Chapter 66: Blanche 2.0
Blanche materialized standing upright. Off balance, startled, and plunged into darkness, she fell headfirst onto a patch of fresh grass still damp with the evening dew.
Mental note: sit down or lie down before validating a mission. Her skull was still throbbing painfully, as though her brain had attempted to leave her body a few seconds earlier. A metallic taste lingered at the back of her throat, while a faint dizziness made the horizon sway whenever she breathed too quickly. Excellent experience. Truly. She fumbled for a second to regain her balance before cautiously straightening up.
She rose slowly, every sense on high alert. The slightest breath of air suddenly felt suspicious. Her heart was still beating too fast, irregular, ready to leap at the smallest threat. Her fingers instinctively tightened around the fabric of her cape as her gaze swept the surroundings warily. She wiped her face with the rough cloth. The coarse fabric carried away the cold moisture clinging to her skin — maybe sweat, maybe something else she preferred not to identify just yet.
Nothing.
Not a sound.
No rustling of tall grass, no cracking branch, not even the distant song of a nocturnal insect. The silence was so complete it felt unreal, almost sacred, as though the entire world was holding its breath around her.
Above her, an enormous, perfectly smooth moon illuminated the plains, accompanied by a giant pink-striped gas planet. The translucent rings of the planet drifted slowly through the darkness, tinted with pearly and violet reflections that disappeared into the depths of the sky. The moonlight bathed the tall grass in a silvery glow, transforming the plain into a pale and motionless sea. Every contour seemed softened by the unreal light; even the shadows appeared peaceful here.
The sky was magnificent that night.
Beautiful to the point of pain. Vast, silent, indifferent. One of those skies that brutally reminded you just how immense the universe could be — and how tiny she was in the middle of it all.
The game window suddenly burst into existence, illuminating the surroundings.
Stats acquired:
Strength +345
Agility +356
Speed +345
Wisdom +337
Intelligence +337
Drain – Level 5
Flight – Level 5
Carnage – Level 3
Rest – Level 4
Swimming – Level 2
Aura – Level 5
Fear – Level 1
Sixth Level: The East, Part 2.
Objective: Rid the world of vermin. Fifty goblins.
Time Limit: None.
Reward: To be determined.
"Fifty? That's all?" she grumbled, not truly surprised.
She knew she should return to the barracks. But the urge to reach level ten as quickly as possible was stronger. Her instincts told her it was a good idea, despite the warnings from her new friends. Besides, it was not as though she did not know how to return quickly to this absurd world.
Instead of taking the road, she headed back toward the cave. A goblin patrol was just coming out. She vaporized the first one with her favorite spell and cut down the other two with a single sword strike. No resistance.
One blow was enough. Derek's brutal training had paid off: she had become too fast for them. The poor creatures had not even had time to draw their weapons.
During the second wave, she used "Drain" but also "Fear." The effect was immediate: the spell was not lethal, but it immobilized the target while making it tremble for around ten seconds. At level two, goblins screamed or relieved themselves without shame. The duration also increased. At level three, same effects... with the added bonus of loss of balance: most of them collapsed to their knees under the sheer terror crushing them.
Her curiosity overpowered her ethics.
She spent several hours in front of the cave entrance like that, strengthening her abilities, healing herself, and methodically eliminating her fifty goblins. Eventually, the creatures almost began to look identical to her: same hunched silhouettes, same guttural growls, same greedy eyes shining in the darkness before going out a few seconds later. Yet she never fully relaxed her attention. One mistake was enough — one movement too slow, one moment of distraction — for a rusted blade to find her flesh.
So she started again.
Again.
Always faster.
Always cleaner.
Her breathing became steadier, her movements more precise. Little by little, she felt her body adapting to the repeated violence of the effort. Her reflexes sharpened; magic answered her calls more easily now, flowing through her with newfound fluidity. Even pain changed in nature. The shallow cuts, the burning muscles, the exhaustion stiffening her neck and shoulders — all of it stopped being an obstacle and became simple combat data.
Sometimes she sat for a few minutes against the cold stone to heal herself, watching the discreet glow of her magic slowly close certain wounds before leaving almost immediately afterward. Then the silence of the plains would return around her, disturbed only by the wind or the muffled cries of goblins hidden deep within the cave.
The training, the solitude, the adrenaline, and the intoxicating feeling of progress energized her.
For the first time in a long while, she felt as though she were truly moving toward something. Every fight gave her the strange sensation of becoming a little sturdier, a little more dangerous, a little more herself. Fatigue weighed down her body, but a deeper energy continued vibrating beneath her skin, almost euphoric.
And in the middle of that unreal night, bathed in the pale light of the two celestial bodies suspended above her, Blanche finally understood why so many people became addicted to power.
At last, she understood gamers around the world: once you become powerful, making your enemies tremble is deliciously addictive. But another problem now emerged: learning restraint. There was no way she was going to let it go to her head.
Once her task was complete, she emerged into broad daylight and returned to the place where she had left Argy. The blue window remained a nuisance, and she still was not entirely satisfied, but progress was progress.
Stats acquired:
Strength +357
Agility +357
Speed +357
Wisdom +357
Intelligence +358
Drain – Level 5
Flight – Level 5
Carnage – Level 3
Rest – Level 4
Swimming – Level 2
Aura – Level 5
Fear – Level 3
Objective achieved!
Selecting rewards...
Loading.
One minute later, the words disappeared, replaced by:
Lie – Level 1
Poison – Level 1
BlackHeart – Level 1
The last skill intrigued her — and its description even more so.
Passive skill: allows the user to focus on combat, maintain control, and keep a calm, cold mind in critical situations. Time slows slightly in order to better analyze the situation and establish a winning strategy. Activation is automatic in the presence of a potential enemy, but may also be triggered manually.
She did not hesitate for a second before choosing that one, then logged out. If goblins were not frightening, orcs still haunted her nightmares. And according to Fen, that was only a basic creature...
There were far worse things out there.