It was morning, the fifth day in DWO for Elle. She was on her way to Rogue’s Guild. Along the way, she found there were significantly less players around than her first four days.

 

(They must be waking up already.)

 

Elle could afford to stay for a while more, since she was suspended from her school anyway.

 

Elle entered the Rogue’s Guild building and approached a receptionist. The guild was deserted, with only one other player looking at the quest board.

 

[Welcome to Rogue’s..Guild..]

 

The receptionist spaced out for a bit.

 

[I’d like to use my event points.]

[Y-yes! Please tap this.]

 

The blackness of Elle's dress was hypnotizing even to Seconden's NPCs who were supposed to be used to eccentric players' clothes already.

 

The receptionist presented a yellow orb about half the size of a bowling ball to Elle. When Elle tapped it, a holographic interface appeared where she could select her options for using points. Aside from the options Green described, there were also other options such as completely revealing Seconden and Firsten territories in the world map.

 

Elle selected the guild rank, player level, and skill level increasing ones, as well as other minor options that could be useful. The stronger and higher leveled skills cost more to level up, but Elle still had more than enough points.

 

[[You have reached level 68!]]

[[Skill level increased!]]

[[Skill level increased!]]

.

.

.

 

[I’m done.]

[Okay. Ms. Elle, right? Thank you for your efforts in the siege defense. You are eligible for three rank ups.]

 

From rank 4, Elle’s rank raised it to 9 using points, and was further raised to 12 by the guild.

 

When Elle was done in the guild, she went to the training grounds to try out the changes in her skills. She used points to avail a practice dummy that is much stronger than the reinforced scarecrows.

 

~~~

Magic Metal Mannequin

Enchantments:

Automation Lv1

Automatic repair Lv3

Reflex Lv3

Cut resistance Lv3

Blunt resistance Lv3

Magic resistance Lv3

~~~

 

The mannequin stood in front of Elle.

 

Elle brought out her usual claws. It became easier to extend, sharper, tougher, and is better in general. It also cost less MP to create. It extended to three feet long. Elle could extend it further if she applied more magic or while on demonic transformation.

 

*Swoosh* *Clank* Elle lightly slashed the mannequin with her claws. It got knocked back a few feet, staggered, then returned to its position. Short and shallow claw marks were made on its torso, then the marks slowly vanished as the automatic repairing function of the mannequin triggered.

 

Elle withdrew her claws, then remade it. This time, it's just half a foot long, but it's now made of bronze colored metal.

 

*Swish* *Grind* Elle lightly slashed the mannequin again. It didn't stagger as much, but its torso got shredded by the metal claw.

 

(The metal claws are much better at the cost of reach, but what if..)

 

Elle concentrated on the claws. What she previously did was just modifying the effects of her skills through manual magic manipulation. This time, she tried to combine the magic movement of both demon claws and metal claws.

 

*Shing* The claws extended to two feet long and shone with black luster.

 

[[Skill "Demonic Metal Claws" Lv4 acquired!]]

 

*Swoosh* Elle lightly slashed the mannequin again. It got cut like butter by a hot knife. *Thud thud* The slices fell on the ground and couldn't automatically repair anymore.

 

Elle bought another mannequin, then she brought out metal wings and withdrew her claws. The wings were the feathered type and it was bronze colored.

 

*Whoosh* *Stab stab stab* Elle swung her wings at a distance towards the mannequin, which launched sharp metal feathers that stabbed the mannequin. The feathers were about half a foot long and buried a few inches into the mannequin.

 

*Clink clink* The feathers fell as it dislodged from the automatically repairing mannequin.

 

*Whoosh* *Grind* Elle swung her wings again but at close range and at a slashing angle towards the mannequin. *Tumble* The mannequin rolled a few meters. When it stopped, it stood and returned to its position. Its torso was shredded, but not as much as with the metal claws.

 

*FLAP* Elle tried to fly using the metal wings next. It made strong gusts and blew a lot of dust away. Elle slowly rose from the ground.

 

(Though it's stronger, it's a lot heavier than my membrane wings. Flight with this will be difficult.)

 

*Flap* *Stab stab stab* *Flap* *Stab stab stab* From above, Elle launched sharp metal feathers to the ground with each flap of her wings. It rained feathers in the vicinity of the mannequin. The mannequin got riddled with hundreds of feathers. *Thud* It fell due to the weight of the metal feathers, then it slowly got up while the feathers dislodged one by one.

 

Elle dropped to the ground, then she concentrated on her wings. Just like with the claws, she tried to combine her metal wings with demon wings.

 

*Shing* Spikes appeared on the wings. The feathers became jagged and barbed. The entire wings shone with black luster.

 

[[Skill "Demonic Metal Wings" Lv4 acquired!]]

 

(It's still as heavy, but it seems to be strong enough to at least reach some speed.)

 

*Flap flap* Elle flew again, then she rained another barrage of sharp feathers on the mannequin that had stood back up already.

 

*Pierce pierce* *Thud* *Pierce pierce pierce* The feathers went through the mannequin, then it fell backwards from the force. While lying, the mannequin got nailed into the ground by more feathers. The feathers that are now black, jagged, barbed, and about a foot long wouldn't dislodge from the mannequin no matter how much it automatically repaired. After a while, the mannequin stopped working.

 

Elle went back to the ground. *Whoosh* She shot feathers upwards, then she wrapped herself with her wings.

 

*Clink clank* The feathers that were shot upwards fell back to Elle and were deflected by her wings.

 

(Now I have more defensive options than just my armor and scythe.)

 

Elle withdrew her wings, then she bought another mannequin. The feathers scattered around disappeared along with her wings.

 

*Slam* Elle lightly punched the mannequin on its head. *Tumble* It got knocked back and rolled a bit. Its head became deformed. Blood dripped out of Elle’s fist.

 

Elle concentrated on her fist. *Pshhh* Black steam came out of it and the wound quickly healed as she overloaded it with magic. The efficiency was bad compared to regular reinforcement, but it was much easier to strengthen this way.

 

*Bang* A shockwave was created as Elle punched the mannequin again. *Thud* Its head separated from its body and rolled on the ground. The body that remained in place collapsed. Elle’s fist remained undamaged.

 

Elle bought three mannequins, then she brought out her scythe and gloves from her inventory. The wires attached to the fingertips of the gloves were winded to the finger it’s attached to. Elle wore the gloves, then she slid her fingers along the blade of the scythe. *Shing* The wires protected the glove and her fingers from the blade.

 

When she was done trying out the cutting resistance of the wires, Elle wielded her scythe. She took some distance from the mannequins, then she threw her scythe towards one.

 

*Whoop whoop* The scythe spun horizontally. *Slash* A mannequin was sliced in half by the scythe. *Whoosh* *Clap* The scythe returned to Elle’s hands as she pulled it with the invisible wires that were attached to the scythe handle.

 

Elle faced another mannequin, then she threw her scythe upwards. While the scythe was in midair, Elle tugged on the wires connected to it. The scythe moved towards the mannequin and danced as if it was being wielded by an invisible person. *Slice slice slice* The mannequin got cut to multiple pieces by the scythe. *Whoosh* Clap* The scythe returned to Elle’s hands again.

 

Elle faced the last mannequin and took more distance from it. She detached the wires from her scythe, then she threw her scythe towards the mannequin. *Pierce* *Thud* The blade of the scythe went deep into the torso of the mannequin, then the mannequin got thrown back from the force. Elle held her hand out. *Blink* The scythe warped back to her hand.

 

*Thunk* Elle slammed the bottom of her scythe to the ground to embed it in place, then she brought out her own mannequin from her inventory. It was uncannily shaped like her, and looked like a silhouette as it was black as her clothes. *Thud* It flopped to the ground as it didn’t have any automation functions unlike with the practice dummies. Elle also took out her heavy armor and put it on her mannequin.

 

When Elle finished putting the armor on her mannequin, she attached the wires from her gloves on it, then she took a bit of distance.

 

*Clank clank* Her mannequin stood and moved as if it had a life of its own as Elle tugged on the wires to manipulate it like a marionette.

 

Elle first tried to control it with her left hand only. She bought another practice mannequin and made hers attack it. It took and spun the scythe that Elle embedded to the ground, then it rushed towards the practice mannequin.

 

*Clank clank* Its steps were heavy due to its weight as it's fully made of Elle’s specially made dense magic metal, and its armor clattered as it ran towards the practice mannequin. Despite that, it moved smoothly and attacked the practice mannequin accurately.

 

*Swoosh swoosh* With three strokes, it cut off the arms and legs of the practice mannequin, then with a spin, *Pierce* it stabbed the practice mannequin on its torso using the bottom of the scythe before it could fall with its legs cut off. It raised the practice mannequin high, then *Swoosh* *Thud* swung it aside to forcefully dislodge the scythe from it. The limbless practice mannequin rolled a few meters away.

 

Elle bought another practice mannequin and placed it a distance away from her mannequin. This time, she controlled her mannequin with both hands. It moved elegantly and walked quietly towards the practice mannequin at a speed no slower than running. Its hands and the scythe blurred as it swung the scythe with what looked like a single stroke. The blade of the scythe passed through the practice mannequin.

 

*Thunk* The mannequin embedded the scythe to the ground with a slam exactly like how Elle usually did. At the same time, the practice mannequin fell apart in multiple pieces.

 

Satisfied with its performance, Elle made her mannequin walk towards her with her left hand and made the scythe teleport to her right hand. Elle wanted to try the dimensional storage of her race abilities next.

 

Elle imagined a space like what she saw when she tore the sky to beat the harpies. A space that was her own. A deep purple colored hole appeared in front of her. She could expand and contract its size and change its orientation freely. She tried going into the hole. The hole made ripples and anything that went into it disappeared, as if submerged into an opaque liquid. Elle could only get her arm in and couldn’t enter further. Next, she tried to put the scythe in. The entire scythe entered without resistance. When she imagined it, the scythe came out of the hole. Elle placed it back in.

 

(It’s not in the inventory, so the dimensional storage is a separate space.)

 

Elle took out everything from her inventory and placed it into the dimensional storage. Each time, she felt magic drain from her. It was especially so for the item with the most mass, like the mannequin that still wore her heavy armor. Elle tried to visualize the content of her dimensional storage and was able to identify each item, which made taking out items easier.

 

Elle next tried to move the items inside by imagining it. She was able to switch the heavy armor that the mannequin wore to the leather armor. When she inserted her hands into the space, she was able to freely remove and put on her gloves.

 

With the sensation of magic flow when using the dimensional storage as reference, Elle tried to create two holes in different places and directly connect the two holes.

 

[[Skill "Dimensional Gate" Lv3 acquired!]]

 

When Elle stabbed the gate using the bottom of her scythe, it came out of the other gate with the same speed and force. Elle also tried to enter the gate and was able to pass through. The MP cost was much greater than simply storing items, and increased further depending on the gate size, distance between the gates, and the mass of the object going through.

 

When Elle was done trying things with her dimensional storage and gate, she stored most of her things and closed it. She only had her robes and gloves when she did, the rest were inside.

 

Elle bought two more mannequins, then spread her arms and fingers out. The wires unwinded from her fingers and extended to the direction where the fingers pointed to. After extending a few meters, the wires curved and went towards one of the mannequins. It attached to the mannequin.

 

(Attaching these directly to human nerves is gonna be fun.)

 

Elle manipulated the mannequin like a marionette, like with her personal mannequin. She felt a bit of resistance on her fingers as the mannequin tried to move against her. It disturbed her control by a small amount. Then, she made it attack the other mannequin.

 

(Even without the resisting force, it’s rather difficult to control.)

 

The mannequin didn’t conduct well with Elle’s magic, unlike with her personal mannequin that was made with high magic conductivity materials and with its attribute aligned with Elle’s.

 

*Smack* The controlled mannequin punched the other one on its head. It only staggered a bit and a small dent appeared on its face. The fist of the controlled mannequin also dented.

 

Elle tried to inject more magic through the wires.

 

*Smack smack smack* The controlled mannequin repeatedly punched the other mannequin with nimble movements like a professional boxer as Elle’s control over it became smoother. Multiple dents appeared on the other mannequin, while the fists of the controlled mannequin didn’t dent much.

 

(The efficiency is pretty bad.)

 

Elle had to put more magic into it to make the mannequin move as she wanted. Then she tried overloading it with more magic.

 

*Pshhh* *Crack crack* Black steam came out of the controlled mannequin and black cracks appeared in various places. No matter how much Elle tried to reinforce it, the cracks continued to appear.

 

*Slam slam* The controlled mannequin repeatedly punched the other mannequin again. Each blow had enough power to morbidly deform the other mannequin. The controlled mannequin stopped when it got filled with black cracks and the other mannequin had become unrecognizably deformed and could no longer be considered human shaped. Elle made the controlled mannequin hug the other mannequin, then she overloaded it even more with magic and covered herself with metal wings.

 

*BOOM* The controlled mannequin exploded and took the other mannequin along. It scattered shrapnel. Some hit Elle but it couldn't get through her wings. If it were peak hours, there would've been people close enough to get hit by shrapnel.

 

(I don't think I can overload my mannequin to the point of exploding like that, and it would be a waste if I could. What would happen to a human when overloaded, though..)

 

[Fufufu..]

 

Elle giggled at the thought of puppeteering people and overloading them with magic.

 

Elle moved on to her last tests, that is magic under the new attributes she acquired. She winded the wires back to her fingers, then she bought another mannequin and placed it a distance away from her.

 

With her hands facing up, Elle moulded magic on each of her hands. Dark magic on left, and void magic on right. Both appeared like a black haze, but the dark magic was like black smoke while void magic looked like it absorbed light instead as light slightly bent towards it as if sucking it on closer inspection. Elle concentrated and compressed the dark magic, then it became a shiny glass-like black orb. Elle threw it towards the mannequin.

 

*BAM* The orb exploded on contact with the mannequin. *Tumble* The mannequin rolled away, its torso half destroyed with one leg detached and one arm barely attached. From where it’s damaged, a black stain-like corrosion spread.

 

Elle bought another mannequin, then she observed the void magic on her right hand. When she concentrated and compressed it, it became an orb that was black hole-like. A completely black circle with light bending on its circumference. Elle made it go up, then move diagonally downwards towards the new mannequin slowly.

 

*Fizzle* The part of the mannequin that the orb touched disintegrated, which left a clean hole where the orb passed. The orb didn't stop or slow down when it went through the mannequin, though it became smaller, and bore into the ground and created a small hole on it. The mannequin remained in place.

 

(Dark seems to have better raw power. Void might be good defensively.)

 

Depending on how much magic Elle puts into it, void magic would be able to defend from any attacks by disintegrating it, aside from light.

 

(What if I use it like this..)

 

Elle unwinded the wires on her fingers, then she applied void magic on one.

 

Elle swung one of the wires that didn't have void magic on it towards the mannequin that was previously hit by the void orb. *Whoosh* It made a sound as it cut through the wind. *Slice* It cut in half the mannequin. Elle felt resistance in the wire during the cut. *Thud thud* The two parts of the cut mannequin fell sideways as it got pushed towards the direction of the wire.

 

Elle bought another mannequin, then she swung the wire with void magic towards it. It made no sound despite moving through the air and the mannequin. *Slide* *Thud* The upper part of the mannequin slid off as a diagonal cut on its body appeared. The lower part remained standing. Elle felt no resistance from the wire.

 

(If used right, void can make the sharpest blade.)

 

Just like with the void orb, the wire that had void magic on it disintegrated everything on its path.

 

Elle withdrew the wires. She still had a lot to try with void magic, but it was about time for her to log out and she still had to test entropy. She bought another mannequin, then moulded magic on her right hand.

 

*Snap snap* Cracks appeared on the space above her hand.

 

[Ow!]

 

The cracks spread. Some touched Elle’s hand and split in two, but no blood spilled. Blood continued to flow as if the hand was still intact.

 

(It’s too volatile and quite difficult to control..)

 

Before it could spread further, Elle concentrated and tried to compress the magic.

 

*Kashink!* The cracks gathered and became a transparent geodesic sphere. The sphere kept cracking, and the cracks changed constantly. It shook and seemed that it could shatter at any moment. It would probably destroy Elle if it did shatter on her, so she immediately threw it towards the mannequin.

 

*CRASH!* The sphere shattered on the mannequin. Since it was a type of furniture Elle bought, she could see its details.

 

~~~

MÆgi¢ M£÷@l MaᴺÑeØuin

Enchantments:

Ãutoß~û;ä Lv¾²

3V⅃ ЯIAꟼƎЯ ƆITAMOTUA

A«ÇžO0td7õeñ‰ìX·Žw~Ââ¹ÄÚaÇi]%hG2Ê;8«¼~”ô¢5ÊJ¯Ö‘k;¨-ì¬[Þ’m—³@6i0ô©%]ùs†Sw"³›uüP cˆ3?€²²È#·#y Lv-65,535

ƒCƒÉ§ÏÀ resistance Lv3

¼WÀ“¼²ªG resistance Lv3

صÐxæ resistance Lv3

~~~

 

The outline of the mannequin displaced to its left, and its shadow floated, which left only its base color in the middle. The ground where the shattered sphere spread became a broken mirror that inverted the color of anything reflected on it. The previously destroyed mannequins that were on the mirror sunk into the mirror, then it rained multiple copies of parts of the destroyed mannequins in the training grounds.

 

[What the..]

[Is this a special event?]

*Thud* [Ouch! Dafuq?!]

 

Although few, there were still other players logged in and in the training grounds.They got rained on by destroyed mannequin parts. At their level, metal debris falling at terminal velocity wouldn’t kill them, but it still hurt them, especially when they’re hit by sharp edges.

 

In the inverted colored world inside each shard of the broken mirror floor, the destruction of the mannequins replayed.

 

*Slice* *Thumph* *Crack* *BAM* All the destruction that replayed in the shards also happened to the remaining mannequin, its displaced outline, and its floating shadow, until finally *BOOM* it exploded like the mannequin Elle overloaded with magic. The shrapnels paused in midair for a few seconds, then it fell into the mirror floor. *Takatakatakatak* It rained shrapnels in the training ground, though it was also at terminal velocity so it didn’t cause real damage.

 

(It would’ve rained blood and gore if the sphere exploded on me.)

 

The mirror slowly faded, then the mannequin rain stopped. The copies disappeared, but the originals still littered the training grounds.

 

(Guess that’s it, but what to do with this..)

 

Elle looked at her right hand that was still split in two. She made a gray magic circle appear on her right wrist.

 

*Tick……………..tock* The magic circle spun with a slow ticking sound that had long intervals and her hand returned to normal at a slow rate.

 

(It’s pretty hard to use time magic on something influenced by entropy.)

 

Elle went to leave the training grounds while her hand slowly returned to normal.

 

[Please wait!]

 

A guard at the entrance of the training grounds stopped Elle.

 

[Whatever that weird..stuff you did on the grounds, we’re gonna have to fine you for excessive littering and disturbing the other users.]

 

The guard made Elle pay a fine, which she settled with points.

 

---

 

(It’s about time I logged off. Betty might come to my room anytime soon.)

 

Elle went to the central fountain of Seconden. It was noon already in-game, 7AM IRL. She navigated through her menu with her already restored hand.

 

[[Are you sure you want to log out?]]

 

When Elle accepted, a magic circle appeared beneath her like when she started DWO. It shone until she couldn’t see anything anymore, then she found herself back in the control room when her vision slowly came back.

 

Elle navigated through the control panel and went to the waking options. There were three options, to wake up immediately, at a certain time, or naturally. To wake up naturally meant to continue sleeping until she naturally wakes up or if something disturbs her sleep. She chose to wake up naturally, then she lost consciousness. The LED on her VR headband changed color to signal that it’s in idle state.

.

.

.

[ᴱˡˡᵉ ʷᵃᵏᵉ ᵘᵖ ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᵗᶦᵐᵉ ᶠᵒʳ ᵇʳᵉᵃᵏᶠᵃˢᵗ]

 

---

 

*Clank* An intact magic metal mannequin fell from the sky in Seconden’s training ground after Elle left the grounds. *Grate grate* It rubbed its head while standing up. It moved as if it was a person, rather than controlled by a person.

 

[Hey, check out that training mannequin.]

[Is it even a training mannequin?]

 

A man and a woman noticed the mannequin when they looked at where the sound came from. They approached the mannequin that kept inspecting itself.

 

[Is it a golem-type race?] Woman

[Yo tin head, are you a player?] Man

 

The mannequin directed its faceless head to the two people that approached it, then it gestured to them, but it suddenly held its throat in surprise.

 

[Can’t speak, huh?] Man

[Let me try a low level appraisal stone] Woman

 

~~~

₭Ɔ!¬3đЯ †h€ ôԻЄℎ MaᴺÑeØuin

Enchantments:

º†ℎ€¬ω◦Ի₤Ƌ∊ɼ Lv¼

óÕ?õ(žÀI6¤Í©†N>€:v£=XAÿ6˜ÈÁFY²#ô©Û»× Lv-65,535

~~~

 

[What’s up with this garbled text?] Woman

 

The pair wondered what to do with the mannequin, then suddenly, the mannequin dashed towards another pair of players that were in the middle of watching an uploaded video of Elle on a holographic screen.

 

[You’re kidding. Level 30?!]

[Haha, I wouldn’t believe it either, but it shows right in the leaderboards]

*Clank* *Clank* *Clank* *Clank*

[Hey, wait up!] Man

 

The mannequin stopped in front of the two guys that were watching a video of Elle, followed by the man and woman pair.

 

[Huh, what’s with this guy?]

[Is this your golem or something?]

 

The mannequin made exaggerated gestures towards the holographic video like its life depended on it.

 

[I think it’s a player, but it can’t speak.] Man

[What’s it trying to say, though?] Woman

[I don’t know, but it looks funny. Let’s call it tin head for now.] Man

 

The mannequin continued miming to the four players. Sometimes it drew on the ground. It tried to write words, but nobody could understand it.

 

[[Not enough data for visual autotranslation.]]

 

A few more people gathered in what looked like a game of charades, however, the mannequin suddenly flopped down and became inanimate after a while. The players couldn’t get it to move on its own again no matter what they did.

 

[Here lies our beloved tin man.] Man

 

The players jokingly made a memorial statue of the mannequin with it as the base material.