents. Similar to how the two mages in the back used the two in the front to draw the aggression of their enemy, while they used their spells.
One could also assume that they simply were a more normal party with good teamwork, however no one would team up with that dual sword guy, unless he was currently hiding his true abilities for some reason. Fighting at the frontlines without defenses was just suicidal. Even those who planned to use two swords would start out more conservatively with more armor and a shield, training their true style only in the safety of the settlements until they reached level 100, or at least level 50 and could team up with healers.
Admittedly one could never be completely sure by just looking at them, but the girl hiding in the shadows wasn’t just doing that. Their “faith” in each other also showed the relationship clearly. Only the dual swordsman was oblivious in regard to the true nature of their party. They would use each other to advance and disband once they got all the benefits they could get. A few disliked those rather common practices, but in the Realms the strong ate the weak. If you don’t want to be eaten, become stronger yourself or show that you are useful to get a backing. Only rarely would a more normal party be formed before people reached level 100.
The huntress quickly lost interest in them as they went further into the forest. It was an interesting pastime judging the teams passing by and trained her observation ability. But in the end it was just that. A pastime while she waited for her prey. Could there be more efficient methods to level? Probably. Fights did give her experience. However her skills weren’t exactly meant to confront her opponent in the open and certain targets offered more for her work.
Well, she didn’t see her prey as prey for no reason. If the prey could fight back it only showed that she made a mistake.
Passing her time with random thoughts, refreshing the veil of darkness covering her in addition to the shadows around her from time to time, she waited. Her need for sleep, drink or other nourishments covered through the system and the mana in the environment. Though that didn’t mean she couldn’t, it was just unnecessary.
Food being a luxury good made her sometimes a bit sad, as it was much more expensive as in her last life. However she had also to admit that food here tasted much better. The few times she indulged in it, even the cheapest menu could easily compete with some of the most luxurious dishes she ever tasted in her old world. A natural conclusion when the farmers, chiefs and even the smiths creating the pans and kettle don’t work to gain money to survive but strive to improve themselves and achieve new heights.
A while later another group entered the Realm through the spatial connection. Quickly she analyzed them again. Level 23 swordsman, level 22 swordsman and level 19 archer. Male, female and male, though not that gender had much meaning in this world or that she cared about it. Their equipment was chipped, used and appeared old, the later was also true for the three in the group, even though with their levels one would assume they were much younger. While those were good signs that they were the prey she waited for, their faith was evidence.
Faith, some might call it karma, though it was different in some aspects. More similar to the perception others had of one and one’s own intention, yet even complexer than that. It was what bound people to people, to their equipment, to their home, to that one particular bear golem their parents bought them decades ago and they still remember from time to time. Nia herself wasn’t completely sure if she had grasped its concept completely.
For those three, the threads of faith binding them were laced with hatred towards them and malice as well as greed streaming from them. Not uncommon for those living in the slums of The First Meadow or any other city in the low level regions. A place where those ended up who failed, or more precisely chose to fail. With the livelihood provided by the system one didn’t need to do anything to live, however that was it. Those who neither hunted nor created but simply lived from day to day stagnated. Some still went out to hunt from time to time to earn some money, to then waste it on food, gambling or other useless endeavors. Well, as long as it just involved themselves no one cared. They would die sooner or later. Without access to the Fountain of Youth it was just natural. But then there were a few who wanted more without doing more. Extortion wasn’t uncommon in the slums. And actually not really condemned, as long as they kept it inside. If they didn’t want to be the slaves of others they just had to get stronger themselves. That was the common opinion and an opinion she also shared. With the system around everyone could become strong. Those staying weak could only blame their foolishness or laziness.
However all this was the breeding ground for her favorite prey. Prey no one would miss. Prey with faith interwoven with hatred and malice. Prey she wouldn’t feel bad about hunting.
The victims of those she hunted would probably even thank her, though not that she would ever make it public. Just because there wasn’t an explicit punishment, didn’t mean there weren’t certain consequences. Guilds she couldn’t join as easily. Realms she couldn’t access without additional checks. It was better to let their deaths remain simple accidents during a hunt.
