What flashes through my mind are the memories of me dragging my wounded body to the second floor, and all of them waiting there like vultures for an opportunity.

On the first floor, I didn't hurt any of them too much because I needed them, and in the end, it was the right decision. It was logical, and Sophie, Hadwin, and Maya did pull their weight during the last moments of the first floor.

I was so angry, really angry at them for putting all this on me the moment the first floor ended.

But I didn't let it get to my head. I thought it through logically and didn't hurt them; I kept them around again, and I would do it once more, even if they tried to take my life afterward.

That's what I like about myself. That's how I want to be.

But now?

I push Biscuit away and stand up.

Sure, the second floor seems to be difficult, maybe even more so than the first floor. Everyone around is of a much higher level, and pissing off the wrong person could mean death. Plus, my freedom is so restricted.

But do I need Hadwin?

Perhaps? I'm familiar with him and his skills to an extent, but how useful can he truly be? His weaknesses mirror my own. There aren't any people I need him to lead, and most importantly - he attempted to take my life. I need to show him that it's not an action he can take lightly.

I take a step closer.

“I knew I would regret not finishing you off. You're not normal in your head,” he says, and his mana activates.

My fist hits his face and bounces back because of some weird field around his body, and then I feel his skill trying to disrupt my mana.

I let one part of my mind focus on analyzing this skill, and the other part takes care of the rest.

Mana flows through my body easier than ever with my new passive skill, and with increased mana, I have more of it than ever before, so I don't focus on efficiency that much. Still, I feel that my circuit is not working properly because of my missing arm, and the flow of mana is far from optimal, once again due to missing a big chunk of my mana circuit together with my left arm.

I dodge his swing, and my knee hits his belly, making him stagger back, unhurt.

His constitution is high, his skill adds to it, and he is keeping up his other skill that tries to mess with my mana. But he can't. My mana is too much for him, and my control is much better than his even in this state.

I hit his face three more times, and finally draw some blood; he is slow, and not that good at fighting humans.

He charges at me, trying to grab my waist and pull me to the ground where he would have an advantage with his higher strength and endurance, not even mentioning my missing arm.

But what welcomes him is [Kinetic Redistribution] I use to slow him down and then, with absorbed energy, I boost my kick, and my knee hits his chin, probably at least cracking it even through his tough body.

Finally, the other part of my [Focus] focuses on replicating his skill. It somewhat reminds me of how Henry attempted to infuse my body with his mana, and I've seen Hadwin use it frequently back on the first floor. I've had ample opportunities to observe him manipulate mana and experiment. He even used the skill on me two times.

Notification sounds in my mind and I ignore it and use my new skill instead. At the same time I activate [Mana Surge] and my mana burns even brighter and stronger as I put a lot of it into the skill called [Disruption].

Efficiency is terrible, the skill is only level one… oh a notification… level two, but the absurd amount of mana makes it work, and I use it against Hadwin.

The shock in his eyes is satisfying to look at, and with my perception, I feel the barrier around his skin dissipate, then my fist hits him again.

This time there is more blood, and he falls to the ground, shaken.

“Fucking monster,” he lets out before I kick his head.

A painful groan escapes his mouth, and he tries to grab my leg, but I step on his hand.

Crack

I pause for a second and let him look up at me; there is still some fight in his eyes.

“Tess, you can't be serious. That guy is fucking crazy,” I say. “That's what you said while trying to kill me, right?”

I control my power and kick his head.

More blood and another groan.

“Congratulations, you were right?”

Then I continue to beat him while avoiding breaking anything other than his hand or leaving lasting wounds.

I beat him for trying to kill me.

I couldn't do it before. But now it's different.

Do you think I am a joke? Did you think I am someone to mess with just because I let you go a few times?

At some point, he lets out a few words: “I get it, I get it now,” he groans. “I swear I won't try it again.” He sounds honest.

But he still sees me as someone predictable. He thinks I will only beat him to punish him and leave him alone.

People do not fear what they can predict. So it's better to be unreasonable, unpredictable, crazy.

So I continue to beat the hell out of him until he barely moves, only then do I let him go. His high constitution should heal him by the morning.

I don't say any threats. I just leave him on the floor and get back on the bed.

Sure, I can kill him, but what would happen then? They seem to have a use for him, and I would get punished. Sure, neither of us seems as valuable as Lily or Sophie, who were instantly taken away mostly likely because of their skills, but let's not push it too far for now.

Allowing your emotions to control you is generally not a good idea.

Now, with my skill, I should be able to destroy the construct in my mind, right? Obviously, it's a good idea, but I still feel that I can learn a lot from it.

For example, what if I learn to create a construct of my own? What if I use my [Mana Manipulation] instead of Sophie's [Manipulation]? I don't need to create it inside someone else's mind; I just need to create it inside my own body. That should be easier, right?

What if I learn a healing skill and create a construct that will use part of my mana to keep that skill permanently active, turning it into a sort of passive skill? A construct that will take my mana and store it somewhere in my body, making it some sort of mana battery and increasing my mana pool. The construct that will protect me against mental attacks or that will permanently keep a field around me that will continue to disrupt mana other than mine.

It slightly reminds me of having the [Focus] split into more parts.

Limits? Two? Three? Ten constructs?

So, yeah, let's study Sophie's construct for a bit longer.

The older man on the floor regains consciousness, and I stand up.

His eyes move to look at me. He looks undefeated; but his will to fight is weaker.

Good.

I kick his belly two more times and then kick his head, making him unconscious once again.

Then I get back to practicing my skills, this time I let mana hover around my missing arm and try to form it into the shape of an arm. It's incredibly difficult..

Hey, look, if a corgi could learn it, so can I! Sure, I will never be as good at it as our overlords, animals, the masters of mana, but I will try!

Oh, you're moving again?

Damn, what's with the look in your eyes?

Who told you to try to kill me?

An eye for an eye? A tooth for a tooth?

If I did that, you would be dead.

This time, I let him create a barrier around his body and then disrupt it with the same skill he has. Desperation enters his eyes as I once again make him unconscious.

Then I get back to my practice. Part of my mind focuses on [Mana Manipulation] and the other on [Armament]. Creating something in the shape that resembles an arm isn't that difficult; yes, fingers are super hard to create, but even harder is to make it move.

Obviously, I have no feeling in it, and it's still translucent, ready to dissipate when I stress it too much.

Wouldn't it be easier to learn a healing skill?

When Hadwin wakes up next time, I let him crawl towards his bed and leave him be this time.

“Hadwin, tomorrow you will tell me about your skills and class, okay?”

He pauses, and then our eyes meet.

Much better look.

The older man just nods and falls asleep with his body halfway on the bed.