Just gonna address The-Anti-Akuma directly, because I can't message ya ;)

I know I have a really bad habit of maiming my characters, I just like trying to portray disabilities being a nuisance but something that you can learn to live with. Falling Into Petals for example, Crystal is mute, but she still lives her life how she wants to live it, and I love that. But yes, it is definitely a bad habit and one I'm grappling with a lot. I think I've been better about it, and going forwards my stories will try to have less 'nonsensical' maimings, only one that actually make sense from a story-based perspective.

Also, Rosa doesn't know if she has it or not. In Chapter 12, she specified that with this statement: "She still wanted to try and see if she had the same 'chakra' that the shinobi had, and if she didn't then, it wasn't the end of the world." Her later statement about a woman without chakra beating a shinobi was in regards to active usage, in case that was what you were referring to.

Anyways, happy to hear you all are still enjoying this weird story, when I came up with the idea I was dubious but it's new and exciting and hopefully I'll be able to actually bloody-well finish it!

(Also I've given up entirely on uploading on Monday/Thursday, I keep forgetting on the day. I swear I intended to upload this yesterday, and then I forgot.)

Chapter 13

Watching the three genin and their teacher leave, Rosa leaned back on the front door and resolutely refused to smile.

Three weeks had gone by in a flash. Every day, she earned a pure profit of 2,488,250 Ryo, after taxes were taken. Of course, she still had to pay the couriers and her guards, but those expenditures were a negligible price compared to her total profit. Over the course of just one month, her wealth swelled to a fairly astonishing 79.2 million Ryo. During that time period, she didn't even have to use the clause she had insisted on having added to the contract, as Mori was fully capable of keeping up with the supply of kunai Rosa supplied, which was quite frankly equally as surprising.

She hadn't asked for an explanation, and Mori hadn't asked where Rosa was getting her kunai from. Both were obviously making money from the deal, so there was no need to 'shake the boat' as it were. During those three weeks, she hadn't been attacked once, though she attributed that more to the presence of three genin and a Jonin-Sensei than a lack of desire. And during said time period, she most definitely hadn't been idle. Every few days she performed a sacrifice to Hestia, each time sacrificing an assortment of goods. Never items that were identical twice, she had a feeling that duplicates would be frowned upon, but that still meant plenty of items could be given in return for ritual points.

In three weeks, eleven rituals were performed of varying values. The lowest was a D-2, and the highest a B-3, the rest an assortment of values between those, varied so much due to varying levels of incantation and sacrifice values. With the points she earned, she had upgraded all of her stats to E-3, and then again to E-2 once she had the points for it. All twelve of her stats were at E-2, and the difference was...rather staggering. With F-3 Perception, she couldn't even begin to track Katsuki when she moved at high speed, but, as she watched Katsuki help the genin train, she could actually see her.

Not clearly, she still appeared as a blur, but whereas before she couldn't even see her moving, Rosa could now do so, and that filled her with the hope that in the future, she wouldn't constantly feel threatened by shinobi. Besides those upgrades, thanks to her prolific performing of rituals, she had banked up a grand total of 20,960 points. That was enough to upgrade all her stats to E-1 but not flat E's, and honestly, she didn't intend to.

After her upgrade from F+3 to E-3, to say she felt powerful was an understatement. If she had less control over herself she probably would have wanted to fight with Katsuki and see how powerful she was. Fortunately, she wasn't a moron and knew doing that was a one-way ticket to attention she seriously couldn't handle. But the point still stood that F+3 to E-3 wasn't just a small step up, it was a new realm of strength. And that meant if she upgraded from E+3 to D-3, well, the increase would naturally be even better.

But the points required for such an increase were equally massive. Just to upgrade one stat from E-2 to D-3 would cost her 6,600 points. That meant she could upgrade 3 stats to D-3 at any time and still have 1,160 points, which was exactly why she was holding onto those points. If she got attacked by somebody and was fearful for her life, she could suddenly increase her Endurance, Agility and Dexterity to a new level of power, enhancing her durability and allowing her to escape them. Was it cowardly? Well, sure, but she was a fairly cowardly person when it came to literally fearing for her life.

As for her non-direct stats, they too were completely worth upgrading. Her Mysticism going from F+3 to E-3 unlocked Enhancement Tattoos, which she could place onto herself or others for permanent buffs, on top of unlocking Fireball, the upgraded version of Lesser Fireball, and a few other spells. As for Crafting, she was a little bit let-down by the fact that E-3 didn't mean she could make iron more efficiently. What it did mean though was that her kunai became even higher quality, their edges sharper and their durability higher. She also unlocked more crafting recipes and the ability to make 'dark-steel', though since it required sulfur she hadn't yet been able to make anything out of that.

Her Carrying Capacity had upgraded quite significantly. Every time it leveled up, it added, in sequence, a new column or row. Starting from 2x2, it had become 2x3, then 3x3, then 4x4, 4x4, and so on and so forth. At E-2, she now had a 6x6 inventory, or 36 slots, which when combined with her buffed strength meant she could fit a lot of stuff into her inventory. Her Foraging, not to be outdone, did not, as she expected, become useless. When walking through town, she found an uncanny knack for spotting valuables. Sure, sometimes those valuables were attached to people or buildings, but other times, she could enter most stores and find a hidden gem within. Not a literal gemstone, but still, it was helpful.

Her Healing hadn't yet had a chance to show off any direct changes that had come, but she dared not neglect it, for if she did venture into the slums, being able to heal the sick and wounded would doubtlessly draw those in need to her, helping with her plans. It did however synergize with her Crafting, allowing her to make healing items, sterile bandages and poultices that could help close wounds and sterilize them, preventing infections and all that good stuff. Of course, during her upgrading, she was careful to make sure she didn't physically change, not wanting to draw suspicion onto herself.

According to the world at large, she had barely changed in the past few weeks, even though her Strength, Agility, Dexterity and all her other stats had improved quite significantly. Being low-key was still the best outcome, obviously, and so she most definitely didn't do anything that could draw serious attention onto herself. Her random purchases and the production of well-made iron kunai had likely already drawn the attention of civilians, but nothing she had done was too outlandish, too loud as to draw the attention of the shinobi.

And now, her guards for the past month were gone. She still had her civilian guards, but didn't hold out much hope for them withstanding any concerted attacks by greedy businessmen on their own. Maybe she was wrong, maybe she wouldn't be attacked, but it was better to be prepared for it than not, which was exactly why she had improved her own abilities so much, namely her Charisma.

She abhorred controlling the free will of others, but she couldn't ignore the stat that was arguably the strongest of the bunch. When it was upgraded to E-3, a new slider had appeared, one that allowed her Charisma to buff her followers and guards. Currently, it was set to zero, so as not to improve the shinobi and draw their suspicion. Now that they were gone, she slid the bar up to maximum.

She had no idea exactly how it would affect the two guards permanently present at her home, but she was hopeful that they'd put up a stronger fight if it came down to that.

After another week passed, with nothing happening, Rosa decided to set her plan into motion.

She hadn't left her home for the week, allowing couriers to do their jobs in bringing material and taking away kunai, and she put off performing any sacrifices, not wanting to get ambushed outside of her home, but after a week, she was itching to finally complete the quest she'd gotten ages ago, acquiring three acolytes. She had her crossbow with her, and had crafted a short sword for protection which was inside her inventory, but as she stepped outside her home, she still felt uncomfortable.

After a moment, she shook off her discomfort and departed, making her way through the city and towards the most destitute area. Every city had run-down places, and Keishi, despite being the capital, was no exception. The area itself had no official name, because to give it an official name would mean acknowledging it, but the area was known for the high density of homeless, sick and maimed people. Ex-shinobi who had lost limbs, those who had lost their homes in the war, many called it their home, and turned the area into "a real-estate quagmire", as the realtor had described it when she asked him.

Prices were so far through the floor you'd be doing the estate agent a favor for buying the property, that was how bad the area was. And the fact it wasn't cleaned up was simple, there was no point. Evicting them would just mean spreading the 'filth' out across the city. By keeping them all in one place, tourists and businessmen wouldn't have to see them, and in turn, those people wouldn't have to move around constantly. It was a pretty shitty situation, but that was just how it was.

So now Rosa intended to go poke it with a stick. Her intentions were simple, find someone and use her Charisma on them. She still really disliked her Charisma fucking with free will, but she'd...come around to the idea of using it to better the life of someone else. If she showed up with it disabled and tried to convince someone to come with her for a better life, they'd likely assume she was a murderer or something equally bad. She wasn't, naturally, and that was why she was willing to entertain the idea of using her Charisma. By doing so, she could convince them to follow her, leading them to a better life than what they were currently living in.

As she walked, Rosa kept her eyes out, curious to see if she was being followed, and was honestly sort of surprised by the fact that she discovered no pursuers. Nobody had followed her for longer than a brief period, and as she headed closer to the slums, fewer and fewer people passed her by. Eventually, almost as if she crossed an invisible boundary, the buildings became run-down, and people in tattered clothing replaced the pedestrians, ambling around aimlessly. Some were sat on the sides of the road, others on top of buildings, peering down listlessly.

Clothed normally and comfortably, she naturally attracted attention. Her Charisma was still disabled, she didn't want to attract quite so many people after all, but just her appearance and the fact she was obviously the most well-to-do person that they'd seen in a long time was enough to attract plenty of attention in itself. "Spare a Ryo miss?" One particularly brave individual asked, and immediately, Rosa was in a conundrum. If she gave the person money, it would immediately cause a chain reaction whereby everybody would want her money. But if she didn't, well, she was obviously someone with money, and some foolish or desperate person would try to rob her, perhaps they all would.

So, thinking fast, she put on a smile. "I can't spare a Ryo, but I could pay you if you'd like. I'm searching for someone, and if you could spread the word that I'm looking for them, I'd greatly appreciate it." Behind her eyes, her mental-self did a cheer as she saw the gleam in their eyes. Give someone a Ryo and they'd be a beggar, but pay them? Now that was a way to get under their skin and into their head. "The person I'm looking for has heterochromia, so they have one brown eye, one green eye, almost-black shoulder-length hair, and they are missing two fingers on their left hand, their ring and pinky finger. If you could spread the word...?" As they nodded, Rosa smiled more widely, dipping a hand into her jacket and withdrawing a one-thousand-ryo note, passing it to them. "It really means a lot to me." She said, watching their eyes closely as they looked around.

"I'll be sure to do that, thank your kind heart miss." They said earnestly, immediately running off. With a smile still on her face, she looked around, making eye contact with many of the other people around, who shied away from her gaze. Some had definitely harbored thoughts of robbing her, but her gaze had set off warning bells. A woman like her, able to hand away 1,000 Ryo like pocket change, who came there of her own accord, without fear, meant one of two things.

Either she was an idiot, or she was dangerous. From her description, someone missing two fingers, her words very likely had let their imaginations go wild. Said person didn't exist, the description just a convenient scapegoat, but they didn't know that. "If that person is found, whoever brings them to me can earn five times as much." Her words sparked a sudden flurry, many standing up and darting off in different directions on a crazed hunt for a person who didn't exist.

Meanwhile, Rosa stood still, eyeing the few who remained in place, before walking towards an alleyway. Nobody followed her, which caught her a little by surprise, as she fully expected at least one desperate person to chase her and try to rob her, but maybe her little act was stronger than she thought. Shaking her head, she kept her eyes up, looking for people who looked in need of help, especially those who she could potentially recruit.

Despite the area being so ruined, it took her a full half-an-hour to find someone. Her parameters were fairly broad, she wanted someone young, not maimed, who looked either gullible or desperate, and her perception let her assess people quite closely in that regard. Finally, whilst walking through another alleyway and into a back-area wedged between buildings, she found a coughing young man, barely even above being just a boy.

Her Healing stat had already assessed others and the severity of their injuries, and as she laid eyes on him, she knew at a glance that he had pneumonia. Each cough rattled his chest, he was sweaty and short-of-breath despite being sat down against a wall, plus she'd already seen others who also had pneumonia. But what was different between them and him, he was very young, far more malleable and likely more willing to believe. If she had to guess, he was thirteen years old, and she idly guessed his story even as she approached him. He noticed her and curled away from her slightly, even as his cough continued unceasingly. "W-wha-" He began, only for another coughing fit to occur, cutting his words off.

Instead of saying anything, Rosa opened her Stat Control Menu and focused on one slider in particular, intently staring at it. Internally, she asked if she was really about to effectively override somebody's free will...and then she pushed the slider across. He was sick, and probably going to die. By doing this, she was very likely saving his life. Was it for her own benefit? Sure, but that didn't mean he wasn't also getting something out of the deal, not that he knew what was going on. Exiting the menu, her inner argument took a mild hit as his eyes softened, one of his arms reaching out as if to hold onto her.

The look in his eyes...just wasn't natural. She didn't know him, not at all, she hadn't said a word to him, and he hadn't even managed one word towards her, but he looked at her as if he'd known her his whole life...and that freaked her out more than she could ever put into words. Shivering slightly, she closed her eyes and sighed gently before taking ahold of his arm and helping him up. Her Endurance was high, so she wasn't afraid of contracting the infection from being in close proximity to somebody infected with it.

Slowly, she led him out of the area and towards her warehouse, avoiding the main paths and hiding from people as much as possible. Aside from a few gazes, she managed to avoid attention, heading inside and disentangling herself from the arms of the boy/teenager she'd brought back. She placed down the bedding she'd brought along and laid him down, then twitched when he made a childlike moaning sound, clamping her teeth together. She told herself that she was doing a good thing, he was almost definitely going to die if she didn't do what she did, but that didn't stop her from feeling so fucking uncomfortable doing it.

Opening her crafting menu, she looked for antibiotics, and found a herbal remedy with the highest default rating. Looking at the different components, she departed the warehouse and locked it behind herself so he wouldn't wander off, before then lowering her Charisma influence once again and striding off towards the market. It was not long before she purchased all the things she needed, and scrounged up enough rocks to make a mortar and pestle with which to make the herbal concoction, and so she returned to the warehouse, raising her Charisma before she entered.

The boy hadn't moved, but his head raised and looked towards her, a smile that just didn't fit on his face emerging when he saw who it was. Ignoring him as he tried to get up, she placed down the mortar and pestle on the ground and then used her crafting menu to make a portion of medicine. Taking it out of her inventory, she walked over to the boy and knelt beside him, helping him sit up placing the medicine before his mouth. "I need you to eat this." She said quietly, watching as he, without even hesitating, opened his mouth and allowed her to place the medicine, which took the form of a thick, green cream, into his mouth.

He swallowed with just as little hesitation, shivering slightly, possibly from the taste. Glancing at him, she frowned at the blood-specked phlegm that was on his hand, but there was not much more she could do. Her Healing skill told her that the medicine would work just fine and he would be cured after a day's rest, which meant she could organize his living situation. For the moment, the bedding that had only been used once by herself a month ago would suffice, but he would probably need a real bed at some point. On top of that, he'd need food and water, something the warehouse didn't have.

But she didn't want to bring him home, she wanted to at least have some semblance of a split between normal life and her less-than-ethical second life. In the end, she decided that she would bring some food and water for him, and then tomorrow, when he was able to handle himself, she would bring him some clothes and give him a few orders. Primarily, he needed to stay at the warehouse, she didn't want him wandering around too much. But she would leave him money so he could go and buy food every day.

As she sat beside him and he looked up at her, Rosa opened her acolyte menu, and pressed the big, green, flashing plus icon in the middle of the menu.

New Acolyte - Acquire? Y/N

Acolyte - Shira Vesna - 16 Years, 1 Months, 15 Days old

Strength - F-3

Agility - F-3

Dexterity - F-3

Perception - F-3

Intelligence - F-3

Charisma - F-3

Endurance - F-2

Loyalty - 67% base loyalty (+100% Loyalty from Charisma)

Accepting him as an acolyte, she witnessed a white flash as soon as she closed the menu.

His position, facial expression and everything else didn't change, but she could feel a connection of sorts with him, even without the menu open. She could sense his thoughts, his emotions, and frankly, it scared her. Currently, he thought she was an angel who had come to save him when he was dying, and he was willing to literally do anything she asked. If she told him to jump off a building, he would do it in a heartbeat. If she gave him a knife and told him to kill himself, he'd do it instantly. If she told him to go out and try to kill people, he'd gleefully start trying to gouge eyes out.

Pushing past the ocean of discomfort that feeling his thoughts brought her, she tried to understand him. His Intelligence and Charisma being at F-3 were probably factors in why he was so utterly devoted to her. His base loyalty being at 67% was probably because despite what she'd done in taking his free will away, she had still saved his life, given him a bed and a place that wasn't exposed to the elements to stay. She was quite curious to see what removing her Charisma would do, but she decided that could wait until later.

Gently, she pet his head, watching him nuzzle his head against her hand as she silently apologized for what she had done to him.

I did say this story was going to get dark.

No matter how she justifies it to herself, she understands in her heart that she is manipulating the defenseless for her own benefit. Oh, also, I do understand that she isn't taking away their free will, she is just altering their perception. They still have free will to act as they choose, but the way they perceive her is drastically changed. Rosa understands that at a base level, but that doesn't change her surface thoughts. She sees it as stripping away their free will, rendering them slaves, and that utterly terrifies her.

But, what terrifies her more is her weakness, and what motivates her is her drive to progress, and to get stronger, even if she hates it, she'll still do it.