Blood and Mist Arc

Alice leaned over the old copper basin and splashed her face with cool water drawn from the well. Then, she looked up at the cracked mirror hanging on the hut wall.

What she saw made her thoughtful.

A twelve-year-old girl stared back at her. The roundness of childhood had faded, yet her face still held that ethereal, almost unreal beauty that gave her the look of an angel. Her skin was porcelain-pale, flawless, as if hand-painted. Her features were perfectly balanced—neither too delicate nor too full. A straight, refined nose, pale, well-shaped lips, and above all, those eyes… that strange pair of mismatched irises: one vivid green, the other deep blue, piercing through the glass.

Her long, ash-blonde hair cascaded in soft waves over her shoulders. No makeup. No jewelry. And yet, she needed none.

She thought to herself, half amused, half incredulous: Even the models from my old world would look plain next to me.

Yes. There was no doubt—give it a few more years, and she’d be turning heads...

… if she ever met anyone other than an old golem.

Having finished examining herself in the cracked mirror, her gaze shifted to the rapier and leather armor laid out on the bed.

[Inspect]

Wide Rapier – Edgewhirl
Agility +10, Strength +5
Active Skill: Piercing Dash — quick lunge that deals a critical hit if the enemy is surprised. (Cooldown: 20s)

Leather Armor – Shadow Scales
Constitution +15
Passive Skill: Minor resistance to slashing damage

It had been five years since she and Golly defeated the lich and received those rewards. Five years of reflection… and still so many unanswered questions.

Why had the system sent her to this place?
Who was the mysterious deity represented by the statue?
Was the voice she’d heard truly divine?
And the cult the lich had belonged to… what was its real purpose? She hadn’t had time to think it through back then, too busy surviving.

But since then, the system had gone silent. No continuation of the main quest. Nothing. Just a few scattered side quests over the years.

Radio silence.

"At least Golly didn’t lie. His arm really did grow back in a week!"

“What’s wrong with my arm?”

Golly had just walked in, as usual carrying ingredients for lunch.

“I said it looks like a dried-out carrot when it regenerates!”

Alice shot back, sticking her tongue out.

She now saw him as family—like a father or an overly protective big brother. A pang of sorrow struck her when she thought of her real family, lost too soon in her old world.

“Not sure that carrot would taste very good.”

Alice giggled. Golly had been trying to learn humor recently, much to her delight, even if he still had a long way to go. She considered it her greatest achievement: with enough persistence, she’d managed to make the golem just a little less… golem. She liked to think he was now 10% human in how he interacted with her.

“Did you sleep well? Did the voice disturb your dreams again?”

“No, last night I slept peacefully.”

The mysterious voice sometimes called to her in dreams. In recent months, it had grown more insistent, as if urging her that the time was near.

Alice continued:

“I’m sure we need to go to the shrine you told me about, deep in the forest. It’s the key to understanding why I’m in this world! We don’t need to wait for the system to hand me a quest, let’s just go!”

“That place is the lair of the Mist Guardian. You don’t just confront the Mist Guardian.”

“I’m almost level 60, just a day or two away! We’re not waiting another five years just because you think I’m not ready!”

“That would be wise.”

“Ugh, you’re so stubborn sometimes! I’m going to train. See you later!”

“At least come back for lunch. I’m making your favorite: boar steak.”

Alice waved over her shoulder and ran out of the hut.

A few dozen minutes later. Alice landed softly on a branch, her ash-blonde hair fluttering in the morning breeze. She straightened up, hands on hips, and looked out over the carpet of leaves below. The sunlight filtered through the trees, casting a peaceful golden glow. A smile touched her lips.

At twelve, she was no longer quite a child. Her body had grown graceful, her figure more defined, and her heterochromatic eyes—one deep blue, one vivid green—shone with new life. She had never felt more alive. More powerful.

A branch cracked below. An ogre. She was entering their territory. She continued forward, leaping from branch to branch with the grace of a wildcat. Her cape flared behind her. Her boots touched bark without a sound. She moved like a spirit.

Three jumps later, she landed behind a thick trunk and crouched. Ahead: a small clearing sloping gently downward. Six towering ogres, three meters tall, with swollen, dark skin, patrolled while grunting. Their level: 59. So was she. Just days away from her next level.

“You’re just in time, gentlemen,” she murmured, drawing her rapier.

Before charging in, she flicked open her system interface.

Status Page

Name: Alice Vanberg
Race: Vampire
Level: 59
Experience: 1621 / 2110
Class: None
Unassigned Points: 50

She pursed her lips at the sight. Fifty points.

It had been five years since she decided to keep a portion in reserve. Five years since the lich battle, when she cursed herself for not being able to adjust her stats mid-fight. More Strength and Constitution would’ve likely let her reach the boss and kill it before Golly got hurt. Since then, she refused to spend points carelessly.

“If another boss catches me off guard, I want options.”

Her fingers slid to the magic tab.

Magic

Wind Magic — Level 18 (Intermediate): Zephyr Blade, Wind Leap
Earth Magic — Level 16 (Intermediate): Earth Fangs, Stone Wall
Blood Magic — Level 1: Buff activates after feeding (Hyper Regeneration if wounded)

Since level 10, her magic had advanced to Intermediate rank. She could now cast more complex spells.

She lingered a moment on Blood Magic—still level 1. It had never progressed, but that didn’t mean it was useless.

Over five years, she’d uncovered some curious details. First, the buff only activated if she drank blood directly from the wound, a flask of blood wasn’t enough.
Second, and more importantly… if she drank while injured, her body ignited from within. A blazing regeneration kicked in, healing wounds and mending broken bones in seconds.

The system called it Hyper Regeneration.

“Useful. But sinister,” she thought. She didn’t like that part of herself but she accepted it. Like everything she had become.

She closed the interface.

“You’re lucky I’m not investing in Strength today…”

She stood up.

One of the ogres looked up. It had spotted her.

“Too late to run,” she muttered with a fierce grin.

She leapt.

The first ogre swung its club with a roar. Too slow.

Alice rolled aside, bounced off a tree, and launched herself over the enemy.

“Wind Leap!”

A gust coiled under her feet, giving her an extra burst. She twisted midair.

[Active Skill: Piercing Dash – Activated]

Her rapier gleamed blue as she crashed into the ogre’s back with multiplied force.

Schlik!

The monster howled, dropping to its knees, spine pierced.

Critical Hit!
Deep slashing damage inflicted.

Alice spun, blocked another club with a stone wall rising from the ground.

“Stone Wall!”

Two more ogres circled the barrier. She dodged just in time, relying on her speed.

She cast a swirling gale around herself with Wind Magic. The ogres staggered, buffeted by the air.

“Zephyra!”

Wind blades screamed through the clearing. One ogre took a blast to the face and stumbled back.

But there were six. And she was alone. One blow grazed her shoulder. Another nearly clipped her leg. She deflected a punch with her blade, then raised a ring of jagged rock from the ground. The earth erupted with stone blades.

“Earth Fangs!”

Three enemies were skewered or thrown off balance. One leap. One spin. She pierced the heart of one as it fell. Another lunged for her. She rolled, slipped between its legs, and sliced its Achilles tendon. Crack. It collapsed. Two left, hesitating.

Alice didn’t wait. In a blur, she reappeared behind them, vaulted onto one’s shoulders, and drove her blade downward. The other roared and struck blindly. She used the falling body as a shield. Then stabbed her rapier straight into the last ogre’s eye.

Silence.

The six corpses thudded to the ground like sacks of stone. Alice wiped her brow, panting. She glanced at her blade.

“Edgewhirl… still loyal as ever.”

She smiled, heart pounding. But no window popped up. No ding. No level up. She sighed.

“I’m so close to 60. I’m gonna need a basilisk or a mini-dragon at this rate…”

Four ogre groups later, her stomach growled. She sheathed her blade and turned back.

The sun was at its peak when she finally reached the hut. Muddy and starving, she found Golly flipping tubers in a blackened pan.

She approached with a grin and quickly placed a crown of woven flowers on his head.

“Not this again,” he grumbled.

“I think it softens your image,” she beamed.

He froze for a moment, as always.

“My old master never subjected me to such humiliation.”

“And yet you wear it so well.”

The scent of grilled boar and sizzling tubers hit her.

“You used rosemary?”

“That’s the strong-smelling plant? Yes. I think. Found it behind the garden.”

“You impress me, Golly. One day, you’ll make a fine chef.”

“I hope that’s not a combat rank.”

“Nope. It’s for cooks. But you’d be deadly—with your magic pots and pans.”

Golly nodded solemnly.

“I should consider it.”

Alice sat down, grabbed a plate, and let out a sigh of bliss.

“Twenty-four ogres. Not a single level. This system really wants me to suffer.”

“Maybe it wants you to take your time.”

She looked at him.

“You mean… like you, keeping me from the shrine?”

“Exactly.”

Alice shrugged. She’d promised not to leave without him. But the voice was getting stronger. Clearer. Closer.

She stabbed her fork into a steaming boar slice.

“A few more days. If I hit 60… we’re going.”

Golly said nothing. He handed her a basket of rustic bread. She took a hearty bite, her gaze drifting into the golden light of the forest.

Something was coming. She could feel it. And she’d be ready.