As she kept on recollecting on what had happening last night when she fell unconscious, a much twisted appearance crept up. Morben, some low life that she couldn't even consider nothing else other than fodder or a pawn for her to dispose of had actually tried to take advantage of her body but he was deterred by an ominous aura that had covered her body leaving her untainted.
She decide that she had already wasted too much time and she might as well leave. As soon as she stepped out of her house, she ignored the looks of shock that came from her assistant. She told her that she should consider seeing but she brushed that off as she decided to go and see the Head Clan.
With her senses, she was able to locate him easily down at the beach. He had already organized some men to get building on the ship. It wasn't anything outstanding but it was sufficient on doing the job. She went up to the Head Clan who was visibly surprised with her presence.
He didn't know what was wrong with her, something no one was able to crack out so they gave it their all and hoped for the best. "I hope that you are feeling a lot better." He said as he looked at the work that was underway. He could feel something was wrong with her demeanor, it was much colder than usual.
*Snap*
In an instant, the ship that was under construction was immediately replaced with a modern ship. It had the advancements of a yacht, it sleek designs, the comfortable luscious décor and outstanding technology. It wasn't grand but in this world's setting, it definitely was.
The Head Clan was amazed with this and so was everyone present. "Where is your son?" Ashley asked even though she knew the answer to that. The Head Clan could feel a vague sense of hostility within her words and could only imagine that his son had done something that he wasn't supposed to do. "After all I don't mind biding him goodbye before I leave."
"He is back at the village." He answered flatly. There was a moment of silence before it was broken by Ashley. "I do commend your bluff but I know we know why I asked that question. So, where is he actually?!" She further asked with her attention absorbed at the boat. She could feel the Head Clan slowly retreat away from her.
No answer came to her question. "It's quite a shame." She said before looking back at the Head Clan. The Head Clan who was already wary was horrified as Ashley's demeanor changed. It wasn't as callous as it had been before but now it was strangely icy and otherworldly. He could feel a strange dark hand wrap around his entire existence before fading out of reality.
Those who were around her were shocked and tried to flee only to serve as fodder for her own existence. She let out a surge out into the sky with her finger pointed upwards which was sensed throughout the entire island. Everyone could feel as if they were teetering on the brink of death.
It was only a matter of time before they met their demise as a strange hazy ebony black flower manifested itself covering the entire island. From it, numerous black tendrils shot out as they attached themselves with the inhabitants of the island. They could phase through any matter and in a span of a few seconds, a deathly silence covered the entire island.
All kinds of life forms had been devoured in an instant leaving only one person alive. Morben who had been safely hiding was horrified upon this sight. He was hidden in the foliage, not far from where Ashley was. The entire island was in a state of decay, everything was rotting whether it be fauna or flora. It was a brooding silence that was completely alien.
"Don't you think that you should come out?" Ashley said as she looked at Morben's direction. Morben who was visibly shocked upon realizing that he had been found out.
*Whoosh*
In an instant, he appeared in front of Ashley. Sweat was wrapping around his entire body, tense as he already knew what kind fate that was awaiting him. "Did you really think that you could do such a vile act and get away with it?" She asked haughtily. Even though he wasn't successful, that didn't mean that she would let it slide. "But I'll spare you for now."
'What!' Morben thought as he heard this. "But of course that doesn't mean that I'll let you walk away like nothing happened." She said as Morben's body started to float slightly above the ground. She inspected his body as she decided to make some adjustments to it.
[{Remove his genitals, cripple his mana tier and make his face so inhumanely grotesque, increase the sensitivity of his pain receptors. Also make him immortal for him to experience this forever.}]
As she would twist Morben's humanely nature, the less human Morben looked. His face was a mesh as parts of his brain and skull became visible. His eyes were popped and puss started coming out of all his orifices. His mana tier was devoured by Ashley and as for the resultant outcome, he was transformed into a blob of mass and grotesque flesh that despite his state, he was still conscious and able to talk.
He couldn't move, have the intelligence of a pseudo monkey-human mixture. Every single touch that he would experience sent immeasurable levels of pain through his body. His mass of a frame now was majorly constituted of sensory nerves. As for eating, she made him that he would have experience the hunger but it wouldn't kill him.
After she was done, she dropped his carcass on the ground which sent an astounding level of pain through his body which had now contorted into a pool of flesh. He let out a cry of pain to which she blocked out and made her way towards the boat.
An island that was teeming with life was now slowly rotting and decaying and the source, she walked her way out easily as she hopped on the yacht and made it towards where she could vaguely feel Andrew's presence. The yacht was being driven by her system while she relaxed and enjoyed the ride there. In the meantime, she familiarized herself with the power structure of the world.
'This world is constituted on mana as a basis. There are different kinds of tiers of mana such as the first tier up to the seventh tier. And each tier is further broken down into sections called array. Each tier is further divided into five arrays, the higher the array, the better it was for an individual. It wasn't just people that could master tiers whereas creatures could as well. Despite that, there are multiple races as well, not just the human race which is certainly interesting.'
'Of course with such an unfair quirk present, there will be people who will abuse this for their own selfish gain in the pretense of other matters. The presence of nobles and the ideology of the feudal system of a king is present here.' She realized as she went through the data presented to her.
The more she realized the world she was in, the more fascinated she was. She decided to take a break and eat, manifesting food out of thin air. It was convenient without a doubt as she munched on her food as she received exemplary service from her system.
[{A hydra creature has been noted approaching the ship, host is advised to deal with the matter.}]
A notification rang which made her stop eating and get out of the cabin and made her way to the deck to see her threat. Looking at it, it was way deep. Plunged into the depths that would be lethal for a human being but it thrived in such conditions.
'A seventh tier creature on the second array? No wonder I haven't ran into any other ships. They would usually avoid such kind of a place.' She mused as she was easily able to perceive it. Regular people wouldn't even be able to sense it, much less see it.
"I guess I'll have to deal with it." She extended out her arm as black threads shot out of it at an unrealistic speed and plunged into the deep.
"UUGGHHH!!!"
A monstrous roar echoed through the ocean, making the once calm seas rumble and shift the mood. From a sunny and serene disposition to an intense and fierce atmosphere. The Hydra that was way at the bottom emerged to the surface.
A monstrous three headed scaly beast emerged from the depths as it tried to search for the source of its infliction. The black threads that had been fired earlier had made their way into the beast. It was filled with rage as it towered above the yacht, looking down upon it as if it was just a pebble.
It then shifted its gaze towards Ashley, who had a look of passivity in her eyes. Unfazed by what towered over her. The Hydra combining their three heads immediately shot a devastating blow of lightning towards the yacht which seemed like a sitting duck. She simply made a small barrier in front of the yacht which didn't seem all that magnificent compared to the attack launched at her.
As the lightning collided with the barrier, it failed to penetrate it despite being several meters wider than it. The Hydra was shocked upon seeing this however Ashley wasn't done as she pulled back the threads and the Hydra screamed in agony as it let out a huge beam of current into the sky.
"AARRGGHHH!!!"
Its roar spread out through the seas spanning out for miles. "Human, stop! You have no idea of what you are doing!" It roared out. "Oh! You can talk." She feigned surprised even though the density of sarcasm laced in her voice was present.
"Human, I am the guardian of a passage that rests between these waters. Should I perish then monstrous creatures will be set loose into the world bringing death and destruction!" Its voice boomed from all of its heads simultaneously as it could itself slowly getting weaker and weaker. It was no longer the seventh tier but the sixth tier on the fourth array.
Should this continue, then it would continue to diminish till it was no longer fit to serve its purpose. "I know. But may I ask as to why you decided to attack me first?" She asked even though she didn't retract her threads. "I thought that you had malicious intent thus I attacked you first." Ashley found that reason to be quite unsatisfactory. It was clear that it would lash out on any ship that would come across these waters.
"That's not a reason for me to spare you." She said flatly as she decided to devour the Hydra. She knew that Andrew would be able to cope with this, so she didn't care that much. The Hydra seeing that it was being consumed tried to launch an attack on Ashley but found itself unable to do so.
It could feel itself getting weaker and weaker as it was slowly being erased out of existence.
A gruesome fate but it was better than others. As soon it was completely erased, Ashley signaled with one hand dismissing the once eerie and dark surrounding bringing back the calm and soothing climate.
She glanced at the passage the Hydra was talking about before dismissing it. She could deal with it but why would she bother herself. It wouldn't bring her any threat whatsoever and it would spice things up so as not to bore her.
[{We are approaching main land}]
A notification rang through to which she looked at her destination. She could already sense that it was way more massive in comparison to the island from before.