Once More Unto The Breach

Frankly? Feeling a little restless now, which is kind of ironic given this is basically what I've been looking to accomplish the entire time... Just up here, sitting pretty in a tower behind human lines. And strangely enough I find myself wanting to leap into the fray.

Mia had recovered a good amount of mana by now, the blue emanating from her body had long since dissipated. Maybe, forty or so minutes ago. And now she was itching to go, for every moment she stood on the ledge the urge to jump down was rising. It wasn't the pull that was compelling her either, it was her own psyche. 

She was acutely aware that something had changed in her during her time in the forest, whatever it was she wasn't sure that she liked it. But the fact remained that it was here to stay. Some more cautious and reserved part of her had changed gradually over the week or so she'd spent fighting for her life. Part of her had come to enjoy the conflict.

I... really shouldn't just go in but... I also want to get stronger. Having my own agency suppressed isn't a good feeling. If I need to get stronger to keep it, that's what I'll do. So, yes, I'm going in again. Denounce and renounce yourself Mia, you're a fool. But you'll at least be a strong fool. There's one thing I need to do first though. 

Just, where is the damn thing-ah got it, right, "Low, Link, Low, Translation." And cast.

"Hello?"

Mira jumped a bit, but Mia had made sure to wait until after they had finished casting one of their spells. She wasn't sure if these combination runes would explode like "inscribed" ones would. But she wasn't sure she wanted to take the chance. 

"Goodness you spooked me! Think you could give me a little warning next time?" The mage held a hand to their chest for a moment before letting it fall away.

"That's uh, exactly what I'm doing right now? I'm letting you know that I'm going back into the fight." 

"Wait, what? Why the hell would you do that?" They stared at Mia incredulously

"Because I want to get stronger, I can't live how I want to otherwise. I'll come back to the front gate when this pull stops, please tell people to... Not kill me? I'd appreciate it. I don't have all that much mana to use so I'm going to turn this spell off now. See you later?"  And with that she stopped the spell.

"I... Suppose. See you soon then, make sure you don't die. I'd be very upset if you snubbed my curiosity like that."

Snubbed your curiosity? Seriously? That's what you're worried about? Not me snubbing my life? Mia rolled her eyes and peaked down at the ground. Alright, I'll grab onto the wall there, leap off, land on that big bull thing, hit the ground and start fighting. Three, two, one, go! 

True to her mental planning, MIa leapt off of her perch on the wall, gliding towards a specific patch of it. She lodged her claws in, winced as the dull throbbing returned, then pushed off of the wall in the direction of her landing pad. A monster that was effectively a raging bull. Charging through the hordes of monsters and gradually making way towards the human line. 

She hit the mark, digging her claws into the bulls back. Well... I'm here to level up, killing monsters gets me levels... Eventually, and these people are going to kill it anyways... Sorry Mr. Bull, you just had the misfortune of meeting me I suppose. Mia dug her claws in a little further, she felt bone. A very specific important bone. The bull was paralyzed a few moments later. Then it died another few moments later. 

Quickly she dropped down onto the ground, and she proceeded to the third part of her landing plan. Start fighting. Her stats were well above the average from all the evidence she'd seen, so she engaged fearlessly. An attack would come her way, deftly dodged and she sent another one gift wrapped at her attacker, they had a jolly good time opening it while it also opened up their skulls. 

Sometimes she'd simply kill something before it even got a chance to look at her, other times she'd weave out of the way of an attack coming her way without even looking at it, feeling a prickling sensation at the back of her mind when one such instance occurred. Then of course she'd make sure to eviscerate the offending beast.

Such patterns continued for a few minutes, before Mia ran into something a little tougher. Only a little bit tougher though, it managed to take a few hits, delivered one or two of it's own... Though they were taken with minimal issue. It fell quickly but it was a reminder of Mia's own mortality. The monster which was decidedly stronger then the rest deserved a bit of attention in her book. 

It was one of the few more mythical creatures Mia had seen, being a fox with three tails. If tales she'd heard were to be believed Mia figured it's race could get stronger than that cause three tails wasn't nine. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with that though who knows? Regardless she didn't take long to think about it, instead carrying right on with her slaughter. 

Five hundred monsters killed, acquiring experience!

Level up!

+8 strength, +8 dexterity, +9 constitution, +8 wisdom, +8 capacity, +8 intelligence, +4 charisma, +5 manipulation.

Level up!

+8 strength, +8 dexterity, +9 constitution, +8 wisdom, +8 capacity, +8 intelligence, +4 charisma, +5 manipulation.

Level up!

+8 strength, +8 dexterity, +9 constitution, +8 wisdom, +8 capacity, +8 intelligence, +4 charisma, +5 manipulation.

Ooo, very nice! Five hundred kills so far in just a week huh? Look at how far you've come from scampering about this very same field in terror-she minced some boar like monster-running for your life! It's enough to make a tiny wolf cry, but not this one. 

She continued to dash around, cutting down monster after monster. There were only so many times that you could describe "killed a monster" without it getting repetitive, so to summarize, Mia killed monsters. She killed many of them, some were weak, some could take a hit or two, but she noticed that all the ones who were actually strong tended to avoid her. Apparently, you didn't get that strong without having the smarts to keep yourself alive. The badger she'd fought earlier was the odd one out in this situation.

If I want to fight stronger enemies in the hopes of getting experience from it, I'll probably need to specifically mark and hunt down the monsters I want to kill. A good tell for that would probably be just paying attention to any monsters that decide to not attack me when presented the chance. So that's what I'll have to do I suppose. I can definitely pay a bit more attention to things other than myself, I don't really think most monsters could even hurt me any more anyways...

So, true to her thoughts, Mia began to put less focus on murder death kill and instead payed more attention to the monsters around her instead of those in her immediate vicinity. How did she accomplish this without eating constant hits? Well, I have stealth you know that right? 

She hadn't used it in a bit, but Mia cast a shade spell, felt her mana drain precipitously because that still hadn't exactly recovered that much, but used it without issue. She stepped into the liquid darkness, and vanished from sight along with a fair amount of monsters around her when they inevitably got splashed by some of the high power shade. 

Additionally, Mia had been getting peppered by arrows from a few humans up on the wall, but at this point they were mostly negligible when compared to her shiny stats. So she hadn't bothered to even acknowledge them because she easily evaded each one. That well of projectiles dried up pretty quickly after she wasn't visible any more though. She would blame them, but it wasn't like her presence as "hey not an evil baddie don't kill" had been actually announced yet. No harm no foul.

So, back to what she had planned to do. Mia stalked around the field, observing minutia and major conflict alike. Her current goal was just to find any monsters that were ripping through their "comrades" with ease. If they passed the first check, observe them for like, twenty maybe thirty seconds. If they were picking and choosing their battles, pick one for them, herself. If they were tearing through hordes of fodder with no issue? Put herself in its path. If it was just a one off and it struggled against other monsters? Ah well, false alarm.

The first instance of such a monster occurred after what Mia figured was about two minutes of searching. A feline about twice her size, which by the way accounted for the size of like, a small-medium dog, had just finished tearing through six or so fodder monsters. Then, curiously enough, dipped low into another creature's shadow and emerged on the other side strutting with confidence. This one had her a little more curious instead of bloodlusted, so she planned to watch it for a bit more than thirty or so seconds. 

Funnily enough, this guy, girl? Eh, doesn't matter. This one's skill set seems to be exactly what mine was a few days ago, just without the magic to compliment it. They go into stealth, stalk a group of monsters for a moment, decides whether to attack them or not and if they do, pounce and take them out quickly. After that, go back into stealth in any way possible. Presumably it's got good dexterity and strength, but probably not much constitution to compliment that. A true assassination build! I wonder if it did that on purpose or if it's just how its species develops?

Either way, I should probably decide on whether or not to kill it or just move on. It doesn't seem particularly strong, more so that it's just well adapted to survive in a situation like this. I probably wouldn't get much from killing it and it's not the type of monster to even go for a direct conflict against others. You know what? Brain blast, if it's smart enough to act like this can it hold a conversation? I'd rather not kill when it's possible. 

Right, let me just-yup there it is, "Low, Link, Low, Translation." Line it up, got them in sight, and cast.

"Hello!"

The monster almost leapt from it's feet, though it actually stopped itself before it dropped its stealth by mistake. The feedback that Mia got from her spell was weak, like a half formed thought that she couldn't quite understand. It was a whispering scratching feeling at her mind, but it was unintelligible. The monster cat was thoroughly spooked though. As it rapidly glanced side to side even as it glanced side to side trying to discern what had just contacted it.

"Uh, you doing alright?" 

Once again, that dull response she'd gotten moments prior. It was almost... Muted? A small voice she couldn't understand. Wait a moment, what was it again that mage said about me? Why had they tried to use high power mind magic? 

With a thought, Mia cut off her mind magic and thought for a moment. Did Mira use high power mind magic because they thought they wouldn't be able to communicate otherwise? Maybe it's something necessary to communicate with monsters? Let me just try that real quick, I'll have to keep it brief though. I'm gonna take a guess and say my mana will last long enough for like two minutes with a high powered mind magic spell, and I'd also rather not expend all of it. This is just a quick experiment. 

"High, Link, High, Translation" And uh, cast? 

"Hello!" 

"WHAT ARE YOU?" 

"Well that's certainly not the reaction I expected."

"WHAT ARE YOU?" It asked again, in a very monotone voice. 

Eh, I'll humor it, also I'm not getting thoughts blasted into my head unlike the other times I used a high power rune, wonder whats up with that? "Shadow wolf, how about you?"

It didn't seem to actually be expecting an answer because it paused for a moment and huddled close to the ground. "LYNX PROWLER."

"Huh, well that's just fascinating. Alright Mr. and or Mrs. Lynx Prowler, I'm gonna go now, hope you survive all this catch ya lateeeeeer!" 

And cut, no, I'm not going to kill it, why would I kill something I just had a conversation with? I mean, unlike those times I got yelled at by... By other... Monsters... When I understood them... Tell me myself, am I an idiot? 

Mia slapped her muzzle with a paw, dragging it back down to the ground slowly. "Ohhhh myyy god. I could've just talked to Willa normally all that time couldn't I have? Hell I could've just talked to other monsters if I really wanted to. I just ended up tuning them out cause most of the time it was all survival this kill that... I'm... SO dumb... Well, this isn't the time for it Mia. Get back to work.

So says she, so she does. Mia went back on the prowl for things similar to the Lynx she'd spared, this time with full intention to butcher her quarry.