The rogue activated [Quick Step] and could now feel how energy pulsed through her muscles. The energy felt clean, as it ripped through her veins Octavia felt like she was gliding as she moved. Her feet barely touched the ground as she activated her skill once more. Her blood-soaked cloak whipped through the air, as she fired off her skill every time her feet touched the ground.

  A laugh escaped into the air as her heart pounded so hard it rang in her ears. It felt like she was on top of the world. With her newfound power, the woman ripped through the air, closing the distance to the altar.

  It was a simple altar one that used what looked like toppled stone slabs as stairs. Strange glyphs carved into four other rectangular slabs that surrounded a single basin filled with blood. Floating above that blood was a ruby diamond that coruscated with the red light of the mushroom cloud. Red vapor that was no thicker than Octavia’s fingers floated upwards, grasping at the air, before being sucked away into the clouds above.

  Octavia landed and glanced around to see if it was safe to touch the gemstone. The monsters were still fighting in the distance, not even batting an eye at her. She took a deep breath and noticed how the coppery tang of blood didn’t seem as strong. The fire in her chest was still there, roaring, but it felt a little more gentle.

  She glanced upwards at the mushroom cloud and saw that the sky here was an angry red. Sparks of lightning, the same color, ripped through the air with harsh cracks, followed by the distant peal of thunder. The rivers of blood trickled like a stream, towards the altar, circling around it before tapering off and evaporating.

  Octavia stood there, her mind wandering a bit as she watched the landscape. This was life now. A world of mysteries and magic. A life of bloodshed and strife, and something that she had chose to embrace. The rogue raised her chakram to the air, noticing how it felt much lighter in her hands than before. Its edges remained sharp, and the twine handle was soaked with blood.

  It hummed in the blood-soaked air, vibrating. As she stared at it, a thought crossed her mind. Not once had she used her inspect skill on it.

  Octavia’s eyes shined as she stared at her weapon. “Ah, so I can keep you.” She wiped away some blood that had gathered on the ring. “I don’t mind putting in some work if your potential is limitless.” Light scintillated off of its edge as she brought it around to rest it on her shoulder.

  Octavia was no stranger to hard work. She understood that most people would take the easier route. It made sense, after all, and if the system said that upgrading this weapon would be expensive, she didn’t doubt it. That was fine though. She would keep this weapon, no matter what.

  She glanced around the blood soaked plain one last time before turning to the gemstone. She reached out, and her finger grazed its surface. It felt impossibly smooth and warm to the touch.

  A single golden pulse tore through the mushroom cloud, dispelling the blood red rays and cloying miasma. The rivers of blood bubbled and dried up faster than Octavia could blink. In the blink of an eye, the horror of it all vanished, and the landscape went back to normal, save the monsters that were left milling about in confusion.

  The woman glanced around as she held the gemstone in her hand. Shocked at how easy that was. Everything up to this point was a tutorial, but wasn’t it supposed to be harder than this? A sigh left her lips as she glanced down at the bloodstone and used [Inspect] on it.

  Octavia felt let down, and somewhat miffed as she stood there holding the stone. She had expected a challenge, but this was just so easy. She rubbed her thumb over the gem stone before tucking it away into her tool belt. “Whatever, I guess.” The rogue muttered as she fixed the flap.

  A sudden flash of white light drew attention as a single wooden chest spawned into existence. It was simple and what the woman would have expected from a chest. It was knee high, with silver trim across its edges. As annoyed as Octavia was with how the tutorial had been up to this point, at least she got a reward. She squatted down and placed her hands on top of the chest, pushing it open. Golden light spilled out and the woman could have sworn she heard a distant song play.

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  When the light faded, a single grey cloak and a pair of black boots sat at the bottom of the chest. Carefully, she reached down and brought them up.

  Octavia held the duster up, intrigued by it. It was long and easily went down to her shin. The front collar tapered down into a v shape with five black buttons stitched onto the leather. A single small golden chain dangled from the lapels connecting the fabric that dangled from the shoulders, covering the upper portion of the arms like small flaps.

  The woman appreciated it but still felt some disdain bubble to the surface. Where was this when she was wading through all that blood to get here? Plus, why would the system give her boots without socks? What kind of twisted being would do such a thing?

  Grumbling, she took her cloak off and threw the duster on. It felt heavy, yet firm, and it hugged her body nicely. At least it could clean itself from the inside.. She folded the front of the duster back and slid the buttons through the holes. The duster was very cozy, and she enjoyed how it looked on her.

  Next, she checked out the pair of brown boots. They were larger than what she had expected. , easily coming up the middle of her shin. Dull grey strips of metal lined the boots where a shoe string would normally be, with a matching zipper going up the side. On the inside was a strange, fluffy material that looked like brown cotton.

  Octavia shrugged as she slid her foot into the boot. The first thing that came to mind was that it was like standing on a cloud. Not to mention that her foot was surprisingly cool inside, almost as if was vented. Using the straps on the side, the rogue tightened the boots, making them fit snugly against her shin and knee.

  Everything considered, she was mostly happy with what she was given, if not still a touch scorned. She had new clothes that looked badass, and she finally had shoes! No longer would she be stepping on broken sticks with bare skin or suffering from stub toes! The only crime of it all was the fact that socks were not included, but that was a relatively minor point in her current day-to-day operations.

  Once Octavia checked over her duster to ensure everything was in place, she donned her clock, clipping the top of it onto the golden chain, pulling everything together. The rogue closed her eyes, cherishing the warm touch of the sun on her face. At this moment, everything so far had felt right. It was as if this was how life was meant to be lived.

  She opened her eyes and jumped off the altar. The grass was still blood red, but now it crunched under her feet. The sound alerted a few creatures that were left milling about, the closest of which was another velociraptor. Blood soaked its down feathers and pooled beneath its feet. The creature hissed as it took a step forward, it's long curved claw sinking into the dirt below.

  “Now, now, girl. Calm down.” Octavia did her best voice impression of the guy from Jurassic Park as she tried to calm the dinosaur. It was a long shot, but it was better to try to calm the beast down now.. While the fighting was exciting, Octavia had no desire to become a mindless being of slaughter. Yes, it was good to get levels. Defining her life by non stop killing felt shallow, life was more than just killing to gather experience. Though she recognized the irony of it, considering the path she chose.

  The creature tilted its head, its eyes scanning her with a glimmer of intelligence now that the bloody miasma had faded. The raptor warbled, and it eyed the metal chakram, taking a step back.

  “No, I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt me. I’m not a monster.” Octavia slung the chakram around, letting it dangle off of two fingers while it hung behind her back. The first raptor she’d met had attacked her without a second thought, so hopefully now that the ritual was done, the beast could see some reason.

  A hiss escaped from its muzzle as it clacked its teeth together, followed by another warble.

  “I don’t understand what you are trying to say. But let’s just go our separate ways. You live, I live, and we are both happy.” Never in a million years did Octavia imagine she would be having a full on conversation with a dinosaur. The raptor hissed and bobbed its head, eyeing her warily, before turning and limping towards the tree line, favouring its left leg, which was covered in blood.

  Octavia grinned and quickly checked talking to a dinosaur off of her inner child’s bucket list before glancing back at the plains. The monsters were dispersing, with a few of the creatures. staying behind to fight. They were lucky that the rogue was feeling tired and wanted to sleep for a bit, otherwise, she may have picked off a few of the stragglers.. But for now, it was for the best if she caught up with her team.

  Her eyes drifted down to her HUD, and she saw that her stamina bar had sunk to just over half. The rate that it was refilling was significantly higher than when she last checked it, but ? she still felt sleepy. Was stamina not tied into that?

  The rogue sighed as she activated [Quick Step] and ran across the plains. The grass crunched each time she landed, crackling under her feet like styrofoam. As she ran, the beasts scattered, most of them ignored Octavia as she ran, though some raptors gazed at her with hungry eyes.

  Corpses decorated the landscape, and some opportunistic scavengers had taken advantage of it. Some looked like oversized vultures, while others looked like giant house cats. This felt more natural than the animals that were going berserk. It made Octavia curious, however. What if she hadn’t stopped the ritual? It was an interesting thought to ponder on as she ran across the plains to delve back into the forest to find her team.