The marketplace buzzed with late afternoon chatter—vendors shouting prices, customers haggling over tomatoes, spices, fabrics. Children darted between stalls, their laughter rising above the din.
The girl giggled as she skipped through the crowded marketplace, her stuffed rabbit dragging in the dirt behind her. No one paid her any mind. Just another cheerful child lost in her own world. She looked around seven, maybe eight.
A few paces behind, three men moved with practiced casualness, watching her closely.
"Are you sure we have the right person?" one of them whispered, eyes darting between her and his companion. "I mean… she's a child."
"Not just any child," the second muttered, voice low and sharp. "A bunny shifter."
The third snorted quietly. "If the word weak had a face…"
Bunny shifters. Rare, but not coveted. Not powerful. Not feared. If anything, they were pitied—soft prey on the shifter food chain. The men looked irritated, even insulted, that after a year-long hunt, this was what it had come down to.
Still, they couldn't afford to take chances. The rumors had been vicious. People they tortured—grown, hardened men—had died with her name on their tongues, refusing to speak it out loud. The whispers painted her as a ghost, a monster cloaked in the skin of something innocent. And now this? A giggling girl who tripped over her own feet?
They'd decided she was probably the target's sister. Or a friend. Either way, she would lead them there.
The girl turned the corner into a quiet alley. One skipped step, a swing of her little plush rabbit, and she vanished into shadow. They followed.
The alley was dim, silent.
She stood there, facing the wall. As they came closer they heard quiet sobs and a little mutter of,"Oh no. I'm lost."
Then she turned.
Her eyes… they didn't belong to a child. They gleamed with something cold, something unhinged.
"Gotcha," she whispered sweetly.
She moved—fast, unnaturally fast. A flash of silver. A gurgled scream. One went down with a slit throat before the others even processed what had happened. The second lunged toward her but stumbled. His legs had given out. He collapsed, eyes wide with confusion. Poison? No…
The girl didn't answer his unspoken question. She kicked his blade away and buried her knife into his chest.
The third tried to run. A childish voice behind him whispered, "Tag."
The third staggered back in horror.
She was giggling now. Soft, sweet little giggles. Like a child playing hide and seek.
"You're not very good at this," she said, voice sing-song. "Mama always said—quick and efficient, but…" She tilted her head. "I do like to have fun."
The last man barely raised his blade before she pounced. They rolled, but she was laughing the whole time. His scream was cut short by the crunch of steel and bone.
Blood painted the alley.
She stood slowly, covered in crimson, still giggling. She dragged her rabbit's ear along the wall, smearing red streaks like a finger-painting child.
She turned to the corpses and curtsied. "Thanks for playing."
Then her face went flat. Cold.
"Two months," she murmured. "No messages. No signs. Fine, Mama. I'll come find you." She wasn't stupid. She knew her mother had her reasons. But that didn't mean she wasn't furious.
She wiped her blade clean on one man's shirt and walked away like nothing happened.
She crept back into the old shack she called home, slipping through a window instead of the front door. They might not be the last ones sent. Wouldn't be the first time someone tried.
Inside, she knelt by a loose floorboard and pulled it up. A hidden compartment revealed a small journal and a roll of parchment. She scribbled quickly in the family's private cipher, folded it tight, and tucked it inside the pages.
Let them find it. When they do, they'll know I'm not waiting anymore.
She left through the back and flagged down a passing carriage heading to the port.
The ride was quiet—for all of five minutes. Then the door creaked open. A boy—maybe twelve, wide-eyed and curious—climbed in and sat across from her, grinning.
She didn't even look up.
"Not again," she sighed. "Why exactly don't these kids ever learn?"
_______
Athena blinked awake as a soft chime echoed in her mind, followed by the familiar cold mechanical voice of the system.
[Daily Quest: Beginner Body Conditioning]
• 100 Push-ups
• 100 Sit-ups
• 100 Squats
• 10km Run
Reward: 5 Points
Penalty: -50 development points]
Her lips twitched.
"Are you kidding me?" she muttered, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Who even comes up with this kind of training?"
But the penalty made her pause. Minus 50 development points? That was brutal. What even were points?
With a sharp flick, another screen opened in front of her, revealing her stats.
[STATS
• Strength: 3 – Your physical power. Determines how hard you hit and how much you can lift. At 3, you probably can't carry a sack of potatoes without a break.
• Agility: 4 – Speed, reflexes, and coordination. You won't trip over your own feet, but don't expect to dodge arrows either.
• Stamina: 3 – How long you can last in physical activities. And no, running to the kitchen doesn't count.
• Magic Affinity: 7 – Your natural connection to magic. This is your saving grace… if you ever learn to use it.
• Intelligence: 9 – Your ability to understand, learn, and adapt. Book-smart? Absolutely. World-smart? Debatable.
• Charisma: 6 – Your charm and ability to influence others. You're mildly likeable. Let's build on that.
•Luck: 2 – Don't gamble. Don't draw straws. Just… don't.]
Athena stared at the numbers, a deep sense of existential dread settling over her.
"I'm not even average…" she muttered.
She huffed as she understood the gist of the matter,to increase her stat she would need points,and to get points she would need to exercise. Fine,she already died once,she could do that again.
Groaning, she climbed out of bed and stretched her limbs. Her muscles ached faintly from yesterday,she had handed out apples till her arms refused to move.
She stepped outside, the early dawn air crisp against her skin. Most of the village was still asleep, the sky painted in deep blues and faint golds. Quiet. Peaceful.
Athena dropped to the ground and started her push-ups, counting under her breath.
By the time she hit fifty, sweat trickled down her brow. She grit her teeth and kept going.
"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" she muttered toward the system, not expecting an answer.
The real kicker was the 10km run. She glanced at the path marked by the system. 'Must I follow this path,she wondered.'
[Yes,host]
She took off,she followed the path through thick bushes,and even padded through streams. By the time she got back to the village,she was in dire need of a bath.
But reality hit her like a cold slap—she didn't even have a place to bathe.
She let out an inaudible scream,for now she would settle for a simple rinsing but she would make sure to settle the matter later today.
She went back home,took a bowl of water and washed her face,then picked one of Kael's clean cloth as a towel which she used to dry her body. The worst part was the fact that she couldn't even change her clothes. This was a nightmare. She refused to have dried fishes for breakfast and just took some apples.
Athena and Kael left together,Kael headed towards where the farmers had decided to meet every morning while she headed for the hall as always. Today Elandor would be taking her to the mysterious manors outside the boundary.
Without another word, he raised his hand. A sharp gust of wind blew around them, and the air warped. In a flash, the village disappeared, replaced by the jagged mountains and the cluster of stone manors.
Athena looked up—and her mouth fell open.
They stood before an estate. Bigger than the manor she saw back in the village. Another perched on a small hill about 600 meters away.
"This is huge," she whispered. "Why does this island have so many big, abandoned places?"
She went around, building by building, searching them all.
There were three main buildings on the estate.
The first one she entered felt strange. It was too empty for nobles but far too large for mere servants. Two floors, but it stretched wide and long. She meticulously counted each room as she moved: 310 rooms in total. Some were larger than others,the rest reminded her of the dormitories back on Earth. She could picture the bunk beds, the desks and the occasional chatter. She let out a small smile as she allowed herself get lost in her memories,to her this was what her life was like just 2 weeks ago.
She shook her head letting her thoughts drift back,this was suspicious. Very suspicious.
On the ground floor, she found the kitchen. Unlike the rest of the building, it wasn't completely abandoned. There were still food supplies—some flour, a bit of rice tucked away in dusty corners. It wasn't much, but it was enough to hint that the place had seen use not too long ago.
She moved on to the second building — the main house. As soon as she stepped inside, the difference was clear. Each room was fully furnished, some with thick layers of dust and others with just a fine sprinkle, as if someone had passed through only recently.
The less dusty rooms? Definitely the ones their "visitors" had been staying in.
When she entered the kitchen, she almost screamed out loud — in shock, not fear. A barrel had been left open, and inside... wheat. Actual wheat, ground into fine flour. She tore through the pantry with renewed energy, uncovering bags of salt, small jars of pepper, and a few more essentials tucked away in the storage room.
There were eight more barrels of wheat, two barrels filled with oil, and four barrels containing—she sniffed, a slow smirk curling her lips—wine. Good wine, from the smell of it.
She chuckled,'Next time these visitors come back... I'll be sure to give them a 'warm' welcome.'
Satisfied, she left the main building and headed to the third, right next to it. At first glance, it looked identical to the first building. Same layout, same long corridors, same 310 rooms.
She began to suspect they were into something shady—maybe slave trading or some kind of underground operation.
And then she saw it.
While walking the perimeter, her sharp eyes caught a glimpse of something odd — the roof of another structure, just barely sticking out from the other side of the mountain. It was subtle, hidden deliberately. At first, she had thought these houses were just built to hide in the shadows of the cliffs.
Now, it was clear that was not the case at all.