Frost’s combat experience was minimal at best. She had seen countless movies and fiction where the hero would pull off incredible feats in the blink of an eye, or a martial arts master take down a dozen foes with only their bare hands with a masterful elegance.

But reality was gritty, full of blood and more visceral than what fiction normally depicted.

The little flocks of birds named Witnesses were her primary targets. The other Corrupted that populated the Black Forest were between level 50 – 70; a far cry from her measly 22 levels. As a result, Frost needed to start from the bottom of the barrel and claw her way out with every tooth and nail at her disposal.

6 of these small birds wandered into her gaze. Frost was not fast like Jury, but since these creatures were incapable of fleeing, they were easy targets for her only offensive move.

[Punch].

Frost thrust her fist downward and crushed the docile birds one by one. Even though they a possessed vastly higher ATT DEF in comparison to her ATT stat due to their feathers, these creatures only had 1 HP so the minimum damage she dealt was still enough to kill them in one hit.

There was a tinge of remorse and sorrow that stung her heart each time, but she needed to remind herself that these were the Corrupted. They neither needed to eat, breathe or sleep to survive.

It would make sense in that regard since the Black Forest lacked the diversity needed for a proper ecosystem to strive. These creatures did not hunt to eat. They hunted for a purpose she may never understand.

It felt as though the entire forest was built around the One Thousand Eyed Bird.

She took the pulverized remains and devoured them whole. Jury was not much of a glutton like she was, so most of the meat ended up belonging to her. This repeated for hours on end. Perhaps even days. It was impossible to tell.

“… how many days has it been already?” Frost whispered to herself as she cleaned her mouth from the bloodstains.

“8 days, 14 hours.”

“It felt a lot shorter than 8 days.” Frost reluctantly said.

“Big.” Was Jury’s reply as she laid down comfortably on her side in front of the seated Frost.

From time-to-time Jury would find a place to rest. She wasn’t a Corrupted anymore, so it became necessary for her to rest. The same was true for Frost but at a much less regular interval. The last time she fell asleep was around 2 days ago, yet strangely her focus hadn’t deteriorated, neither did her bodily functions.

Jury was kind of like an extension of her internal clock. If Jury needed to rest, then she probably needed to as well. At least she would have if she was still human. Seeing Jury try to find some shut eye was endearing to her.

She was the only source of warmth in this wretched place.

“She’s so carefree. It must be nice.” Frost quietly spoke as she stared down fondly at the woman. “Thanks to her we haven’t had much trouble with the other Corrupted. But man… isn’t the gap between the strongest denizen and that giant bird too much?”

“It is as you imagine, this forest belongs to the One Thousand Eyed Bird. Depending on how strong or long a Corrupted exists, it can begin to alter its surroundings, even creating creatures to fill the space in. As you can see… these Corrupted are considerably weaker than the main Corrupted.”

“Sort of like a dungeon, huh.”

“Similar, but this cannot be called a dungeon. It’s more of a domain of sorts.”

“I see. Got it.”

All she had been doing during these 8 days was eating Witnesses non-stop like a rabid dog, further bolstering her stats with slow increments.

By now she had at least consumed near a hundred Witnesses which managed to raise her Punch by 4 levels. Frost appraised the small pebbles beside Jury in the hopes of finding something to appraise. She did this during her downtime but so far has been unsuccessful.

That was until she appraised a stray piece of black bark.

 

< Bark from the trees of the Black Forest >

 

Why am I not surprised?

Frost dejectedly hunched over in defeat until suddenly –

“Oh. You gained a level in Appraise Object. 9/10. One more and it will upgrade.”

“The same with Punch. What do you think I’ll get? Double Punch? Kick? Knuckle Sandwich?”

“Those are some unsavory names. Punch II sounds like the likely possibility.” The System logically concluded, causing Frost to softly hum.

“You’re probably right… hey. Take a look at her. I think she knows when I’m talking to you instead of her now. Isn’t she clever?”

“You sound like a doting mother.”

“What can I say? Jury saved me all because I helped her out with a couple of kids. She’s even stuck by my side until now. Of course I’m going to develop these feelings.” Frost proudly stated.

“Maternal feelings?”

“Hey. It’s friendship. A bond. Companionship. System, you can say some pretty funny things sometimes.” Frost ended up softly laughing in response.

“I was genuinely asking.” It abruptly admitted, sounding almost confused as to why Frost found it funny. “Nevertheless, we still haven’t found a clue on how to judge the One Thousand Eyed Bird.”

“We can skewer it with the stakes, but… I don’t think that’ll automatically judge it.” Frost said.

Since this was essentially a trial of sorts and juries were involved, Frost utilized her knowledge from Earth’s justice system to tackle this issue.

“One thousand juries. Every single one of them must be on the same page for a verdict to pass. The only reason I wasn’t judged was because Jury opposed it and became a hung jurist for my sake.”

“The question becomes whether we can find these one thousand juries and turn them against the bird, correct?”

“Exactly. But we don’t have a single lead yet. At this point I think I’d rather try to survive than take it on. When I finally reach that point.” Frost raised a hand to the abyssal skies and clasped at the air. “Then we’ll fight and get the hell out of here.”

Status.

“Things are moving slowly but… I’m getting stronger already.”

 

* * *

 

But she could not call this prowess.

Frost operated solely on opportunistic attacks. After all, the Witnesses weren’t the only denizens lurking in this forest. And as she fondly stared down at Jury with gentle eyes – something suddenly appeared in the corner of her vision.

She instinctively recoiled and moved twisted her body out of the way just in time to see that the tree she was resting on was suddenly impaled by a shriveled wing. Her heart nearly jumped up from her throat as Jury instantly shot awake at the debut of their newest threat.

“JURY!” Frost exclaimed as she gripped her pale stake with both hands and instantly thrust the tip into the chest of their newfound foe.

However, where it should have instantly knocked any living creature out of commission for good; this creature remained there, standing as if mocking her futile attempt. This was what the difference in levels and stats truly meant. Although pain could still be felt, this was a Corrupted.

Such things like pain, function and reason were seemingly absent to these monsters.

“A-Accuser! Level 50!? S-Shit…” Frost gulped and checked its HP, right before it tried to wedge its bony wing from the tree but to no avail.

 

HP : 1,160

 

The creature in question was a featherless black bird roughly the size of a human. It was shriveled hideously, and its beak was nowhere to be seen. Only a pair of beady, black eyes were plastered onto its featureless face, and a single, sharpened bone that acted as its wing.

Because of its one wing, the creature was permanently tilted to one side, looking as if it could lose balance at any moment. But Frost knew in her heart that looks were deceiving. The sheer speed of its attack left her breathless as she retracted the stake from its chest.

She did not miss this opportunity and struck it again, this time at its face.

Jury instantly pounced at the creature and cleaved its legs off with a flurry of swipes. When it dropped to the floor, she straddled the helpless creature and swung her clawed hand left and right like a pendulum.

 

HP : 800

HP : 670

HP : 540

 

Frost quickly moved to the other side and began to stab its head repeatedly, mustering every ounce of strength into each hit which only dealt 40 damage in comparison to Jury’s insane 90. And that was with only her claw.

The carnage of their brawl, which lasted less than 30 seconds was more vivid than Frost wanted to admit. The blood, the stench of death and the rapid breaths that escaped her cracked lips caused an insane amount of adrenaline to pump throughout her body.

She felt very alive if that made any sense.

“So that’s… why levels… are so important… stats… mostly… tch. No wonder… level 200s… would be revered as Gods… they’d be untouchable.” Frost huffed, wiping the sweat away from her forehead. She gave it her all with each thrust, yet the payload was insignificant in comparison.

This caused her to realize the importance of the ATT and ATT DEF stats.

What should be a quick battle could end up going on a lot longer all because someone’s ATT stat was too weak. Back on Earth if you took a clean hit to the chest or head with a spear, then you’d be dead, or at least wish you were.

“Jury… are you… no, of course you’re ok…”

“Corrupted are built differently. Monsters and wildlife would react to pain, but these things stand their ground no matter what. Frost… you’ve truly been thrust into the deepest end.”

“Tell me about it. I of all people know how easy it is for a person to be killed. But this is just insane. Tch. Like I can talk anyway. System. Do you think I fought well?” She managed to catch her breath and kneel in front of the Accuser.

“Hard to tell.”

“… probably not then. Jury! Good job!” Frost praised, attributing much of their success to Jury.

“Forest! Big skewered!” The woman exclaimed enthusiastically as she began digging out chunks of its flesh to feast on.

That was… still easier than I thought it would go. Lucky for us it ended up getting stuck. Ugh… My stomach’s already turning at the sight. Well, time to eat.

Frost moved to trapped wing and bit into the bone. There was no resistance to her chomp, as if she had bitten down on a gelatinous, tasteless mousse of some kind. A light sting caused her eyes to water up when she ate around half of the Accuser. She had gained a new power.

 

< Stats from the Accuser Gained >

< Unique Ability Gained >

 

< ABILITY : The Accuser >

< See what they’ll do >

 

< What a terribly vague explanation… >