Chapter 85: The variable

  In the crowded city square of Rahnoff, a large pillar of dark flames suddenly appears. Everyone is startled by the towering flames, dark elf mothers quickly pull back their gawking children as Anya stumbles out of the spell. Her vision is jumbled up, and it feels like a thousand red ants are marching inside her brain. She’s never felt so disoriented before, this time it’s far worse than when Ariellia attempted the soul calling spell at the orphanage. It's like all the souls inside of her are fighting to break free, making it hard for her to keep control of the reigns. She knows this isn’t good, one mistake, and she could lose control of this body to another souls trapped within her. She knows she needs to feed on weaker souls to regain her strength, only then can she challenge the stronger souls within her and silence the unrest.

  “Isn’t that Anya?”

“Why did she just come out of those dark flames?”

With the recent monster march crisis averted, some of the residents have already begun returning to the city. Many onlookers easily recognize her. She knows staying out in the open is bad, it won’t be long before Rei and his party start looking for her. It's too risky to start eating souls in the middle of the street and cause a scene. In her weakened state, even these low-level dark elves may be able to overpower her to protect their young. No, her best option is to lay low and seek out solitary targets.

  The imposter offers everyone a pleasant smile...or at least she tries to, it comes off more as a grimace than a smile. She gives a few generic greetings while skillfully weaving her way through the crowd towards the seedy parts of town. At least here it’ll take awhile for people to notice if a vagabond or orphan goes missing.

  “System come out, you didn’t tell me it would be like this! Why the hell is Ariellia still alive and why is Rei targeting me instead? Aren’t I the childhood love interest, he should be trying to protect me!” She’s incensed by the two-faced system that did nothing while she was taking a beating in the tomb. Ever since she came to this world, it’s been talking incessantly about this or that task. Why is it when she needs backup that it suddenly decides to go offline for an update?

[An unexpected variable has been detected...the system is currently updating to accommodate these changes and currently cannot be reached...25% updated...].

“Aargh!” She’s so pissed off right not, without thinking she hurls a discarded crate box at the brick wall in a deserted alleyway, satisfied to see the wood break apart on impact.

A drunk dark elf who’d been peacefully sleeping slouched by that same wall jumps up in fright, still clutching his bottle of unfinished spirits as he looks around in confusion.

  “Who’s making all that ruckus, can’t you see an elf’s trying to catch some shut eye here! First, they force you to leave the city because they claim a monster wave coming, now this. I swear it’s all the fault of those unruly beastmen, nothing but dogs in heat...always causing trouble.”

As an imposter simply inhabiting this body, she shouldn’t feel insulted by his words since they don’t truly apply to her...but she does. Anya slowly turns to the drunken dark elf whose eyes are full of scorn for her kind. Yes, it seems no matter where you go there will always be garbage like this.

[55% updated...system requires more power to complete the update.]

“Stop whining in my ear, this idiot should do just fine.”

    She slowly approaches the drunk elf with a charming smile, swaying her hips intentionally. Her reaction is so intimidating the drunk’s instincts finally kick in, realizing something might be wrong with the pretty wolf girl in front of him. He tries to back up but he finds himself pressed against the wall with her slender fingers strangling the life out of his throat. He flails about and tries to pry her hand off his neck with both hands but he’s lacking by several levels, unable to match her strength. In the end he’s left no choice but to meet an untimely end in the dark alley, his soul slowly consumed by the pretty wolf girl he’d been cursing just seconds before.

[1 soul acquired...75% updated...power is still insufficient...acquire more souls to complete the update.]

“Tsk, always so greedy.” The wolf girl frowns, scanning the alley for anymore unfortunate souls to devour but alas there are none.

“Number two!”

She calls out for the stupid bird, hoping he might become her eyes again and find a safer hunting ground with enough prey. She waits several minutes, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground but the silly sparrow doesn’t appear. His act of defiance sours her foul mood even further, she closes her eyes and tries to feel the soul contract between them but is violently rebuffed by a pair of wicked red eyes, making her double over and vomit blood.

“So that bastard still had some tricks up his sleeve huh. It’s no wonder he gave in so easily, he was just waiting for a moment of weakness to escape. Men, how typical, you seriously can’t trust them to do shit.” She grumbles to herself while wiping off the blood with the back of her hand, smearing it across her lips like fresh lipstick.

“I fear he has returned to his former master. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble perhaps I might be of service my lady.”

!

Anya quickly spins around, shocked to see another person standing so close when she never even heard them arrive. The alleyway had been empty once she killed the drunk, this much she is certain. Who is this strange figure that managed to bypass all of her heightened senses, making all the fine hairs on her neck stand up at the sight of this cloaked outsider. The ambiguous clothing makes it hard to tell if they are a male or female, most of their face is heavily covered by a veil, revealing only the lower half. When they spoke earlier, it was the voice of an adolescent yet to break through puberty.

“Who are you?”

“I am an oracle, my master told me to seek out a foreign soul in this land.”

“Foreign soul? Do you mean me?”

[..75% updated...power is still insufficient...acquire more souls to complete the update.]

“I hear you, stop yapping in my head for a Christ’s sake and I’ll get you your damn souls! I’m trying to have a conversation here.”

A normal person would be startled if she randomly started screaming at the sky but not this oracle. They appear to know something about the existence of her system.

“You come from a higher realm. You see this as all a game do you not?”

“Of course I see it as a game, that fucking loser wouldn’t stop playing it!” She gets annoyed just recalling the memory. Perhaps it's all because of this stupid game and his lack of attention that she ended up dead in the first place. If he’d just made a bit more effort in their relationship she wouldn’t have gotten involved with that cheating asshole and his crazy wife.

“Indeed, you do not view our realm to be real and see little value in our lives. However, to satisfy that gnawing hunger within you, you’ll need my guidance.”

“Guidance?” The impostor arrogantly crosses her arms, sizing the odd guest from head to toe.

“At the beginning of this month I foresaw the destruction of Rahnoff. I traveled a great distance to confirm my vision, yet Rahnoff still stands. The grim reaper was promised a great bounty with many souls set to pass through his gates in the great monster wave...yet he received very little. The souls that should have died did not and the ones that shouldn’t did, a rather peculiar twist in fate that must be rectified. This is the second time someone has managed to disrupt what the stars have already foretold.”

“You’re saying someone caused all this?”

“Indeed, it’s the very same poor soul that should have perished with this land. She lives in the castle over there. Her prolonged life has just altered the fates of many.”

The mysterious oracle points towards Castle Garrod.