The “Silver Ring Witch” was Cayna’s infamous alias.

As a bonus prize for earning the title of Skill Master, players were given an Artifact of their choosing. Of course, there were some limits to how powerful it could be, but the unique equipment given was nothing short of extraordinary.

Cayna had requested an item that would increase her Magic Stats and give her a constant Magic Barrier. She left the design up to the Admins, and they came up with a giant silver ring that floated around the user. Just looking like a silver ring of Saturn was fine, but…

Whenever Cayna equipped it, the floating magic would activate on its own, and all the first-time ally players fighting in the Seven Nation Battle would see her as a Big Boss, as if they were in some kind of FPS game.

However, her current appearance and how people now saw her didn’t really make a difference either way. As it was, her race traits were already elevated, and she had plenty of stat-boosting skills unique to her as a Skill Master. Moreover, thanks to level-breaking Synergy effects, Cayna’s Attack Magic value was head and shoulders above that of other players.

These were only further powered up by the Silver Ring, and her super magic blasted everything away. Enemy players naturally trembled in fear, and thus, her notorious moniker formally came to be.

It was a dark stain on Cayna’s history that she wished to seal away, but it seemed to be carved into legend even after she’d traveled worlds and space-time…

As the saying goes, Anyone can start a rumor, but none can stop one.

Though she trembled with shame, Cayna shook her head to chase away those negative thoughts and switched to something else. She hadn’t yet been able to ask where the tower was located, so she vowed she would try tomorrow.

Still, the fact that her nickname hadn’t faded into history was proof that players had existed in the past. As for those that might still remain besides Cayna, humans and werecats only had a life span of about two hundred years.

There were surely a number of dwarves and elves still around, though, who she could potentially find.

“There’s no point dwelling on it. I can’t confirm anything and don’t see an end in sight, so I might as well just stop now.”

Her mind was spinning around in circles, and since she didn’t even have anyone to talk to about it, she decided to put the issue on hold until she could meet a mutually long-lived peer.

Cayna locked her door and, not having anything better to do, tried to go to sleep.

It was still too early for bedtime, and this world was full of endless fascination for someone like Keina, who grew up in a science-based civilization. Leadale itself had always been a continuous source of pleasure.

The light would pose problems once it was time for bed, however. The magically fueled lantern shone brightly and lit up every corner of the room. The Light spell she’d cast would last for roughly another six hours.

Players used the spell during dungeon crawls and the like, and when it ran out, that was usually a sign to finish things up. When party members came to a good stopping point, it was pretty standard for everyone to bring their light back outside and leave it there.

Since Cayna was trying to get some shut-eye and needed darkness, she cast the spell Black Light Level 2. Finding relief in the pitch-black room, she slipped under the covers.

“It’ll go out before morning anyway.”

Cayna figured she didn’t need armor to sleep, but she didn’t exactly have pajamas, either. She took off only her jagged arm guard and put it in the Item Box. Marelle had said that things like baths were a luxury, so she cleansed herself with the spell Purity and went to sleep.

It was the early hours of the morning, and as the village lay sleeping soundly, two shadows darted behind the buildings.

“I dunno, Zena. I been hearin’ she’s an adventurer. Sneakin’ up on ’er seems sorta crazy.”

“Dumbass, what’s one little girlie like that gonna do? She’s a sittin’ duck for guys like us.”

Zena and Lyle were the village misfits who the locals called punks and thieves whenever they were out of earshot.

The pair’s target was the fat purse they’d seen Cayna flashing about that afternoon. She looked like nothing more than some little greenhorn adventurer girl, so anyone meeting her for the first time tended to underestimate her.

Little did they realize that her innocuous frame housed a transcendent being of a bygone era. To put it bluntly, their reckless endeavor was akin to a mouse challenging a monster. Even so, the two thugs lacked either the insight or competence to realize this.

They pilfered a ladder from a neighboring barn and laid it against the roof that would lead them to the window of Cayna’s room. The two of them quietly climbed up. Lyle inserted a thin gold plate into the gap in the shutters and undid the window’s inner latch.

As soon as he finished this delicate work, though, a pitch-black darkness radiated from the open window. Lyle let out a pitiful little yelp and fell backward. Naturally, there was nothing there to support him, and a painful-sounding thump! interrupted the silence as he tumbled to the ground.

The blow had knocked the wind out of him. He couldn’t even answer his partner’s questions.

“The hell are ya doin’? …Hey, what’s that?”

The darkness radiating from the room and beginning to seep outside made for an eerie spectacle in the moonlight.

Zena hesitated for a moment, but his greed was greater than his fear. He stepped into the gloom…all without noticing the magic immediately starting to rise within it.

Cayna’s equipment was packed with a plethora of EX Items that gave her additional skills and special effects. Among them was a silver bracelet on her right arm that could automatically call upon an Active monster with Summoning Magic: Lightning Spirit Level 3. It was originally meant to be used when the player was Away and gained the nickname “Pervert Blocker.”

She had this for a couple of reasons: Sometimes the Admins would, on a whim, hold events where monsters attacked all the towns. Other times, people would pull mischievous pranks like doodling on players who had their statuses set to Away. All the more proof that your safety wasn’t guaranteed even within the towns.

At that moment, the spell identified the thieves as a threat and instantly summoned a Lightning Spirit whose threat level was somewhere in the 330 range (calculated by multiplying the caster’s highest level and the Summoning spell level by 10 percent). You’d need four level-330 players to handle something like that.

The jagged 3D frames converged in front of Zena and materialized with an electric spark to form the silhouette of a lion. The wave of electric aftershocks zapped the intruder, who fell backward with a shout. The lion nimbly pursued.

Zena landed and twitched spastically in front of Lyle, who had finally managed to recover. The electric lion, which was almost double the size of a bear, soon caught up to them. The two flustered hoodlums spurred their aching bodies on and made a break for it.

The electric lion chased the two around the village and only returned to Cayna’s side once they were beyond its perimeter. It deftly used its front paws to close the window that had been left wide-open before sitting in the center of the room.

The magic power that had been circulating while the Black Light was in effect had been used up and was now dissipated. Of course, Cayna had no idea any of this had happened during the night, and by the time the morning rays broke through the gap in her window, she woke energized and ready to take on the day.

Kee, who kept watch outside day and night, knew all about the incident. He had intentionally determined it was Not Important, and the truth remained hidden in darkness.

“Wow, it sure is nice out.”

Cayna opened her window to let in the fresh air and verdant scent of the outdoors. The sight Mother Nature wrought soon after this new dawn moved her heart. It reminded her of the spectacle she’d once seen when she went mountain climbing with her parents as a child. Tears began to well in her eyes.

She stared at the marvelous scenery for a long while without feeling the least bit bored but noticed something flashing out of the corner of her eye. Cayna turned to the right and used Eagle Eye to magnify it.

“…Ah, there it is.”

Although only the top half was visible from the village, a silver tower clearly stood at the foot of the mountain range to her right.

“I guess that’s our mission today, huh?” Cayna said with a quiet laugh. A knock came at the door, and she left the window to answer it.

“You’ve barely got any equipment. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“There’s no need to worry. Even with this, I’m pretty capable on my own.”

In front of the inn, Cayna was engaged in a verbal tug-of-war as Marelle fretted over the girl leaving the village. It all started with her lack of anything beyond basic equipment. She didn’t even have a tool bag.

She couldn’t exactly say she had an Item Box in another dimension that housed vast stores of goods, and she was at a loss over how to free herself of this predicament.

Help came from a most unexpected source.

“Well then, miss, you could at least take this!”

“Huh? Lytt?”

Lytt held a leather canteen out to her. Unable to say no to those eyes swimming with deep concern, Cayna accepted it with a bright smile.

“Thank you, Lytt. I’d be happy to borrow it for a while. I’ll make sure to bring you back a present, so look forward to it.”

“Take care, miss.”