It truly aradise. The Floaters kept swarming, and I sent Don in as our tank, letting me practice my whip swings freely. Don charged forward like an idiot, tripping over a loose board and sprawling across the deck.

  Just as a Floater lu him, I swung hard, feeling the satisfying ch as my whip ected with its skull.

  [Floater has beeed. Your tribution: +4XP]The system kept interrupting with messages of XP, so I sile. Annoying.

  Eventually, I ran out of mana after o healing spell, f us to take a break. The disappoi must have shown on my face because the Captain looked over, intrigued. “What’s got you down?”

  “I want to help; I want to fight, but I’m out of mana,” I said, watg the sailors fend off the relentless XP bags as I ched my fists. Damn it, the rankers are probably way ahead of me by now. I know the future, exploit every trick, and still I’m gging behind?

  The Captain chuckled. “Luckily, we’ve got a whole stash of mana potions on board. For you?” He fluttered a potion in front of my face. “One’s yours for five coppers. Only dition is, you keep fighting them.”

  I jumped at the offer, nodding eagerly, and practically snatched the potions from his hand, spping a few coppers into his palm. This quest is perfect!

  “If you need more, just holler, and I’ll get someo them. Keep fighting, Hero!”

  With a grin, I dowhe potion a bato the fray. Every time Don’s health dipped too low, his high-pitched cries for healing echoed across the deck. Useless brat. I moved my shield hand in a quick pattering mana flow and golden energy around him.

  [NPovan has been healed for 14HP.]With a quick fliy fingers, the runes for Ice Dance shimmered to life, filling the air with a familiar blue glow and a crisp yer of frost.

  First try!

  Even my Ice Dance was improving. Though my runecrafting was slow, I kept up a steady rhythm, just as that creep had oold me. The memory of his gaze on my exposed body made me shiver. Stupid devs, stupid NPCs. For a moment, I ched my teeth and swung hard, decapitating the Floater to recim a sense of trol.

  I knew my runecrafting speed needed work, but right now, I reveled ihrill of success. The sharp crack of the whip, the adrenaline rushing through my veins, and the steady flow of experience points kept me wide awake. The Floaters didn’t stand a ce; my whip was everywhere, striking oer another.

  “ I buy more mana potions?” I asked, after dispatg the test creature.

  “Princess, aren’t you tired?” The Captain’s voice held a hint of as he handed me a towel. “You’ve been at it for ten hours straight. That’s a lot of brawling. You’re wele to rest—we ha.”

  “Captain, I’ll always be ready to fight. If there’s an enemy, I’ll face them,” I replied, fshing a smile to mask the real reason for my determination. It wasly a lie, but I wasn’t here out of some heroise of duty. My restless heart had oals.

  “Very well,” he nodded. “I already sent a man t more supplies for you. You’re a true hero!”

  Not quite, I thought. He mistook my bravado. I may have led him on… Nah, his fault! I was here to grind—Ice Dance, Ice Blood, Heal proficy—all of it. I’d pushed the Ice Blood effect to its limit and was now rag against the clock to strike down another enemy within five minutes. Hurry up, you slowpokes!

  I took a seat on a nearby bench, p myself a gss of wio keep a steady buzz going. Somehow, that slight haze helped me power through the monotonous grind. That, and the satisfa of the system’s muted notifications stag up in the background. Bring it on, dear system. Let those rewards pour in…

  [Floater has beeed x1450; Various amounts of tribution: +4060XP][gratutions! You are now level 6!][gratutions! You are now level 7! XP to level: 1010/2450][gratutions! Your proficy with Ice Dancreased to 1-Beginner 2!][gratutions! Your proficy with Ice Blood increased to 1-Beginner 1!][gratutions! Your proficy with Heal increased to 0-novice 9!][Ice Daype: 6-marvel | Lv. 1-Beginner 2 | Mana: 20% INTEffect: Slows your enemies for 31%, add an ICE damage to melee attacks (INT)Duration: 10 minutesCooldown: 19 minutes 30 seds[Ice Blood]Type: 6-marvel passive | Lv. 1-Beginner 1Effect: for every 40% of your HP taken, you increase the ICE damage up to your [Reality Limit] (100%) by 1%“Don, isn’t this the best thing that could happen to us?!” I excimed, feeling pure exhiration as I leveled up. The thrill washed over me, and I couldn’t help but dance right there on the deck.

  Don just smirked, his eyes lingering a bit too long before he turned and disappeared below deck, probably to cate sleep. Whatever. He’d barely stepped away when a sailor brushed past him, hurrying in the opposite dire—perfect timing! Mana potions quickly filled my hands, and s left my purse. Again.

  “There you go, Hero! Keep up the fight!” the Captain said with a grin, handing over the potions. With a wild smile, I jumped bato the fray, ready to face off with the ugly creatures swarming the deck.

  As night fell, the river became as smooth as gss, perfectly mirr the stars scattered across the sky. For reasons only he khe Duke insisted on pressing forward to the seashore—and more floaters crawled up because of it. I wasn’t pining!

  Long sessions were my specialty, and with each hour, I felt more alive. Blog a cw strike with my trusty shield, I dispatched another Floater in a , fluid motion of my whip.

  Then something shifted.

  The steady howl of the wind suddenly dropped to silence, and every other sound faded into an eerie hush. Sheets of rain fell, and the distant rumble of thunder grew louder, like a storm charging our way with the roar of a drunken Irishman.

  The Captain’s brow furrowed as he sed the horizon. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he muttered.

  Why?! Why did you have to say it? I screamed internally. And then it hit—the enormous shriek of something far worse than the Floaters, something lurkih us.

  The entire ship shuddered as an enormous, grotesque tentacle shot up from the o, flingier across the deck. Rows of massive suckers lis length, each rimmed with tooth-like projes and each as rge as my head. I inhaled sharply, tasting the warm, salty air. We’d already drifted into o waters. Sea monsters.

  With a siing spsh, the tentacle smmed down, hurling dozens of floaters onto the deck. What a weling party! I was out of luck—Ice Dance was still on cooldown—but I joihe melee anyway, diving into the chaos.

  “Form up! Sed liake position!” the Captain barked. The warriors fell bato formation, shielding the mages who arrived to reinforce us. Spells lit up the night as they cshed with monstrous shrieks, tentacles thrashed the water, and the salty air filled with the sounds of a cssic world Boss fight.

  “Let’s get a slice of this pie!” I shouted, downing a super-potion before diving bato the fray.

  [You have used the Agility Potion][Agility increased by 50]

  A strange surge of ce took over, and I charged forward, whip at the ready. The entire ship shook violently beh me, the vibrations rattling through the deck. A swishing sound caught my attention from the right, and I knew I had seds to act.

  A powerful gust of wind swept past as a massive tentacle tore through the deck, ripping everything in its path. My heart skipped as I watched the tattered sails fpping wildly, and I grabbed onto the rope to steady myself. But before I could get my bearings, the rope swung with the broken sail, now caught on the monster’s tentacle, and suddenly I was s through the misty rain.

  As I flew, another ship appeared to my left, its enormous sails unmistakable—it was the Duke’s fgship. My press him!

  I shed out with my whip, and the end ed securely around the Duke’s ship’s mast. Clutg the hah both hands, I felt the sudden jolt that stopped my flight. With a deep breath, I swung and crashed into the massive sail; the impaog the air from my lungs as I struggled to keep my grip.

  Below me on the deck, the Duke and his party engaged in a fierce fight against a swarm of Floaters and peared to be elite versions of the creatures.

  Gasping, I tried to steady myself. Ice Dance was finally off cooldown. As I cmbered up the rigging, I urgently traced the runes in the air. Thankfully, this wasn’t reality; with my potion-boosted agility, I scaled to the top with ease, relying more ohan strength.

  From my new vantage point, I caught my first full glimpse of our enemy. An enormous octopus floated ominously on the sea’s surface, its eight massive tentacles plunging in and out of the water. I’d fought simir creatures ba Kari Isnd, but those octopuses were epic rare monsters at level one hundred—and at least a huimes smaller than this behemoth.

  Just as I firag the st rune for Ice Dance, my eyes locked onto the monster’s level, and a chill ran through me.

  [Iginous Lv.15]Type: 6-marvel World-Boss | HP: 26000/26000Oh, damn. The first marvel monster—and a World-Boss to the boot! Taking down one of these beasts was normally a job for thousands of level-fifteen pyers, not for someouck at my measly level seven. As I fihe st ruhe effey marvel-level spell burst into a, casting a brilliant blue glow that lit up the night sky atop the Duke’s fgship. Whoopsie-daisy.

  The monster’s gaze so me, and a heartbeat ter, I heard the terrifying rush of its tentacle slig through the air.

  I had no time to think, just to react. I leaped and prayed for a safe nding. As I fell, I caught the ripping sound of sails being shredded to tatters. My dest wasn’t remotely trolled, and I crashed onto the deck—right into a pair of Floaters.

  Above, a deafening sp of flesh met resistance, and a surge of mana fred so powerfully behihat it nearly knocked me off bahen, a beautiful, glowing shield enveloped the ship. Istvan’s work, probably.

  No time to check. At least ten Floaters had noticed me, their grotesque, bulbous eyes fixed oh chilling iy.

  Luckily, Ice Dance’s newly upgraded form was even fshier than before. The runes glowed with a deeper frost, casting an icy aura that chilled the air around me and turhe rain into snowfkes as it fell. Not that the Floaters stopped to admire it—they charged at me without hesitation.

  With practiced ease, I swung my whip, its crack splitting the air with a supersonig as it ected, crushing a skull instantly. The thrill of that fatal blow was intoxig, more potent than the dozens of witles I’d downed. e at me, you ugly bastards.

  [Armor pierced. Target lost 44HP (6x2 normal) + (8x2 ICE +100% [Ice Blood] effect)][Floater has beeed. Your tribution: +5XP]“Fear me, Floaters! I am the Hero of Ibsp;Blood!” I screamed at them and smashed at their heads without a sed thought. They fell like level one Bearbits, as I jumped backwards toward the railings with ease and sughtered them, one by ohe only word that would describe my doing was a massacre and XP poured like a tea.

  “I heard about you, our new Hero.” Duke’s voice came from the top of the deck. “Please help us defeat the monster.”

  “Gdly, my lord!”