NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Red's Point of View

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We stayed in Wonderland for three days, resting and eating berries, fighting no one. I did not even know that clashing with no one was still a possible scenario.

But despite the idle occurrence, the puppets hiding behind the trees kept monitoring our every movement. They remained concealed inside the forest, while using the trees as their camouflage.

Ryoshi and Match tried firing their projectile attacks at the woodlands. But when the discharged particles came into contact with the trees, a barrier of some sort obstructed the assault, creating a blast against it. Those magic spells did not go through inside the invisible dome, as they eventually imploded into fragments in the air.

Okami and I tried scouting the forest. But the barrier we saw before never obstructed our way and let us inside the green land. We tried using our spells inside the woodland, and it worked.. Our magic circles activated each other even when we were inside the sea of trees.

But since we did not have any long-ranged spell attacks, we could not get the credibility of our experience.

So we had to bring Ryoshi and Match back inside the forest. And compared to the previous results, those two could conjure their spells inside the forest, but not outside.

We did not know if we could use that knowledge to our advantage. And the only side that benefited from this barrier was Alice and her puppets into hiding.

According to Okami, this dome protected everyone inside Wonderland. When he first arrived in this place, Okami knew nothing about the barrier. Well, he was more of a bruiser or warrior than a mage. So attacking Wonderland from afar was not entirely his thing.

"It's protecting Wonderland from mages that could destroy the castle. I mean, a single mage cannot deal with any damage against this place. But if all the elite sorcerers went to this place, they could at least kill dozens of those puppets in this area. Each puppet gives a shit ton of experience points to players. Since the game developers requested to eliminate Alice, not the puppets, they created the barrier. If every player levelled up like crazy, it would be unfair to other players playing the game. And the game developers did not want the players to abuse that feature. Plus, those players had difficulties defeating the small fry of puppets. Those gamers also failed in defeating Alice, the strongest character in Code. So they sent me to clear this place and control Alice in exchange for a couple of cash in hand."

After hearing Okami's explanation, he suggested we train in this place before facing Alice. Since the puppets could give more experiences than defeating monsters, our abilities and power would increase as well.

However, our problem was fighting against these puppets. Since these marionettes knew we wanted to battle them, none of those puppets would appear in front of us. Nobody wanted to give up their lives just to die on the battlefield.

Despite having no brains or organs to feed themselves, these puppets knew how to survive on their own. Their will came from Alice, which became the source of their arcane. And since these puppets also guarded the forest, I doubt they would face us head-on without tasting their traps inside.

"We need to be wary when we enter that place. I don't want any of us to die on the spot there, okay?" Okami exclaimed, while preparing himself to enter the forest.

We were all doing the same thing, even when we already entered the place. But as soon as we step foot in that forest, we might encounter traps and ambushes that the puppets orchestrated.

"Besides the traps prepared by those puppets, we need to be careful about any magical circle coming from Alice. She could link her puppets and place her attacks on them. If that happens, I want Match to notify our group immediately. I would also warn everyone if I sense some arcane spike in the area," Okami continued, as we headed inside the forest. "If there are any traps in the vicinity, Red and I would be the ones deactivating those traps, since we're the fastest members of this team."

This mission required the strongest player to tread inside Wonderland. Match was still a kid that could not grasp her power within her hands. However, she wanted to be with me throughout my journey. So she would stay by my side and fight against these puppets some more.

I did not want to use my gun, since it did not ensemble my personality. After countless arguments with my brain, I finally went with my original taste of the weapon. I planned on using my penitent's blade, despite the gun's characteristics. But if there was a situation that I needed to use the gun, I would not hesitate to pull the trigger.

As we counted to three, the four of us entered the forest. We immediately activated all of our unique skills while proceeding towards the citadel. We did not know how many enemies we would fight as we progressed towards the road. So having these strengthening abilities would increase our chance of winning our battles.

Match activated her left eye, while I activated my right one. However, before we could progress from our place, Match called our attention.

After grabbing everyone's eyes, Match explained the new abilities she received after leveling up from killing the Kraken. Now that she had mentioned it, we all levelled up after killing that mighty beast.

Match learned a new skill called [Pyro Shield]. The spell would allow Match to harness the power of her flames and coat her body from any magical attacks. However, the barrier was not that powerful compared to any armour from priests. But the [Pyro Shield] was still something, considering that it could also protect every ally if the player wanted to.

The only downside of Match's new spell was the mana consumption. Match could cast the shield to anyone she deemed as a party member. However, the limited amount of damage the [Pyro Shield] could absorb was below the minimum. The spells it could contain were at the same level as average players or mages in the game. If the [Pyro Shield] got hit any more than that, that shield would burst open. The player would afterwards absorb the extra damage that the [Pyro Shield] could not block.

Match demonstrated the spell out and enveloped us with each of our [Pyro Shield]. The barrier would protect us for an indefinite amount of time or if Match wanted to disable the spell. We could also disable the spell on our own. But Okami did not advise anyone to do that. Because if we did, that person would lose its chance to protect from an attack.

After Match placed everyone with her skill, my eyes glanced at the side. It noticed something that I did not recognize.

It was also our first time witnessing Ryoshi conjure something different from the ones we saw before. When we asked him about the skill's descriptions, he told us it was "zoom sight".

It was a spell that helped him visualise the surroundings, especially distant areas. We could better use that ability if we were the ones ambushing our enemies. Ryoshi could support us if he could sense something moving in our surroundings without putting effort into his eyes. Since the ability dialled his power to eleven, Ryoshi could pinpoint the directions of projectiles compared to a normal player.

Ryoshi's bows would glow into a bright green colour, painting himself in an emerald-like design. Since his abilities mutated from the elves and mages, the verdant hue suited his taste.

Wolf told everyone that he did not have any unique abilities, unlike Match and Ryoshi. But all his skills improved their durations, attack damage, critical hate, critical rate, and attack rate after levelling up. Those details were the crucial parts of his development, since he was our ace in the team.

And when it was finally my turn, I checked my system and slid the boxes. However, instead of witnessing new skills, my system gifted me something else.

"What did you get, Red?" Match asked, as she peeked at my system besides me. "I can't see anything there, Match. What do you see? Is there even something in front of you, Red?"

I shook my head and replied, "Yeah, there is a box. Wait. Let me just…."

I slid my hand to the side and opened the box containing my gift. Within a few seconds, a rectangular window popped up, with the words written inside the box.

[Congratulations on coming this far, Red Rose! Because of your perseverance and guts, the system granted you the ability to morph your weapons! And since you already got three legendary weapons from Code, we would like to give you a special ability. You also levelled up from your previous battle. With all these things considered, here is your unique skill!]