Chapter 38: Aarim

Seeing that the final boss was cleared, everyone rested up.

Lyrica, who was besides Shiro, fidgeted a bit as she opened her mouth to talk but gave up.

[If you have something to say, say it.]

"Well… I was just wondering what you saw. For you to be that angry, it must have been someone you disliked a lot."

[You thought I was angry? No I wasn't. I wanted to kill, yes, but I wasn't angry. Nope, far from it.] Shiro chuckled. For as long as she could remember, she had hardly ever been angry.

"Eh?! That wasn't you being angry?!" Lyrica cried out in surprise as she looked at the mangled corpse of the queen.

[Nah. She just shifted into someone I really hate don't worry about it.] Shiro shrugged.

They soon found the mana stone as the body dispersed.

Due to her insanely high contribution, most of the loot went to her.

Shiro flicked her wrist as a bunch of items fell out. These items were the ones not useful for her so they could have it.

[This is some of the loot from the boss. Split it amongst yourselves.] Shiro waved her hand as she dismissed them.

She made sure to keep some of the best loot since it was the result of her own efforts.

"HURRAH!!" They cheered as they split the loot amongst themselves.

"Wait!" Someone shouted out as Shiro realised it was the guy she froze during the crystal stage.

Jonas frowned seeing this as they were lucky for Shiro to even want to share her loot.

"She still has most of the money. What about the items she's keeping away from us. These could just be trash she kept to divert our attention." He said as Shiro only raised an eyebrow.

'Is this guy stupid? He just watched me solo the last boss and he thinks the adventurers will stand up against me?'

"Think about it! We still have our supplies to fight the boss. Can we really make ends meet? What's harder to fight? A boss with annoying skills or a weakened girl!" He continued as some of the adventurer's had greed flash in their eyes.

Lyrica felt her anger rise when she heard all of this. The worst part was people actually believing him as well.

Shiro's body flashed forwards as a dagger was taken out of her inventory.

Yin Style Phantom Arts: 2nd Phantom – Speed Phantom.

"Come le-!!!!"

His head was ripped off from his torso as Shiro had a dagger in her hand. Red blood was splattered over her face as her eyes turned towards the other adventurer's who showed greed.

The speed of which Shiro killed the man shocked them as they paled instantly.

[Who else wants to try me?] Shiro typed out as she grinned.

"AHH!!!" Some of the adventurer's screamed in fear as they ran.

Shiro didn't mind them as they couldn't tell the police anyways. Killing in the Dungeon wasn't uncommon, but the police will arrest the assailants. Naturally, with them trying to rob her first, she would be the defendant.

Crouching down, she looted the man's corpse as everything inside of his inventory was transferred over to her.

[Beginner Monster Title Gained – You harvested your first human soul as a monster. How many more are to come?]

+1 Stat growth up

Stat Growth Up = Your attribute points will increase in effectiveness. EG: 1 Vit = 50HP is now 1 Vit = 100HP.

Seeing this, Shiro now understood why her counterparts had much more ridiculous stats compared to her. Since she had the monster physique, she would naturally get the bonuses from monsters.

If she slaughtered an entire city, her stats would go through the roof. However, that's not what she is like. She wouldn't go around slaughtering those who have no conflict with her.

But if they did, you can be assured that she'll wipe out the city from the face of the planet.

After gaining the title, both her HP and MP have doubled due to this.

[Name: Shiro (Weakened 18hrs)

Race: Snow Girl (Evolution Criteria yet to be met)

Title: Shadow Empress, Beginner Monster (0/10 Humans Killed for Title Up)

Level: 29

Class: Snow Girl★, Nanomancer

HP: 5700/5700 (True Value 34,000)

MP: 58,200/58,200

STR: 150 -> 200 (+85) <+50>

VIT: 200 (+70) <+50>

INT: 300 -> 350 (+140) <+87>

AGI: 240 -> 300 (+75) <+75>

DEX: 200 -> 240 (+40) <+60>

DEF: 80 (+135) <+20>

< > = Title Bonus

Unassigned Points: 0

Balance: 903,200 USD

Equipment (Tap to Display)

Skills –

Snow Girl ★:

Tier 2 Ice magic, Passive Regeneration, Blessed by Ice, Snow Magic, Faded Snow Movement, Cold Aura.

Nanomancer:

Dagger Creation, Nano Tech Engineering Tier 1, Sword Creation, Bow Creation, Heavy Weapon Creation.

Other:

Mini-map, Inspection, Disguise, Harden (Equipment), Lesser Fear (Equipment), Mana Barrier.]

Standing back up, Shiro looked around and saw that only Lyrica and Jonas' party were left.

[Only you guys are left huh? Seems about right.] Shiro typed out as she cleaned her face a little.

However, the blood from both the adventurer and the boss stained on her skin a little as it made her look creepy yet cute. A combination Lyrica was surprised that worked somehow.

"Even though I'm a bit annoyed that you killed him without question, I know he deserved it." Jonas sighed. Having trash like that who forgot who killed the boss, wasn't needed in this dangerous world. Everyone only had one life yet he tried to kill someone who kept them all safe.

[Mature thinking. I like.] Shiro grinned.

Jonas only shrugged while the rest of the party was only a little pale.

The most surprising was the fact that Lyrica was completely unaffected.

[Lyrica you're not surprised?] Shiro asked.

"Surprised? No. Just a shame I didn't end him myself." Lyrica pouted a little.

[Aww how cute.] Shiro smiled widely as she patted Lyrica's head.

"…"

"…"

Trace and Paul looked at each other.

'THEY'RE F*CKING CRAZY!'

Walking out of the raid calmly, they decided to trade contact info in case they wanted to party up again.

"Thanks for your help during the raid." Jonas smiled.

[Don't mind it. It was quite rewarding for me as well.] Shiro replied as she wasn't wrong.

Not only did she increase her level, but she also gained the monster title. Something which she didn't know about yet was able to boost up her combat prowess by a wide margin.

[As for miss Silvia. I'm always open if you want to join my party.]

"Thanks for the offer. I'll keep you in mind should I ever need to switch." Silvia smiled.

Shiro nodded as they left for different directions.

[What do you want to do now Lyrica?] Shiro asked.

"I've managed to reach level 17. I'm thinking of challenging a level 10 to 15 Dungeon alone." Lyrica said as Shiro thought and nodded.

[I'll follow you. Make sure you don't get yourself into something above your level.]

"No. I want to make sure I rely on myself. It's dangerous but it'll push me to my limits." Lyrica said with determination.

'Hmm… Babying her all the time would be back. She should be able to take care of herself.' Shiro thought as she supported her decision of soloing the dungeon. The only problem was her safety.

[Fine but you need to stock up on supplies. If you don't have enough money, I can lend you 300 thousand USD.] Shiro smiled.

"No it's fine. I have enough money for some supplies." Lyrica shook her head.

[Then I recommend you challenge the level 10 to 15 Dungeon, Broken Howls. The monsters there are mostly single target ones as they don't join up in a pack often. You should have an easier time there.] Shiro suggested.

"Alright. Thanks Shiro." Lyrica smiled as she walked away.

Watching Lyrica walk to conquer a solo dungeon, Shiro felt like a parent watching their child grow up.

'Hopefully, she'll be safe.' Shiro thought with a smile.

Walking towards the auction house, Shiro wanted to get some mana stone to stock up for both her and Yin.

D ranked mana stones averaged around 30k to 40k in USD. C ranks were unbuyable in this city.

Thinking about this, Shiro decided to hold off from buying mana stones. Since just buying 20 would take more than 600k USD.

Looking through the equipment section, Shiro wanted to find any good equipment to recycle so she can take their skills.

"Che. Just a bunch of unless items." Shiro muttered in disappointment. Most of the skills that were included in the items were single value advantages rather than percentage increases. With single value increases, they would do little to nothing later down in the line Shiro had no used for them.

Shaking her head, Shiro walked out of the auction house and decided to visit Helion. She wanted him to make a set of armour for Lyrica as a present.

This was her first time doing a Dungeon solo after all.

Walking to the blacksmith's area, Shiro found her way to Helion.

"Shiro! What brings you here? Got a commission?" Helion greeted with a smile.

[Yeah. I want to commission a full set of armour for my friend.] Shiro smiled.

"Got any requirements? Like the amount of plating, leather, chain mail and so on."

[I want it to be half armoured half cloth if possible. Nothing that restrains movement or is too heavy so it slows her down.]

"Hmm, sure. The materials are a little harder to obtain thought. Especially since your friend is quite low of a level." Helion said placing his hammer down.

[I want it to be level 20 armour. I have a bunch of materials from the Spider's Whisper raid.]

"Show me. I'll see if it's enough to make the armour." Helion said as Shiro walked over to the bench.

A large pile of miscellaneous items fell out as Shiro made sure to keep them this time as they were gathered from a raid.

Item gathered from a raid are more powerful compared to normal materials. Especially since the bosses have the title of Raid Boss.

"Hmm, plating, mana reinforced webs, claws, thorax, crown armour, queens extremities… Yeah. I think I can work with this. The only problem is the cloth armour. I can't make it since its not my forte." Helion shook his head.

[Do you know anyone who can?] Shiro asked.

"Hmm… I know a woman. She's just a bit… how can I put this? Strange? Her tendencies are a little out of the norm but I can guarantee her craftsmanship is equal or even above mine in aspects." Helion said as Shiro nodded.

[Then can I trouble you to make the chest piece, waist piece, boots, shoulders and gauntlets? The chest piece should only cover the upper torso and not the abdominal area. I'll get your friend to do the cloth armour.] Shiro typed out.

"Keep the mana reinforced webs since they'll make good material for the cloth armour." Helion said passing back the webs.

"Her name is Aarim, she's just 10 minutes away from my shop. The shop name…. well. You'll know when you're there. It's a little out there." Helion coughed awkwardly.

Marking a location on the map, Helion explained the way there before working on the armour Shiro commissioned.

Walking out of Helion's shop, Shiro started to walk towards Aarim's location.

The shop was located in an obscure ally way. Looking at the sign, Shiro had a blank face as she was annoyed.

[Aarim's Sexual Pleasure Item Store.]

"…."

'The f*ck.' Shiro thought.

Double checking on the map, Shiro found that it was indeed the same location.

The name was also the same as well.

Furrowing her brows, Shiro sighed as she entered.

"Welcome~ Ohya? Ohya ohya? A cutie~" A woman said as she walked over.

Shiro frowned as the woman had a devilish figure. Slim waist, large breasts and a revealing outfit.

Her hair was a deep shade of brown, black eyes and a beauty spot just under her right eye.

[Aarim LVL 50 – Mage]

Shiro was about to type when Aarim tried to touch her chin.

Ice formed around Shiro as she frowned at Aarim.

"Oh my~ feisty one." She grinned.

Turning around, she walked rather seductively to the counter.

"So how can I help, little one?" Aarim grinned.

[Helion recommended me here. I want to commission some cloth armour.]

"Che. That muscle freak still doing this. I made him cloth armour once and the piece of crap recommends me to everyone who wants a cloth armour." Aarim stopped smiled after reading the text.

[If you don't want to make it then I'll find someone else.] Shiro frowned as she was about to turn away.

*Bam

The door closed on its own as she turned around to a smiling Aarim.

"Who said I wasn't doing business. But naturally, I need my payment." She said licking her lips.