Name: Kaede
Class: 2D Soul Painter
Race: Dragon-kin
Stats: Strength: 80, Endurance: 32, Agility: 103, Magic: 50
Overall Strength: LV1
Skills: Painting LV1, Soul Painting, Weakness Analysis (Passive), Breath Control (Passive), Draw-and-Slash (LV3), Blood Manipulation, Blood Demons Wrath, Blood-Colored Dead End
Equipment: Soul Brush, Soul Drawing Board. (Class-specific equipment.) Rusted Tachi.
Looking at her stats, Kaede was a bit surprised because her attributes had actually changed. Except for Magic, which hadn't changed, all other attributes had exceeded 50, and Agility had even reached 103.
Kaede still remembered that the last time she came out of SAO, her stats had hardly changed. As for the additional Dragon-kin race, Kaede had long been mentally prepared for it; after all, the Dragon King had said before that after the third blood sacrifice, she would no longer be human—it could be said she was reborn.
Suddenly, Kaede raised an eyebrow. Could the change in stats be because of this? Kaede felt her body and confirmed one thing: she was far from as strong as she was when she finished akame ga kill. Her stats were probably about one-something-th of what they were then, about the same as before the second blood sacrifice, or perhaps even a bit weaker.
However, compared to last time, it was already quite good. Next, Kaede needed to determine one thing: she had spent over a decade in that world, so how much time had passed in this game?
If too much time had passed, that would be troublesome; she would probably need a long time to get rid of her bottom-tier status.
Thus, Kaede came to the old village chief's house once again.
"You are... a player?" After seeing Kaede, the village chief wiped his eyes and said in disbelief.
"Mm." Kaede glanced at the village chief, feeling that even if she had come as she was before, he wouldn't remember her. "May I ask what time it is now?"
"Now, you ask?" The village chief scratched his head, thought for a moment, and said, "Today is May 21st of the New Calendar."
"New Calendar?"
"It's calculated from the day you players arrived," the village chief said.
"Oh." Kaede's eyes brightened. So, she had spent over a decade in another world, but only a little over two months had passed here? This was acceptable.
"Right, you are a player!" The village chief's eyes suddenly lit up, and he grabbed one of Kaede's hands as if he had seen a savior.
"..." Kaede pulled her hand away without mercy, stepped back a few paces, and looked at the village chief.
"Ahem." The village chief also knew he had been rude, gave a dry laugh, and said, "Um, I'd like to give you a quest."
"A quest? Go ahead." Kaede nodded, though she didn't show any expression of happiness.
"It's like this: a Patterned Leopard recently appeared near our village, causing the villagers to be afraid to go out and work. You know the consequences of a small village like ours being unable to work, so I'd like to ask you to deal with that Patterned Leopard," the village chief said.
"Actually, that Patterned Leopard has something to do with you players. If it weren't for you players feeding it a few lives, it wouldn't have grown to its current level."
Ignoring the village chief's complaints, the corners of Kaede's mouth curled up, and she asked directly, "So, what's the quest reward?"
"Eh?" The village chief was stunned. This player in front of him was a bit different from the others. Usually, other players' eyes would light up as soon as they heard "quest," they would go do it, and then upon returning, he could just give them a little benefit—and it didn't even need to be much. The village chief would even feel a bit sad after the players left, as such cheap labor wasn't always available.
"I'm not going without a reward. Your villagers are afraid to go out, so it must be dangerous for me too, right?" If the village chief had encountered the Kaede who had returned from SAO, it might have been better, but unfortunately, the current Kaede was not as naive as before.
"Hmm." The village chief hesitated, then looked at Kaede sitting there with an indifferent attitude. Finally, he sighed, "Let's set the quest reward at two magic books."
"Magic books?" Kaede's eyes lit up. Her class had the fastest magic growth, but unfortunately, she didn't have a single spell.
"Yes," the village chief nodded. "These two were left to us by a mage our village saved a long time ago. However, I won't give you the originals; I can only give you copies."
"Fine." Kaede nodded. In fact, she didn't know the difference between the original and the copy. The original retained some magic, which allowed scholars to learn the spells on it more easily; the copy didn't have such power.
"Well then, that Patterned Leopard usually roams to the south of the village," the village chief said.
"Mm." Kaede nodded, then blinked at the village chief, taking out the broken Tachi. "Can you give me a better weapon?"
"..." After the village chief was silent for a while, he sighed again.
Then, Kaede walked out of the village chief's house with a brand-new sword and headed toward the south of the village.
Kaede was quite satisfied with this weapon. Although it wasn't as good as the Tachi she had made using a Teigu before, it was still decent, at least several times better than that broken Tachi.
Having obtained the weapon, Kaede walked toward the quest location with light steps.
What made Kaede a bit happy was that as soon as she stood at the quest location, she felt a dangerous gaze land on her.
This Patterned Leopard was originally just an ordinary leopard, but ever since it killed a few players who recklessly challenged it, it felt itself growing stronger.
Then it preyed near this village, and its strength grew stronger and stronger. Now it was the overlord here. However, it was a bit dissatisfied now, because the food around it could no longer give it any stats.
Then the Patterned Leopard saw someone like the ones before walking over. Although she had a dangerous scent, the Patterned Leopard, which had been stagnant for a long time, decided to kill her.
Kaede continued walking, one hand quietly resting on the hilt of her sword.
The wind blew, the grass moved, and every sound was clearly transmitted to Kaede's ears.
The next moment, the Patterned Leopard rushed out and pounced at Kaede.
At this moment, Kaede's eyes flashed, her Tachi was drawn instantly, and she turned and slashed down.
However, to Kaede's surprise, this slash only left a wound on the Patterned Leopard, and then Kaede was knocked away by the Patterned Leopard.
If not for that slash, the Patterned Leopard probably wouldn't have rammed her, but bitten her.
"This strength." Kaede murmured, watching the Patterned Leopard pacing there, seemingly trying to find the best opportunity to pounce.
At this time, Kaede's eyes also saw some information about the Patterned Leopard; actually, it was only its power level.
Patterned Leopard: LV2.
Suddenly, Kaede became interested. As for danger? Kaede looked at the Patterned Leopard; although its power level was higher than hers, Kaede didn't feel she was in any danger at all.
Moreover, it was perfect; Kaede also wanted to know how high the stats of an LV2 were. So, the look in Kaede's eyes as she looked at the Patterned Leopard was like looking at a lab rat.
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