As the two wasted the day away by going to several local hotspots for tourists of course disguised so as to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. Couple of teases from Andrew as expected but she relished the time the two spent together. But it wasn't long before the day came to an end.
As the two were perched way up at the Glycerial Lake that was adjacent, not far from their home as their bodies soaked in the suns warm rays, enjoying the solitude that came with it. Truly a moment she wanted to encapsulate for all of eternity but fate had other ideas.
As it came to a close, Ashley realizing why Andrew was hesitating on taking her to begin with. She didn't have anyone she cared for so burning it all to the ground, letting this world be nothing more than a distant memory for her.
"After you reach level 500, you should be able to find me. Or you can use your intellect as well." Both alternatives were time-consuming but important for her. Andrew didn't want her to be a paper tiger, thus she needed the time to fully indulge in her new and profound knowledge above all else.
[{Host has received a present from Andrew}]
*Snap*
And just like that, a crack appeared in space to which the two exchanged a longing kiss before letting go. Andrew proceeded to walk through leaving Ashley all alone again just like before except this time, she knew the reason as to why and had more exposition.
She glanced at her hands, realizing the path that she had now embarked before standing up and leaving. As days passed with everything going back to normal, the once poached humans finally gained a form of footing against the beasts that had threatened to make them extinct. Rose had already been informed of what to do beforehand.
Ashley on the other hand devoted most of her time on getting stronger in the game. Regardless of whether it was people from her world or that from the other, they were all fodder to her. She had started to attract a lot of attention from both worlds but she seemed out of reach. The reason for her attention was because of her peculiar skills. She killed anyone that came in her way, and of course thanks to the effects of the devouring skill, her opponents would usually lose their souls which was supplements for her.
A lot of skills therefore came at her finger tips which she had a hard time keeping track of. Of course she also gave room to focus in her mental state, observing is progress and accumulating the benefits. She was stunned by the amount of information that became privy to her. The existence of various dimensional planes, the world order and the infamous prime echelon thanks to Vincent but she had yet to fully assimilate his soul.
But regardless of how strong she grew or how beautiful she became from refining the souls of the above, there was a bitter feeling of longing that always persisted like an unwanted guest. She wasn't that far off from the 500 level mark and weary of the loneliness, she decided to move onto the next world.
She hopped into the game, ready to make her breakthrough. Observing her stats, there was a tinge of pride that played on her eyes looking at the panel.
[{Player: Delicate Snowflake}]
[{Level: 478}]
[{Heloid coins: 23,423,390}]
[{Statistics}]
[{Speed: 490}]
[{Agility: 482}]
[{Strength: 497}]
[{Defense: 485}]
[{Skills: Devouring (no cool down), Imperial Sword lance, Sensory Destroyer, Aura of the Void, Quick Steps, Domain Blizzard, Venomous Silk Poison…}]
[{Artifacts in possession: 6 Legendary, 12 Epic, 15 rare.}]
[{Player has a bounty of 10,000,000 heloid coins.}]
The list went on and on to the point that it was becoming a headache to even remember them all but luckily there was an arrangement done by her system to help keep it under control. Looking at her bounty which she had unintentionally earned by killing other players or docile NPCS had grown to such a staggering amount. She had received several notifications about the dangers of having it too high, making other players target her so as to claim the bounty but she couldn't care less.
Such an amount was really high considering that the value of heloid coins had plummeted significantly so such an offer was irresistible. The problem was the one who the bounty was fixated on. A player that could either kill in real life or reset other players' progress was of course a risky gamble, not to mention her level was unrealistically high. More often than not, some of the skills that she often used weren't those that came from the game making her even more unpredictable.
She was known to have affiliations with Andrew which made the experience unfair for those who would go against her. Should they lose, they had to accept it though it did come as off because it had been a while since the appearance of Andrew. Some made speculations that he had somehow died in the game but this was quickly dismissed.
Others thought that he had met his demise at Ashley's hands since his skillsets were often seen with how Ashley fought not to mention the whole reduction of kevels gimmick. But in the end, no real conclusion was able to be brought up and the issue was quickly dropped as it wasn't focused as much.
As she made her way through the capital, she attracted all kinds of hateful glares but she brushed them off and went into the Black Ace Tavern. Skipping the unimportant in the lobby, she went straight to Dark Rose's office where she was present. Casually leaning back and deep into her chair as she looked outside before looking at the guest that had made herself comfortable. The two had a neutral relationship despite how much they interacted. Rose was
Focused on keeping it business only as she didn't want to cross Ashley because that would mean that she would be crossing Andrew. From what he had told him about going to another world, she was bewildered by his words but later on she understood what he meant and knew that he wasn't in this world.
Of course that didn't mean that she could act to however she pleased because Ashley was stronger than her and thanks to the gift that she had received from Andrew made her even more formidable. It wasn't that she was weak herself but rather Ashley was stronger than her. Other than Ashley, she fell second as the strongest player there was in their world.
"Hello Ashley." She started off softly and gently. Ashley who had a neutral look on Dark Rose replied blandly. "Good morning Dark Rose." Dark Rose had anticipated that she had something to report since Ashley didn't usually bother coming all the way into the capital for exchanges or conversations. "So what is it that prompted you to make the journey here?"
Without wasting any time, she get straight to her point. "I'm going to the core world to defeat the final boss." Over the duration of time that Andrew was absent, she hesitated to go to such a place but quickly she realized that the monsters on the outer rings were way weaker as she grew stronger all the more. Thus she was forced to look for a challenge in the core ring of the game and it was anything but pleasant. The bosses present were unfairly strong, had high intelligence quotient and almost every single one of them wielded a legendary weapon.
But it wasn't long before the threat soon became a game for her with her devouring skill. Soon with enough time and experience not to mention the gift Andrew had bestowed upon her was easily vanquishing her enemies and her inventory was soon flooded with all kinds of high rank weaponry to which she sold them all.
Sure having multiple legendary weapons was impressive but what was the point if one wasn't going to use any of them. After making her profit of them, she interacted more with Dark Rose but what made her intentionally stay away from her was a lingering presence that she had sensed the first time the two met outside of the game which was Andrew's.
With her now otherworldly skills, she was able to perceive at a much greater extent and coming to the realization that Andrew had slept with her wasn't that long. The idea of killing her prompted up but unlike her earlier self, she gauged the results and realized that it wouldn't have that many benefits. First ,she would lose a trading post, secondly, Dark Rose would act as an informant telling her of any events that brewed whether it was in the game or in the real world and lastly, she felt some form of relation with her, after all, other than Andrew, she was the only one she could talk to.
"Are you sure that you will be okay?" Dark Rose asked out of some sense of fear. It wasn't that she underestimated Ashley's skills but there was nothing wrong in trying to play it safe. She felt that she had some artifact to keep her safe while traversing the core world after all, she had never been in any substantial danger before.
"I'll be fine. But after that, I'll be gone for some time." She concluded before standing to her feet. "As for the loot, I'll send it to you after imp done." Her voice echoed as she closed the door behind her. She could feel Dark Rose's intent on the loot that would be collateral with her travels thus she voiced it. Opening the panel to her system, she immediately teleported to the core world while Dark Rose was left contemplating on the choices she had on her hands.
Of course with Andrew fully out of the picture along with Ashley, she was somewhat wary on the attacks that she would then face so she had a lot of 'means' to deal with those who would confront her. She could also fully monopolize all the profits as she wouldn't be required to wire it to Ashley any longer and with the loot Ashley would obtain, it would bolster her greatly.
'Was I that obvious?' She thought at Ashley's words as she left. Initially she had thought that she was just another random girl Andrew seemed to fancy but after realizing that she was more capable than she looked, she grew more cautious of her.
…
Looking at her surroundings, a once magnificent city that spoke volumes of royalty and excellence now lay in ruins. Nothing was intact with everything laying in ruins. It was a disheartening sight, to think that such place was overrun with beasts. However Ashley ignored all of this, regardless of what ever came her way, she never cared regardless of who or what it was. It was pride that was justified, having the understanding and perception of a fifth dimensional horror whilst in the third dimensional plane was a bit of an exaggeration but that was just the way it was.
Without even having to go inside, she could see the final boss. Not in the king's throne but somewhere else. Walking in, a horrid stench assaulted her nostrils but she easily formed a barrier around herself preventing it from reaching her.
Entering the throne room, a demon like entity sat peacefully on the throne before casting its eyes on Ashley. "So you're the one who-"
*Click*
Throwing an ice projectile at its head, the demon was astounded but was able to barely dodge it grazing its cheek and blood oozed out of it before healing right after. "Do you think that such trickery is enough to take me down?" The demon roared in laughter as it found Ashley's tricks barely worth mentioning. Ashley maintained her cool façade as she looked at the demon. "Can you die?!" She groaned in frustration and annoyance.