This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Chapter 203 "Preemptive Setup"

Rita held the frozen Rick by his shoulders and dragged him over to a secluded corner, keeping a firm grip on his shoulder to ensure he wouldn't fall. She took out a small knife and vial, ready to collect some blood—nothing held more of a person's magical essence than their blood. Even if she managed to steal some of Rick's equipment within the 8-minute window, she couldn't be certain he had used it.

The syringe she held was one she'd picked up on a ranch, a vet-grade syringe with a capacity of 10 ml. She'd thought it might come in handy someday, so she took ten of them, leaving a silver coin behind. Now was exactly that time.

After filling one vial, she felt it wasn't quite enough—she might as well collect a proper amount! She took out another vial and kept drawing.

One vial... two... three... she drew a total of five full vials. If she'd had more time, Rita would likely have left Rick with barely a drop to spare.

With the blood collection complete, she poured a small dose of a weak Forgetfulness Potion into a second vial, pried open Rick's mouth, and poured it in.

A mid-tier potion would wipe out the past hour of memories, while a beginner-level one only erased five minutes. However, a secondary-grade potion—essentially an alchemical reject made by apprentices—erased just two minutes, which was perfect for this situation. Rita had specially brewed this substandard potion while waiting for her *Disguise!* cooldown. With her skills, creating a flawed batch had actually been a challenge.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Of course, she couldn't be entirely sure Rick wouldn't notice something off and investigate later, but it didn't matter. In fact, it could even work in her favor! Her other self was still likely on her way out of the terminal, giving her an airtight alibi.

Administering the Forgetfulness Potion and thoughtfully feeding Rick a minor healing potion to restore his HP, she returned him to the spot where they had crossed paths. Her tasks complete, Rita swiftly cloaked herself and used *Phantom Shift* to return home.

Instead of heading back to her bedroom, though, she went to the study to test if she would reappear at the same location once time resumed its normal flow.

Using the skill for the first time, she found it exhilarating. It felt as though a strong wind buoyed her, allowing her to effortlessly ascend, descend, and change directions. Lightly testing her speed, she noticed the mana consumption remained at 10 points per second, unaffected by her pace—a limitation she was curious to test further.

After a brief test flight, she flew directly to the dragon's rear, remaining cloaked the entire time. She pressed the stamp on its tail, ensuring the seal was imprinted, then immediately teleported back to shore and lit the incense before shifting 100 meters away.

While the incense should only affect beasts, she wasn't taking any chances. After all, who knew if "beast" in Moonfox's terminology encompassed every species except Moonfox itself?

The dragon blinked groggily, glancing at its tail as if sensing something unusual. Seeing nothing there, it then looked toward the shore, where a faint fragrance wafted over. Finding the scent rather pleasant, it relaxed, closed its eyes, and dozed off again.

Rita waited until the incense had completely burned out before departing, satisfied. She returned to the tree marked as her star, noting that she couldn't approach closer than 8 meters—any closer and she'd lose her flight ability.

This likely reflected the skill's minimum range, which would increase as her level progressed. While the restriction was slightly inconvenient, it was manageable.

She stood at the 8-meter mark, hovered 2 meters above the ground, and then used a skill to destroy the tree. In that instant, she lost her flight ability, dropping back to the ground.

It seemed that with this skill, losing proximity to her star or having it destroyed would result in an immediate fall. If she were flying thousands of meters high, that could be dangerous.

However, with *Phantom Shift* and her teleportation skill *I'm in a Hurry*, she could easily mitigate the risk by shifting positions just before reaching the ground. Moreover, if she marked Nivalis as her star, there'd be no risk of her star being destroyed.

For now, *Orbit* was a skill without any major drawbacks.