So this is like the second S-rank assessment test. I have no reason to attack the Bytga. This also explains why every team kept disappearing.

  This counts as a zombie army, right? Can I cross this off my list?

  So I could us [Eternal Winter] but I don’t know if the puppet master will escape. I couldn’t identify the puppet master. Puppets seemed to control puppets who were also being controlled by puppets. The only real organic beings here were the Bytga, me, the plants and the monsters.

  Monsters…is the puppet master a monster? Or a tree? Am I being silly?

  [Eternal Winter] went out and all the puppets froze. The frost cracked and shattered as streaks of red and blue mana broke it.

  “Ooh, lost magic! You will add nicely to my collection, you might even become my favorite!”

  Well fuck, I guess something like this was bound to happen some day, today is a bad day though. The question is, what lost magic is this? Do you know, not-Spencer?

  Not-Spencer shook his head.

  This does put me in a tight spot. I also left Nilah behind… it would be nice if I could break this losing streak. Fighting humans doesn’t count…

  This barrier… is it your doing?

  “It’s a wonderful barrier, isn’t it?’

  Nothing suggested the location, magic type and race of this puppet master. Another case of my eyes being situationally worthless.

  Back in my training days, I was surprised to be able to identify the cyclops in Hurricane Path as I’ve never read about them or met one before. As long as those conditions are met, my eyes can identify a race. This puppet master must be unique or rare and its my first time meeting one, same for its magic type.

  The barrier is just an arcane barrier. This puppet mastery is either a racial skill or some body augmentation.

  Ugh, seems I have to hit the books again if I survive this… I guess it’s going to the basics. Not-Spencer do you have any special abilities?

  Not-Spencer’s body wriggled a bit and he turned into a dwarf. Is it safe to say he’s Spencer now? An interesting shapeshifter race.

  “Do you have a hammer by any chance?”

  I tossed him a hammer I had once crafted. A dwarf with a hammer, I’m not surprised. Spencer slammed the ground and caused us to burrow.

  He kept swinging his hammer at the soft ground below, tunneling down until he hit rocky layers.

  “I think we should escape…”

  That is a good assessment, the problem is that this problem needs to be resolved but…retreating might be the best.

  Is there a possibility that this is a mythical beast from the 6th ? But the barrier uses normal runes. Maybe a native mythical being? But…didn’t they split into multiple bodies? It doesn’t exclude them but… wouldn’t they play into their strengths instead of resorting to puppet mastery?

  A rare race would be more logical. Also, I might have to put in the request up for the AA. My tail reminded me of an organization that protects rare and near-extinct races. Not-Spencer would meet the criteria. It also told me to apply myself to it too.

  Hey tail what the fuck, I don’t need a race pity squat breathing down my neck!

  It responded by stating that Not-Spencer might feel the same. It made a good point, but Not-Spencer’s race is very prone to being misunderstood and getting hunted down and killed off. I…my race is the same… I dropped my head in my hands.

  “Are you alright?”

  No… and you’re not either… our races are close to extinction… I can imagine that your kind has been hunted down and killed off. Is it common for your race to target near death individuals?

  “Our race is divided in two. The Bytga and the Bytgi, we the Bytga only target those near death. The villages near our habitats were aware, and those that were near death would move into the forest. Faces are our nourishment… the Bytgi actively hunt for faces as they go out and kill the living.”

  And the behavior of the Bytgi caught the Bytga in the crossfire, I suppose.

  Not-Spencer kept hammering at the ground, tunneling through the rocky layer, and nodded. “It has been a rough 500 years…”

  Do you by any chance know anything about that puppet master?

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Only that he has been making life difficult for me in the last year.” He changed back to his long, slender form and showed a strange injury on his arm. “I have yet to steal a face of a healer…” Not-Spencer turned back into a dwarf and kept burrowing.

  The ground rumbled. It would be foolish to think that the puppet master hadn’t killed anyone that could burrow. The Toxic Donkeys would [Shadow Meld] everyone to us, and that might be a checkmate.

  I guess I should approach this problem as a 9t and not as an adventurer.

  My tail grabbed Not-Spencer, I went 9t mode and warped to the surface. I instantly exerted mana pressure to suppress the puppets.

  Right, playtime is open. Come out of hiding, or I will crack this barrier and run away. You will never get your hands on this body.

  Illusion layers got shattered and a [illusionary Dagger] got used up.

  Attacks got sucked up into portals and got returned. [Spatial Flop] placed every puppet on their backs. My tails started on the barrier. 15 minutes were needed, quite resilient. [Elgard Overload] was on standby.

  Dying is 1 thing but ending up like a creepy puppet is worse. I’ve already found 3 things that are worse than death; getting stuck in the void, getting stuck in a black hole and turning into a puppet. Maybe ‘death’ is overrated; there are many things worse than death.

  Time got rewound on every bullshit ability that got flung at me. Many contained streaks of red and blue, indicating it was from this lost magic element. Getting hit by that could be a game over.

  Spirit magic was lost magic and it had the quirk of being difficult to deal with unless you possess spirit magic or other lost magic. Frost magic… yeah getting hit by that would be a near instant game over. Abyss magic would create wounds that heal poorly or don't heal at all and getting killed by that is an instant game over, no matter how many lives the target has. There was the Harmony element but I had no clue what it did, only that Raishin has it and never uses it. As far as I know, it shares racial passive effects, more like a support lost magic. There must be many others that I don’t know about, but they all had something in common; you don’t want to get hit by them.

  My tail came up with a more efficient way to break the barrier; bend the space to crack the barrier like an egg. Worth a try.

  Most puppets had recovered from [Spatial Flop] and I still couldn’t find the mastermind. What if this race is special, as in not having a body but being able to move between the puppets it controls? Maybe the race is a concept or pure mana.

  What other explanations could I come up with?

  The space around the barrier bent and cracked it open. Many puppets fell to the ground, lifeless. 10 stayed active, and the Toxic Donkey puppet [Shadow melded] the lifeless puppets into the shadows of trees.

  I hate losing, but this is your win. I have no idea what you are, but I can at least leave a present behind.

  My tails ignited in foxfire and lit up the whole area, eliminating every shadow and every puppet stored in them. I grabbed Not-Spencer, warped to the edge of the forest and dropped my 9t mode.

  I’m sorry. This creature is still here but… he should be greatly weakened. I will place an illusion on you. Stay safe. I will notify the AA of your existence and to leave you alone. They also need to know about the puppet master.

  My tails opened my dimensional pocket and dropped frost marbles in a bag and handed the bag to Not-Spencer.

  Throw these at the puppets when they reappear. It won’t freeze them for long, but long enough for you to escape. I’m sorry that I can’t do more. And…try to explain yourself and your race when you encounter someone. This continent has become more accepting to different races over the years.

  Not-Spencer turned back into his original form, still with Spencer’s face.

  Maybe they don’t have faces when they get born and need the faces of others. Who knows.

  “Thank you…be careful yourself. The world will be fine if I die, the same cant be said about you.”

  Not-Spencer took the bag, nodded and disappeared into the forest. An example of a creepy race that’s relatively harmless, a contrast to fairies.

  This story isn’t over. The puppetmaster might kill more adventurers and steal their bodies before something could be done.

  I walked back to Gittrian as I needed time to think. I could always pick up speed or teleport when I had run out of thoughts.

  Was the barrier a part of the puppet master’s body, or did it allow the puppetmaster to exceed the limit of how many puppets it could use? I don’t remember the barrier very well, as I’ve cracked it open and didn’t dismantle it.

  This is your fault.

  I said as I accused my tail. It had a point by stating that there was no way it could’ve known. I didn’t know either. Back to the library, I guess. I might have gotten lucky. I could’ve lost quite fast after frost magic was ineffective.

  What type of lost magic did it use? Puppetmastery magic? That sounds too niche. Maybe brainwash magic? But those puppets weren’t alive. Control over inanimate objects? But why puppets, then? Just let mountains and waterfalls attack.

  In the end, I had no clue.

  More questions, no answers, and my loss streak gets increasing. Am I overrated? What do you think, Nilah?

  That’s right. I had left Nilah to protect Giana and Yv in case something crazy happened.

  Night fell in no time. Walking sure goes slowly. Using [Eternal Winter] had given me a lot of mana. Might as well dump it in the magic circle.

  My tails ignited in foxfire as usual and the circle would only accept mana when I exhaled, making the process take quite long. My camp was simple. Just a campfire. Pouring mana into the circle always exhausted me. I fried some chicken, had some dinner, killed the fire, curled up and went to sleep.