Hite

Amel returned to her lodgings.

She had finished her swordsmanship training.

“I thought I’d be able to use Sword Aura.”

Having finished showering, Amel felt both satisfied and dissatisfied.

It seemed that [Sword Aura] was too much after all.

From after lunch until evening.

Would it be greedy to achieve [Sword Aura] after only swinging a sword for about 5 hours?

In any case, she had finished her daily routine.

She lay naked on the bed.

“….”

She could see her breasts.

She squeezed them.

They were soft, and it felt good to touch them.

She understood why everyone was crazy about breasts,

But when they were her own, an emotion that was hard to describe welled up.

She only had this thought.

It was just a reflexive thought,

‘Is this loneliness?’

She felt lonely.

She just felt a bit down and wanted someone to be next to her, but it wasn’t like she wanted to get involved with a man and engage in sexual activity.

‘It’s not like I want to do it with a woman either.’

This was just loneliness.

Nothing else.

Why had she been feeling so down ever since she woke up a month after fighting Force?

‘No, that’s not it.’

The start of this feeling wasn’t then.

What she felt immediately after waking up was leisure.

It was then that a gloomy and floating feeling began to fill her chest.

The orphanage.

Emily.

Thank you for saving me.

‘What’s that about.’

Whatever it was, it stimulated her tear ducts.

‘Touching my breasts and crying my eyes out.’

Even she thought she was emotionally unstable.

Amel looked up at the ceiling and blinked. Pretending not to cry. It wasn’t like anyone was watching, but it seemed like she was trying to hide it from herself.

Her eyes flickered to the shadow.

It couldn’t look this way without permission, but Amel could feel the gaze.

“Haa…”

What was she doing?

She felt down.

Lonely.

But she didn’t want to call anyone.

Then she suddenly realized.

“So that’s it…”

She was just tired.

The backlash from the Outsider pretending to be an Insider and mingling with people had hit her.

Amel was an Outsider.

Even if she indulged in arrogance and excitement, that fact didn’t change. A person’s nature was genetic information, and it couldn’t be changed. Even if it was covered up with acquired experience, it was difficult to say that it had no effect.

Still, realizing the culprits of this feeling made her feel a lot better.

“I was just tired.”

Her schedule had suddenly become empty, she had cried her eyes out, and the backlash from pretending to be an Insider after her mood had been reset had come.

“So that’s it.”

Lying on the bed, Amel turned to her side, blankly.

Blankly.

She closed her eyes.

Then opened them again.

She got up.

‘Let’s review.’

She took out the [Mithril Sword] from her Inventory.

She hadn’t mastered [Sword Aura] during training.

She had the impression that [Sword Aura] was a relatively easy technique, so she thought she would be able to use it quickly.

But when her own [Sword Aura] flickered before her eyes, even when she tried to grab it, it was like a phantom that she couldn’t grasp.

The moment she became conscious, it became a ghost.

Without being conscious, she gradually learned the sensation of [Sword Aura].

‘It’s surprisingly difficult.’

Honestly, she had underestimated it.

But it was still strange.

That’s because she already knew how to use [Sword Aura].

Amel covered the [Mithril Sword] with the [Sword Aura] she could use in turn.

Chocolat’s [Sword Aura].

It was a power type.

The form that came to mind first when thinking of [Sword Aura] that swept everything away with powerful force. It was a [Sword Aura] that shattered not only physical force but also the structure composed of Magical Power.

When implemented on the [Mithril Sword], ominous Magical Power like flames formed.

Force’s [Sword Aura].

The [Sword Aura] used by the guy who created hurricanes created a hurricane on the sword.

If she used it in earnest, the room would be ruined, so she reduced the intensity of the [Sword Aura] to a gentle breeze and weakened the wind surrounding the sword.

Next was the [Flying Sword Style Sword Energy].

Swords formed of Magical Power formed behind her back, increasing the number of flying swords.

Quantity over quality.

Volume over power.

She was able to overlap Mana Swords on the sword of the [Mithril Sword] instead of her back.

It was like a [Phantom Sword]. The principle of [Plum Blossom Sword Technique] creating [Phantom Sword] was different, but it looked no different as if they had converged in evolution.

The last was Force’s [Sword Aura].

It created a hole in space like a black hole.

At this time, physical force had no meaning.

A Blade with maximum attack power that cut everything.

Space Slash.

‘No, is it more of a sword than a slash?’

[Spatial Slash].

Amel swung the [Spatial Slash].

When she tried to cut, she felt a sensation.

She cut the air.

If this were described in writing, it would mean a whiff, but she physically cut it.

The air was wounded.

A black gap was created.

An ominous energy flowed out of the gap, but the wind headed towards the gap.

Amel,

“Hmm…”

She put her arm into the gap.

Even Electrical Ability from the inside.

…Snap.

The gap closed,

And her arm was cut off.

[Heal]

It grew back.

She clenched and unfolded her severed left hand, feeling the sensation she had felt when she put it into the gap.

It gave the impression of a vacuum.

It wasn’t that particularly special.

‘Except that I couldn’t feel any Magical Power.’

She withdrew the [Spatial Slash].

This was her impression after using it.

“I can’t use it in a real fight.”

It took quite a while to activate it for use in a battle that could be called a real fight.

And,

While she was up, she brought the box she had placed on the table.

Inside was a lantern.

“Hite.”

“(Did you call, Ma’am?)”

“I’m going to turn on the lantern, so come and shine your body on it.”

“(Yes.)”

Hite executed without complaint.

He created a fake body from the shadows.

A sticky clay Doll.

A shadow Doll that looked like that.

She had seen it somewhere.

She remembered.

The shadow Monster that appeared in the [Dream World].

Its impression was similar to that.

The difference was that this wasn’t the [Dream World] or a Dream.

“Hmm.”

She understood why Isabella had said [Abyss] after [Dream].

Before lighting the lantern, Amel asked Hite, who had become a shadow Monster,

“Can you change your form?”

“(Yes. Is there a shape you desire?)”

“….”

She didn’t have anything in mind.

…Never mind.

‘I was thinking of turning you into a woman and taming you, but that’s a bit cliché.’

Besides, she might be able to change her form even after [Possession]. Rather, that was most likely the case.

She turned on the lantern.

It brightened as she turned it on.

The lodging room was dark.

Only the light of the lantern filled it.

Amel’s shadow.

Hite’s shadow.

The guy who used to be just a shadow revealed a colorful appearance as the lantern light washed away the dark shadow.

Hite was startled.

Hite’s shadow was stripped away.

The contents were Slime.

“You’re imitating a Slime?”

“(I, I’ll change it.)”

Hite, who seemed embarrassed to have been caught showing the appearance he had roughly shown because he thought he couldn’t be seen, immediately tried to change his appearance, but couldn’t.

“(Madam…)”

“Don’t call me Madam.”

“(…What is that light?)”

“This?”

The power of the lantern sealed Hite’s ability.

‘I guess she didn’t give it to me for nothing.’

Hite’s ability was shadow.

He dealt with the illusion of shadow.

That was the power of the [Abyss].

The power of the lantern, which gave a clear form to that illusion, would certainly show an effective effect on the [Abyss].

“First, put out your hand.”

“(Yes…)”

Slime Hite held out his Slime’s soft hand.

The power of [Possession] felt Hite’s presence nearby.

The moment the Slime’s jelly touched Amel’s hand, the power of [Possession] dug into Hite.

Drawing up the power of the devil and [Possessing] him even more clearly, she put Hite, who was in the form of a Slime, in her grasp.

The power of [Possession], which drew out the power of the devil even further with Exorcism Power, more powerfully seized the other party’s heart.

The power possessed by a Great Devil like Hite’s master, [Abyss].

Hite didn’t know the changes within himself.

‘Abyss will know.’

The power of [Possession] grabbed Hite and felt a power that was clearly not Hite’s, and even captured and [Possessed] that.

The amount of power that was taken away would have been transmitted to the owner of the power.

“Hite.”

“(Yes.)”

“Who is your master?”

“(You are, Madam.)”

“Change that Madam title.”

“(Then what should I call you?)”

“Amel is fine.”

“(Amel-nim.)”

Amel turned off the light of the lantern.

But the Slime remained.

She heard that his main body had become a shadow and the Slime had become his main body.

Training continued.

She couldn’t find [Sword Aura] easily.

She explained the feeling that she was about to learn [Sword Aura], and Force said,

“(The Sword Auras you learned earlier are getting in the way.)”

“Then you’re saying I can’t learn it?”

“(It’s a type I’m seeing for the first time, so I can’t be sure of anything. But the mindset of trying to get Sword Aura in just a day or two is wrong from the start.)”

“But it actually feels like it’s right in front of me.”

“(If that’s not a delusion, you might be able to awaken it with a small trigger.)”

Force held up the [Dark Sword].

“(In that case, there’s no choice but to fight in a real battle. Listen.)”

She listened.

They fought.

She lost.

The Blade touched her neck.

“Nothing seems to have changed.”

It was still difficult to beat Force with swordsmanship alone.

She challenged again,

And lost once more.

“One more time.”

“(….)”

She lost.

She lost,

She lost,

She lost.

She lost.

She repeatedly lost, but there seemed to be no hope of beating Force with swordsmanship alone.

“(You are…)”

“I am?”

Amel listened to Force’s words while lying sprawled out.

“(Aren’t you upset even though you lost?)”

“I’m upset. I like winning.”

Force spoke as if he were questioning her,

But it seemed like he was misunderstanding something.

“Force, you know, do you think I’ve never lost before?”

“(With your talent, you’ve suffered a defeat? If so, there must have been a difficult difference in skill.)”

“It’s similar.”

How many times had she fought and lost against Awakeners as an Unawakened Hunter?

She had gritted her teeth and made every effort to beat the Hunters without Awakened Ability.

Eventually, she became a C-class Hunter and managed to beat some Awakeners, but until then, she had been marked by defeat.

Defeat was familiar.

Arrogance was also familiar.

She had also made countermeasures.

Amel, who had recognized her talent early on, had been undervaluing herself with self-hypnosis so as not to become arrogant without realizing it.

Even if an Unawakened Hunter beat a Hunter, what’s the point of talent if they can’t Awaken?

Anyway, that was the case.

“(Hmm…)”

“Don’t worry. I’m upset enough. You worry about yourself. If you’re being so relaxed, your and my current situation will be reversed, you know?”

“(…I’ll keep that in mind.)”