Aira o trate. To focus on that fleetiion, before she lost the feeling of it. And there erfect tool for that.

  Still, she spent a few moments after Jorihe room before she could move. It couldn't be... For months, she was looking for any signs of magid then, she found it in this piece of craftsmanship... teology of the olden times? How did they get access to the are?

  She cleared her mind and started w through her standard routine. Aira needed her mind to be as sharp aive as possible. The trauma caused by the loss of her magical powers still loomed over her. The void that was left in pce of her mana pool was sg her. So, that's where she directed her mind. When something is so habitual to you, it may be hard to figure out what you have to do to experie. You just see, taste, sense, or... do magie just scoops that so ordinary and so very special energy from their mana pool and forms it into something.

  Aira dove directly into that void, fronting her fears.

  "Energy..." Aira came out of her trance. Hours passed, yet she felt better than at any moment during the more than a month she’d spent in this town. She was wholly rested despite being awake throughout the night. "Something that I felt before..."

  However, Aira didn't have a ce to explore it further as Li burst into her room. "Hey! Good m!" she excimed, almost jumping because of her excitement. "It's unbelievable that Elder Jorirusted this device to you! They're such rare and powerful objects! It seems that he has great hopes in you!"

  Aira had spent the entire night practig with the device—both by using it aating with it, trying to find a deeper e. But she wasn't able tain the sensation that had startled her when Jorin was with her in the room. As if responding to Li's excitement, she carefully cradled the tablet in her hands, feeling its weight and smooth surface beh her fiips. Trying to recall that strange energy jolt.

  As she prepared to turn the devi, a sensation that had already bee familiar washed over her. It was like reuniting with an old friend after a long separation.

  Aira's meditation routine on the previous evening reminded her of something profound. Something that had always bee in her life. It was as stant as the air she breathed. When she was transferred to this world, she lost that feeling. But it was so hard to pinpoint what exactly it was until the previous evening. Then, it shone again like a single ray of light in a dark room. The kind of light that gives you hope, even when you 't explore it fully yet.

  A crag energy filled the air around it as the device returo life. It was as if a spark of magic had burst from within, though Aira believed that not to be possible. There shouldn't be any magi this world.

  She focused ily, willing the e between her mind and the device to get stronger.

  However, for all the power hidden ihe gadget, its surface showed only a jumbled mess of symbols and distorted images.

  With a deep sigh, Aira showed it to Li.

  "Elder’s beard!" excimed Li. "Did you break it?"

  But as soon as she took hold of it, everything snapped into pce. Once again, the surface showed the standard texts and images.

  With a curious look, Li hahe gadget back to Aira. All the letters on the s shifted and transformed once again. The device acted like a living being, responding to their touch. And it seemed to favor Li and dislike Aira.

  Li was both excited and worried: " you... Do you influe in some way? You know I'll have to report that, right? That's exactly what the Elders were looking for. They may finally give you some sd stuing about your future!"

  Aira grabbed her steboard and wrote: "Please don't. Give me a couple of days to experiment with it."

  "Alright," answered Li with hesitation. "But not more than a couple of days. I have my duties and responsibilities."

  With that, they tried to make the gadget work in Aira's hands, but nothing seemed to help. Even another round of meditation wasn't affeg the distortion. And after several futile attempts, the womeuro their routine lessons with books and the steboard.

  ***

  Aira hid her excitement well while Li was with her. But as soon as the ranger left, Aira dove into her meditation routine again. The o figure out the power behind the device was intoxig. Even more than what she experienced during her meeting with Jorin. Now, she only had to sharpen her senses and focus on that feeble power she felt emanating from the device.

  She could almost grasp that fleeting e, but it remained out of her reach. Whenever her focus wavered or she became distracted, the sensation diminished momentarily and faded away.

  Minutes and hours passed, and exhaustioook Aira. But before abandoning her experiments for the day, she made the final push. Finally, she sensed a shift in the energy around her and around the device. And it brought profound ges. ges within herself. Once again, like in her previous life, her body felt invigorated and alive, pulsing with are powers. It was almost like something within demanded her to jump a her recovered abilities. After weeks of feeling sluggish and unrespohis vitality surge was astounding to her.

  Aira opened her eyes and looked at the tablet.

  ========== System Loading... ==========

  "Damn!..." Aira growled, not hiding hoy she was. "I did it!" she thought. "There is a System in this world! Now, let's see what I’ve got."

  ========== Character Status and Skill Overview ==========Name: AiraRace: UndeadCss: NecrokiiforcerLevel: 100

  "Oh, well, at least I got my huh level," she thought. "And it seems that these humans were right about that uhing, though. The System firms it."

  It took Aira a moment tister that the door to her room had snapped open, so focused was she on the devid regaining access to the System. Before she could react, several men stormed in, one forcefully kig the gadget away from her.

  A sharp jolt of surprise and fear surged through her body as two other men quickly grabbed arained her, binding her with ropes. Without the devi her hands, she momentarily lost all the boosts to her stats that had energized her so intensely mere moments ago. Once again, she was slow and sluggish, not able to rebuff the assault in time.

  Somehow, the loss of powers was even more devastating now than the first time, right after she came to her senses on her first day in this new world.

  "Don't move," one of the men ordered, his voice cold and anding. She tried to speak, to ask what was happening. However, the sounds that emerged were still the same guttural growls, unintelligible to the humans.

  She was frantically trying to figure out what was happening. Had Li told the Elders about the glitg tablet? Aira felt angry, betrayed, and sad that the only person in this town who seemed to really care about her would want to hurt her. And what about all these rangers? The first thing they did was kick the gadget out of her hands. Were they here to deny Aira access to any simir devices? Or was it something else?

  The men grabbed her roughly. They smelled of exertion and were breathing heavily. Their strong arms pulled her out of the room into the chaos outside. At the st moment, she stole a g the device's surfad saw that it wasn't showing anything on its s. At least they wouldn't be able to learn her secret.

  The night was filled with the sounds of fighting—shouts, screams, the metallig of bdes, and even occasional bangs from the le ons these humans reserved for their most critical fights. Through the open windows, Aira could see the fires bzing in several parts of the settlement. They cast a flickering, hellish glow over the chaotic se. But ohing was settled. She wasn't the only target of the attack. Maybe it wasn't about her and the gadget after all?

  Aira was led through the winding corridors of the building by the rangers. Everywhere, she saw signs of violence, with doors shattered, windows broken, and dots littering the floors. The rangers held her tight, but still, her feet slipped on the floors covered with blood. The town hall was as much a se of mayhem as the settlement that surrou.

  Finally, they reached their destination—the cil Hall. Against all odds, Aira hoped to see the panel of Elders gathered there, but of course, that wasn't what awaited her. A single figure stood ominously at the ter of the Hall, his presenanding the space with an air of authority and distent. Garrick.

  "Secure her over there," he ordered, his voice hard and full of hatred.

  The men obeyed and tied Aira to a heavy wooden chair, one of the remnants of the cil of Elders. They positio directly in front of their leader. And as soon as Aira was seated and tied down, they stepped back, f a loose perimeter around the room.

  Garrick looked at her with a mixture of pt and frustration. He began to pace slowly, his eyes never leaving her. "You must be w what's happening," he said. And his voice was filled with bitterness as if he regretted that he ushed to take measures that were so drastic. "You see, I have grown tired of the spineless Elders. Their indecision. Their reluce to take necessary measures—it's been infuriating. You 't even imagine how long I had to ehat!"

  Aira's eyes followed Garrick as he paced, her mind trying to piece together his iions. He stopped walking and stood in front of the long cil table. Garrick pu angrily with his giant fist, and turo face Aira, his expression darkening even more.

  "This game they decided to py with you, undead filth, it was the final nail in the coffin of my patiehey wao study you, to use you in their political games. But an undead be useful only when it's destroyed. A beast, obviously intelligent, capable of lighting a fire and reading a book. That's pure insanity! Yet they wao 'uand' you. Weak. Foolish." He spat the words out, his anger evident.

  He leaned closer, his eyes narrowing. "I o take trol into my own hands. This town requires a strong leader. Someone who isn't afraid to make difficult decisions. The other Elders are too soft, too afraid of ge. But not me. I see the bigger picture."

  Aira's heart sank as she realized the full extent of the situation. Ihis wasn't just an atta her but a coup. Garrick was orchestrating a revolt, using her appearan the town as a catalyst to seize power. Was it the reason he allowed her to go out and walk along the streets of the town?

  She growled in frustration.

  Garrick looked at her, grinned, and tinued his monologue, his voice rising with fervor. "Exactly, you are just a beast. These people need dire, and I will provide it. The rangers, the Elders, all will fall in line or be removed. But first, I o get rid of you." He smiled. "A smart undead 't be a good sign."

  He turo his rangers. "Take her aut her in a cell and her. We'll deal with her in the m."

  Aira's senses were overwhelmed as she was dragged to a new pce—prison. Her head inning after Garrick's angry outburst, and the weight of steel s around her wrists and ankles made it hard for her to focus on anything else. Once again, she had th it with lowered base stats.

  Her guards shoved Aira into a cell, attached the shackles to the wall, and smmed the door shut. She was left in darkness. The only source of light a small barred window, which didn't help much as it was already the early hours of the night. She could hear the distant sounds of other prisroaning and g out in pain, adding to her already heighteate of ay. Who were they? Anyone she knew?

  Leaning against the cold, damp stone wall, Aira took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. Panic threateo e her, but she khat keeping a clear mind was the only thing that could allow her to escape this dire situation. But as she tried to formute a pn, she couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that time was running out for her. Now, when she khe System existed in this world, there had to be a way to have a stable e with it. She just o find it before it was too te.

  ***

  The night passed in a haze of fear and uainty. Aira's thoughts drifted to Li and the other rangers she suspected to be in the more moderate camp. Had they survived the attack? Would anyone e to her aid? Would they even want to help an undead? And was Li among the people who plotted against her?

  She pushed these questions aside, fog on the immediate threat. All that wouldn't matter if she didn't restore her powers. Ae all her efforts, she couldn't recover that e she felt with her tablet. It seemed that the physical tact rerequisite. But where would she be able to find a gadget, let alone Jorin's tablet?

  As the first m light broke through the narrow window of Aira's cell, the heavy wooden door creaked open, and several rangers barged in. They yanked Aira abruptly to her feet and marched her out into the murky light of the early m. The settlement was eerily quiet. It looked almost dead and abandoned after the st evening's otion or just pared to its usual bustling energy.

  The reason became apparent when Aira was brought to the tral square. Several rge wooden stakes had beeed there. Surrounding them was a makeshift ptform, hastily put together with rough-hewn pnks. And the rest of the space was filled with what seemed like the whole popution of the town.

  The air was thick with the acrid smell of sweat, m breath, smoke and burning wood, but the tter wasn't ing from the pce of execution—the whole town seemed enveloped in it. Aira's heart pounded as she was dragged towards one of the stakes. Her feet stumbled over uneven ground and the steps leading to the ptform.

  She wasn't the first oo be brought there; several men had already beeo the other posts.

  Aira looked around the square, searg for any familiar faces. Maybe Li was there? But all she saw were grim expressions and averted gazes. As if nobody wao aowledge what was about to happen.