And (N)one Shall Remain

“What I’m saying is, if they could make stuff this good, why were they so worried about creatures in the second tier?” asked Esperanza with obvious confusion. Before her lay the carcass of a [Ghost Ocelot Lvl32], a smaller predatory cat-like creature was extremely hard to spot. The carcass was split into two halves, the cut that split its torso so smooth that it looked almost as if she could put the creature back together once more.

 

The culprit of the carcass’ condition was naturally the knife in her hand, so clean that not even a drop of blood marred its golden blade’s surface.

 

Naturally, the blade was more than it seemed. Old Avalanusi had given her all in its construction, and as such, she had created what most inhabitants of the world called an artifact. Items made so well that they received power from the system itself to celebrate their creation, rarities that even the kingdoms of the world considered treasures.

 

Esperanza’s own [Gaze unto the Abyss] made it very clear to her as well.

 

[Golden Crescent Blade of the Exiled]

[Tier 3 Artifact]

[Unique/Growth]

 

A golden knife crafted from the topmost antler of a [Spike-Tailed Grazer] by [Master Craftsman] Avalanusi of the Juriz Tribe. A creation that had the heart and soul of the creator poured into it, to be proffered as an offering to a Messenger of the Deities of Yore.

 

A spark of divinity inhabited the weapon, as it caught the attention of the Deities of Yore through the eyes of its Messenger, granting the artifact the ability to grow stronger.

 

[Keen] [Vampiric - Mana] [Self-Repair] [Soulbound] [Growth via Blood Absorption]

 

It was easy enough to tell how valuable the knife was. What the villagers of Navef used in their hunts were mostly mundane items, at most tier 1 artifacts, like the spear-thrower Adan-Zil used. Yet they created such a precious item and just offered it to her instead of using it for themselves. Old Avalanusi herself was a [Potter’s Child Lvl20/Novice Crafter Lvl20/Skilled Craftsman Lvl20/Master Craftsman Lvl2], one of the very few fourth tier individuals in the village.

 

A blade is only as good as its wielder, Esperanza. While they had the ability to make good items, not even a [Master Craftsman] like the one who created your knife could create artifacts without any good base materials. In fact, the material you gifted them would likely be turned into a slew of artifacts that would allow the village’s hunters to roam farther afield very soon.

 

“So they lacked the ability to take down something that could be made into a worthwhile item, and then just fell into stagnation?” she asked back to Oldies.

 

That is one way to put it. The choice of class and its quality plays a heavy role as well in matters like these. A [Master Craftsman] like the one who created your knife would have high stats, mostly in the Mind and Soul area, but none of those would relate to any sort of combat capability. Their abilities and skills would be far more focused on their field of choice, in this case the creation of items.

 

Out of the villagers you had seen, the old hunter is perhaps the strongest of them all, and even he would be considered weak for his tier in this world. The quality of his classes were low, which meant that he received less stats per level, and his skills would be similarly poor in quality. Those combined together to ensure that he would not hold a candle against any actual warriors of this world, even if he had level advantage.

 

“So… once you head down a path, you can’t undo anything, huh?” muttered Esperanza in thought after she heard Oldies’ reply. “Mistakes you made in the past can’t be undone, and would haunt you for your whole life in very noticeable ways. You also told me that people here don’t even get to choose their first class, so aren’t they all just pinche’d up from the get go?”

 

Neither you nor the other summoned had a choice on your first class either, though in your case, what you received was many times better in so many ways compared to what the system granted the inhabitants of this world. Other than that, everything you said is correct. Many people made unwise choices and lived to regret it since the system took over.

 

“Definitely seeing more on why you’d want this system gone, all right,” admitted Esperanza. The idea that a youthful indiscretion, maybe a rebellion against one’s parents could potentially mess someone up for life because they chose classes that poorly suited them irked her. The fact that those people would never get a chance to correct such mistakes, irked her even more.

 

Either way, We believe that the artifact you received might prove to be of use in your journey. The item is capable of growth, which means that it would remain useful as long as you kept it fed, and since it is soulbound, it would never be separated from you, no matter what.

 

“What do you mean?” asked Esperanza with some curiosity. “About the Soulbound bit I mean.”

 

Soulbound items will always return to your possession, no matter what was done to separate the two of you, barring the complete destruction of the item in question. When it comes to larger items, it might return through unusual circumstances and coincidences, however with a small item like your knife, the magic contained within the artifact itself should be plenty. Try throwing it away.

 

“Bueno, aquí va,” said Esperanza as she hurled the knife as hard as she could towards the forest. Her eyes kept track of the golden blade as it whirled through the air, until it landed with a thunk on the trunk of a big tree around thirty meters away from her. Most of the blade was embedded within the wood, and it was clearly firmly stuck in place. “Y ahora qué?”

 

Before Oldies could even answer her question, she noticed how the knife seemed to shine brightly for a brief moment, and the next thing Esperanza knew, the blade had returned to the makeshift sheath she made for it, right at her belt. She also felt a slight drain of mana from the blade itself, as it tapped onto her mana to refill its own.

 

Just like that. It will return to your hand should you be separated, though it will likely need to replenish its own mana with yours after such a feat. Considering that the blade is vampiric, it should be capable of refilling itself with the mana of its victims as well, so that is another avenue to refill it. Either way, It should be a useful tool for the foreseeable future.

 

“It would be, supongo que sí,” admitted Esperanza. Other than the effects Oldies had explained to her, the rest of the effects that the blade had was quite self-explanatory. [Self-Repair] meant that the blade could repair itself after it took some damage. She had no idea to the extent of that ability, but had no plans to test it out either.

 

As for [Keen], it was similarly easy to tell. The blade was far sharper than it should be, given its rough construction, and sliced through things with absurd ease in the few tests Esperanza did with it. Given that the knife also had the ability to grow further, she could see keeping the first gift someone else gave her in this new world with her in the future.

 

The bit about how it absorbed blood to grow itself was a bit eerie, though.

 

On one, hand, it was creepy as fuck to see blood get sucked into the blade via some tendrils that looked a little too much like blood vessels. Apparently that had been an innate quality of the Grazer antler, as higher leveled Grazers often speared their enemies with their antlers and simply sucked them dry that way Creepy shit for a supposedly herbivorous creature, all right.

 

On the other hand, the blade sucking up all the blood also made it absurdly convenient and easy to bleed out prey she captured in the wild. Esperanza regularly shared the beasts she killed with the village, but she felt somewhat bad that the villagers had to work so hard to clean up after her fuck-ups. After all, she didn’t exactly hunt like they do, and the violent way she did things meant that often parts of the meat was contaminated by bile or other unmentionables and had to be cut away or cleaned off.

 

She was learning some bits about actual hunting from Adan-Zil, partly on how to properly dress and bleed out an animal to preserve the meat. Esperanza learnt the hard way that allowing the blood to remain in the carcass was a quick recipe for food poisoning or worse. At least that was how it was for the villagers. Due to her new body, she could consume all those bits just fine, without much ill effects.

 

It did level her [Poison Resistance], though, so she couldn’t help but notice the issue.

 

“Right, Oldies,” asked Esperanza as she went to work on carving out bits of the beast she killed that likely got contaminated by the contents of the organs she cut open. She used her hands for that work, her fingers re-shaped into claw-like blades, as it was easier than using the knife. The knife was designed for chops and cleaving, not fine work. “Are all your worshippers like those in Navef?”

 

We would first ask in what manner specifically. If it is about how they were shunned by the rest of society with a kill on sight order for them, then yes. Most of them similarly lived in places where nobody else lived like here, using the isolation as their protection. Some of the other enclaves might be less accepting and more combative compared to these folks who mostly had adapted to their exile, however.

 

There had even been cases in the past where entire nations went to war over the deity they refused to abandon… that was in the region nowadays considered the homeland of the demons. They had since acquiesced to the new gods, but there remained an underground movement there that still kept Us in their minds. We would not recommend you to head there until you could control your form better, though.

 

“Tiene sentido. Nobody likes getting an eldritch abomination suddenly showing up at their door, I guess,” she replied. While her control over her form had gotten better, it was still impossible for her to hide her true nature at the moment. It was fortunate that the village wasn’t exactly picky about the form that the Messenger of their Deities chose. “What about these two, though? Would they attract unwanted attention in more civilized places?”

 

Dali and Gordy looked up from where they lazily laid down at her words. The way they quirked their eyebrows made it look as if the dogs were pondering the same question. 

 

They would pose no problem. There are many creatures in this world that resembled them, many of which had been domesticated by the people living here or were used by various types of [Beast Tamers] and the likes as familiars and pets. As long as you gain the ability to disguise yourself properly enough, it should be no problem, as animal companions are commonplace.

 

“That’s one load off my mind, at least,” replied Esperanza. The carcass of the beast had already turned into a neat pile of meat, hide, and bones during their conversation. Her being able to use her fingers as knives and even sprout out more if needed allowed her to process a carcass far faster than what even experienced hunters could.

 

She collected all the material in a bag she borrowed from Adan-Zil, one that was surprisingly also a Tier 1 artifact, though the bag allowed items kept inside it to keep for longer instead. It was a useful thing to have around, given that Esperanza’s hunts went deep into the forest, and she often took a day or two to return to the village, even traveling as fast as she could. 

 

She felt like she owed the village some for having gifted her such a precious artifact, so she had been hunting more often of late, bringing most of what she hunted back to the village as gifts for the villagers.