Eve turned to face the guards and their minders. The crash of blades, slam of shields, and crunch of heavy armor never occurred. Barely a foot from Eve the guards stopped in place before the sound of croaking frogs replaced the crunching racket of steel.

  “Since I’m not sure I can kill, here.” Eve said with a grin. “Best they learn their place in the food chain, beneath my boots.”

  The oldest of the heavily robed and bejeweled individuals took the lead hardening his face to say, “Justin Mickleton and Charlotte Abigail Munchester Zienfer. Banish the Demon you have Summoned and there can still be a place for you in this College.”

  Eve didn’t even need to look behind to know the two children were staring at the older man as if he’d lost all his marbles. She shifted her clothing into a power suit that wouldn’t look out of place at a boardroom’s hostile takeover. Black with silver trim, it was a striking piece of artwork. Straightening her tie, Eve looked at the group of faculties who shifted at her alterations. Felix compressed into a fine sapphire watch and her staff made a nice dark ebony wrist-strap. Checking the time, she ensured it matched the current master clock in the center of the College to the second.

  Such a statement is like saying, put down that nuclear remote and we’ll be happy to talk things out with you. Eve thought gazing impassively over the teachers as they started to reach for the ambient mana. No, don’t worry, we won’t execute you the moment you aren’t a threat. Trust us!

  She didn’t say anything though she did continue to shift her form, growing a deep ebony black set of curling goat horns out of her scalp for added terror. She also altered her skin pigmentation making it a pale bone-white and causing mutters among the faculty. Quite a few of them lost the grip on the mana they were attempting to shape. Identifying them was the work of a few moments matching insignia denoting their specialty to records now stored in Eternal Memory.

  Oh? That old man is the headmaster, and the fancy lady is his deputy. Eve thought as she flexed her will scattering the ambient mana into mere motes from the thick soup of before. Since she had the Shroud there was no reason to even give an inch. Besides, from the look of it quite a few of them realize what I’ve done. Interesting, out of everyone here only the youngest teacher seems to show no sign of nerves. Ah! She’s got a connection to someone through a Bloodline? Best not to take chances until I know all the rules here, then.

  “Mr. Pells, perhaps you could explain why there is a powerful Demon loose?” The headmaster’s voice carried impressively in the small corridor.

  Grumbling, the Head of Summoning that Eve knew to be named Dobren Pells from the current historical list of Professors strode out from the small crowd. Eve didn’t fail to notice the two disguised succubae that had been wearing the faces of deputy professors. Granted, she didn’t feel any urge to dispel their disguises either. Unlike the assembled mages, the succubae could clearly feel the difference in power. They were trembling, just short of a very wet accident if she didn’t miss her guess. If things turned violent, Eve had little doubt that the demonesses would flee at the first sign. That was good, because fear was contagious. If those wearing the face of faculty fled, others would follow.

  “Praetor Valentine Lohd, I can’t be held responsible for every act of idiocy done by immature Summoners.” Dobren said.

  Lohd frowned before stating, “That may be, but someone has to explain to his Majesty how two students summoned what looks like a full-blooded Demon. Even worse, the fact that the west tower has what appears to be a fully operational summoning circle raises all sorts of questions. I hope you have not been giving our more impressionable students certain ideas about how to solve their problems, again.”

  Dobren shrugged. He gave Lohd a thin-lipped grin. “Children always want to copy their betters,” he said.

  “The College can do without such scandal, especially after the last incident of an incubus impregnating the princess.” Lohd’s deputy said.

  “That was ruled to be the result of stupidity from external sources Elandra,” Dobren grumbled. “Not my fault, at all.”

  “It was,” Lohd agreed.

  “Besides, I don’t think we are under threat here. If she can Transmute fully equipped Knights our spells are most likely just parlor tricks to her.” Dobren said giving Eve a sick look before licking his lips.

  Eve’s eyes flickered with suppressed anger as she promised terrible retribution internally before biting the bullet to pay for information of the System in this world. It was a subsystem of the one she normally had access to, and as a result there were quite a few notable changes.

  Killing as a higher Tier is still forbidden. Oh? I can suppress my power to the level of the strongest around me. If I do that, interesting. Eve grinned as she folded a large chunk of her current power into the Eternal Library. Her entire being shifted as her Status altered. Like a piece of origami folded to perfection she compressed back to Tier Three. It was painful, but necessary. A glance at her new Status brought a ghost of a smile to her face.

  Eve Smith

  Age: [Locked}

  Level: 500

  Race: Witch

  Class: Silver Prime-Witch

  Specialization: Dust Witch

  Profession: Sword Sculptor

  Affinities (2): Space, Dust

  Health: [Shrouded]

  Mana: [Shrouded]

  Stats: Str 511; Dex 510; Con 509; Int 514; Wis 513; Cha 499

  Slots: 100B[Locked]

  Skills: Traveling Dust Witch’s Core of Space-Papered Ink-Dust, [Locked], [Locked], [Locked], Ritual Runes of Body III

  Runes: Shroud, Space, Dust

  Spells: Siren’s Voice, Dryad’s Scent, Continuous Prestidigitation, Summon Food, Summon Drink

  Items: Sword of Dust [Soulbound]

  Zones: None

  Trait: Primordial Body of Dust I

  Perks: None

  Systems were fair for the most part. Since she had been effectively immortal and unkillable, the ability to die on this world had forced the System to provide compensation. It couldn’t strip everything and call it a day, because that wouldn’t be balanced. As a result, the possibility of death was a massive bargaining chip that Eve had cashed in.

  Certainly, she could be killed now. That was a fact.

  It was also a fact that death would merely cast her back to the Prison Plane, but this was a subsystem it could only process so much insane logic at once.

  The new Status was a compromise on both parties part.

  However, now I can use the easiest form of problem solving. Eve thought with a sly smile. Just because every Grandmaster can theoretically be killed by an amateur doesn’t mean it happens in reality.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  While she had been delayed, the Praetor had managed to dispel the frog polymorph Eve had used. Four grim-faced knights now occupied the space between the College’s upper management and Eve. Shrugging she reached into the inner pocket of her suit and pulled out a cross between her Jian and a Gladius. The shorter sword was a result of her not desiring to take any chances. With so little room to work with, using the wrong size weapon would place Eve at an unacceptable disadvantage. She pulled on her [Shroud] filling the surrounding space with a plethora of ambient mana. Her goal wasn’t to stop the mages. At Tier Three that would be a pipe dream, but to instead change the very composition of the mana. Like a system wired for DC electricity, suddenly being forced to go to AC caused a halt in the normal flow. It wouldn’t stop the mages forever; however it would buy time.

  “Do you think she can take them?” Justin whispered to Charlotte behind Eve.

  “I think they should be negotiating for their lives.” Charlotte replied in a flat tone-deaf whisper.

  Eve grinned. The girl had spunk if not much else at the moment.

  “I can feel your power weakening, Demon. Surrender quietly and we can banish you without pain.” Lohd said.

  Eve shifted into a fighting stance before using Siren’s Voice to say, “Surrender and I promise you will all live long prosperous lives under my Summoner. There is no need to fight. We are not enemies. Relax. It has been a long day. Let down the burdens of your soul.”

  The Praetor’s eyes flashed as he said, “Beware the honeyed words of poison!”

  It was a decent enough counter, but Eve was already in motion. Fighting fair was for those who had such an overwhelming advantage they could afford the luxury of mercy to their opponents. Her blade flashed dipping over the shield of the guard on the right before burying itself into his throat. As the gurgling wet sound of a newly made corpse occurred Eve’s empty left hand flashed at the other guard. Before his blade could sink into her torso a handful of dust flew directly into the gap in his helmet blinding the man.

  Eve’s blade didn’t show mercy, as she yanked it out of the falling corpse to thrust into the blind guard. Her target was altered as a shield from one of the two unhampered guards blocked the initial throat thrust. She didn’t panic though, instead altering her attack to take advantage of the blinded guard’s attempt to wipe his eyes clear. The redirected thrust slipped off the shield and into the armpit of the blind guard as if Eve and the shielding guard had practiced the maneuver for years.

  When the second guard dropped both of the remaining fighters took defensive stances to turtle up. They rightly thought that as long as they could hold Eve back the College’s faculty could take drastic measures. Eve reached into the inner pocket of her suit with her left hand to produce a single sharp-pointed butter knife. Neither guard appeared worried as they held their shields in place defensively. A single knife wasn’t going to break their stance.

  Grinning, Eve flicked the knife as if opening a fan and suddenly her left hand had far more than just a single knife.

  “Now, this still wouldn’t be enough to get both of you,” Eve said with a sinister grin. “However, it is quite enough to handle the ones behind you.” Her hand rippled casting multiple knives out in strange curved trajectories that would take them around the shield guards and into the ranks of the College administration.

  The guards hesitated for a fraction of time, and Eve took full advantage of it. When the moved to the sides to block the knives, she charged directly up the center slipping past the heavily armored men. Like a fox into the henhouse, Eve’s blade blurred into motion. While the Praetor, Lohd, and his deputy, Elandra, had mana shields they were the exception not the rule. She targeted fingers, wrists, eyes, and legs for maximum effect. A mage without such things was no more of a threat than one who had their throat cut. These were after all, teachers for the most part, not battle-hardened special forces combat mages.

  Eve took special care to avoid the younger female Professor whose Bloodline sparkles with mana. In a similar vein, Droben Pell, Praetor Lohd, Deputy Praetor Elandra all survived. The succubae were able to adequately protect their master now that she was a lower Tier. The Praetor maintained a shield strengthened by the death of his fellows, a rather disturbing construct. Deputy Elandra used planes of pure force to create a box around her body.

  Before she lost the advantage, Eve danced adroitly into a flip passing over the heads of the guardsmen. She landed between the two forces once more, this time accompanied to screams of agony. With a grimace the Praetor Lohd cast a sleep spell sending all the maimed yet alive faculty into slumber.

  Praetor Valentine Lohd looked at his fellow departmental head, and deputy. They were clearly disturbed by the rapid brutal attack. Eve had made the attempt look like a bland, effortless affair. It was possible due to her high Stats which were a result of gaming the world’s System. As a Tier Three himself, Lohd had the same amount in Intelligence and Wisdom most likely. Eve had however argued that that was due to limitations that didn’t exist for her Class. She’d been forced to [Lock] her Soul Slots down, but in exchange the across-the-board boost in Stats was the trade-off.

  It won’t stop me from being ground down by an army if I’m stupid enough to be caught without cover, though. Eve thought letting the blood drip dramatically off her blade to the ground. She watched as the Praetor’s eyes realized the implications. Yes, he’s just now figured out there is something wrong with me.

  After all, her clothing was still utterly spotless.

  Eve’s spotless suit gave a heavy weight to the sword pointed down with blood dripping off it. She watched the Praetor with a poker face as he rubbed his forehead with one hand. Now that there were less targets to protect, the two guardsmen had firmly placed themselves in position to defend the Praetor and his Deputy. It was a significant tell that indicated the lives of those two were more important than anything else. She hesitated to strike lethal blows. Unless the healing magic in this place was utterly inept beyond anything, nothing done so far was permanent except for the dead guards.

  The day the leader of such powerful institutions cares more about the lives of mere guards than benefits is the day the universe crumbles. Eve thought flicking her blade to clean it and leaving a streamer of blood on the floor. No, now that I’ve demonstrated power, he’s thinking how to entice Justin and Charlotte to his side.

  “We appear to have gotten off to a rather unfortunate start.” Lohd said glancing at the fallen Professors. “Justin, Charlotte, I might have been slightly hasty in my previous words.”

  Justin snorted while Charlotte didn’t even bother to reply. It was clear the two children felt quite empowered by her actions. They were no longer the students, but instead elevated to sit at the same table.

  “What are your current demands?” Praetor Lohd asked with a resigned tone.

  Eve could hear Justin open his mouth, but it was just as quickly silenced by an elbow from Charlotte. Clearly, she understood that the Praetor negotiating with a commoner was nothing but a pipe dream.

  Charlotte Abigail Munchester Zienfer said, “Praetor this is unfortunate in many ways. I was just following instructions from my father to recruit a reliable assassin for the family.”

  Praetor Lohd had a surprised expression for a fraction of a second before he said grimly, “Are you saying the deaths of two of my guardsmen are due to Noble infighting?”

  “Of course not, they died defending the College from the horrors lurking beyond reality’s walls. As a beneficiary of their deeds, I would feel remiss if I was unable to pay for their replacement, and their death were-gild.” Charlotte said smoothly.

  “That’s good to hear,” Lohd said. “Mr. Pells, what about you?”

  “I should receive recompense, and access to whatever book was used in this Ritual!” Droben said heatedly.

  “Yes, that won’t be happening,” Lohd said. “Very unlikely that that Demon is going to let you have her True Name. Don’t you think so, Victoria?”

  “Indeed,” the young Bloodline mage said stepping up to be closer to the other three. “I would pay good money to see him try though.”

  Dobren gave a flat hateful look at the young woman, although it bounced off her armor of superiority. Both of the succubae were very careful to place their master’s body between the Bloodline mage and themselves.

  “Which book was used?” Lohd asked. “Even more important, do you still have it on hand? Those things are notoriously slippery.”

  “It was the List of Evil, Praetor Lohd.” Charlotte said without inflection.

  Dobren cleared his throat to say, “I told you that should have been in my personal collection, Praetor.”

  “Oh well. I wouldn’t be able to answer to his Majesty or the Church if that was the case. The usual protocols are in place for a reason, Pells, and if you want to ignore them you need to be Praetor.” Lohd said with a thin smile at the younger man. “As for the faculty who were injured, we’ll have them healed by the medical staff. The Demon was kind enough to leave the body parts behind, without consuming them. A bit unfortunate about the blood, but I my safety is paramount after all.”

  “Yes, yes. Quite right,” Deputy Elandra said. “For the maimed we can use potions to cloud their memories. The dead guardsmen can be handled using forged documents showing they died in a heroic manner. I’m afraid we’ll still need to pay their families though; you know how bad the union can get if we try to shirk on that.”

  Eve didn’t relax even though they spoke as if the matter was settled. There was no Contract in place, and empty words were just air with vibration without something solid backing them.

  “I’m afraid the List of Evil is no longer with us.” Charlotte said in a tone that implied she cared no more about this fact that the sky being blue.

  Praetor Lohd sighed before he said, “Will your family cover the loss?”

  “Loss of what?” Charlotte said. “I certainly don’t remember the wonderful Royal-funded institution of the College having a banned book on hand. Especially one that could be stolen by mere students.”

  Even the guards stared behind Eve at the shameless girl’s claim.

  “There are days where the pressure of this job is just not worth the power.” Praetor Lohd said. “This, is one of those days.” Glancing at the floor his eyes flashed into calm.

  “I will handle payment for the medical care required, Praetor.” Charlotte said. “There is no need for such heroic Professors, or the College to take on the burden of this accident.”

  Eve could see the older man being swayed. The Praetor clearly didn’t want the loss of prestige that could occur. Nor did he desire his faculty to have the desire to plant knives in his back or poison him. Charlotte was offering a way out, using the cover of the duke. It would allow the Praetor to spin it completely off as a responsibility for nobles to handle.

  “I don’t care what sugar water shit your selling,” Dobren said. “Give me the book, and the Demon’s True Name or I’ll have my contacts in the nobility take steps.”

  Eve’s eyes glinted in satisfaction as the three other mages looked at the Summoning specialist with irritation. Her blade blurred into motion, into a basic thrust without any fancy twist. There was confusion on the face of everyone, until a gasping squelch came from Dobren. Everyone looked at the Professor, as his body slowly collapsed onto the floor.

  “Ah, it appears our Demon struck a blow for sanity.” Charlotte said as Eve withdrew the sword through the pocket-sized bit of folded space, she had used to solve the issue. Contrary to her previous shenanigans, Eve made sure to pull out a handkerchief and wipe her brow. The mere act of demonstrating that such an action had significant cost made the other mages relax perceptibly.

  Killing someone with a thrust from over ten feet away was scary.

  Killing someone with a thrust accompanied with supreme effort less so.

  “Sadly, we’ll have to look into recruiting a new Summoning specialist this year.” Praetor Lohd said with a slight grin.

  “Fortunately, he died in defense of the College he loved so much,” Charlotte replied. “I’m sure his private collection will go towards the right place.”

  All three of the mages looked at each other before Praetor Valentine Lohd said firmly, “Indeed.”