4: To The Beastman Territories

"The feline tribe is really a pain in the neck," Sue Terin muttered. Her shoulders were heaving from being chased to the ends of the Vampire Territories.

Had it not been for the System helping her choose the route to take, she would have been captured by now by those persistent beastmen and vampires!

"Thank goodness that there are no warlocks." Sue knew from her previous life that warlocks could easily trace her through their innate spiritual energy.

Sue slumped to the forest floor. Her back leaned against the sturdy tree trunk as her tattered bloodstained nightgown sprawled around her like a flower blooming against the darkness.

Ever since she slaughtered the patrons and host of the Tessera Auction House, she ran around the Vampire City all night long until she was pushed back to the Beastman Territories.

Closing her eyes, Sue breathed in before she whispered. "World View."

Ping!

[SYSTEM ACTIVATES WORLD VIEW SKILL!]

Ping!

[SCANNING...]

Ping!

[HOST SUE TERIN IS SITUATED IN THE FANGS RIDGE. THE FOREST IS ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE FANGS RIDGE, WHICH IS NEAREST TO THE VAMPIRE CITY.]

On cue, a three-dimensional map of the surrounding area with her as the center appeared before. The map was in a color of bright green so it could be perfectly seen and observed even with the darkness that cloaked Sue Terin.

Standing up, Sue recovered a quarter of her strength, but it was enough to continue walking. "System, find me a route to the Terin Territory where I cannot encounter any beast or beastman along the way." Sue paused for a while. "Oh, it is better to be a short route for a faster journey. I need to pay my beloved ex and step-sister a gracious visit."

Ping!

[SCANNING...]

The three-dimensional map spun around before it zoomed in. A red-colored line appeared on the map.

"So, I only need to follow the red line on the map. Let's see." Sue took her first step east when a red arrow appeared before her, making her gasp. The arrow was not pointing to the east but to her northeastern side as if correcting her. "Well then, lead the way."

Ping!

[HOST SUE TERIN, FOLLOW THE RED ARROWHEAD FOR THE SAFEST AND SHORTEST ROUTE AVAILABLE.]

Sue already grasped how to use the skills she had. She only needed to utter the name of the skill like any other person, and the skill from the System would activate. While Sue was running away, Sue often encountered those who had chased her, so she had to use the Killer Slash Skill over and over again. On the other hand, the World View Skill remained activated until she crossed the borders of the two races. For the Plunder Skill, it would fail for two reasons whenever she tried to use it.

The first reason was the target was invalid, and the second reason was the strength of the host did not meet the requirement to plunder.

While Sue followed the arrow, she could not help but ask the System the questions she could not answer no matter how much she pondered over things. If she wanted to exact her revenge against those who had wronged her, Sue knew that she had to use the System to its maximum capacity. In short, she needed to understand the limitations and requirements of the System and the skills she acquired — especially the Plunder Skill.

"System, why can't I use the Plunder Skill freely? I was given many chances while I was chased away. There were even skills that were unique and helpful for my revenge, but I was not able to steal them. Why?"

Ping!

[SYSTEM INITIATES CONVERSATION WITH THE HOST: THERE ARE TWO REASONS BECAUSE OF THAT. FIRST, THE TARGET YOU WANT TO PLUNDER HAS A BIGGER RANK THAN YOU. AND SECOND, YOU MIGHT HAVE THE FIRST REQUIREMENT, BUT YOUR BODY HAS NO STRENGTH TO SHOULDER THE SETBACK OF USING THE PLUNDER SKILL.]

"Setback? The Plunder Skill, a heaven-defying skill, has a weakness?" Sue almost stopped in her tracks upon reading and hearing the system window's reply.

Ping!

[SYSTEM REPLIES: THE PLUNDER SKILL IS A DEFAULT SKILL WITH ONE SETBACK. IT CONSUMES SPIRITUAL ENERGY LIKE A SPONGE. THE MORE UNIQUE THE SKILL AND THE MORE BIGGER THE RANK OF THE TARGET THEN, THE MORE ENERGY IT CONSUMES FROM YOUR SPIRITUAL CORE.]

"So much for thinking that the System is omnipotent, huh." Sue sighed. She really did think that she could use Plunder Skill whenever she wanted. "If it is like this, then I must be careful using it, or it will be the reason for my untimely death."

Ping!

[SYSTEM SCOFFS AT THE HOST. SYSTEM REPLIES: THIS ONLY MEANS ONE THING. HOST SUE TERIN MUST LEVEL UP FROM YOUR MEASLY YELLOW RANK FOUNDATION STAGE TO UTILIZE THIS LORD SYSTEM!]

Rolling her eyes, Sue chose not to argue with the System. She knew that the only way to exact revenge was to become stronger.

Being able to awaken her spiritual core and use her spiritual energy was not enough in this world where the strong ruled the world! She must become strong! Strong enough to reveal her race in front of the world's bosses.

This world of the strong had one ranking system no matter what race you came from.

The Yellow Level was divided into Base Stage, Foundation Stage, and Peak Stage.

Ordinary folks awakened with a Base Stage Yellow Level, but there exist the so-called geniuses that awakened with Foundation Stage Yellow Level like Sabina Terin, her step-sister.

Through cultivation, life-threatening battles, potions, and beast cores, one's level could improve. For Sabina, she had used the treasury of the Terin Clan to buy potions from alchemists.

Orange Level was the higher rank than the Yellow Level. The Orange Level was divided into Base Stage, Foundation Stage, Peak Stage, and Monarch Stage. Most individuals used their entire lifetime to receive the tribulation of the Orange Level but failed and died with abolished spiritual core and meridians.

In this rank, one could finally contract a higher-tier beast as their contracted spiritual beast. Unlike the warlock's familiars, contracted spiritual beasts could level up with their masters.

And then the last and most challenging to obtain rank, the Red Level. This Red Level was divided into Monarch Stage, Emperor Stage, and Divine Stage.

Among the races in this world, there was only a handful who was able to obtain the tribulation of the Red Level. They were the peerless geniuses of the world, and the people revered them as someone akin to a god.

In this turbulent world, only a single race could not awaken their spiritual core despite the abundance of spiritual energy in their bodies. They were the Human Race. Though their bodies were filled with rich energy, they were pitiful since they could not use this, for they did not have any awakened spiritual core. In short, the Human Race was useless.

Because of this, the Human Race was reduced to a race that served as cannon fodders for the other races. Though the Human Race could not use their own spiritual energy, the other races could still use them to level up. In fact, the pure spiritual energy was fought over by many races resulting in wars.

The flames of war continued until fifty years ago, the last settlement of the Human Race discovered one skill. It was a skill born from the wishes of humans to free themselves from suffering. And together, they self-destruct, leaving no one alive among the Human Race — or so they thought.

"I am the last from a lost race. I wonder how the abundant spiritual energy plays a role in this lifetime?" Sue was now standing at the edge of the cliff. This place reminded her of the cliff of the Forest of the Lost. The arrow was pointing at the bottom of the cliff.

With the glaring three moons above her, Sue reached out her bloodied right hand to the sky as if she could touch the moons by mere action. The cold breeze hugged her petite body. She curled her toes against the stone-filled ground, feeling nature's heat beneath her bare feet.

"System, will you help me become strong? Strong enough to trample those who had pushed the extinction of my race? I have no one to trust, but you." Her voice was gentle, but her obsidian eyes were cold as ice. Sue was devoid of any emotion. What she wanted was to avenge herself and to avenge the pitiful humans who were treated like livestock until the moment they vanished from this rotten world.

Ping!

[SYSTEM REPLIES TO THE HOST: THIS LORD SYSTEM WILL HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR DESIRE! BELIEVE IN THIS SYSTEM, AND YOU WILL HAVE YOUR REVENGE IN NO TIME!]

Sue could imagine the System as a young boy who was patting his small chest with puffed cheeks, so she could not help but crack a small smile.

"Then, if I say I want to destroy this rotten world, will you still stand by me?"

Ping!

[SYSTEM GLARES AT THE HOST. SYSTEM REPLIES: THIS LORD SYSTEM HATES REPEATING WORDS! HOST SUE TERIN IS THIS LORD SYSTEM'S MASTER. WHATEVER THE HOST WANTS, THIS MIGHTY SYSTEM WILL DELIVER! SO BELIEVE IN THIS SYSTEM, HOST SUE TERIN!]

Upon reading the words on the window before her while hearing the grumpy tone of the child-like voice of the System, Sue's heart was filled with warmth. It had been so long since she had someone she could lean on.

"Alright. I will trust you, so I will be in your care, Lord System!" Sue bowed her head in the direction where the window appeared a moment ago.

Ping!

[SYSTEM AND HOST COMPATIBILITY STATUS: 100%]

Ping!

[SYSTEM UNLOCKS CHAIN MISSIONS FOR THE HOST! CONGRATULATIONS!]

Sue's eyes widened. She did not think that by accepting the System wholeheartedly, she would unlock another attribute in the System!

"Chain missions? What is that, System?" Sue frowned upon reading those two words. She sensed it was something big since it needed a hundred percent trust between the host and the System to activate it.

A second passed... 

Five seconds passed... 

One minute passed...

"Where are you, System?" No window appeared in front of her, which was something new since the System appeared automatically whenever she asked something about it.

Sue looked down. She sighed in relief upon seeing the arrow still pointing below the cliff even when the map vanished at the same time as the System's window.

Before Sue could ask where the System was, a furry, soft object hit her face flat. On instinct, Sue snatched the thing that obstructed her vision.

"A white fox?"

"Hello, host!"