Chereads / The Cat of Speed / Chapter 42 - Sand Everywhere

Chapter 42 - Sand Everywhere

Quest Created

Diamond in the Sand

Hordak has tasked you with finding some kind of First One technology discovered out in the Crimson Waste. However, the Crimson Waste is daunting and harmful on the nicest of days and down right murderous on a decent day. Hordak has not given you a time limit, but the desert that has been abandoned for decades after the Great Fire is unlikely to be hospitable.

Objective: Find the First One technology.

Bonus Objective: Find the Technology within a month [29:19:41:53]

Hidden Objective: ???

Rewards: 25,000 EXP, ability to return to the Horde, 3 skill points | 2 trait upgrade points, 15,000 EXP | [???], ???

 

 Tigra hummed to herself as three soldiers surrounded her on the top of one of Hordak's newest Skiffs.

 While Tigra couldn't tell exactly how fast the skiff was going, she could roughly guess maybe 300 to 350 mph based on how fast they had passed some boulders about fifteen minutes ago.

 The orange sand blowing upwards into the sky as they glided across the desert. It drifted to the side before they had made enough distance that Tigra couldn't see the dust clouds anymore.

 She stared upwards to the blue and green sky with not a cloud to be seen, letting the light from the moons shine directly onto the sand, rocks, and them as well.

 If it weren't for her liking some heat and having Unburnable preventing her from getting hot from temperature enough to become harmful, she would say that it would be a hard trial here.

 She had left her Cloak of Ice behind as she was more focused on other things and planned on seeing if she could get it changed to a different color.

 But mainly, could she create her own magical clothing or apparel that would help with elements like the Cloak of Ice does? If so, there must be a few skills that she likely would need to learn to do such a thing in the first place.

 

Quests Created!

 

Made these Myself

After obtaining the Cloak of Ice, you pondered on the ability to create your own apparel that would boost your other elements or anything else! After all, Dark Flame transforms pure magic into fire magic without the user needing to and Shadow Piercers being able to hide in normal shadows. Who knows what else could be created!

Objective: Create 1 apparel for every type of magic branch you know.

Reward: 5,000 EXP per new branch.

 

Never Stop Learning

You've decided to see if you can replicate the ability to enhance elemental magic through the use of an apparel. However, you currently don't seem to know the necessary skills needed to make them.

Objective: Have ???, ???, ???, ??? reach LV 100

Reward: [???] trait, 1 trait point per skill

 'Great. Another thing that I'll need to focus on when I get back. Then again, I'll likely have to spend even more time at the Horde.'

 Tigra sighed out of her nose before turning to look down, away from her guards and looked over her sheet.

 

Tigra | Age: 18

Level: 65 (11955/16250)

 

HP: 10,810 | HPR: 4,865

MP: 2,496* | MPR: 1,621*

SP: 5,405 | SPR: 2,432

 

*Magical Cuffs - While wearing these cuffs, your MP and MPR are reduced to 40% their regular numbers.

 'Even better. I can't take these off or Hordak will do something against Catra. He could play it up as saying that, due to Entrapta's fondness of Catra, he's decided to change her execution - since he wouldn't be holding back as he is right now - and instead send her to Beast Island.'

 Tigra looked back around before studying her guards.

 

Cherri | Age: 23

Level: 42

 

Brahn | Age: 28

Level: 45

 

Terri | Age: 25

Level: 43

 

 'They're high enough to be experienced Captains or new Generals from what I've seen. Yet I haven't heard a whisper of them. So, the rumors of Hordak having his own personal squadron may be more true than I thought.'

 They continued onward for roughly another half hour before slowly coming to a stop.

 "On your feet." Brahn issued.

 Tigra rolled her eyes before standing up, her arms at her side.

 Her magical cuffs were more like bracelets than usual cuffs. She could still move both hands independently of the other.

 "From here on out, if you are spotted outside of the Crimson Waste without the tech that Hordak has requested, you will be treated as an enemy and officially declared a traitor of the Horde."

 "Am I not already?" Tigra raised an eyebrow.

 "As of now," Cheeri spoke up. "You have been declared as taking time off to deal with a distant mission that you needed to take on your own while going dark. You are not expected to send even a message within the first two months."

 "And you expect everyone who knows me and, as such, would know that I would have at least left them a message saying that I won't be in contact with them for a long time?"

 "They will need to." Terri answered. "As that is the official story, they will need to go along with it. Otherwise, they could be charged with treason for potentially trying to start a panic as over 25% of our military looks up to you for your power."

 "With all of that out of the way," Brahn cut in. "Get off of our Skiff."

 Tigra stared at him before hopping off of the Skiff.

 Her feet had hit the ground for barely 3 seconds before the Skiff shot off before turning around and heading back in the direction she came from.

 The sand blew up into the air as the Skiff quickly reached the horizon and simply became a dot before she couldn't make it out of the sand.

 She smirked lightly as she reached down into the inside of her waist band before pulling out two small sheathes. She opened one of them and pulled out the thin daggers that had managed to blend in with the shadows from her shirt and the inside of her pants.

 "So that's what it meant by being able to hide in shadows." She muttered as she tilted the dagger as the light seemed to almost be absorbed by the dagger.

 She put the dagger back into the sheathe before fixing the sheathes back onto her hips, outside her pants now as she didn't need to hide them now.

 'Glad the shadow spies were able to at least sneak me these.'

 "Well…may as well get started."

 So Tigra ran with haste activated, moving across the sand at 280 mph.

 _________

*Few hours earlier*

 Adora groggily woke up from her sleep before feeling like someone was watching her.

 She stealthily reached her right hand up underneath her pillow to grab her dagger that had startled Glimmer and Bow countless times but having an easy to grab weapon near her helped keep her feel safe while sleeping alone.

 She wrapped her hand around it before looking behind her and freezing.

 "Adora…"

 In her room for Lord knows how long…was Shadow Weaver.

 Adora barely moved before Shadow Weaver collapsed under herself and laid motionless.

 She could only stare at the figure before quickly getting up and grabbing some blankets and using them as makeshift cuffs by wrapping them tightly around her arms and legs.

 With her now tied up, Adora ran out of her room.

 It took her under a minute before running into General Juliet.

 "Adora? What are-"

 "Shadow Weaver's in my room."

 Juliet's eyes widened before turning serious and they both went back to her room.

 And Weaver still laid motionless on the floor.

 Juliet pulled out her tablet and began making calls.

*15 minutes later*

 "Double the guards on the perimeter of the kingdom and triple the ones inside Brightmoon. There will be no sleep until we figure out just how Shadow Weaver got inside of Princess Adora's room in the middle of the night!" Queen Angella declared.

 Several guards gave their acknowledgement before going off to perform their duties.

 A bright light came from behind Angella before symbols floated and spun in circles before a figure stepped forth.

 It was a woman with fairly light skin with black hair. Her hair was in a bun with two long strands hanging down. She wore a long purple dress with a pink cape and a circular gold crown with a gold star akin to a sun in the center and a Sorcerer's Guild badge atop it.

 "I got here as soon as I could. Has Shadow Weaver been detained yet?" The woman asked.

 "Yes, Shadow Weaver is currently in her prison room, Castaspella." Angella confirmed.

 Castaspella looked at the room she gestured and raised an eyebrow.

 "Well, it's not like we could put her in a normal prison. So it seemed best that we have her close by, set up magical barriers to prevent anyone or anything from interacting with her physically or magically without being spotted by a few soldiers on guard." Angella explained. "And on such short notice, it's not like we could easily turn a guest quarter into an actual prison room."

 Casta nodded before Adora suddenly walked next to them and stopped.

 "When are we interrogating her?"

 "Adora, dearie-"

 "Queen Angella," Adora cut off, her face looking like she was on a battlefield instead of relaxed while in the safety of Brightmoon. "I grew up under her. I know she uses words to manipulate situations into her favor. Half-truths are her specialty. Just enough truth to get someone to follow her directions without creating massive amounts of distrust. While I didn't completely know that until recently, I'm certain that it's how she managed to appear in my room without a guard noticing her."

 "She's dangerous Adora." Angella tried. "I don't want her near any of you."

 "Queen Angella, I'm afraid to tell you that there are three ways for me to go through with this: The three of us go in together where you both can watch the conversation and act should she start to do something with ill intentions. I sneak in while both of you are distracted and have a conversation without you two there. Or I unfortunately must use She-Ra to get in there." She declared, staring her in the eyes.

 The three were silent for a moment.

 "She may be more cooperative with Adora." Casta put out, getting a look from Angella. "Think about this, Angella. I'm not saying we should go in with her immediately." Casta put a hand up as Adora opened her mouth to protest. "Instead, the two of us go in at first to see what we can gather alone. From there, we return out here and discuss. And while I can commend you for wanting to keep Adora here out of this, that ship sailed the instant Shadow Weaver appeared in her room."

 "You've seen what Shadow Weaver does though." Angella looked to the side. "She uses people to get what she wants and then throws them to the side the instant that they are no longer useful. I don't want her to get her hooks into anyone else."

 Casta put a hand on Angella's shoulder as she gained a look of loss that Adora had seen before on the several soldiers she's interacted with after they came back from a battle.

 "I know that, just like me, you can only think about how she used Micah, but…Adora already has Weaver's hooks in her. The best we can do is slowly get the hooks out one at a time. You and Brightmoon have likely gotten several of them out already. The next one is simply to let Adora know that she is safe here. Can you imagine being able to sleep peacefully if Shadow Weaver had managed to do this with Glimma? Or would you be doing everything in your power to know exactly why and how she escaped from the Horde despite there being chatter for a long while that she had been imprisoned for being declared a traitor?"

 Angella stayed silent for a few moments.

 "We simply go in and interrogate her. We discover as much as we can. If for some reason she decides that she will only speak with Adora, considering that she showed up in her room, she will not speak with her alone. No exceptions. Either with us in the room or she gets to stay in that room until a more unpleasant room gets created and she can waste away there." Casta explained.

 "I…I will be fine with that, Castaspella." Adora admitted before sitting on the ground next to the room.

 Casta could easily see that she would likely get a harsh conversation from Angella after the interrogations were over, but she knew why she truly did not want Adora seeing Shadow Weaver.

 Adora had become almost like a child to Angella and, while sweet and likely needed for Adora to have some kind of positive maternal relationship, would cause Angella to become very protective of them.

 Just like with Glimma, Angella was trying to shelter Adora from what she could about the war but Casta knew that it wouldn't work and would only infuriate Adora for one simple fact.

 Adora wasn't raised as a Brightmoonian. She wasn't innocent of fighting and didn't likely grow up in a place that prioritized their safety instead of raising them as soldiers. From the few times that she's interacted with Adora, it's like a soldier from the Kingdom of Ice had been dropped at their doorsteps, unsure of how to respond in a natural setting but could easily describe the best way to train their body or how to show someone how to actually fight if their lives were on the line.

 Adora was told that she was safe while she was in Brightmoon, only to have the abusive guardian over her in the Horde to suddenly show up and invade her safe space.

 She likely wouldn't be able to relax here in Brightmoon again until she could confirm to herself that she was safe. After all, it was Angella's words that she would be safe. Only for Shadow Weaver to put such words into question.

 Why would she trust her word again after Angella's word was unfortunately broken already?

 Casta shook her head before entering the mindset needed to interrogate the prisoner before she and Queen Angella entered the room.

 _____________

 Tigra came to a stop underneath some large bones that belonged to a creature that would have stood nearly half the height of the largest building back at the Horde, assuming it could have stood on two legs.

 

Run gained 280.8 [MPH] * 2 [HRS] * 300 [EXP/M] = 168,480 EXP!

Run leveled up! LV (2)04 → (2)33

[Run LV (2)33 (8748/10106) - Increases DEX by 25% + 33 * 2^2. DEX*2.57]

Due to level ups, DEX + 3, CON + 6!

DEX: 694 → 699

CON: 541 → 550

 "I really need to find a food and water source. I have no idea how long this will take and, on top of that, any creatures out here are going to be used to high temperatures or have ways of getting rid of heat." Tigra spoke aloud.

 She felt the ground tremble slightly before her ears shifted to point to the left. She looked in the direction and spotted something large moving underneath the sand.

 In her direction.

 She jumped upwards before shooting flames out of the bottom of her feet. She soared upwards before she grabbed the underside of one of the ribs and spun herself around to land with both feet on top of the ribs while crouched down, her claws sinking into the hardened bone.

 She tensed as it got closer but…it kept going.

 She watched as the mound of sand moved over towards a large rock before whatever was underneath the sand dipped.

 The sudden stillness of the sand unnerved her.

 The vision of seeing a large amount of sand tremble worried her more.

 Until the sand practically exploded and two cries roared out. One sounded as if a skiff was suddenly breaking down but the driver was still flooring the controls to go forward at top speed.

 The other sounded as if it was a cross between a tank and a lizardfolk letting out a war cry. A low rumble with a hint of a hiss.

 Whatever the creatures were, they were covered in a gigantic cloud of sand where several loud thumps came from the area.

 Tigra's ears shot backward from the noise and had to consciously stop herself from activating Lightning Armor as whatever the creatures were, her body was telling her to run.

 It took a genuine minute for the sand cloud to dissipate and by then, the thumping had stopped for a little bit.

 But when it was all done, she saw a creature nearly 6 times the size of her laying still and being dragged underneath the sand.

[Adult Basilisk | Age: 39]

[Level: 89]

[HP: 0/68,500]

 Within another minute, there was no sign that some kind of fight between monsters of large proportions happened, except for a large amount of green blood mixed with some red.

 "Lord. I thought these things were fossilized." She muttered. "All I know, this creature could have died a few months ago then."

 Tigra crouched before jumping and using Fire Step to get high in the air before looking around for anything besides pure sand.

 Just an ocean of sand and large rocks before seeing something in the far distance.

 Another large skull that she would have dismissed, had she not seen something fluttering in the wind above the skull.

 "No idea what that is…but I also don't want to not look for any and all sources of necessities."

 Tigra cut the fire before landing with a small cloud of sand.

 "It looked roughly…an hour away? Judging based on landmarks that I had gone by before now."

 She cracked her neck before she glowed orange faintly before she ran.

 _______

 Adora had been sitting outside the room for hours and huffed.

 Glimmer and Bow had come by for about an hour before they left as Glimmer does have actual Princess duties to perform, seeing as she's in her kingdom that she would eventually need to take over one day.

 'Maybe. Angella is unaging.' Adora thought.

 While everyone seemed to just say it casually, Adora can't help but pity her slightly.

 'Unaging Immortality is only a blessing if those around you also have such immortality.'

 She could not imagine a world where she stayed in her prime but had to watch as the people she cared about slowly grew older and older until eventually everyone she knew passed on.

 'Then there's Glimmer. No one seems to really know if she'll live the same age as the average Brightmoonian, if she'll be unaging like Angella, or if she'll simply have a much longer lifespan but would eventually age like most people.'

 The sudden opening of the door next to her caused her to look over before pushing herself up onto her feet.

 "That woman!" Angella growled out, taking Adora back slightly. "Hours of spells and questioning, yet she doesn't answer a single question."

 "I suggested we get Adora an hour ago." Casta pointed out, seemingly too exhausted to care about the glare from Angella now. "We only got that the Horde may be chaotic at the moment and that anything else, she would only answer if Adora was there."

 "You got nothing?" Adora asked, drawing attention to her. "How long until we go back in?"

 "I want to say neva, but I know that you'll find a way in eventually." Angella sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "Are you ready?"

 Adora nodded before Casta stepped to the side and gestured for her to go on in.

 The three of them entered the room and Adora saw Weaver being encircled by magic that went from the flooring all the way to the roof while being about maybe 5-6 feet wide in diameter.

 Weaver…Weaver did not look good was the first thing Adora noticed.

 Her posture was slouched and seemed as if a simple push could knock her over.

 "Adora." Weaver's voice had turned raspy before she started coughing.

 "What's wrong with you?" Adora had to ask.

 Adora had never seen Weaver look so…weak.

 "She's dying." Casta answered. "A spell she used many years ago is now catching up to her. Her magic is being sucked dry and it's not enough. The spell is drawing energy from her body as a result. Based on the medical scan spells I used, she likely has a month left at best, 3 hours at worst."

 "What do you know, there is a functioning brain in there." Weaver mocked. "Here I thought your brother got all of the brains. Certainly got all of the talent for magic."

 Adora saw Casta clenched her jaw before breathing out.

 "Considering that the talent you preach about is what caused you to end up in this state in the first place as a helpless, dying woman and me as the Head Sorceress of Mystacor…I wonder who got the better end of that deal?"

 "You mean the woman who managed to create an artificial connection with a Runestone that has never been done before? Compared to the child that still can't let dear older brother go?"

 "Enough!" Angella declared, drawing their attention. "Adora, despite my insistence, was willing to go through this talk with you. And before you even think about trying it, the three of us have agreed on one thing: You may talk to Adora, but you may not talk to her alone. Don't try arguing as, while we want to know, we don't need your information."

 Angella stared down at the small form of Weaver.

 "Is that understood?"

 Weaver's body moved in such a way that while the other two may not know it, Adora knows that she rolled her eyes and coughed.

 "Fine."

 "Why are you here?" Adora asked.

 "To see you. After everything that happened, you're the only one I could trust. I missed you, my child."

 "Nope." Adora spoke, cutting off an enraged Angella who seemed ever so slightly surprised with Adora. "Maybe if you did this within the first two months after I left, maybe I'd believe that you genuinely are trying to use that bond between us, but ever since the Battle of Brightmoon, that bond has been shattered, turned to ash, and scattered with the winds."

 Adora walked closer before kneeling and looking at Weaver face to mask.

 "Your first attempt failed. Would you like to try again?"

 Weaver only chuckled lightly.

 "You always were clever. It was one of the things that made you special. I knew you were different the moment I found you."

 "Wrong again." Adora spoke. "I was special because I believed nearly everything you said without hesitation until I was 14. There were doubts that were confirmed before the Battle.

 Do you want to know what one of my few perfect memories from when I was 6? I'll even give you a hint: it's why Tigra no longer wears sleeves."

 "Why would I know anything about that?"

 "Because your electricity is what caused her sleeves to practically melt and fuse with her skin." Adora spat out, making the other two stare at Weaver with shock and hate. "Even with her unique healing factor, it took nearly 2 months to fully heal and we still had to cut it off of her. We had to do that 3 times while Tigra would keep saying that she pushed her fire magic too hard before we never saw her with sleeves again.

 You say I'm clever? Tigra hid what you did to her for over a decade before we found out.

 You say I'm smart? Is that before or after you deliberately sabotaged Tigra until she felt she had to lower her scores to be below me?

 You say I'm different? I was a Force Captain yet both Catra and Tigra were Captains less than a month after you promoted me.

 I was strong enough to push back a Horde army by myself, yet Tigra was taking cities and towns within 3 months of me leaving and Catra would end up taking more of the Rebellion's land than you had in the last 5 years in just 5ish months.

 I am the Princess of Power, yet Tigra is the Princess of Fire."

 "In what way that isn't superficial am I different? Tell me the truth of why you are here? It's not me, otherwise you could have shown up months ago."

 Weaver hollowly laughed before coughing up blood.

 "Damn." Weaver spat out. "Using that magic dust screwed up my time."

 "How long?" Angella asked.

 "Not long enough for you to ask your questions." Weaver stated. "I could have lasted another 3 weeks if I hadn't used any magic in any way. I'll likely be dead within an hour. Something your 'Head Sorceress' got wrong. She didn't take into account how long I had the curse. It grew in power much beyond what it did originally. Unless I set it off completely with magic, it reacts violently to any kind of magic. Unless…"

 "Unless what?" Casta asked, worried.

 "Unless the mighty She-Ra is capable of healing me. If she can."

 "Absolutely not." Angella denied.

 Adora glowed before She-Ra took her place.

 "Do you think me incompetent in magic?" Adora asked. "That I haven't forced myself to heal someone who was dying in front of me? Someone who practically met Death and had a conversation with them?"

 "When did-"

 "Roughly a week ago, did I drag that person back." Adora answered. "I will have conditions and, if you break any of them, I will undo any of the work I heal. Understood?"

 "Depends on-"

 Adora stabbed her sword into the ground, taking everyone else back at the sudden action.

 "No." She growled out. "Either you accept them, or I leave you here to die slowly. You may have been the woman to raise me, but that does not give you any sort of pass to what you have done to Tigra and Catra. Am. I. Understood?"

 Weaver stared at her for a few moments before sagging lightly.

 "Understood."

 Adora stood up to her full 6'8" height in this form.

 "If I suspect you are trying to manipulate anyone I care about, such as the Princesses, I will not hesitate to get you into a magical blocking cell. You are to not harm anyone I care about in any way, including using someone else to harm them. Finally, stay away from Tigra and Catra especially, unless say otherwise."

 If Adora had said that as herself, someone may have been able to brush them off and scoff.

 But She-Ra? With all of the power coursing through her, her voice sounded powerful and ethereal, as if a higher being was talking to them and that if angered, she would not hesitate to be rid of you in every way that mattered.

 Physically enough that not an atom would be left; mentally enough that you'd never be able to have a single thought again; spiritually enough that there would be no difference between you and a pebble; and temporally enough that you'd never have existed in the first place.

 The Being of Power felt as if it could do all of this, as if reality would bend to make what they want happen happen.

 Weaver was silent for a moment before nodding. "Understood."

 "Castaspella," the woman jumped at the sudden usage of her name. "Please prepare several anti-magic devices to be placed onto Shadow Weaver if you haven't already. I do not trust Weaver to be 100% compliant with these terms. I'd like several contingencies in place, considering she managed to get from the Fright Zone to here without anyone noticing and Tigra has yet to come and retrieve her."

 "Un…Understood."

 Adora held out her sword and focused on the feeling that she felt dominating her body when she was trying to bring Tigra back from the edge, no matter if the healing was too late and she would have been okay after a few minutes.

 Adora suddenly began glowing brighter and brighter.

 When it was done, Weaver tried standing before her knee buckled and Shadow Weaver looked down at it in surprise.

 "Would you look at that?" Adora commented, staring her down. "Your knee injury isn't connected to your magical parasite. Guess She-Ra didn't want to heal it."

 Adora did not believe that she fooled anyone with that, but really...who would call her out on it?

 "Now tell me everything that's true and understand that my patience with you is low after everything I learned and connected involving you."

 "...Very well. Hordak is building a portal to connect with the rest of the Horde. If you think this Horde is hard to deal with, the original Horde has billions of willing troops at any given moment. And Hordak has stated that they could still grow."

 "Portal technology is impossible. The amount of energy needed to do something like what your implying would be more than all the kingdoms combined for 6 months straight."

 "Yet the truth is sitting right in front of all of us."

 ________

 Tigra stopped in front of the gigantic skull that had several hundreds of feet of fabric to protect the inside of the remains of whatever this creature once was.

 

Run gained 300 [EXP/Mile] * 516.1 [MPH] * 1 [HR] = 154,830 EXP!

Run leveled up!

[Run LV (2)45 (13458/13770) - Increases DEX by 25% + 45 * 2^2. 205%]

For reaching LV 235, 240, and 245, DEX + 1, CON + 3

DEX: 699 → 701

CON: 550 → 553

 'This is Etherian made.' She concluded with certainty that another thing the Horde believed to be true is false.

 There's intelligent life out in the Crimson Waste.

 Based on the size of this 'tent' and how she can see footprints going in and out of the place, this isn't too new, if new at all.

 'Hope they have food or drinks.' Tigra thought.

 She walked forward into the place before moving the cloth door out of her way and was greeted with a sight she didn't expect.

 It was practically a bar with some people in it. 

 A wolfman wearing a jacket with a bone on one of the sleeves was at a table looking bored out of their mind but the instant he met her eyes, his fur bristled ever so slightly.

 A purple and dark blue lizardfolk with black heels that went all the way up to their hips was at one of the stools at the counter. Her thin arms were crossed under a black jacket with a dirt colored snake coiled once around in a circle. She met Tigra's eyes with her own slitted yellow eyes.

 Next to the lizardfolk was another gray lizardfolk with four muscular arms crossed in front of their bandaged chest. They had a red cap draped over their back alongside having three dark gray scales going across their head like hair. They seemed annoyed at Tigra entering if the look in their yellow eyes said anything.

 In the far back was a person with green skin and blond hair. They were too busy talking with someone she couldn't see but she did notice a yellow eye with green sclera look at her for a moment before…the sclera turned white and the yellow turned purple. Yet it returned to the yellow and green before looking back at the person they were talking to, leaving Tigra's last view of their attention being a sly smirk.

 The second to last person to catch her attention was a purple furred goat woman with dark purple hair and two horns. She seemed annoyed at something before her pale blue sclera eyes looked at her.

 The last person was the bartender who had long red hair tied up in a ponytail and dark gray bull-like horns. Her light cyan skin flexed as her muscular arms were cleaning mugs before looking at Tigra. Her eyes scanned her before returning back to her work.

 Tigra walked in while subtly activating Neuron, which will let there be nearly no delay between her brain's response to her muscles to move if things get hairy here. With it activated, she can go from sitting still to her top speed in next to a 10th of a second.

 She sat at the counter before the bartender woman walked up and handed her a drink.

 Tigra raised an eyebrow at her.

 "First timers get 3 drinks free. After that, they must pay for every drink after."

 "Why?"

 "We don't get many first timers that know the area well enough that they won't die of thirst within the first week if they don't get a drink. Think of it as me trying to keep a future customer alive."

 "Thanks then. Tigra."

 "Melissa. Only rules here are to leave the bar and workers alone. Mess with one of them and you are forbidden from getting drinks here. And considering the next water spot is 150 miles away…"

 "Don't forget that the strongest make the rules." The goat woman interrupted.

 Tigra smirked, ignoring the goat woman for now.

 "Guess you haven't heard about me then. That distance is a light warm up." She took a sip from the mug.

 "Tigra of the Horde." She heard behind her.

 Tigra could feel the atmosphere drop.

 Tigra spun herself around to get a look at the person speaking to her.

 Short brown hair was her first notice with their tan skin next. Green eyes were narrowed at her while her mouth was etched into a scowl. She wore bandages all around her chest and arms while tight black pants covered her legs.

 "Yeah?"

 "My name is Harna. Do you know of my husband, Luman?"

 'Luman…haven't heard of them. But Harna? Why does that sound familiar?'

 "No clue. But I have heard of you somewhere?"

 "Here's a hint: Terra."

 'Terra. What kind of-'

 A memory struck her.

 "Get off the pity horse. Sometimes, a person wants someone who will look at a person and not their deeds. I know my partner doesn't care about what I do, so long as I keep helping her around the house like I've been doing once I get back home. Now, go get your rest."

 'Alright. Tell Harna I said hello, would you?'

 "I will."

 "Oh."

 "Yeah."

[Harna | Age: 43]

[Level: 31]

[REP: -87 [Nemesis] ]

 

 Tigra felt Primal Instincts start to flare but it wasn't needed.

 Her eyes, due to neuron, were easily tracking the dagger slowly coming out of Harna's sleeve as her arm was already starting to reach towards her.

 'Based on the trajectory, this would have stabbed me in the shoulder.' Tigra glanced around and noticed that nobody seemed surprised and were already watching them.

 'May as well show them to not try this again.'

 Tigra spun lightly in the chair, making the dagger miss her as she noticed Harna's eyes widened at her sudden speed without any real sign that she was using magic.

 Tigra used the momentum to stand off of the stool and had her arm on her hip while her right hand simply twirled a black dagger.

 "Is this your best, Hama?" She intentionally got wrong. "I'm wondering what Ludan saw in you then."

 Harna snarled before charging at her and bringing forth another dagger.

 Tigra simply kept dodging while occasionally parrying a wide swing, all the while keeping an eye on her surroundings in case someone else decided to get involved.

 Side step her left thrust, parry her right swing, block her knee strike, jump to the side to avoid another thrust, deflect her right arm to the side, before grabbing her knee with her other hand.

 "Seriously? My students fight better than you and they're not even out of the Academy yet, Harka." Tigra pointed out.

 "Shut up!"

 'Bingo.'

 With the exclamation, she thrusted both daggers at her, each intending on embedding themselves into her neck.

 Tigra ducked to the side before slamming a knee into her diaphragm.

 Harna dropped her daggers as they clattered on the ground, seeing as she likely felt the sudden lack of ability to breathe. Tigra simply watched as she collapsed on the ground.

 "Hey Melissa," Tigra called out, catching her attention. "Do you care about this customer?"

 "I told you my rules. Though if this is asking about a death match or ending of one, take it outside. Blood's a pain to clean out of the ground."

 Tigra simply grabbed Harna by the back of her clothes and threw her out the cloth entrance.

 Tigra walked out not too far behind.

 Everyone inside watched her leave before a strong rumble ran through the tavern.

 Quite a few held onto their tables and drinks until the sudden rumble ceased.

500 EXP gained

 

 A moment later, Tigra walked back in with her right fist surrounded in blue fire. Even the patrons on the far side of the tavern could feel that the temperature rose several degrees the moment she walked back inside.

 "Sorry about the mess, Melissa. There's a small crater of glass outside. Had to make sure she realized just how bad of an idea that was." Tigra told as the fire went out and she sat back down on her stool, one of Shadow Piercer still in her left hand.

 She grabbed the mug but before drinking, told the tavern one thing.

 "Hurna annoyed me. Who's going to be the first to make me mad?"

 The tavern was quiet, which was the reason that Tigra could hear what the goat woman whispered.

 "She scares me more than that blonde woman who could grow to almost 7 feet. Still don't know what she wanted with that haunted ship."

 Tigra turned her head and stared straight at the woman, who's fur bristles before she turned stock still.

 "What was that?"

 Tigra leaned forward until she noticed the two lizardfolk were put off by her and the four armed lizardfolk twitched their hands, as if readying to grab a weapon.

 Tigra focused before using Dark Pulse.

 Her magic went through the lizardfolk before they stiffened as well. Her magic gave them a feeling of danger intense enough that their instincts were screaming to flee.

 "I could have sworn you said something about a 7' blonde woman and a ship in the middle of the desert?"

 The goat woman bah'd.

 "I'd greatly appreciate a guide or two there. After all, surely it's dangerous for most people to traverse the desert, what with those two giant creatures fighting being an indication."

 Tigra leaned back in her seat before taking another drink, finishing her mug.

 "You in?"

 The goat woman fell over stiff as a board while the four armed lizardfolk barely gave a nod.

 She reeled in Dark Pulse before giving a smirk.

Dark Pulse gained 40 [EXP/s] * 2 [People] * 30 [seconds] * 2 [Genius]= 4800 EXP!

Dark Pulse leveled up! LV 19 --> LV 20

...

 "I'm glad we came to an agreement. Melissa, may I ask for my second mug? I'm sure we can work out a deal in your favor should I need more if I'm in this desert for longer than I wish."

___________

Tigra

Age: 18

Level 65 (11955/16250)

HP: 11,060.....HPR: 4977

MP: 2496/6240.....MPR: 1621/4052

SP: 5530...SPR: 2489

STR: 158.....DEX: 701

CON: 541...INT: 312

WIS: 300...CHA: 108

Skill Points: 3

Trait Points: 1

Upgrade Trait Points: 0

Speed: 97.4 MPH

Magical Control: 327%

Carry Capacity: Normal - 296 lbs. MAX 395 lbs

Skills:

[H2H LV (4)29], [Run LV (2)45], [Dash LV (4)84, [Blades LV 96], [Spear LV 40]

[Dodge LV 41], [Reading LV 75], [Writing LV 105], [Sneak LV 48]

[Light Res. LV 4], [Air Res. LV 2], [Water Res. LV 87]

[Magic Res LV 42], [Earth Res LV 4]

[Program. LV 35], [Security LV 18], [Hacking LV 27], [Strategy LV 61]

Spells [Tigra still uses]:

Clone-Fire and Lightning

Fire Step, F. Clothing, Fire Breath, Flame Dive, Lava Armor, Flame Charge,

Flame Fists, Fireball LV 23, F. Dagger, F. Arrow, F. Falchion, F. Spear, Fire Augment

Lightning Armor, Lightning Claws LV 20, L. Falchion LV 1, L. Spear LV 1,

L. Arrow LV 1, L. Dagger LV 1, Lightning Slam LV 1, L. Clothing LV 1

Chill, Ice Armor

Darken, Shadow Mask, Shadow Ball LV 1, Shadow Spy LV 68, Shadow Armor, Dark Pulse LV 19

Breeze

Bubble, Stream, Wave, Water Armor LV 63

Haste, Heal, Regeneration LV 1, Truth LV 1, Lie LV 15

Traits:

[Night Vision], [Magical], [Obsidian Claws], [Huntress], [Primal Instincts]

[You are the Weapon - Multiplies H2H bonus by 2]

[Lightning - Multiplies final DEX by 1.5]

[Durable - Multiplies final CON by 1.15]

[Smart - Multiplies final INT by 1.15]

[Wise - Multiplies final WIS by 1.15]

[You are Speed - For two minutes a day, your DEX is multiplied by 3]

[Omni-Regeneration II- Multiplies all Regens by 3]

[Pyromaniac - EXP for Fire Spells is doubled]

[Hydromaniac - EXP for Water Spells is doubled]

[Unimaniac - EXP for Pure Spells is doubled]

[Electromaniac - EXP for Electric Spells is doubled[

[Unburnable - You can't be hurt by fire or heat through fire]

[Physical Proof - You can't be hurt by physical means with ill intent]

[Electric-proof - You can't be hurt by electricity through natural or unnatural means with ill intent]

[Ice Proof - You can't be hurt by ice through natural or unnatural means with ill intent]

[Shadow Proof - You can't be hurt by shadow/darkness through natural or unnatural means with ill intent]

[Phoenix - Once a month, if your HP is reduced to zero, you return to 75% HP once with a 25% increase in stats for the next 10 minutes]

[Raiju - Multiply your movement speed by 3x for 90 minutes within a 24 hour period. Lightning attacks do 100% more damage but water damage hurts you thrice as much as normal]

[Grimm - Decreases damage taken by 75%, regenerations + 200% but Light attacks deal 3x their regular damage. Works for 30 minutes a day]

[Yuki-Onna - Touching something with HP will do INT*100 ice damage per second. Can be used for 10 minutes a day]

[Fueling the Fire - Increases Damage for Fire attacks by 50%]

[One with Fire - Fire spells take 25% less MP than normal]

[One with Lightning - Lightning spells take 25% less MP than normal]

[The Myth is Real - You have 7 spare lives and will restore you to 50% HP, MP, and SP upon resurrecting 4 minutes later]

[True Heir - Allows you the ability to connect with the Runestone of your home kingdom, or a Runestone should there not be one]

[Over Killer - Due to your ability of overkilling, your threats are more likely to succeed as warnings towards enemies]

[6th Sense [Catra] - You now will know when your fellow Chosen(s) are in trouble]

[Recovery - Your Regens are increased by 50%]

[Control - Allows the use of 4 continuous spells without causing pain]

[Princess of Fire - Multiplies MP by 2, MPR by 1.5, and Fire spells gain 4x EXP]

[Azure Flames - You can use 50% more MP to increase a fire spell's power by 100%. Doing so turns your flames into a brilliant blue]

Milestones:

[Genius - All EXP for spells is doubled]

[Brilliant - All spells do 25% more damage]

[Hare - Increases movement speed by 25%]

[Cheetah - For 30 seconds every 2 hours, your DEX is increased by 50%]

[Eagle - You can now run on air as long as you remain undisturbed]

[Diamond Body - Decreases damage taken by 60% after resistances]

[Meditated - MPR remains active at 15% while using spells continuously]

[Confident Aura - Those around you will think you know what you are doing]

[Strong - Increases non-magical attacks by 10% and carrying capacity by 25%]

Weapons:

Dark Flame - A Jian that can channel fire magic to increase its power ~ 4100 damage with no added MP

Shadow Piercer - Dual Daggers dark enough to be hidden in shadows ~ 4000 per dagger