Welcome to Level 4 (4)

A big question mark is written all over her face. Multiple questions came to her mind but somehow she wasn't entirely against the idea.

"Yes, your grace."

She walked past the tall trees and slowly got closer and closer to the lake. Her yellow eyes gleam in the dark as she strengthens her hold in her spear.

She stopped two steps away from the water. Her heart is beating crazy but the calmness in her face is showing the opposite.

Nothing happened. Few seconds later the lake is calm and still.

She steps forward and bent her knee and scoop some water. She put it in her mouth. Nothing happened. She slowly backs down and moves back to the trees where Konrad is watching.

'It didn't react to her.'

They both didn't say a word and just looked at the peacefulness of the surroundings.

The moon is out and they are just sitting on the cold ground when she speaks.

"Why didn't it come up?" No matter how she thinks about it she can't come up with explaination. Just more questions are popping out.

"There was not much information about mythical beasts. but probably because of the lack of your mana."

"..?"

"I don't feel any mana coming from you."

"I see. I don't have mana." She felt a little disappointed but since she didn't know much of the mana she remained neutral.

Konrad opened up his palm and a dance of blue and white soft sparkling lights flared up.

"Is that mana?"

"These are Mana sparks. This allows temporary access to nature's power. "

"Then what kind of nature do you control to open that thing that stores things?"

Konrad was amazed at her pick up and observation skills. She doesn't seem to be in awe after explaining mana can control nature instead she points out the hole with his simple explanation.

"To control nature's power, one should release their own mana. A released mana from the wielder acts as guide to bend the natural flow of power in nature enabling the wielder to control it at will. The stronger mana released the stronger nature's power can be wielded. Then can you guess what nature I need to bend to open these?"

Konrad's mana sparks begin to wildly dance around his arm and scribbling of unidentified characters begin to appear.

She suppressed her tongue from clicking. She didn't want to think about it, that's why she asked but somehow her question returned to her.

It was a few minutes of silence after she started to put together her thoughts. It was then after glancing to the lake a thought passed through her mind.

"Nature. Unnatural. kill . . ."

Konrad smiled after hearing her mumbling.

"You have your answer."

"Is that possible? Kill nature? Kill nature?"

"Close enough. Its Distortion. Overlapping or distorting nature's mana flow creates 'VOID'. The Void is a space existence between natural and unnatural. A separation. " He pulled out a blanket out of nothingness. He gives it to the girl who is attentively listening to him. After receiving the blanket he continued explaining things to her.

"The Void is now called 'Sub Space'. It acts like an invisible bag. It may be invisible but you still carry its weight so if you try putting a tree in your subspace you will feel its weight weighing every step."

She frowned. She remembers the times when they use the subspace during the venture. Foods are kept outside the subspace. She guesses it will not be edible or it might disappear in the void.

"Can you put living things in the void?"

Konrad was genuinely amused at her question. She is surprisingly quick to tell things. A natural thinker.

"There were some experiments where living things were put into subspace. It started with a flower, fruits, leaves and food components. They either wither away or decompose."

Her guess was right then she was certain of one thing that moment.

"Next were mice, hamsters and small animals. They all returned dead . Nobody knows what happens inside the space. Some say time flows differently inside and some say there is nothingness that's why it was called the void."

She returns to her own thoughts. She definitely uses the inventory as storage of her fruits and meat and they come up alright and edible.

'Its either my inventory is different from their subspace or mine is a superior version.'

"How about Human Trials?"

Konrad, who heard her question, looked at her and saw her straight face. There were no signs of hesitation and emotion.

'Her curiosity is commendable" Some people felt uncomfortable knowing human beings were subjected to experiments but to her . . .' He then remembered this girl sitting across from her might have also been an experiment subject.

"Human Experiments is taboo practice in most of the Kingdoms but who can really tell, the world is wide and vast." He is aware there is nothing called absolute and he decided to answer her with honesty.

"The Void is a distortion in space meaning to distort a space as big as human you will need tremendous power to open it."

"What is that?" She suddenly stood up as she squinted her yellow eyes in one direction.

Konrad also did the same and activated his wide range detection. He frowned.

"We are surrounded."

"We are surrounded."

They both know how dire the situation is, with her Hunting Eyes she manages to see the marching monsters from all directions and with his range detection he knows that there are hundreds of monsters approaching.

Ogres, mutant rats, squirrels, the boulders and other species of monster gather in front of them while their back is the lake. Unlike earlier where they run rabidly, now they are like a group of organized monsters.

"I thought you said weaker monsters tend to stay away from stronger one."

"Or they follow stronger monsters, it looks like the beast called them here."

*Ting

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 4]

~New Quest Has Arrived~

[QUEST :  Survive the Long Night]

Rewards:

2000 Exp Points

'ha!' She almost snorted.

Konrad pulls out his unsheathed sword. His silver sword shone more brightly at night.

"Child, retreat to the lake."

"I refuse your grace. I might not be able to sense mana but I know you already exhausted an incredible amount of it" She was talking about the hours they spent walking in the forest while he tirelessly put up range detection.

When the count says stop or redirect her walking she knows that a monster is lying waiting in that direction.

"I will fight with you."

*Ting*

[Requirement has been met]

[Activating 'Moonlight Effect']

Konrad looked at her and sighed, "Do what you will." He saw her face light up. She must've had fights. Seeing her more determined to fight them off.

"Then I will go now." She said as she disappeared from his side.

'She has gotten quicker.' he thought as he watched the girl head in a direction full of ogres and mutant rats.

"You are too early to worry about me, child." A tiny arch up in his side lips was drawn before he faced his own wave of monsters.

"Then shall we start?" His sword reflected the tiny amount of moonlight as he disappeared and cut five monsters in a split second. He shook off the blood in his sword to the ground. The darkness complimented his vibrant blue eyes as he charged through the lines of monsters.

Meanwhile, she is currently fighting in the best condition. She uses her left fist and legs to kill off the ogres with her [Ogre Slayer] title.

'In long fights, you should be careful using your right arm.' The voice of Theo reminded her.

'There is no use to continue your sword training. You might demonstrate perfect stance and good posture but it is useless when you can't use it in actual fights. Your right arm starts trembling with just a few clashes. Your left arm is just decent enough.'

'. . .'

'You do well with a spear. From now on, train with your spear.'

She killed five ogres and three mutant rats in less than five minutes.

[Level Up]

'You got a habit of closing in. Remember your weapon is a spear. Spear fights in the distance. '

She put some distance between her and mutant moles. It is half size bigger than a mutant rat and incredibly larger nails. She uses her quick speed to slice them off but there are already different dug holes in the ground before she exterminates them.

'Tsk.' She clicked her tongue and ran away from the holes. She charges on the next batch of monsters. Several squirrels are jumping and gliding towards her. She evades and kicks them away and she tries to send them flying to the trees. She is aware of their weak spine. Continuous system notification bell rang but she is too focused on reducing the number of monsters in the forest.

*Shiiiiiik*

"Arghh" She got hit in her right side by something sharp. She dodge a bite in the head by a mutant squirrel and back away. Her right side is bleeding. It wasn't that deep but it still hurts. She looks for the culprit but fails to see it.

*Shiiiiiik*

She barely dodged the attack but still got another slice from her right arm this time she saw it. It's the moles. They jump out of the holes and dive back in another hole.

'Argh. annoying.' She frowns as she moves away from holes again. She encountered the called the Boulders. Monsters made up with compiled rocks. Her worst match up.

Paralysis doesn't work, it has no soft spot to stab and her current title is no use. The only good thing is, it is slow. She keeps running away from them while killing the easiest one.

She managed to kill three moles while running. The number of remaining moles is impossible for her to count when they keep themselves hidden underground.

After an hour, She is hiding behind a tree catching her breath. She accumulated fatigue greater than her usual 50 lap run. She tried her best to not use her right arm but she ended up using it as defense and now she can feel it trembling.

'I have no potions. Need to be careful.' She thought as she looked behind the tree. An overwhelming number of monsters were waiting on the other side.

She inhales slowly and exhales.

'Here we go.'

She went out of her hiding place and ran away. After passing multiple huge trees she saw a boulder lying in wait. A powerful blow hit her whole body and was sent flying to a huge tree.

"ACKKK!" She hit her head and the impact from the blow made her vomit blood as she slid down the tree like a rugged doll.

*Thud * Thud*

She can hear the ground vibrate with its heavy footsteps but she can't move any parts of her body.

Her head feels heavy and her body feels like it was crushed. Once again she was reminded How weak she is.

*Thud * Thud*

'Dammit!! Move!! ' She is screaming internally.

'C'mon!! Move!! Move!!" There's a tiny movement from her finger.

*Thud * Thud*

*Thud *

The boulder monster stopped in front of the girl. It held its rock fist up high and slammed it down. It raises its rock fist and the empty ground, nothing but sprays of blood.

"Looking for me?" The girl is kneeling at its shoulder with a bloody face and glowing yellow eyes. She looked like a menacing figure under the dark sky.

She stabbed its black eyes but it didn't pierce through.

'Tsk' She clicked her tongue and stabbed it again but time was on its neck. The gap between its rock head and rock body. When she notices she can pierce through it. She didn't hesitate to stab it again and again and again until small stones were flying everywhere. The stone monster tried to grab her and shake her off but she wouldn't budge. Her nails cracked into its head until it's bloody numb.

"Arghhhhhhh!!" She grit her teeth as she continuously stabs its neck and for her finale she lands a hard knee of the stab part separating its head from the body.

[You killed a boulder]

[Level Up]

She forgot how many times she leveled up for the past hour.

The blood in her head and hands are dropping like a loose faucet.

"haaaa." She exhaled. She opens her inventory and pulls out a first aid kit. It was issued to every knight before coming to venture. She opens a bottle of alcohol and pours it down to her injuries.

"Ackkkkkkkkk!!" She is biting a piece of cloth to muffled her painful screams then she starts dressing herself. She repeated the same in her shattered finger nails.

"Haaaaa. I must've high tolerance to pain to be able to endure this. " She mumbled and stood up in her spot. She saw the severed head of the boulder. She clicked her tongue and kicked it away.

Not long after she found a group of ogres. She didn't waste any time and quickly ended them. Ever since she keep levelling up more her strength and jumping has increased but fatigues are not recovering so she decided to hunt them carefully and thus her long night begins

The sun was rising when she finished 3 boulders. Her cloak and veil were gone and her black uniform is beyond recognition. She is full of lousy bandages and the bloodstains in her body have already dried up. Was it her blood or the monsters? She doesn't anymore. Her usual pale complexion is painted in mud and blood.

'haaaa. . .I am at my limit' She knows it even without looking at her stat. She is just staring blankly in the forest.

*Ting

~ Quest Completed ~

[QUEST :  Survive the Long Night]

Rewards:

2000 Exp. Points

*Ting

[Level up]

Her yellow eyes start reverting back to black. She rests her back to one of the huge trees and lets herself slide ignoring the quest completion and level up notice.

"I wonder how his grace is doing." She muttered as she dozed off.