Ryan was trying very hard not to notice how Clara was avoiding his gaze. Was he ashad of what he’d done? No. Absolutely not. This wasn’t a ga and there were more than just a couple lives at stake.
If Pinkie completed her shapeshifting Legend, she was going to be a Tyrant. He didn’t know what would happen then. Would The Realm just accept another Tyrant? Would Pinkie start picking fights with the other Tyrants? If his understanding of Pinkie’s transformation was right then that really might just happen.
Everything might change, and because of that, it was more important than ever to set the standard with Pinkie. Make sure she understood that they were allies.
Ryan understood that Clara was seeing it from a different angle. He wasn’t completely sure what she was doing, but he knew she must have had a plan. She wasn’t stupid, he had to keep reminding himself of that.
Clara doesn’t see Pinkie as a psychopath…
Hopefully she could explain to him what the hell she was thinking in an after-action report later.
Pinkie stared into the room, oblivious to the silent communication between Ryan and Clara.
“She looks like she’s ready to talk.”
Before they could enter the room, Ryan took a step in front of Clara.
“Are you really sure you want to keep going, Clara?”
Ryan was trying hard to communicate to her silently that it wasn’t a good idea. While he was pretty sure they had avoided the worst case scenario, he was still uncertain whether Pinkie would eat Mirelda in the end.
Clara glared up at him, as if him questioning her resolve again and again was getting annoying.
“I’m going Ryan, I’m a big girl.”
They opened the door and stepped inside. Mirelda looked incredibly exhausted, haunted by the reveal that her idol likely planned for this entire scenario to have happened. That she might have just been bait for a war that ended with her coven destroyed.
Ryan had little sympathy for her. Mirelda wasn’t Tar’el, the Leafstalker elf who didn’t understand what was going on. She wasn’t Larix, the Obsidian Sect leader that had people he needed to look after.
She was an eighth realm adventurer.
He had told her the truth. If still she declined everything despite that, then he would let Pinkie eat her and figure out a way to damn the entirety of the Witch’s Coven.
Of course, that all assud Mirelda remained too blind to see what would happen.
In a dimly lit private room of a dragonslayer tier adventurer, Ryan took a seat.
Mirelda was still staring at the docunt, her eyes flicked up towards him.
“If I sign this, then how do I know Pinkie won’t attack my sisters?”
“You don’t.”
It was the truth, neither of them truly knew whether Pinkie would disregard the contract the mont Mirelda revealed the truth. A very realistic scenario was that Pinkie would gain her Legend and then start a war with everyone that took part in eating her wing.
But that guarantee was never in the cards. That was never the point of the contract.
“What you do have is a contract violation the mont Pinkie takes action against your coven sisters. When that happens, the Secretary will give you all a warning and ti to prepare.”
“Is that all?”
“Pinkie also won’t have my support in hunting you down.”
Pinkie sneered from the corner, as if to say that she didn’t think she needed his help to hunt down the [Witches]. Ryan covered his face in embarrassnt. That was absolutely not the thing to be telling Mirelda right now.
He took a mont and sighed. Well, it was ti to bring out the big [Fireball]. The thing he was only sowhat sure about, and part of the reason why he was truly invested in Pinkie obtaining her Legend.
“Pinkie obtaining her Legend and fully shapeshifting into the Passive Tyrant is probably in all of our best interests, Mirelda.”
Ryan could feel Pinkie’s staring daggers at his back.
Yes, the apex creature that Pinkie sought to shapeshift into for her Legend was the Passive Tyrant. It wasn’t like he was the only one to have figured it out either. The realmnet had compared the gigantic fist in the city of Defiance and had found similarities with the Passive Tyrant’s own, albeit smaller fist.
Ryan himself rembered the Passive Tyrant’s fist from One-Eyed Rick’s skill orb.
While the Realmnet had gone into a frenzy over the theory, the Passive Tyrant only had one response to the growing concerns.
‘I hope she succeeds. I’ve never fought myself before. It sounds like fun.’
As expected of the person that was considered one of the strongest beings in The Realm. Sohow, such a simple statent had eased the minds of the masses.
Pinkie didn’t seem to think he was lying, though she was confused as to his conclusion.
“Why would shifting into the Passive Tyrant be in all of your best interests?”
“Because if I understand it right, shapeshifting doesn’t just change the body, it includes the brain as well. Right?”
Pinkie snorted. “That’s obvious, so what?”
Both Clara’s and Mirelda’s reactions indicated that it was not in fact obvious to either of them.
It was sothing Ryan had only recently figured out too. In Sector Four, the Witch Tyrant herself had stated that Pinkie learned how to imitate humans. Despite that, Clara’s actions had clearly shown that Pinkie wasn’t the psychopath that the Witch Tyrant implied.
It was a contradiction. One that Clara had pointed out.
So he started to co up with another theory.
Pinkie wasn’t just pretending to not be a psycho, this was truly just how she was. What he guessed was that enough of her brain was transford to be fundantally different from the original. Away from whatever she used to be and into… whatever she was now.
He had seen how both mana and qi operated seamlessly in her body. She had optimized it so that underneath her skin it operated like the most powerful creature she had access to. A storm dragon. He wouldn’t be surprised if that included ssing around with her own brain until it was more dragon-like than a human’s.
It was sothing that only an insane psycho might do without hesitation.
It would also clear up the contradiction. How she was considered both a psycho by the Witch Tyrant and Clara didn’t consider Pinkie to be a complete monster. The dragon she had emulated was vain, possessive and liked ssing with humans.
And everything made sense.
So, what would happen if Pinkie took the form of an even stronger creature with even stronger impulses? Would Pinkie really take a step back and not change her brain as well?
Ryan turned to Pinkie. “The Passive Tyrant is indeed the ideal apex creature. But you forgot one thing. You forgot the reason why she’s called the Passive Tyrant in the first place.”
Pinkie’s eyes blinked in confusion, suddenly she was paying attention to his every word.
Because the Mystical Shapeshifter knew sothing was missing and had a feeling this was it.
Pinkie’s voice was quiet and contemplating, perhaps even a little expectant.
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“Wasn’t it because the world thought she only had passive skills?”
“That’s part of the reason. But why is it that the Passive Tyrant only uses passive skills against other adventurers? Why is it that she almost never showed up during the Settler War?”
“I thought it was because it was beneath her…”
Pinkie’s finger started shaking, as if realizing the final piece to her puzzle had been in front of her the whole ti. Sothing she couldn’t see because her perspective was flawed.
Ryan was trying to push his perspective of the Passive Tyrant onto Pinkie, hoping to influence her in his own way.
“Yes Pinkie, that’s exactly it. It’s beneath her to pick a fight with soone weaker than her.”
It was sothing the [Mystical Shapeshifter] knew about the Passive Tyrant but didn’t understand that it was such a fundantal piece until now.
Neither did Ryan. He didn’t even know that this perspective was what she’d been looking for the entire ti.
At least until Pinkie started to laugh. A mocking laughter at herself for missing such a simple crucial detail. It was sothing that soone like her might have never figured out by herself.
The idea that an apex predator would actively avoid fighting those that were too weak.
The room started to shake. Ryan sprinted backwards as he condensed his aura around Clara just in case. He shouted, trying to get her attention.
“Pinkie, stop!”
But [Mystical Shapeshifter] was no longer focused on anything else. Her class was beginning to resonate. Her body rippled with changes as Ryan’s own [Conceptual tamorph] class began to resonate.
Showing him what was happening.
The Mystical Shapeshifter had found the last piece to complete its transformation. A difference in perspective, of the way the creature looked at the world. It wasn’t enough to copy the form you see, you had to copy the behavior as well.
Only then would it be complete.
It had the pieces now.
The right arm shifted first, the hand that could do more damage than any natural disaster. For now it was too large still, overwhelming without bounds sohow wrapped in a singular physical form. The Mystical Shapeshifter focused once again on the perspective to force down such imnse power into shape.
An indomitable spirit. A willingness to challenge the unknown and the impossible. A desire to grow endlessly, and finally and almost as important…
It did not need to care about those that were beneath it, nay it avoided fighting them like it detested them… because… because why?
Reality stopped rippling around Pinkie. Whatever had been wrapping around Pinkie wasn’t just concepts and perspective. The [Mystical Shapeshifter] was trying to condense the entire concept of the Passive Tyrant into itself. Like the Trial System’s class except Pinkie was doing it by herself.
Was this what a [Shapeshifter] at the pinnacle could do? Copy not just the body but even their damned classes?
Though it seed like Pinkie had missed that final step. While her right arm was smaller than the city of Defiance’s titanic arm, it was still four tis larger than the Passive Tyrant’s ordinary sized human arm.
Pinkie’s eyes imdiately locked onto the dazed Ryan.
The [Mystical Shapeshifter] had noticed the [Conceptual tamorph] peeking into her resonating concepts.
She blurred forward, dragging him up by the bathrobes.
“You! What’s the rest?”
One of Pinkie’s eyes had changed color, turning into the sa brown color as the Passive Tyrant’s. Ryan snapped out of it, redoubling his aura to block Pinkie’s erratic actions.
It wasn’t going to be enough. He couldn’t use his Fear Epic on Earth. It was going to shatter and Clara was going to be exposed.
“What do you an the rest?!”
“Don’t play tricks with , you felt it too. You felt my class resonating. What is the rest—why does the Passive Tyrant hate killing those beneath her?”
“I don’t know! I didn’t even realize that’s what you needed to know! Lower your presence! Clara’s right here! You’re going to harm soone beneath you!”
A part of Ryan was panicking, trying to throw out the right words to make Pinkie back down. He had no idea what would happen if a Legend manifested right next to an ordinary human. The whole plan was to use his hypothesis to convince Mirelda, not to trigger a damned Legend.
Pinkie dropped him and took a step back.
“You don’t know?”
“Why do you think I would know how the Passive Tyrant thinks?! I’ve never t her, I’m just telling you the basics that the Realmnet knows!”
Pinkie nodded. “Yes, then give your best thought. Why would an apex creature hate attacking those beneath it?”
She was acting like he was so sort of seer that was holding all the answers from her.
This was a problem he hadn’t foreseen. Apparently Pinkie thought that because he was smart that he could co up with the answer for everything.
Though if he was being honest, he did want to see what would happen if Pinkie completed her transformation.
“I don’t know, maybe because it’s wasteful?”
“No. Try again.”
It was like bashing his head against a stubbornly stupid immovable wall. Ryan racked his brain trying to think.
“Maybe because it’s lonely at the top?”
Pinkie closed her eyes, as if thinking about it.
“No. Again.”
“I don’t know!”
Pinkie growled in annoyance as Clara, wrapped in his aura, cleared her throat.
“Uhm Pinkie?” She wilted as the half-apex glared at her. “Ryan just helped you, right? If you want him to keep working with you, shouldn't you thank him first?”
For a mont Pinkie looked impatient. Then she turned to him and realized he truly didn’t know what the answer was. The [Shapeshifter] then smiled, at least, it looked like a genuine smile
“You’re right. He has helped. I should be thankful. Thank you, Ryan.”
While the tone and smile looked genuine, not a single one of the other three in the room believed it was real for a second. The shift had been too sudden for it. Ryan took a breath, noting how his real na was used in front of Mirelda.
“If I co up with sothing, I’ll tell you. But I think the best way is to ask her yourself.”
Pinkie still kept her fake smile. “Yes, I think I have enough to confront her. Now we just have one thing left.”
They all turned to Mirelda who was still frozen at the chaos that had ensued. Ryan marched back to the seat and sat in front of her. Mirelda was still staring at Pinkie’s right arm in horror, turning to him as he sat down.
“What have you done?”
Ryan took a mont to think, then grinned. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ve just signed your coven’s death warrant, or maybe Pinkie will realize it’s beneath her to go after a bunch of [Witches] when she reaches the apex. Either way, now if there is a war, it will be a short one.”
Mirelda stared at Pinkie who was smiling pleasantly at her.
“If I tell you the answer, will you end up killing my coven-sisters?”
Pinkie stared at her hand, the Passive Tyrant’s arm ready to explode and destroy everything in this room. She dropped the smile and her arm, taking on a neutral expression.
“I don’t know.”
It might have been the most honest thing Pinkie had ever said. As if she felt that lying was beneath her. Now that she had experienced what the Passive Tyrant was truly like, Pinkie no longer truly knew what she was going to do when she completed her shapeshifting.
She turned back.
“But if I fail, I will hunt you all down. If only because killing you all might give a challenge.”
Ryan shook his head. Pinkie really was bad at negotiating. He tried to bring it back.
“Either way. This contract will still help protect all of you. The mont Pinkie attacks one of your coven mbers, everyone will get a warning from the Secretary. Without it, more than one [Witch] might be attacked before you get alerted. So Mirelda, what will it be?”
Mirelda stopped staring at the dragonslayer and turned to him.
“Fine, you win.”
Pinkie was by her side in a mont, unshackling the chains so Mirelda could hold a pen with the arm she had remaining. Mirelda shakily signed the contract. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing she was betraying a sacred pact with the coven.
“It is a minor luck curse.”
Ryan frowned. That was it? Pinkie was disbelieving as well.
“You lie! Sothing like that wouldn’t make my scales crawl!”
Mirelda’s eyes widened at the accusation, as if she couldn’t believe that Pinkie wasn’t believing her words.
“No! I’m not! It was the best hex we could do against soone with your protections!”
“I’ve had hexes cast on before! None were like this!”
Mirelda was even more confused. “Y-you have? How? By who?”
“The Witch Tyrant. I’ve sparred with her plenty of tis, I know what hexes feel like.”
All of them went quiet at her words, then Ryan facepald so loudly it echoed throughout the room.
Pinkie turned to him. “What?”
Ryan held the bridge of his nose. "So you’re comparing a permanent hex by a coven to a combat hex cast by the Witch Tyrant. Pinkie, have you ever been cursed before by anyone else?”
“No? Why would it matter?”
Mirelda just stared at the clueless dragonslayer tier [Shapeshifter] in shock. “Oh Manager’s Abode. I–I have been suffering all this ti for this?!”
Ryan narrowed his eyes at Mirelda but decided to shelve that one for later. He turned to Pinkie.
“Pinkie, hexes are different depending on whether they’re permanent and combat hexes. I’ve never heard of a minor luck curse though, are you sure it isn’t important?”
“No, it just makes you more likely to step into poo or sothing harmless.” Pinkie scowled, looking both frustrated and disbelieving. “Why would she do sothing so pointless?”
Ryan sighed, trying to keep his physical actions consistent. He had a feeling Mirelda was hiding sothing but he didn’t want to reveal that to Pinkie and risk her eating Mirelda in front of Clara.
“It just confirms that she wanted you to et with Mirelda and start a war, maybe develop your Legend that way.”
Pinkie shook her head. “Why would she want to develop my Legend? It makes no sense. She’s always wanted to keep under her thumb.”
Probably because you saw everything as prey to eat, Ryan didn’t say.
“You should have seen her in the city of Defiance, she wants you to complete your Legend.”
“But why? She has to know the first thing I will do is to tell her to piss off.”
“Why do you keep looking at for answers? The Witch Tyrant plays on way too many levels. She probably has different scenarios depending on how your Legend develops. It’s impossible for to guess.”
Pinkie growled in annoyance. “That’s true. Fine then…”
She turned to Mirelda. Now was the mont of truth. The contract terms had been set, but Ryan still wasn’t sure if Pinkie would eat Mirelda. Hell, he was still not completely sure if Pinkie wouldn’t kill them all.
Pinkie grinned at the [Witch]. Mirelda looked like she was about to faint but kept her eyes wide open. Readying herself for death.
“It’s interesting, I promised myself that I’d eat you no matter what. But now I feel a little disgusted at the idea.” Pinkie chuckled darkly, then turned around to look at Ryan. “Sohow the boy scout had gotten his way once again. Interesting how that works.”
Ryan breathed an internal sigh of relief, though he didn’t show it. He simply shrugged. “Hey, don’t look at like that. I just asked you not to eat her in front of my friends.”
“So you wouldn’t mind taking her away and eating her outside?”
He almost regretted opening his mouth. “Is that really what you want to be doing Pinkie?”
Pinkie laughed. “You’re right. I shall see what it is like
She roared and phased through the wall, leaving the three of them behind. Ryan blinked, then turned back to the now unchained eighth realm [Witch]. Mirelda was rubbing the stump of her arm with her free hand. Possibly rembering how he deprived her of water and had interrogated her.
She sniffed. “So. Ryan and Clara, was it?”
Now Ryan was wishing he had taunted Pinkie into eating Mirelda instead.
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