Bro, I'm not an Undead!

In the same spirit of growth, as Yuyui was asserting her blooming courage, Ferex was gazing and nodding his head at the progress he had made.

Coincidentally, two of his skills had evolved just when Skullius had exited Fortune, no doubt in an attempt to find his senior again after [High Cosmetic Body] had come off cooldown.

[Amorphous Sampling] which allowed him to copy the likeness of objects with his Unliving Thread had evolved into [Smart Mimicry] which allowed him to more easily copy all complex forms of existence like ethereal and intangible objects while applying small boosts to draw the result as close as possible to the original and even beyond.

[GENIUS!] had evolved into [DETAIL!] which allowed gave Ferex the ability to focus on hidden intricacies through clarity over what it had been able to do before.

Ferex wished he had had these before going to meet Bassbion back then.

During that trip, he had used [Amorphous Sampling] on Bassbion's sword. Its form was hard to copy and the material used to make the sword, which could harm the soul had only been mimicked to a lesser extent.

Unlike many other tools and artefacts, Bassbion's sword didn't rely on arrays or runes for its effects, which made it perfect for Ferex who couldn't have derived its effect and forge himself into a sword that could replicate its unique traits otherwise.

If he had evolved his skills first, there would have been a better outcome but Ferex wouldn't change the past even if he was given the chance. His action was what eventually led to a clean victory after all.

Besides, there was no way Bassbion would allow him to touch her sword again. She was already suspicious of him the first time.

Now, the Hound circled around the corpse of the latest Cluster General to be defeated by his master and him.

Thinking about it now, the experience for killing the creature narrowly landed in his pocket during that final stretch. His effect on the creature's soul was just barely weaker than his master's attack on the creature's mana core which had caused its victim so much pain that it died.

Still, he would have surrendered the experience to Skullius anyway if that had happened.

Now, though he didn't exactly have the perfect sample of flesh and artefact, what he had sampled from Bassbion and this corpse should be enough.

When Skullius saw him again, he would no doubt be pleasantly deeply surprised and maybe even proud.

The Hound's sockets lit up with resolve as it activated [DETAIL!] and [Smart Mimicry] to finally execute its plan.

Dark blue Unliving Thread was churned from glowing red spot on its abdomen, the millions of strings wrapping around the corpse of the Grand Flame Bringer and taking in every aspect of its existence – exterior and interior – analysing and copying it to create a perfect replica... with a dash of Ferex's own touches that he thought would optimise its overall functionality and originality.

***

The doors to the Kinn Residence were opened by two women who were adorned in white robes, their heads bowed as a show of respect.

There were no Knights to be seen around as the only security that the Kinn Family had brought to Genhuis City for the event, was Vali Kinn herself.

Contrary to popular belief spurred by her looks and well... words, Vali rarely entertained the company of men, especially if they were the empty minded sort.

She hated weak willed men who fell for charm so easily, losing sight clear cut objectives as a result.

Men were supposed to be dominant species, the leaders and all. They had to act like it.

She had been groomed to respect men and the idealistic values attached to them. So far, unfortunately, she had been disappointed.

Her flirty visage and figure acted in opposition to her personality traits as well as her ideals, something she didn't strive to change still. The more feminine she was, no matter how extreme, the better.

As she walked into the mansion, Vali had her cloak taken from her body by one of her attendants, who just so happened to be a Family member, as were the majority of these women in white – cousins, nieces and... sisters.

Vali sat on a bloated couch, sinking into its soft embrace as she breathed out a heavy sigh.

'What a shallow event,' she thought as she swished away the shoes at her feet that were hurriedly collected by an attendant on standby. 'The only interesting thing to surface is that Sif. I wonder...'

Darwel's participation had shocked many.

It was unexpected.

Many of the contenders were still of the mind that her participation was unfair but Rearren didn't seem to have any intention of retracting her participation.

'This whole thing reeks of hidden scheme but one thing is clear, uhmm... All the big moves will happen outside the event itself. The EverSword House... they are planning something. Short of plunging the entire continent into chaos, I can't think of a good reason why they would do this though,' Vali thought.

To hell with that inspiration and for the good of the nation crap. Only fools would believe it.

If these Houses truly cared for the wellbeing of Pelian, they would have started making big moves to secure public safety long ago.

Pelian remained the weakest nation in Feinheath because they kept to themselves all this tune.

Millenia of inactivity caused these behemoths to grow bored instead and start looking into infamous ideas more closely. That was usually the trend.

Vali should know.

After all, she had everything that a normal person could ever ask for. But her needs and desires had started to encroach on territory she had once thought to be immoral and illegal. She now thrived on it.

"Hmm. Well, if they are hellbent on leading by example, I'll follow in their footsteps. There are several opportunities in this anyway."

As Vali got lost in the thrill of what she could achieve with a smile, a small dog ran over from one of the rooms and reached her position, wagging its tail while sticking its tongue out.

Vali's cheery expression vanished, replaced with indifference and a tinge of discomfort.

The small dog stood on its hind legs, clearly gunning for the part where it would be picked up but the blue haired beauty denied it such.

She brought her hand down to the dog's level and grabbed its paw instead, a smile returning on her face as through it, Vali emitted a burst of killing intent momentarily.

SNAP!

The sound of bones cracking was heard, making all the attendants on standby grimace with pity.

The dog's leg had been broken, the jagged bone protruding from its flesh while blood stained the floor.

The small dog whimpered and barked madly in pain while convulsing and struggling to get away from Vali's grip but she held it firmly.

Her expression changed once more, an uncaring one replacing the one before. Vali picked the small dog and sighed as she swiped her hand over its broken leg elegantly.

All of sudden, it was as if the dog hadn't been brutalised just now, its paw appeared to be normal, not a trace of blood, bone or torn flesh on it.

The wound was gone.

The small creature shivered as Vali ruffled its fur.

It looked up at Vali and licked its nose, its body slowly relaxing as the look in its black, beady eyes showed nothing more than sweet innocence.

"Still innocent, huh? I thought for sure you'd hate me this time," Vali said as she cuddled with the small creature.

Somehow, keeping this innocent little pup by her side made her emotions settle, a semblance of a long gone desire for peace gradually flooding her mind.