Chapter 1: The hated Girl

The rain poured heavily, soaking me and my large white shirt. It was the only thing I had on before I was forced to leave my home.

The thunder roared, causing me to flinch every second. It sounded like canons and the flapping of thunder dragons.

I sat near the road watching giant green lizards pull wagons up and down. There were also rare occurrences of Qi crystal-powered carriage-like vehicles. 

My lifeless eyes gazed at adventurers who gloated about the monsters they slayed or captured.

Their armor was heavy, shiny, and looked sturdy. They all had different weapons: massive axes with glowing gems embedded in their handles, swords almost their entire height, or war hammers in white wraps hanging on their back.

They look… so strong and powerful. I bet they aren't afraid of anything…

Then one very carriage-like jeep stopped in front of me. It was a luxurious one, coated in silver and red.

The door slid back. Sitting inside on a soft red cushion was a man with red hair, dressed in luxurious attire: silver pants, a long-sleeved red shirt, and finally a silver sleeveless jacket.

 He gazed at me. In the opposite seat of him was a man with black hair donned in armor, an adventurer.

The black-haired man eyed me before asking, "Why are you in the rain, young miss?"

I stared at him, then at the vehicle, and back at him. "My dad… don't want me anymore."

"Why is that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know. He started berating me and my mother before kicking us both out."

His eyebrows furrowed as he looked around me, trying to see if my mother was along with me. "Has she too abandoned you?"

I didn't answer but gave a slight nod.

 "Ah… I am indeed sorry to hear that. But, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

With a serious expression, he asked, "Are you a Vlandos?"

I looked at him confused. Despite the fact this was my second chance at life and I wasn't an ignorant 9-year-old, I had no idea what that word meant.

The red-haired man then spoke. "What he means by that is, do you have access to the system?"

Oh, that thing.

I nodded.

The red-haired man leaped down from the carriage, very uncharacteristically of someone of his prestige. He opened an umbrella over me.

 "You see, some people hate your kind." He pointed at the black-haired man. "His mom was also frightened and angry when she found out he had the system. So you aren't alone."

I understood what he meant, but I didn't care for it. I didn't care if he also went through something similar to me, I just wanted to go back home… and listen to Dad tell me tales of when he was a kid.

The black-haired man shrugged. "Do you have the seal?" 

Again, I nodded.

"Can you show it to me?"

I lifted my balled fist towards him before widening my palm, showcasing the ominous red spider seal.

Upon seeing it, the two men's eyes widen in shock. The red-haired man took a step back, scared.

However, The black-haired man quickly drew the sword at his side. "Evil!"

In his eyes was the same hatred and fear that the man I called a father had when he saw it.

I tried to run away, but as soon as I got up, the blade cut deep into the side of my face, making its way to my neck. Then suddenly, the blade stopped.

A shriek escaped my lips as I tumbled on the wet ground. 

It hurts! It hurts!

I looked up, expecting another attack. However, the blade was being held by the red-haired man.

The red haired enthused. "Have you gone mad? This is a child."

"Yes, but her seal! That's no normal seal!"

"I am aware, however, like I just said, she is a child. There is no way you think killing her is the way to go. She has no idea what she got herself into."

"Oh, but I am sure she knows! That seal is more than enough evidence that she has dabbled into things that she shouldn't have!"

"That's enough! Instead, please give me a healing elixir for the child." 

The black-haired man mumbled as he drew his sword back, eyeing the man's bleeding hands and me at the same time.

He moved his hand in the air, where it suddenly moved like an eclipse of water. From it, he pulled a red veil of healing elixir.

My hand was still clenched to my face, the pain still loud. I gripped harder as I desperately tried to keep in tears that rained down my cheeks.

It hurt too much.

"Look." He tried to give it to me, but I immediately kicked back, scared.

The red-haired man smiled as he showed me his bleeding hands. "Trust me, I am not an enemy."

How can you expect me to trust you, a damn stranger?!

But, he did stop the black haired man, injuring himself in the process. 

Still, I shook my head. "I don't need it… I can do it myself."

A red aura coated my hands as the wounds on my face slowly healed.

Shock washed over the black-haired man's face, but before he could do anything, the red-haired man stood between us, making sure his back faced the other man.

The red-haired man asked me, both fearful and curious. "You… can heal?"

I nodded. I didn't understand his fear. But it was clear that such powers weren't looked upon kindly.

"That's… that's interesting. Tell me, what's your name?"

"Vernisha…" I was pretty sure I was no longer a Holinstone since I was kicked out of home.

"I see. What do you think of the name, Vernisha Starworth?'

I cocked my head, confused. 

"Do you want to become one of my children? I, Goldbon Starworth, son of the 7th-ranked adventurer and hero of the Terrafall Kingdom." He smiled.

I gazed at the adventurers and then back at him. I honestly didn't really care for his offer, but there was something I was curious about.

"Will that make me strong? Strong enough to not fear anything?" Whether it's people like the black-haired man, my father, or being left alone.

"Yes."

11 years later. 

I woke up to the morning sunlight piercing through my window. The curtains waved as the cool breeze came all the way to me.

Nothing felt better than sleeping after a long night of chess matches. I kicked off the bed, landing on the vanished floor with an extra loud thump. 

I scratched my long brown hair, getting the strains out of my face before looking at the physical calendar that was pinned to the wall.

Oh. It's finally Meriko, the 45th.

"Huh. I am old enough to become an adventurer…" I blinked a couple of times, completely surprised. I honestly thought I was turning 20 tomorrow.

I can actually become an adventurer… 

"I can finally become an adventurer!" I couldn't keep my excitement down, waking anyone that would have been asleep.

Goldbon wouldn't have minded. He was the only person other than me that remained in the house after all, with the exception of servants of course.

I lifted my hand to the ceiling. With a glow of black from my left-hand seal, the blob of darkness that functioned as security was sucked into it.

I opened my bookshelf and took the tool I always went outside with; my black glove, and a brand new golden mask.

Afterward, I fitted the glove to my left hand, covering my seal, and threw the mask in my inventory.

That was everything I needed. Everything else was in my inventory.

I rushed out to the dining room where Goldbon was eating a loaf of bread while one of the green-skinned Punicho women poured him a cup of tea.

It was almost silly how he preferred simple bland bread for breakfast.

"Thank you," he told her as he sipped it.

So she was the new maid? I thought as I gazed at her weird floating braids.

 He really liked Punchios because of their hair, since they moved like tendrils. Personally, it always creeped me out. It baffled me he could spend the whole day just looking at it.

Please don't be a fetish of his.

He noticed me and smiled, "You know, I heard your muffled shout. If I said it didn't worry me, I would be lying."

"Wow. And you didn't rush in to see if I needed saving?"

He shrugged. "One less child to take care of."

I rolled my eyes. "I am pretty sure I am the last one who hasn't moved out yet." 

Which was ironic since I was moving out in the next hour.

"Zero is better than none eh?" He smirked.

"Funny."

"Anyway, what was it about? Did you stomp your toe on the corner again, for the tenth time?" he asked as he sipped more tea.

It annoyed me when he brought that up as if it didn't only happen when I was 12 and 14, respectively.

I took a seat facing him. "Nah, it was just the fact I am finally twenty, and we both know what that means." I rested my chin on my folded hands.

"What? I am pretty sure you are turning 19…"

He went deep into thought, even pulling out a marks-stone, a tablet-like device that ran on Qi crystals. The device projected a calendar. "Oh my, You really are 20!"

This man… "Please tell me you are joking."

"I honestly wish I was." He sighed. "To think you have grown up so fast…"

"Time moves fast, am I right?" I shrugged.

"Too damn fast. With how things are going, I am going to have one foot in the grave in the blink of an eye. You better be ready to heal my old body by then–"

"Please don't joke about that." I caught him off.

I hated when he referred to my healing powers being used on people when he knew the effects it had. His jokes about getting old and dying were depressing enough, even if it was just nature. 

"Right Right, sorry ." He cleared his throat. "So… I know how much you hate breakfast and all, but Miss Hunah was telling me about this certain recipe in her culture called the Formans gate, and I think you should try it!"

I blinked, confused.

Why was he talking about food right now?

"Dad." It felt respectful to call him that. I wasn't sure why, since he didn't have an issue with being called Goldbon.

The woman, who was Hunah handed him the soup with nothing but fig, and… animal eyeballs.

"First of all," I stared at it. "Just… no."

"Oh! But they are not real eyeballs. They are from a plant. When its seeds are dried up, it looks like this," Dad said, fascinated.

He was someone who always wanted to learn more about the world. Cuisine, monsters, monster zones, the system, Vlandos, everything. It was most definitely where Katie, my older sister(not biologically) got her curiosity side from.

But, I didn't want to keep this going on forever. I had to tell him now.

"I want to— I am going to become an adventurer, today," I told him.

My heart raced as I saw his smile slowly fade away. He didn't even say anything. He just looked at the table and tapped on it.

"I said—" I was about to repeat myself.

"I heard what you said Vernisha. I think it included you being suicidal?"

I knew this was going to happen. I often wondered what he thought I meant by wanting to become strong 11 years ago.

"I am pretty sure you wouldn't have to worry about me getting killed. I am somewhat hard to kill, literally, not figuratively." I reminded him.

"That's what you think. You have heard the calls sent by Ferzan! You know how often he thought he was going to get killed on a quest or something went bad with the dungeon, or a rare monster was suddenly trying to kill everyone in the zone? Not only that…" His fist tightened. "The number of times other adventurers tried and almost killed him for what he had!"

"Yes, I know. But—"

"But what? He knew you also wanted to become an adventurer, that's why he kept those calls and made sure you were there when he relayed them… so that you would change your mind about becoming one. He doesn't want to see his little sister die."

"Well, he sucked at that. He shouldn't have mentioned all the cool shi– Stuff he got if he wanted to kill my interest. But nope, he boasted about how he gained the power to teleport at level 200, and most importantly… How much people respect him? They respect him because of how strong he is!" I took a deep breath. "I want that. I want to be strong so that people respect me."

He didn't know what to say. Instead, he looked around before asking, "Why don't you become a monster researcher like your sister? They are very respected."

"First off, they wouldn't let someone like me join their ranks. And if I was allowed to wear a mask to conceal my identity, what do you think they would do to me when they find out who I am?" I presented my left hand to remind him of the seal.

He clicked his tongue. "As long as I am alive, nothing."

"You know that's a lie. Either way, those two jobs give different kinds of respect. A monster researcher gets respect because of its prestige. A strong adventurer? People respect you because… there are consequences if they don't. I want power. The kind of power where people think twice before they say nasty things to you—or try to harm you—or trick you—or attempt to kill you." My fist tightened as I recalled those countless experiences.

"You want people to fear you?" He stared.

I sighed. "Not the tyrant kind of fear." I tapped on the table, before asking him, "Do you remember when I first met you, and that man tried to kill me?"

He nodded.

"He feared me, but that fear was built on hatred and prejudice. The fear you command has kept me alive, but it didn't change the attempts made on my life. I had to run for my life so many times in your own house. It's sick to think about. So… being powerful is just the right way to go. Like, your dad for example, no one but people on his level would ever try to harm or disrespect him. And he is so strong, there is barely anyone on his level."

He sighed. "Just… promise me you will be safe."

"I will. Like I said—"

"You are kinda hard to kill? Yeah I know, it's somewhat your mantra." He smiled bitterly.

I stood up. "And… don't think I don't appreciate your concern and love. I really do. Because of your kindness, I am alive, healthy, and eat well."

"Hmph. You could have shown your gratitude by listening to me more when you were younger instead of being so unruly."

"Hah."

I then headed to the door, but he stopped me.

What's it this time?

"Do you have any money for your new life?" He asked.

I still had 34 steel pints(4-inch long tiny rods) from last week when I went to purchase ice cream, which was only half as good as the ones back on Earth.

"Vernisha….?" He called on me, noticing I was lost in thoughts.

 "Nope!" I answered.

Technically it wasn't a lie since the money was going to be needed for adventurer expenses, and those expenses were huge.

"You are lying to me, ain't you?"

"Yes, pops."

________________________________________________________________________

I left the massive mansion on my monster; Rorsan. To be honest, it was basically a fusion between a bull and a horse, along with heavy shells all over it. Since it was only in its first evolution it didn't look monstrous. 

Level: 16

Height: 1 meter tall

Weight: 138 pounds

Family tree: Vasuan

Type: null

Attributes: Normal & Earth

While traveling, I encountered some people on the way to the city of Sundawn, the capital of the Terrafall kingdom. 

I gave a nod as I made my way through them. I tried to do a quick scan of their bodies to see any master seals; the normal ones all Vlandos had which was a white 'M' unlike my creepy black spider one.

Huh. None of them had any, huh. I guess they are just normal people.

After thirty minutes of traveling and looking at the clear blue sky, I reached a distance from the city gate—far enough for the guards to not notice me.

I got off my monster before touching its skin. It turned into black energy before getting sucked into my seal.

I then fixed my mask on my face before approaching the guards stationed at the gate. 

"The mask, take it off," One of the heavily armored men said.

I did as he said, showcasing half my face. When he saw it, his eyes widened in shock.

"Daughter of Goldbon. It's… interesting to see you," he said, suppressing disgust and anger in his voice.

"Thanks," I said as the towering black gates opened for me to enter.

Once I stepped foot on the cobblestone road, the beauty of the city made itself known to me.

Adventurers walked up and down. People of many different cultures interacted with each other; some trying to beat the language barrier or the accent one.

There were Punchios, Lizard men, and Julioes, they were pink bubble-gum-like humanoids. To be frank, they looked like Kid Buu from Dragon Ball Z went on a breeding spree and made an entire species.

From a near distance were stalls selling cone-shaped apples(Aljuni), and other weird fruits, like cherries that changed shape rapidly.

I bought an Aljuni from a merchant since I haven't tasted one in years. 

Blue juices ran down my chin as I bit into it. It tasted… like mango but mixed with grapes.

Bah, this was picked before it matured! It was supposed to taste mainly like grapes!

I grew a couple of Aljuni trees when I was obsessed with their flavor and wanted to attempt to make my own ice cream business. Obviously, the business failed before it started. Who would have wanted to buy anything from me? 'The evil child.'

Yet, despite the taste, I still ate it as I made my way to the massive building with the "Adventurers Guild" label on it. The official name was actually, 'Humans & Vlandos Jobs Cooperation.'

As I made my way to it, many shops catering to adventurers were seen—equipment shops, items shops, blacksmith shops, etc. You could get about any weapon, armor, or elixir you wanted.

I didn't need to buy any, yet.

I entered the adventurers guild along with many others who were donned in various types of armor and had weapons at their side. 

Despite the fact every adventurer had an inventory, they often loved to display their most powerful or expensive weapons for status.

"I wouldn't lie to you… I am never going to try to kill an orc again in my life. The exp just isn't worth it." Some parties chatted.

While others choose jobs from the quest board according to their ranks.

I didn't care to listen and simply made my way to the receptionist who had a white shirt and black pants; the guild's employees' attire.

 She looked like she didn't get sleep for a long time.

The receptionist noticed me and was confused by my mask for a second before greeting me, "Hello! You are new here, I take it?" 

"Yes. I want to become an adventurer," I said as I placed my birth certificate on the desk.

She took a look at the birth certificate. Her smile immediately broke upon reading my name, and instant fear covered her face.

"Oh. Oh." Then she tried to force back her smile as her eyes gazed at my left hand which had a glove on.

"Normally… we ask for proof that you are a Vlandos, but I don't think that's necessary." 

She placed a tablet-like device on the counter which had a bunch of special gemstones for its surface. 

 "We are going to need to record information about you to make your adventurers' card."

I touched the surface of it, which caused words to project from it.

Vernisha Starworth

20 years old

Level: 59

Rank: Junior adventurer

 Total monsters: 35

When she saw my rank and level, she blinked a couple of times, confused and then annoyed. 

A person's rank was determined by levels and updated automatically.

With a click of the tongue, she asked me, "You are aware that… it's illegal to level up, and capture monsters before you have registered with the adventurer guild?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"So… Why?"

"Because I wanted to do it."

And I was aware I could get away with it. However, it was truly for self-defense since some people really really liked trying to cut my neck off. I refused to stay vulnerable because the law said so.

She sighed. "It's only because you are the foster daughter of our hero's son that you are getting away with this…"

"Will that create issues for you?" I asked, concerned. 

She shook her head. "Of course not. The elites always get away with stuff like this."

Well, at least it wasn't going to make her job harder.

"Oh. Sorry about the trouble."

She muttered under her breath, "Then die…"

"What?" 

She realized I heard her and was shaken for a second.

I dismissed it, accustomed to this kind of stuff. "Never mind, what is the next process?"

"W-we are going to need to take a picture of you. You would also need to remove your mask for it." She pointed to one of four doors. "You can take the picture in that room over there."

With a nod, I went to take my picture which was done by a very old and massive camera which was powered by Qi crystals. Basically, everything that ran on electricity on Earth was run by those crystals in this world.

After that, the receptionist used my picture to make my license. When I got it, I couldn't suppress the massive grin on my face from behind the mask!

I was now an adventurer! It was extremely anti-climatic how I became one, but who cared?!

"For the monster-encyclopedia, it would cos—"

Before she could finish, I placed 2 bronze pints on the table. "Here." 

She gave me a huge brown book with a white 'M' in the middle of it. Worry was apparent in her eyes, and her hand trembled.

"Don't worry, I am not going to harm you," I assured her as I placed the book in my inventory.

She said with surprise, "Oh of course! Hahah. I– I thought you were going to tell me that you already owned one."

Sure...

"Oh, I see." I had one, but I accidentally burnt it a year ago!

Her eyes then moved to a small clear pyramid structure that functioned as a communication line in this world for non-Vlandos. She stared at it for a long time before looking at a huge man with two axes at his side on the bench, who also had the guild's uniform on.

She raised an eyebrow, confused, "I don't remember him… Must be new," she muttered under her breath before turning her focus back onto me.

"Despite the fact you are not a novice Adventurer, because of customs and to avoid lawsuits, you will be assigned to a monster zone guide along with a party for today only."

"Is that absolutely necessary?" 

She bit her lips. "Um…"

"I am taking that as a yes? I am not making a threat by the way. I am genuinely curious. "

 Since she had a preconceived idea of the kind of person I was, I had to make it clear that I wasn't going to hurt her—again.

"Well, Very much so. It's not simply the rules, but the law. I would really like to not lose my job and go to jail."

I dropped my shoulder in disappointment and just accepted my fate. "Okay."

I took a seat as I waited for this party to be revealed. Sadly, it didn't take long for a heinous man donned in cheap leather armor to approach me.

 "Ah, what's ya' name little miss?" he leered at me.

"Batman." 

"What?"

"Spider-man. Don't forget the hyphen," I responded while barely paying attention to him. 

The man grabbed me by the shirt in anger. "Don't play with me you little brat!"

I stared back into his eyes. "Or what? You tick off the adventurers here?"

 As I asked that, I was drawing my short sword from my inventory, preparing for anything violent—not that I needed to.

Everyone around looked at him with ugly gazes, even the higher-ranked adventurers.

He released his grip on me while looking around anxiously. It was stupid to make yourself seem like a piece of shit where networking was extremely vital. 

"Wow. You are interesting." A big man with two axes at his side in the guild's outfit approached us. He was the man the receptionist had looked at.

Now I had a better look at him, I realized I saw him before. He was one of the many who helped fend off the monster invasion of the capital six years ago. I recalled seeing him risk his life to save the kids and the elderly.

He continued. "Oh well, the name is Yanson. I will be the guide. Lucky for us, the last party member just reached." He pointed at a woman with blond hair.

She smiled as she made her way towards us.

"Hello! It's nice to meet you all!" Her accent was very heavy on 'I' and 'T', and her skin was light brown. She was definitely from the Holvious Queendom. 

It always surprised me when residents from Holvious chose to come to Terrafall when their homeland's quality of life was better(lower taxes, better health care, etc). Maybe the fear of the active volcano was scary enough? 

Yanson nodded and then looked at me with an odd smile. "We will be going to the great monster forest since the monsters near its entrance are the weakest in all the monster zones in this Kingdom."

We made our way out of the city via a giant lizard-driven carriage. It was a much cheaper ride than the crystal-powered vehicles; only the elites could afford those. 

While traveling, the heinous kept yapping about how we should be happy to witness his humble beginnings. For he was going to become rich, famous, and have tons of women branded with his name

Needless to say, I wish he gets his head beaten off while in the forest.

 We traveled far out in a forest before reaching a section where blue and white energy were visible, like a wall.

Even the Lizards, a normal animal looked on in fear; its instincts screaming danger was ahead.

We got off the carriage. 

The guide drew his axe and pressed forward. "Stick close together."

We walked through the 'wall' of energy. Suddenly, there were micro spikes all over my skin, reminding me of the number of times I went here on my own, against dad wishes.

My heart accelerated as violent encounters with monsters reappeared in my head. 

Okay. Time to level up.

"Koww!" From the sky, a small black bird with four wings bellowed as it saw us.

Inspect.

Level: 6.

Tch, it was weak.

"Oh, this one is mine!" The heinous man shouted as he pointed his sword at it.

It flew down, but it wasn't alone, it came with three others of the same kind, each targeting us, respectively.

I stepped back, catching a glimpse of the guide who again had an odd smile on his face as he looked at me. Only when I saw him did he look away.

He was bad news.

Before I could focus much on him, I dashed to the side, avoiding the bird that suddenly glowed a silver aura before shooting down towards me with the intent to put a hole in my head.

It got confused as it struck the ground. With it being vulnerable, I swiped my sword at its head, cutting deep into it.

It screeched before its beak literally shot toward my face, nearly cutting my left cheek in half. Instead, it tore a piece of my mask off.

Damn it! I grabbed the mask, preventing it from breaking as I angrily drove my sword through the monster's head, killing it.

[EXP has been awarded to you and your set of monsters]

[Level 60]

Oh? I needed that little amount of EXP to level up?

I guess it was good I killed it. I didn't care about capturing something so weak. Besides I had one of its kind in my arsenal. But there was something of greater concern, my damn mask! I didn't have a spare one!

But, since I was at that level, that meant I could get a new perk. I envision my options since it worked by sending knowledge to your brain.

 [Quick grower] 

-Gain 10% more EXP from battles

 [Power attuned]

 - +11% special attack

Oh, this was a tough one… 

[Quick grower] it is.

 It wasn't like I had any 'special' attacks. The perk would buff my monsters, sure, but I could upgrade them with items.

Instantly, a power grew in me. The perk was now established. 

"Yeah… that feels really good," I mouthed before looking at the others.

The heinous man had finally pinned down a bird. He was breathing heavily and bleeding heavily from his arms. He pressed his elbow on it, which had his master seal. It glowed yellow as the bird was turned into energy before getting sucked in.

However, with a cracking sound, the bird was spat back outside in its physical form before flying away. Its HP was probably too high.

"What the hell! Come back here!" He screamed at it.

Monsters rarely ever flee—unless you attempt to capture them with the master seal.

However, the woman who had a shield to block the monster's rapid attacks had successfully captured one. 

She smiled as she jumped around.

She was basically the only normal person here. The two others, I didn't trust them for anything.

The guide guy looked at his pyramid communicator before walking forward.

I know you have something planned.

The lady walked up to me as she looked at the corpse before me.

"Oh… Um. Hm." She didn't know what to say. "Uh… Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, and you?"

"Very good!"

I nodded as I held my mask piece tighter. 

The heinous man drank a healing elixir as he expressed his frustration by stomping on the ground.

"Let's move forward again." The guide announced. 

As we did, I made sure to stay behind them, observing them properly, especially the guide. It would have been best to just take him out at that moment, but I wasn't sure how strong he was, so I had to wait for the perfect time to get the hell out of there. If I tried to escape now, and he was truly suspicious, he would attempt to kill me. If I tried to kill him while his guard was down, I would be put on an official bounty list in no time because of the witnesses. 

And I wasn't going to try to kill them. The woman was innocent. The guy? Damn, it was tempting to pull his spine out!

What a headache! 

The heinous man turned towards me. "Wha' the hell are you doing behind us? Oh." He noticed me holding the mask. "Damn. What, you got a bad scar?" He approached.

The lady politely said, "I don't think you should harass her, she must have her own—"

"Shut your dang mouth, foreigner."

He then extended his hand to my mask. "Come on, let me see what you are hiding!"

I grabbed his hand. "Don't touch." I squeezed, applying greater force with each second.

"Stop! What the hell!" He cried in pain.

He was most definitely level one, but I didn't care. He grabbed his knife and tried to stab my hand. But it fell short as I shattered his wrist.

 "That's what you get for—" Before I could finish, intense pain bloomed in my back and chest. 

I stared down at what was deepening into my chest, a sword…

Wha… I turned to look at who was responsible for the stabbing. It was the guide, not to my surprise.

I released my hands off my mask to rip the glove off my hand. I quickly moved my hand towards him, fully intending to kill him!

My seal glowed as intense black energy rippled! But he was too fast. He whipped out his tongue where his master seal was kept. 

What the hell?!

From it, a dog-sized crab monster lunged at my hand and bit so hard that half of my forearm was severed!

In that same moment, the guide quickly slid to my right before plunging his sword deep into my thigh, then stomach, and throat, three times. 

How… How.

It happened so fast that I was left startled as I fell backward.

The two others looked in horror and confusion.

"What…? Why?!" The woman panicked.

 The guide wiped the sweat off his face. 

"I was only told to kill her," he said before stomping on my mask as his crab monster ate away at my arm.

"You are not going to be needing that anymore," He picked up my disconnected left hand and stared at my ominous seal before placing it in a huge envelope. 

 "Honestly, I don't know if to admire your audacity to cosplay as a normal person, or if to be disgusted by it. You are born of evil and will die evil. You agreed to gain power through the exchange of your humanity, and thus, should not be allowed among us," he said as he spat.

Ah… it hurt so much. I was losing so much blood. I knew this would have happened sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to happen this soon.

As I looked at the monster eating away at my shoulder, making its way to my chest, fully intending to eat my entire body to not leave evidence, I thought about the man's words.

He was wrong.

I didn't exchange my humanity for power. I was born with this seal. I never made a bargain or contract with any evil being. I just got unlucky in life.

He turned away.

I really… hated this. But… His guard was finally down. 

Heal.