《Bloody little Monster》 Chapter 1 "Hnnnn..." A young girl of the catkin race stirred, stretching her limbs as she mumbled curses at the sunlight trying to penetrate her eyelids. However, the moment she opened her eyes, her body instinctively froze, and every hair stood on its end. ''Where am I? How did I get here?'' Her panicked eyes tried to find an answer, but she could only answer the first question. The waves sluggishly rolled onto the beach in an almost lazy manner, and about a couple dozen meters off the sea was an endless expanse of trees and plants. Crustaceans fought epic battles between themselves to determine who would get the shinier shell, and seagulls screeched in the skies and on the ground, trying to find anything they could gobble up. The catkin was both horrified and curious at the same time. She had never seen a beach before, and this scared her, but also piqued her curiosity. Just as she was about to try exploring, she thought, ''Wait... I don''t remember ever being on a beach... but... I don''t remember anything?'' She blinked and tried to knock her head with her fists, but to no avail. She smiled sheepishly, despite the strange void forming around her heart. She knew things, she wasn''t like a newborn that never saw the light. Instead, she knew things, but she didn''t know how she knew them, nor could she remember any previous experiences. Just as the catkin was about to try and wander off, a bright panel popped up in front of her.
Welcome to your Status Card
Name - N/A Age - 2 minutes
Strength - 1 Constitution - .3
Vitality - .5 Intelligence - 2
Dexterity - 2 Wisdom - 1
Despite seeing with her own eyes, she struggled to understand what was happening. She even went as far as rubbing her eyes and pinching herself to confirm that this was real. "This... What is this?" She asked, once more torn between fear and curiosity.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Welcome to your Status Card
This is your Status Card.
She snickered despite her situation, before breaking out into a nervous giggle. "Yeah, I know that. Rather, Mr. Status, can you explain where I am? Or who I am? Or..." Before she could continue asking questions, another panel flashed before her.
Welcome to your Status Card
ERROR! CANNOT ANSWER! ERROR! CANNOT ANSWER!
The catkin stared at the card for a dozen seconds before asking more questions. "Can you at least explain what is happening?"
Welcome to your Status Card
ERROR! ... ERROR OVERRIDE BY SYSTEM While we cannot explain what has transpired, we can tell you what is happening now. You have been brought to this place by the Higher Powers and gifted the opportunity to redeem yourself. Our only demand to you is to survive. We do not care what else you do.
The Catkin''s eyes dimmed and she thought for a while before asking a long series of questions, hoping for more answers, or at least information. As she found out, this place was a huge island populated with a large variety of monsters, many of which very aggressive. However, she was also told that, despite her abysmal stats that even a squirrel could beat her at, the System would allow for her to grow in stats as long as enough Anima was gathered. Apparently, Anima was the essence of all life. It could be found on all living things, and it was very mysterious. The Catkin asked a whole ton of other questions, like what her stats meant and how could she survive. While the second question was ignored, she was politely explained the first. Strength represented pure muscle power, vitality was the ability for one to recover and it also helped one tank fatal wounds. Dexterity was agility, reflexes, and speed. Constitution was the raw defense and bulkiness of one''s body, while intelligence and wisdom worked in tandem to increase magical comprehension and ability. Despite being thoroughly bored by the long and annoying explanations, the catkin eagerly absorbed the information. Finally, three hours after she awoke to this strange and new land, she finally began a journey that would bring about a massive change to the world order. Whether that was for good or bad, it was yet to be seen. Chapter 2 I sighed in something like annoyance as my meal ran off. A small, white rabbit with a dangerous looking horn smacked right in the middle of its forehead. Honestly speaking, how does it not hurt itself with that thing? I grumbled as my stomach rumbled. Double rumble. I slowly made my way back to my little shelter made of sticks and leaves at the furthest edge of the beach. There, I sat down to take a breather after a long and unsuccessful chase. I was pitifully weak. I learned from the System that, as you go further inland, monsters become higher and higher level, and those where I am right now are all level 1, with only a couple level 2 or 3. Of course, ''level'' is only a way to estimate their combat potential, so explained the System. It had been a week since my awakening, and I had accomplished very little. This left me with a very unsavory feeling, one that I had to put down soon, or I might honestly risk doing something stupid. I checked my status as I thought up some plans to get food and Anima.
Welcome to your Status Card
Name - N/A Age - 9 1/2 days
Strength - 2 Constitution - 1
Vitality - 1 Intelligence - 2
Dexterity - 4 Wisdom - 1
I was still undecided what exactly I wanted to be. Thanks to the System, it went over a whole bunch of standard builds that I could draw inspiration from.
Builds List
Assassin High damage and high stealth. Focuses Strenght + dexterity
Warrior Most roundabout build. No focus in particular
Tank Heavily armored, lots of defense. Focuses constitution + vitality
Tamer Forces critters to do it''s bidding. Focuses charisma + intelligence
Warlock Magician that focuses on pure destructive power, int + wis
Mage Magician that focuses single targets, int + wis
Monk High regeneration warrior with good damage, focuses vit + str
It was all very basic stuff, but I had never heard of these things. Well, everything I knew came directly from the system and some remnants of memories that I had forgotten, or more likely, made to forget. I wasn''t happy about it, but what could I do. I''m nothing more than a little girl with pitiful stats and a hungry stomach. Thinking about the higher meanings and the past is pointless. I hid into the small bed of leaves and covered myself with more leaves. After that, it was only a matter of time before I fell asleep.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ~~~~~~~~~ "DIE!" I screamed as I fell down from the tree, head first, into an unsuspecting weasel. The critter turned up to me and tried to flee, but it was too late. I fell on top of it and grabbed it with my claws, and quickly got to work tearing into it with a rage I didn''t know I have. The pitifully weak weasel, sadly more pitiful than even me, quickly died under the barrage of claws, teeth, and punches. Unfortunately, it didn''t just die easily, but it struggled quite hard and it scratched me pretty badly on my chest, leaving a small red line running from my left breast down to my belly button. It wasn''t anything deadly, but it still hurt. I winced as I poked the wound, getting my hands bloody in the process. This was my sixth attempt at killing something. I had to struggle a lot to find a prey, position myself, catch it, and kill it. Saying it with only words makes it sound easy, but actually doing it was extremely hard. "Bloody weasel..." I murmured as I tore off its fur and ate its flesh. Unfortunately, while I somehow knew that raw meat is bad and you should cook it, I had no real way of starting a fire, and even then, I''m pretty sure I can handle it. I''m a catkin, after all. Our bodies are tougher and more resilient than most. I sighed as I finally felt somewhat full. I threw the remaining scraps of the weasel away and walked back to my little hideaway. I had learned a lot from all the failed attempts at getting myself sustenance. Firstly, despite me being much more agile than most, I was still slow compared to those creatures. Furthermore, despite my last successful hunt, I found that one single strike, one that was sure to kill, was way better than a lot of small hits. All of these lessons came together when the System informed me of my newly gathered Anima.
Welcome to your Status Card
Congratulation! You have earned 66 Anima! Translating...
Congratulations! You have earned 6 Status Points! Work hard, kiddo!
A smile bloomed on my face when I read this. 6 points were basically half of my current stats, and it would help me immensely. I knew what I wanted to do, and how I wanted to do it. Hence, 6 clicks later, I looked at my status once more.
Welcome to your Status Card
Name - N/A Age - 9 1/2 days
Strength - 4 Constitution - 1
Vitality - 3 Intelligence - 2
Dexterity - 6 Wisdom - 1
Originally, I wanted to dump everything into dexterity. However, after giving it some thought, I decided to add 2 to strength, 2 to dexterity and 2 to vitality. This was mainly because I needed the vitality for the better survivability, as well as the extra stamina. For me, the whole right side of the status might as well not exist, as it was completely pointless for someone like me. How was I supposed to learn magic when nobody could teach me? And what did making my body tougher do when I could dodge everything? The system had been kind enough to provide me with some images and videos of battles after I begged it enough. I wanted to be just like those fighters. I would to be here for a moment, then whoosh, I was there. Super fast, hehe. But that was still far from the future. I tested out my new power, pleased at the overall increase in speed, maneuverability and strength. Excited about the future, I fell asleep after carefully hiding within foliage. Wouldn''t want to die in my sleep, after all. Chapter 3 A whole year had passed since my birth. Honestly, it went by so fast, and yet there are times where I think it really didn''t. I don''t know, time is weird. At first, it was still hard for me to kill even a single rabbit. After all, the little white shits were pretty damn fast. Thankfully, the more I killed, the easier it became. Around a month after my rebirth, I had shot up in stats. I could outrun most animals, and a single swipe of my claws was enough to decapitate them. I admit that I got a bit overconfident then and decided to enter further into the forest then I normally do. However, when I did so, I was quickly reminded of my place in the world by a wolf. The bastard almost tore off my arm, and he bit me in a number of places. He almost killed me, but thankfully, my high agility and ability to climb trees saved me, as I hid as high as I could and waited for the wolf to go away. The bastard stalked around for a whole day before he finally decided to leave. My wounds were quite bad, so it took me the next week to heal them up after returning. When I got back, things were different. A lot different. I was far more careful, and I only traveled between trees, jumping from one to the other. After an hour of searching, I found the wolf that almost killed me. It was busy feasting on the carcass of a young deer, so it didn''t notice me. I sneaked up on it from above, and jumped right down on it, trying my best to avoid making any sound. I had been practicing how to best hide or camouflage my smell, and mitigate any sound my movements made for well over 2 weeks then, and it paid off. The bastard didn''t know what hit it. I stabbed both my claws into the two sides of his neck, struck my clawed feet into its side and bit at the neck of the wolf before furiously shaking my head side-to-side. The wolf yelped and tried to shake me off, but there was no way in hell. Even when it tried to roll over me I refused to let go, and it eventually died by the furious scratching and tearing at its neck. Honestly, it''s fur was way harder than any other I had ever seen. Its skin was also very tough, so I was very thankful for having invested points into strength, which was crucial since it made my claws sharper and harder. I still remember the elation I felt as I could feel the Anima flowing into me. That wolf alone had granted me 50 status points, which was amazing since it had become quite hard to get them by killing weak critters. The next 11 months were spent more or less doing the same thing over and over. I hunted and killed whenever I pleased, rested when I was tired and chatted with the System when I didn''t want to do either. Of course, there were a number of times in which I came extremely close to death. However, I always prevailed or at least escaped with my life. Now, I was more than 10 miles inland, and I could feel myself rising in power. I no longer was that weak little catkin that couldn''t run a hundred meters before having to take a break.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I grinned in pride as I looked at my status, basking in the feeling of power. Perhaps I had some sort of megalomania, but I didn''t care. I loved the feeling.
Welcome to your Status Card
Name - N/A Age - 1 year
Strength - 64 Constitution - 1
Vitality - 34 Intelligence - 2
Dexterity - 112 Wisdom - 1
I laughed loudly from the safety of a 100+ meter tall tree. I had struggled so hard for so long, and I was finally reaping in the rewards. Of course, I wasn''t satisfied. Not at all. At the very least, I wanted every one of my left stats to hit the thousands, and only then would I allow myself to be truly proud. An hour later, after a quick nap, I jumped to another tree, and then to another, making my way further inland. Sometimes, I would see some giant birds screeching in the skies, and sometimes they would see me. Unluckily for one cocky bird, it decided that I looked like I was worth a snack. The 10-meter plus bird charged down from the skies in an attempt to grab me with its claws. The System claimed that it was a ''Thunder Eagle'', but I really didn''t care. However, the thunder part did make me worry a bit, so instead of attacking it immediately, I jumped around for a bit, always a bit too far for it to catch me, but never quite escaping fully. After ten minutes of this, the bird got obviously ticked off, and it screeched loudly. Along with its screech came an extremely fast lightning bolt from its left eye. However, I had long since expected something like this, so I simply jumped to another tree. The bird looked at me with pure annoyance and anger before trying to go back to the skies. However, I wouldn''t let it get away so easily. I tensed my legs and catapulted in a straight line towards the bird, who was completely unprepared for the attack. My claws pierced through the bird''s feathers like they were cardboard, and even as it tried to struggle and throw me off like they always do when I attach to their back, I continued to rip off pieces of its flesh, trying to reach for it''s inner organs. Soon enough, I found them, and I swiftly plunged my deadly claws into them and turned everything into a bloody goop. The bird let out a final, pained screech before falling down from the skies. I tore off one of its wings before jumping off and landing on a tree, where I had to pierce my free hand into it to slow down my descent. The tree got one huge cut running through it, but at least I wasn''t hurt. I smiled sweetly as the System dutifully reported the Anima gained and the ten points that came along with it. It was a lot, likely because the bird was really strong, and could have likely could have killed me had it not been so careless as to turn it''s back to me. That was a lesson that I had quickly learned: The back is the most vulnerable position. My small frame struggled to reach 150cm in height, so compared to most monsters around me I wasn''t even the size of their claws. However, I was fast. And it was really, really hard to shake me off thanks to my own claws. Just like the bird, I was a master at tearing apart undefended opponents. Even if they don''t turn their back to me, I''m still really good at constant sneak attacks, attacking from every side, including from above or below, depending if we were fighting above or below the trees. I ate the flesh in my hand before throwing the rest away. I didn''t need much food thanks to my high vitality, almost none of these monsters do. They hunt solely for the joy of it, and because of their instincts. Some even do it for training, but it''s rare to find monsters that intelligent in this place. I silently dumped all my points into dexterity before continuing on with my hunt. Who knows, maybe one day I''ll be able to kill everything on this island? What will happen then? I had to remind myself that thinking too much and looking too deeply into things would be counterproductive. I would only fall into depression, so I did the next best thing and swooped down from the treetops and decapitated a pair of tigers that looked as though they were hitting each other, but they didn''t seem to be hurting each other. What''s up with that? Chapter 4 King Monmon wasAngry King Monmon was the undisputed ruler of a small section of the central part of the Great Forest, and he had a great pride in being a very smart monkey. In fact, he was the only monkey to ever be intelligent enough to discover that beating an enemy to death is a better tactic than throwing poop. Thanks to this top-notch strategy, King Monmon had a lot of females who would throw themselves at him and grind him whenever he felt like it. However, a little furry pest had encroached on King Monmon''sterritory, and it was extremely irritating. First, it killed Monmon''s favorite female before he could react, and then it tried to kill the Little Monmons. However, King Monmon had already thrown himself at the intruder with a vengeance. He chased the bastard all the way around the island, trampling everything in his path. However, the intruder was too fast and he wasn''t even able to see what it was. The following days, the intruder attacked multiple times. Sometimes it tried to attack the females, sometimes the Little Monmons. One time, it was even daring enough to try and attack King Monmon, but, the super smart King Monmon actually knew that it was coming, so he turned at the last second and cupped his hands around the intruder. When he peeked inside to see if he caught it, a quick blur stabbed his eye before running off. King Monmon then chased the bastardly intruder for two days straight, but he was never able to catch it. Understanding that the intruder was too quick for him, King Monmon devised the most genius of genius plans to ever genius from his genius mind. Did King Monmon forget to say it was genius? Because it''s genius. King Monmon placed a stick tied to a long cord that he made by tying some fallen hair together, and he placed it under a box-like stone that he found some time ago. Then, under the stone, he placed a Little Monmon. Then, he hid his big body in a bush and waited with a ferocious smile, his big hands carefully holding the string. Unfortunately, he only had one eye, at least until the other regrew, so his vision wasn''t as good as usual, so he had to especially focus. After a couple of hours, the bastardly blur arrived and went to stab Little Monmon. Yelling in monkey language, King Monmon pulled the string, and the stone fell, ''trapping'' the blur inside. Beating his chest in victory, King Monmon rushed to the stone and was about to peek inside to see if the blur was there, but King Monmon was a very smart monkey. When King Monmon captured the blur, it poked his eye. Perhaps, peeking was bad. Yes, King Monmon would not peek, because King Monmon is a very genius monkey. Thus, King Monmon got on top of the stone and began pushing it down by jumping on it and punching it. He was sad that Little Monmon had likely already died, but King Monmon had thousands of Little Monmons, so one more or one less didn''t matter. As King Monmon pushed, he smelt sometimes nearby. It smelt like the blur, just nearer and stronger. King Monmon laughed in his monkey language, which meant beating his chest as he roared, the blur would pay for killing Queen Monmon. Unfortunately for King Monmon, for all his genius, he never noticed the catkin on his shoulder readying up her claws right next to his head, charging up an attack. After a couple seconds, the claws vanished and reappeared inside the monkey''s big head, which was bigger than the entire body of the catkin. The skull had been perforated, and after a couple seconds of searching, the catkin pulled back her claws, now holding a peanut-sized brain, which she promptly squashed, ending the life of the strongest enemy she had ever faced. Watching as the giant beast slowly fell down, the catkin allowed herself to fall to, landing with a thud on the giant monkey''s pink buttocks. She heaved for breath as a river of sweat fell from her skin, her white skin glistering with the watery substance as her black fur became wet. The past week had been the toughest and most dangerous she had ever faced. The monkey was clearly more than worthy of being one of the kings of the Innermost parts.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. First of all, it was really, really fast. In fact, it was the only thing on the whole island, as far as the catkin knew, that could actually keep up with her somewhat, although it was only slightly and it couldn''t even see her, much less catch up to her. Still, being chased like this by a huge monkey with a dangerously large lower organ gave the catkin a huge fright, despite having seen much worse. Thus, she desperately escaped two times when it decided to chase her, and unlike most opponents, the thing was certain to have fast enough reflexes to catch her if she tried anything funny. Which it did. When the catkin thought that it wasn''t paying attention as it and a female monkey 1/4 of the size of the king enjoyed themselves through strange activities that creeped out the catkin, she tried to decapitate it in one quick strike, but she truly wasn''t expecting being caught. Truthfully speaking, this was the first time ever that she was caught. Thankfully, the monkey was dumb and opened up its palms enough for her to escape and partially blind it, but the event gave her an even bigger fright. For the next few days, the catkin was extremely careful, reluctant to give up such a big hunt, and yet too scared to truly fight it. However, when she observed it making one of the simplest and dumbest traps she had ever seen, not that she ever saw any, she couldn''t help but jump at the opportunity. When she got on its shoulder to charge her strongest attack, a technique that she had to spend a lot of time, blood and sweat on, she had to bring her already top-notch stealth abilities to a whole new level. Thankfully, the monkey had the brain the size of a peanut, so despite sensing her, it thought she was under the rock. Her one-hit kill worked, and she felt the exhilaration of a successful hunt, and one as huge as this. It was truly amazing, the satisfaction of having won a fight where her opponent beat her in everything except speed by a thousand times. In truth, it could have easily crushed her the time it caught her. However, it seemed as though fate wasn''t on the perverted monkey''s side. The catkin had barely any time to rest between the stalking, the running away and the attempts at killing the beast and its family. Hence, despite her outrageous stamina, she was still completely spent. Her relatively small chest went up and down as she tried to calm her heart that threatened to tear it''s way out of her body by the mere speed at which it beat. Finally, well over two hours later, the catkin got up from the giant beast''s body. As she scrolled through the System''s notifications, she paused for a moment. Turning around, she lifted the large cup-like boulder and found a small and trembling monkey inside. It resembled the king in everything but size. A couple minutes later and a shredded monkey, along with a now much less frustrated catkin, she turned back and watched the greatest notification in her life.
Alert! Status Points Received!
Congratulations! You have earned 423 Status Points by defeating the Monkey King Monmon!
Congratulations! Due to having killed your first King, you have earned an additional 200 points!
Congratulations! Due to having killed an enemy 20 times stronger than you, you have received an additional 400 points!
After reading through all three notifications, the catkin had turned into a panting mess, her cheeks flushed red and lips trembling. Finally, she broke into a fit of maniacal laughter. Her painfully slow progress at this point had caused her to take this huge risk, especially because she knew that this king, despite being 20 times stronger than her, was still the weakest king, and the only one she had a chance at. Her gamble proves successful, and after investing all her points, she looked at her status with a wide smile.
Welcome to your Status Card
Name - N/A Age - 13 year
Strength - 900 Constitution - 5
Vitality - 900 Intelligence - 5
Dexterity - 4292 Wisdom - 5
Her already outrageous speed had once more shot off the charts, and she even had enough to boost her weaker, but still good vitality and strength. As for the rest, she ignored those. Constitution was nothing but a detriment to her since it made her body heavier and clumsier. Intelligence and wisdom seemed attractive at first, but after discovering that they didn''t actually influence her mental capabilities, she ignored those. The only reason they were level 5 was that she liked her numbers to be neat, otherwise they would still be back at their starting amount. Having finished up all of her business, she tried to eat some of the flesh of the monkey but found that it tasted too bitter for her taste. She could afford to be picky at this point, as she barely needed to eat, and she could always find some of her favorite smaller prey to eat. Thinking for a bit, the catkin''s smile slowly turned more and more sinister. Her body vanished from the destroyed valley that had been their final battle. That day, the entire family of the Monkey King, the ruling existence of this forest''s section and overlord of all apes, was found dead, every single member had been brutally slaughtered. Some decapitated, some torn to shreds, some gutted. Nobody was spared, but the children got off easier than the many females that composed the harem of the Monkey King, the females closest to the King finding themselves receiving a particularly cruel death. Satisfied at having paid back the grudge for giving her the fright of her life, as well as humiliating her for capturing her, the catkin returned to her life of shadowing through the forest, slowly inching her way to ultimate dominance over the forest, and perhaps, one day, the world. Chapter 5 Blood ran down the Panther Empress'' mouth as she desperately dashed at speeds that allowed her to cross hundreds of meters in mere instants. She had known this day would come. Honestly, she was surprised it had taken the Red Devil this long for it to come to find her. Every existence in the forest knew of the Red Devil. Nobody knew exactly what it looked like, but everyone knew the response should they see it: run for your life. The devil was a monster that first made its appearance by constantly reaping the lives of many powerful kings, and after some time it then moved to slaughter the few Emperors that existed. Finally, in an Earth-shaking battle, the Red Devil annihilated a coalition of kings and emperor class monsters who, despite their huge pride, had gathered together to put an end to the rogue monster. Even though most monsters weren''t particularly intelligent, there were no dumb monsters amongst Kings and Emperors. They had all built their reputation and strength on bloodshed and cunning, so they were not easy opponents. However, the Red Devil was simply too much. A whirlwind of blood, claws, and destruction was the best way to describe it. Although the Panther Emperor hadn''t fought with it, it had been present during the great battle, even if only on the sidelines, as many of the more cautious and/or cowardly monsters had. With strikes powerful enough to severely injure even the toughest of emperors and a speed that was simply impossible to match, as well as a ruthlessness and viciousness in the battle that left even the most cunning of them to shame, it was a truly bloody fight. After the battle, the Red Devil had begun hunting every King and Emperor that still remained, as well as brutally murdering the families of those strong existences. Truthfully, the Panther didn''t know much because, ever since the great battle of the coalition, she had been busy running for her life, as had many other emperors and kings like her. They all scattered through the Great Forest, but no matter where they hid, she knew that the Red Devil would find them. It was easy to know, as the battles that raged between it and other monsters made so much noise that it could be heard everywhere on the island. Originally, battles between kings were rare, and battles between emperors were borderline forbidden because of the trouble they brought and the great damage they caused. Of course, they were all monsters, so there were no ''rules'', but silent agreements were still reached between parties. Finally, despite her desperate attempts at fleeing, the Panther Empress saw the thing that she dreaded so much. A dark blur that rushed towards her from her side, and despite her attempt at turning and facing it, the blur arrived directly at her side.an The next instant, the Panther Empress felt searing pain. A huge laceration ran right across her belly, from her leg all the way to her neck. It was so deep even her organs were showing, despite all the layers of muscle in between. She roared as she tried to swipe at where the Red Devil was, but missed completely as it ducked and vanished. The next instant, the Panther Empress felt something hitting her neck, and then darkness encroached. She had just enough life in her to see her lifeless body fall beside her, it''s head missing. As yet another emperor fell beside her, the catkin finally stopped. She lightly touched its soft, yet sturdy and resilient fur, a tad bit of jealousy making itself known as she compared it to her own fur, that was just as, if not softer, but lacked any and all defensive abilities. A long time had passed since she killed her first King. Truthfully, it almost seemed like a dream. After all, those monsters that she never imagined she''d be able to surpass, the dreadful rulers of the Forest, were now unable to challenge her. In truth, this was all because of the massive Anima that each one of them gave her. Killing a King was akin to slaughtering ten thousand, some even a hundred thousand, weaker monsters, and an emperor was akin to a million. After all, the stronger she became, the less of an effect the weaker beings had on her status. As she stood now, however, she was unparalleled. Her speed could let her travel from one side of the island to the other in a few minutes if she uses her top speeds, even though the island is well over 80,860km squared. After dropping the points she earned from killing this emperor into her dexterity, as usual, she sped off towards her next target, utilizing her incredible senses that had been strengthened greatly thanks to her increase in status, as well as her ability to quickly search huge swats of land with her speed.
Welcome to your Status Card
Name - N/A Age - 17 year
Strength - 4324 Constitution - 10
Vitality - 3323 Intelligence - 10
Dexterity - 9582 Wisdom - 10
As the months passed and the number of remaining emperors and kings decreased, the catkin only became more and more powerful. It caused a snowball effect, quickly causing the entire Forest''s population to plummet.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Because she couldn''t find the powerful emperors that she needed, the catkin instead turned onto the weaker, but more numerous monsters that roamed the inner part, near the king-occupied innermost layer. When she finished killing all those monsters, the catkin, having never heard of the concept of preservation before, began slaughtering weaker and weaker monsters, even if they barely provided her anything, hoping that the sheer numbers could make up for it. At last, as the catkin plunged her claw directly into the heart of a titanic bear, the last remaining Emperor-class monster, and one of the few that had evaded her for so long, a notification popped up that she wasn''t expecting.
Alert! Alert! Alert! Notification~chan to the rescue!
Congratulations! You have killed every monster on the Great Forest Island.
Because of your mindless slaughter, the Gods of Blood, Hunting, and War have taken notice of you! They are pleased with your work and have blessed upon you the ability - Six Hunter Senses
Six Hunter Senses - Your regular senses are boosted beyond the mortal limit, and you now receive an additional sixth sense capable of telling where you will be able to find more prey, and how much Anima they release upon death.
The Catkin stared at the notifications and, after a couple of minutes, she had to sigh. What the hell? No more monsters? Furthermore, a skill? She pulled up her status to see what that meant.
Welcome to your Status Card
Name - N/A Age - 18 year
Strength -6359 Constitution - 10
Vitality -5353 Intelligence - 10
Dexterity -13429 Wisdom - 10
Confused, she tried to use her sense of smell but didn''t really find it different from the one before. She tried every other sense, and after quickly catching a defenseless rabbit, she tried to utilize this ''sixth sense'' without success. After breaking the rabbit''s neck and throwing the body away, she spent the rest of the day searching the island for monsters. However, no matter how much she searched, no monsters remained. Huge corpses, yes. Giant areas where bloody battles were fought, causing the entire area to be destroyed, yes. Small and weak critters, yes. Seeing this, the catkin began to despair. Her whole life had revolved around killing others or being killed herself, and now that nothing remained, it almost felt... lonely. "System, what''s going on?" She hissed, her voice hoarse due to its disuse of the past 16 years. Truthfully, her body had remained exactly the same as it was 18 years ago when she first woke up on this island.
Welcome to yourSystem Chat
You have brutally murdered every threat on this island. Congratulations!
Calculating... The System has determined that you are ready to activate your Divine Ability! Activating...
"Hold on, what?" The catkin asked, completely stunned. However, the next moment, her body fell to the ground and began spasming, as waves of information and a strange power entered her head. She screamed to high heaven as the worst pain she had ever felt tore through her soul and broke apart her body. Thankfully, her vitality was extremely high, so she could endure the damage. However, the pain was a whole other story. She fainted. ~~~~~~~~~ A young and handsome man stood at the tip of a ship, his body relaxed as he meditated. Behind him, men and women alike shouted at each other as they all did they jobs on the ship. Some cleaned, some carried supplies, and some organized the sails. As the young man meditated, a much older man with white hair that looked to be in his late sixties approached him and called out to him. "Young master Silus, the patriarch wishes to see you." The old man shouted, a small smile on his lips as he watched the young man stir from his half-asleep state. "Thank you, Jordan. I shall go visit father immediately." The young man nodded and jumped off the ship, landing on the harbor directly next to it with a grace only nobles could have. However, Silus was no normal noble. No, he was a proud and powerful descendant of the Karloman house, one of the most powerful and influential houses in the kingdom. Running through the busy harbor, the young Silus received a lot of greetings, and some people even tried to give him free stuff. However, he would always politely decline. Finally, half an hour later, he reached a large mansion that stood in the dead center of the town, with a huge number of lesser but similar buildings next to it, all likely built by the same architect. Entering the mansion, Silus made his way through the convoluted hallways filled to the brim with expensive decorations, some of which included masterpieces of art, remains of powerful monsters, and even powerful weapons. Entering a large room, Silus muttered a small ''I''m entering'' before doing just that. The room was filled to the brim with beautiful decorations. Expensive furniture, and even a carpet made from a powerful Fire Tiger, causing it to be perpetually warm and nice to the bare feet. "Silus." An ancient voice called. "Father." Silus responded respectfully, bowing down and placing his left hand to his heart. "Mm. I''ve been thinking of your request for a long time now, and I think that you are indeed ready." The ancient voice said, hidden in the shadows of the room. Silus perked up as he heard this, and just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted. "However, until I decide so, you shall not travel any further than the water of the Kingdom. Understood?" "I understand, father." Silus nodded and clenched his hand in excitement. Ever since he was a toddler, he yearned for adventure. Even more so, due to their family''s ship sailing tradition, he loved ships. The two factors eventually combined in his love for adventures in the sea and exploration. "Mhm. It''s good that you understand. You can borrow any ship, but you must take with you a gold rank team, no matter what." His father added. Silus nodded as he retreated out of the room. His father could only sigh at how quickly his brat of a son had grown up. Chapter 6 A light breeze passed by over a fainted catkin. Her body shivered slightly, even though she was long since immune to the regular cold. Slowly, her consciousness returned from the abyss of sleep. As her eyes opened, she unconsciously let out a pained groan as her whole body felt like it had just been torn apart and reconstructed several times over. She struggled to get up as her legs screamed at her, her sore muscles complaining under the stress of her extremely low weight. Falling back down onto the hard ground, she held in an annoyed groan. She had been severely injured before, but she had never felt like this, nor had she ever felt this tired. Thankfully, her high vitality quickly got to work, and after a little less than an hour, her body was back to a functioning state. During that time, she inspected the changes that had taken place. Firstly, the world now seemed a whole lot more detailed to her senses. She could virtually hear every single sound from everywhere on the island and could focus on specific sounds or block those she didn''t want out. The same thing applied to her smell, however, it was far superior to her hearing. She could determine so many details simply by the smell alone. Next, her sight had also gotten a lot better. Although not quite at the same level, she could still distinguish a blade of grass from 10km away. Her sense of touch was a little better but was mostly the same. As for her taste, she wasn''t sure yet since she didn''t feel like eating. What truly surprised her, however, were the many changes to her physical body. Firstly, her fur, tail, ears, and hair, which were all previously black, had all turned into a pale white for some reason. She spent a little bit examining these changes before moving onto her other changes. Her body felt a lot easier to control, and her reflexes were much better than before. Although her speed and power didn''t improve directly, she now found it much easier controlling her strength and speed. As for the so-called sixth sense, she certainly felt it, but it wasn''t really much use to her now. Even after sweeping through the entire island with both body and senses, she couldn''t find anything that was worth her murdering it for Anima. Truthfully, the only real monsters left were a couple stronger-than-normal wolves, and even those struggled to reach a hundredth of the power of a real monster. Hence, after desperately seeking something to kill, she came out empty-handed and filled with frustration. "System, where can I find more monsters?" She asked, her voice still hoarse from disuse.
System~chan to the rescue~!
Not on this island.
"Yeah, I know that much..." The catkin answered, even more irritated. Was the System being sassy? How did she even know what sass was? Questions, and no answers... She gave up after trying a couple more questions, with more or less the same answers. She thus spent the rest of the day in a terrible mood, likely the worst one she ever had since waking up in this island. As night fell, she sat at the beach, staring up at the sky. Her knees rested against her chest and her arms hugging her legs, as her body slowly swayed back and forth. After a while, she fell asleep once more. For the first time in her life, she dreamed. It was an arguably strange dream. She was chasing after a rabbit when trees started talking, and then the ground split open and a swarm of flying fish flew out, and then those fishes started to dance. After a couple of minutes, a whole bunch of weird monsters joined together with the fishes to dance as she, even in her dream, watched on in both horror and amazement.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. When she woke up, she was a little confused. Although she only remembered some parts of the dream, it still made her smile and even giggle when thinking about it. For the rest of the day, she started to get bored. Now that there were no more monsters to fight, no bloody battles to triumph in, no more hordes of monsters wanting to tear her apart, she finally noticed just how dull her life was. Thus, as the days passed and her boredom only increased, she started sleeping regularly, as well as trying out a whole lot of new things. She had originally wanted to try and swim away from the island, but she gave up before even trying at the mere thought of going into the water. She was a catkin after all, and water was her worst enemy, one she didn''t even want to try and conquer. Thus, stuck on the island, she started to try out new things. Battle techniques, trying to create some interesting things with the limited resources of the island and even cooking. As weeks passed by, the System also started giving her ideas. It told her of objects and activities she had never even thought of before. She built a small home on a flat plain near the beach where there were few trees, which she promptly removed. With a lot of trial and error, as well as the System''s help and a speed and strength that allowed her to work and do things in an unimaginably short amount of time, she finally finished the building after a couple months of works and re-works. It wasn''t anything fancy, but it suited her taste. The System had given her a lot of ideas, with things like beds, furniture, trophies of defeated enemies and she even started making her own art, which she made by using clean white animal leather and using a mixture of plant substances, blood, and ink to draw with. Although this lifestyle couldn''t compare to the constant stress and excitement that came along with her previous one, she slowly started to not mind it. Although she would still find herself sometimes needing to vent her energy by purging the island of everything that moved and running around like a madwoman without a real goal or direction. Years passed. The animals had all grown to fear her, respect her and even worship her. Some of the smartest critters, some comparable even to Emperors in intelligence, even started bringing her tributes in order to not be attacked during her purges, which had slowly become less common. She quite liked this mindset of those animals, so she indeed left them alone. In fact, after a while, she forcefully stopped her outbursts forcefully, as she wanted to see if some animals could indeed rise back to the level of Kings and Emperors, or even beyond. Even though she knew that such a thing might take centuries. She had also become extremely skilled in a lot of things. She had learned to refine wood and turn it into whatever she wanted, and she also slowly learned how to cut stone. She even tried to make ''glass'' at one point under the guidance of the System, who had become extremely helpful and chatty as long as the questions were related to mundane things like those. Unfortunately, she never succeeded, and she eventually gave up. But that didn''t mean that she didn''t do other things. In fact, she had continuously upgraded her house into a full-blown mansion, even though she rarely used it. She learned gardening and came to appreciate the beauty aspect of things, a thing she had always ignored before. Her arts also got a whole lot better. Between painting, wood and stone carving and even dancing, she became pretty good at all of them under the guidance of ''System-chan'' as the thing always displayed whenever she asked for help. Truthfully speaking, without the System, she might have turned insane due to the boredom. However, because the System continuously gave her new and interesting ideas, as well as giving her it''s own opinions on the things she did, she instead turned into a much more peaceful creature. Granted, ''peaceful'' was a strong word. Although she didn''t fight, the System also insisted she ''train''. Although she couldn''t become stronger by training, the System claimed that she could refine her fighting style and create unique techniques for herself. And since she often had nothing else to do, she obeyed the System. She learned to use her claws at maximum efficiency, trained her senses on the stronger animals around to immediately pinpoint a weakness in the enemy, and refined her own movement and attack skills to a whole new level. Finally, after a whole 5 years of living without any real bloodshed, something happened. It was a rather regular afternoon when it happened. She had been busy carving a huge statue more than 100 meters high, depicting a ferocious devil with flames and chains running all across its body when it happened. Her sensitive nose picked up the smell instantly, and her ears heard the foreign noise. Her head snapped in the direction of the strangeness, and she could instantly pinpoint its location. Something, or someone, had come from the sea. Chapter 7 Standing at the end of the best dock in the city stood a young noble with short, blonde hair. His deep blue eyes and charismatic appearance, combined with toned but still obvious muscle, gave him the appearance of a true greek god. In front of him stood a group of 5 people, a young woman with a black cloak wrapped around her shoulders and 4 men, most of them middle-aged. However, what truly set them apart from everyone else was the feeling of experience and power that they gave. "I am most thankful for the renowned platinum team, the Night Ravens, to come to escort me on this mission. Please take care of me." The young noble said, giving a small nod to each of the people in front of him. The one who answered was the oldest of the group, a man that looked to be in his early 50''s. He wore a simple shirt and jeans, carrying two short daggers at his hips. "No, no. It is our honor for being chosen to serve Young Master Silus, your fame has spread out far and wide." The old man answered with a pleasing smile. The name Silus was indeed widely recognized. He was a synonym for freedom and adventure after all. The explorer of the unknown, a young noble with a charming appearance, and to top it off, a powerful fighter. His exploits in the ocean, defeating evil pirates and discovering amazing riches, was almost legendary for many. Hearing the old man praising him, Silus could only give off an embarrassed smile. The group and Ravens discussed for another twenty or so minutes before the Ravens decided to embark on the nearby ship. After checking supplies and making sure the crew was there and ready, Silus too embarked. Immediately after, the ship sailed off, cheered on by a huge crowd that had gathered in the harbor. Silus was widely loved by the people, and even the king himself held Silus in extremely high regards. So high, in fact, that he offered to sponsor multiple expeditions in the past. After just a couple of minutes, the ship left the harbor. The moment they were a safe distance away, Silius gave the order, and as the Ravens watched in amazement, the sailors began activating multiple runes all through the ship. In the next moments, the ship began to truly pick up speed. After just 10 minutes, the ship was going at an insane 40 miles per hour. Days passed, and soon, they were out of the charted territory. They had enough supplies with them to last them for months, and also one of the strongest mercenary teams, hence, Sirus was confident in the possibilities of this expedition. As the ship raced on, Silus calmly steered the ship. Next to him stood the five members of the Night Ravens, who were chatting with each other, occasionally asking Silus some questions. Silus knew them, as he was forced to study a lot of things, especially since he was a noble, and although not the direct heir of his family, that was his brother, he was still second in line and required to have a certain degree of knowledge. There were very few platinum teams. After all, the mercenary guild and the adventurer guild were both pyramids, with a lot of people at the bottom and few people at the top. Copper teams were common, bronze teams were considered decent, iron was already good, silver teams were already elites, and gold teams were the cream of the top. After that came the really big guns, platinum teams, diamond teams, and the legendary Mythril. As of right now, there were no Mythril teams, and there had been very few in the past. Normally, only heroes were able to become Mythril, but heroes were existences from another world, so most thought it was natural. Apart from that, platinum teams were people who truly exceeded human comprehension. Diamond teams too were far beyond comprehension, but the real difference between the two was more of a matter of status. It was simple, really. Diamond teams were those who chose to settle down and pledge themselves to the guild, while platinum teams were free souls who traveled the world or at least refused to obey the guild''s every order.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Being a platinum team, the Night Ravens were widely recognized to be an extremely powerful group. They were furiously sought after by a lot of nobles and kings, however, nobody dared to force them to do anything. That was why, even though they were technically commoners, Sirus was so respectful to them. Granted, Sirus tended to be respectful to everyone, but especially so to them. "Hey, Sara, is everything okay?" One of the male Ravens asked. He was the youngest man in their group, looking to be in his late twenties and the worse a heavy armor along with a huge two-handed sword. He also had a helmet, but it was currently resting on the ground. Sara, the only female Raven, had her eyes closed and on her face was a serious frown. After a couple moments, she got up and whispered: "They''re coming..." Hearing this, all the Ravens instantly got up and armed themselves. Although stunned at first, Sirus too yelled down at his crew to get ready for a possible fight. After a tense couple moments, they spotted something in the horizon. As they approached, they finally saw what it was. A huge carcass of a whale floated on top of the water, the water around it filled with blood and huge fins that constantly rammed against the carcass, likely tearing off chunks of meat. When he saw the scene, Sirus instantly shouted at his men "A shoal of Water Bloodhounds. Try to circle around them, but prepare the arcane cannons anyways!" As his crew quickly got to work, Sirus slowed down the ship and tried to take a wide turn around the sharks, however, the sharks quickly noticed the ship, and they all abandoned the easy carcass in favor for more slaughter. As hundreds of fins, and likely far more hidden sharks, charged toward the ship, Sirus couldn''t help but smile grimly. As the sharks neared, one of the Raven men rushed up and hooked himself to the sails of the ship, careful not to damage them. After a couple seconds of chanting, he began to unleash a torrent of spells upon the approaching sharks. Darkness bullets and lightning strikes, along with the occasional shadow manifestation that created shadow sharks that disrupted the approaching shoal, showed the experience and strength of the man. After the sharks got close enough, magical cannons popped out of the sides of the ship and began to rain arcane hell upon the sharks, killing a huge number of them. Nonetheless, it wasn''t enough. Many of the sharks reached the ship, some tried to slam themselves against it, albeit to little effect thanks to the magical shields protecting the ship, and some tried to jump overboard and kill those on it. However, the Ravens were quick to intercept those foolish enough to try, and their mage and cannons slowly took care of those still in the water. It took them well over an hour to finish killing the last shark, finally terminating the blood-seeking threat. The following weeks were rather peaceful. Silus'' goal for this expedition was to map out all of the huge areas outside of the kingdom, and that''s what he did. They had a few other encounters with sea monsters, but none proved too difficult to handle. Finally, as Sirus drew the last line on his map, he revealed a happy smile and turned to the female Raven besides him, Sara. "I''m finally done with the map. We should return and restock." He said. Sara smiled from within her cloak and nodded, however, the next moment, a huge impact rocked the ship. As sailors screamed, Sirus shot up and yelled "What was that? What''s going on?" The answer revealed itself in the form of a giant octopus rising out from the water, it''s 8 limbs trying to grasp the ship through its shields. "Damn it!" Sirus yelled as he barked at his men and gave orders. Meanwhile, the Ravens frantically fought off the octopus'' tentacles trying to rip apart the ship. They could barely fight it off. As blades flashed and spells roared, the octopus was forced to back off, and the ship was let free. Instantly, Sirus put it on max speed and tried to flee away from the octopus. A chase followed, as the octopus constantly tried to destroy the ships, and the shields and Ravens fought it off. This lasted for a tense half an hour when the octopus suddenly stopped. It let out a frantic and angry roar at the ship but didn''t dare to follow them for some reason. It would sometimes try to go forward and follow them, only to shrink back the next moment. Finally, with a last, defiant roar, it slowly went back into the sea and swam away. The crew was ecstatic at having survived the ordeal, but both the Ravens and Sirus knew what truly happened. Likely, they had come into the territory of an even more terrifying monster. Their shields were completely wrecked, and the ship had even suffered serious damage. If they didn''t repair it soon, they would likely all sink and die. Sirus was barking orders when a man at the crow''s nest suddenly yelled out "Land! I see land!" Hearing this, the Ravens and Sirus all whipped out a strange magical eyeglass, with which they could see much further than normal. Indeed, they could see the vague shape of a large landmass. After a quick discussion between the Ravens, Sirus, and the higher staff of the ship, it was decided to land regardless of the risk, as the alternative was almost sure death. Two hours later, the ship was dragged onto the shore by every resident of said ship, who put in great effort to drag the giant vessel. After the ship was secured, people began to bring out supplies and tents, most in good mood. Even Sirus couldn''t help but smile as he observed the large forest in front of them, smelling adventure. Little did the poor fools know, the master of the island had already discovered them, and was currently running towards their location from another her house, only a couple kilometers away from their landing site. Chapter 8 "Set up camp here, for now. Tomorrow, we''ll gather supplies and begin repairing the ship" Sirus shouted. The many sailors, all clearly veterans in exploration and sailing, cheered and quickly got to work. Seeing his men getting to work, Sirus nodded and walked back to the Ravens, who were currently observing the forest with cautious eyes. Seeing Sirus coming, they tore off their eyes from the forest and waited for him to arrive. "So? How''s it looking?" Sirus asked, getting straight to the point. The oldest member of the Ravens was the one to answer, his old eyes holding a rare trace of fear. "Not good. Sara''s ability is going off the charts, we''ve never seen something like this before. There''s something in that forest, and if we encounter it, it''s basically guaranteed death." He said. Sirus'' eyes widened and he looked towards Sara. She bit her lip and closed her eyes for a moment before speaking, "It''s... as he said. I can feel that it''s close, but I''m not sure where it is. Compared to that octopus, it''s... so much stronger. I can''t tell by how many times exactly, but it''s at least ten thousand times stronger." Her brows furrowed for a second and she looked towards the forest once more. "Mm. We''ll camp here for the night and get some rest. Tomorrow, we''ll head out and try to solve this issue" Sirus said, trying to soothe the nervous woman. As the sun set, the sailors all got into their makeshift tents and quickly fell asleep, oblivious to the danger that threatened to annihilate them. ~~~~~ Looking at the weird, small monsters that walked on two legs, the catkin couldn''t help but feel somewhat excited. It could tell with just a glance that, despite smelling weird and being extremely weak, these monsters were incredibly intelligent and advanced. Looking at the weird ''ship'', as the System called it, the catkin couldn''t help but admire its masterful handwork. Wood perfectly joined together, with strange drawings that oozed power strengthening it. Of course, she could easily pop those defenses as easily as popping a bubble, but it was still new and impressive to her. Furthermore, they even built homes! The more she observed them, the more her curiosity grew. They somewhat looked like her, although they lacked tails and their ears were weird. Furthermore, their hands looked somewhat pathetic. Just how did they defend themselves? As most of them slept, two would remain awake and check their surroundings. One was the strange monster that could somehow slightly feel her presence, even just barely, which greatly surprised her, since her sixth sense told her that that monster was likely the weakest of the 6 leading monsters. The 6 monsters interested her, but all the others didn''t. They simply felt like ants, so weak she could crush them just by breathing too hard on them. As the night continued on and the two interesting monsters kept awake, she fought a small war in her mind. Should she continue hiding in the dark and observing, or should she go out and check them out? Would she kill them, or try and see what they were? Their big wooden floater seemed quite interesting as well. Where did they come from? She had so many questions, and the System refused to answer them. Frustrated, her curiosity eventually won over her bloodlust and she approached their camp from within the darkness. Although she had lost the black color of her hair, she could still hide from the eyes easily, especially in the night. Silent as a ghost, her body was completely devoid of sound as she moved so fast she might as well be teleporting. Landing on top of the strange vehicle, she felt a strange resistance trying to block her. Not wanting to alert the strange creatures, she forced her way through with care and made sure not to leave behind any traces of herself. She spent the rest of the night exploring the strange thing. She saw strange metal barrels with runes on them, and a whole ton of interesting and new things that she couldn''t help but feel excited about. As the sun rose, she heard some noise down from the ship. Thanks to her superb hearing, she could make out every single thing that was happening, but she still wanted to see.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Peeking from the top of the ship, she saw the strange creatures scurrying about, some communicating with each other. It took her a bit, but she soon understood that they were actually talking with each other, in a rather complex language too. It wasn''t the same language she spoke with the System, and she couldn''t understand it, but she could make out some tidbits here and there. Her interest and curiosity had broken through the roof at this point. She had lived such a boring life for so long, and she now felt as though something interesting was finally happening. As she looked on, she suddenly felt the strange sensation of something trying to sense her. Her body instantly vanished as she hid further in the ship, determining that the strange monster with long hair was trying to sense her. Frustrated, she debated for a bit before finally deciding to, quote, "Fuck it, let''s steamroll!" Throwing all caution to the wind, she first ran away from the ship and into the forest before rushing over to her home. Once inside, she grabbed a couple of her best wooden carvings and then rushed back over to where the creatures were. They seemed to be getting ready to enter the forest if her intuition was correct. She trailed them for a while, fiddling with her handwork as she tried to approach them, but shrunk away every time for some reason unknown to her. ''Why can''t I approach them? I fought monsters hundreds of meters tall, why can''t I come out and approach some ants??'' She yelled in her own mind, angry at her own apparent strange actions. Nonetheless, she couldn''t defeat the barrier that day. After trailing them for a whole day and trying to understand what they were talking about, to no success, they eventually returned to their houses. The catkin followed until the edge of the forest, where she observed from a hidden spot in the middle of the foliage. The many weak monsters scurrying about destroying trees and taking the wood back to their amazing wood construct somewhat annoyed her, since this washer forest after all. However, she overlooked them. After all, who cares about some trees. She had plenty of those back at her house anyway. Still a little miffed at not having taken any chance in coming and trying to, if not communicate, at least show herself to them, the catkin boarded the ship once more during the night and studied the many interesting little gadgets inside. Although the runes smelled bad and looked even worse, she was still quite interested in them. After around 4 hours observing them and poking around them, she tried to stick her hand in one of the runes on a metal barrel. A loud ''BOOM'' gave her a half-heart attack from the surprise. Her body jumped back and her muscles tensed. Her body flickered, and the next instant the cannon split into thousands of pieces. Realizing her mistake and still having her heart beating a thousand times faster than normal due to the fright, she fled from the ship into the forest, ignoring the shields that tried to stop her. She easily broke through them and fled into the forest, and back to her house. As she laid in her soft bed made from the feathers of a particularly soft King, she suddenly realized that she might have forgotten her wood craftwork back with that loud cannon. ~~~~~~~~ A loud boom resounded from the ship, waking up the entire camp. Silus shot up from his meditating position and looked towards the ship. The Ravens too all shot up. The next instant, a screeching sound came, yet again from the ships. They saw the shields roaring up at full force, and yet, the instant they got up they were shattered by a horrifyingly fast blur that shot towards the forest. It had all happened so fast they didn''t have time to react, but now, they did. Sara yelled to try and get her voice above the shouting sailors. "It''s that monster! It had the same aura!" "Fuck!" Sirus said and raced back towards the ship. The Ravens looked at each other, trying to decide whether to follow Sirus or chase the blur. After a couple of seconds, their fear of the monster, and also the fear of remaining stranded on this god-forsaken island won out, and they chased after Sirus. As Sirus inspected the ship, he found several things misplaced. They also found a cannon that had thoroughly been shredded. As the oldest Raven inspected the damage on the cannon, Sirus spoke to the others, worry evident on his face. "That cannon was made by an alloy unique to the Karloman house. It''s far tougher than steel, even comparable to low-grade diamonds. Whatever did... that... is surely no simple beast." As he spoke, the Ravens too got more and more worried. As Sirus and the younger Ravens discussed, the oldest Raven yelled out. "Guys, look at what I found!" Opening both his hands, he revealed two masterfully carved wood carvings. One depicted a monkey on top of a stone, and the other was a weird jellyfish-like creature with almost slime-like wings. Seeing them, the Raven mage''s eyes widened and he snatched them from the old man''s hands and examined them. After a moment, he closed his hands around both carvings and mumbled a spell. Light flowed out from his hands and after a dozen or so seconds, the carvings seemed to come to life. They popped out of the mage''s hands, who let out a small feminine yelp from the surprise. The monkey carving began dancing on top of its stone, and the jellyfish seemed to float around aimlessly. The next moment, the jellyfish suddenly exploded, while the monkey fell from the stone, it''s head brutally ripped into. What then remained on both carvings was a small, almost funny carving of a girl with cat ears and tail. However, the brutal smile that the carvings both held shattered any illusion of it being a normal girl. The next instant, light flew out from both carvings and they returned to exactly what they were before, a monkey and a jellyfish. The Ravens and Sirus watched on with wide eyes. They all then looked at the Raven mage, who was currently on the floor, rubbing his pained behind. Seeing the stares, the mage looked away in a fluster. Despite the funny scene, the situation was serious. The group looked at each other, trying to find some way for them to fix this situation, and possibly even return home in one piece. Chapter 9 As the Ravens and Silus continued to explore the forest, the sailors would spend their days repairing the ship. Unfortunately, only Sirus was skilled enough to repair the multiple runes on the ship, so he was often forced to abandon his exploration plans in favor of staying back and fixing said runes. Meanwhile, a certain catkin was busy rolling around in her bed, completely in despair. "What do I do?? What do I do!!" She cried, mostly to herself. The System was eerily silent as she tried to come up with ideas, but didn''t know if it would work. Her previous idea of "Fuck it, let''s steamroll!" hadn''t quite worked out. Her curiosity had turned into an overwhelming desire to talk to those people, find out where they came from, and if they could take her away from this boring island. Days passed. The Ravens were still on extreme alert and Sirus couldn''t take the risk of abandoning the ship, as if more damage occurred, their only chance to return would be gone. It was a normal morning when the catkin, finally powering through her strange anxiety, decided to try and approach the strange creatures. She was particularly fascinated by the one that always stayed in the ship, as she had finally learned from their talks. Although she didn''t really understand much of their language, she had learned a couple words. She fidgeted anxiously as she moved her foot forward, then moved it back. Finally, she took a step, then another, and another. As she left the cover of the foliage, she observed the strange creatures. Her muscles were tense and her claws ready, if they did try to attack her, she would immediately fight back. She wasn''t so much scared about their power, but something about how... alike, she and those creatures were, gave her a strange feeling that she couldn''t quite describe. Although they didn''t notice her, she quickly approached the creatures and hid behind a bush, less than a couple of meters away from the 5 more powerful creatures. Slowly inching closer, she could see everything about the creatures. Although she could do so from even her home, watching them from such a close distance was still so much different, and much more personal. They still hadn''t noticed her. She had long since understood how to completely evade the strange creature with a strange sense that could somewhat find her, so her ability was out of the picture. She listened to the creatures speak to each other for around an hour when suddenly, one of the creatures started making weird, repetitive noises, and then it threw itself back, landing right in front of a wide-eyed catkin. The two stared at each other for a good half dozen seconds, completely silent. As the other creatures started getting confused at what was happening, both the creature and catkin screamed like little girls. Strangely, the catkin didn''t find the urge to tear apart the creature that spooked it. Instead, she felt somewhat amused. After a couple seconds of both of them screaming, she stopped and looked at the creature in the eyes. The creature immediately stopped screaming and gulped down a mouthful of saliva. The other creatures were now up and armed, staring at the catkin who was currently on her butt, having fallen from her crouching position. She stared back at them, and the two groups eyed each other down.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. As the strange creatures got into a formation, with the spook-creature fleeing all the way at the back of their line along with the sense-creature. The other 3 were at the front, their bodies perfectly still and strange water running down their bodies. She looked at each one of them curiously before trying to say something. However, her voice refused to come out, so she instead just looked like she was opening her mouth, closing it, and reopening it. After a bit, she finally managed to squeak out one of their words. "Ship! Ship!" The creatures looked at each other silently, communicating with their eyes. Something that the catkin had seen them do, but had absolutely no idea how they managed it. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn''t understand just how they did it. Finally, one of the creatures at the front spoke up, looking at the catkin. "??? ??? ???" Having absolutely no idea what the creature meant, the catkin could only tilt her head at the sides as question marks appeared above her head. They didn''t actually appear, but it would have been pretty funny. The creatures kept on trying to talk to her, but she couldn''t understand anything they were saying. After half an hour of this, the creatures had all already dropped their guard and were standing in front of the catkin, who had gotten up and was trying her best to understand them. "???? ??? ????" One of them asked. The catkin looked at him and tried to parrot him, only to fail miserably. As one talked and the other parroted, one of the creatures suddenly shot up, somehow took off her own skin and threw it at the catkin. Spooked, she instantly vanished from her spot and reappeared a good couple dozen meters back. The creatures were stunned at her speed otherwise but didn''t act out. However, their hands had all moved back on their weapons by reflex. The catkin slowly inched forward, more careful than ever. She poked the strange skin, feeling its softness. She could smell the creature''s odor on it, but otherwise, it didn''t really smell like anything. She looked at the creature that threw it, then back at the skin. The creature put its hand on its face for some reason. Strangely, the creature''s face was a lot redder than usual, which confused the catkin. Still, she was extremely excited inside. She hadn''t interacted with other creatures for 5 years, and even before that, the interactions were limited to trying to kill each other. This was extremely new to her, and she loved it. The creature, after a lot of hesitation, walked up to the catkin and grabbed her skin before helping her wrap it around herself. Truthfully, the skin was far too big for the catkin''s pathetically small body, so it ended up looking quite weird. She had no idea what the creature was trying to do. It was the sense-creature, and she was currently trying to push away the other 4 creatures. The catkin could only look on as the 5 loudly argued, somewhat ignoring her. Suddenly, another creature arrived. She had naturally heard it coming long ago, but the creatures hadn''t. As she looked directly at the creatures, she was actually quite stunned. Well-defined muscles and a perfectly chiseled face, she certainly had to admit that it looked quite good. Even more beautiful than the strange ''dryad'' that she had fought a long time ago, and back then she thought the dryad was the pinnacle of beauty. Granted, being pleasing to the eye didn''t spare the dryad from the cruel fate of being ripped apart by ferocious claws... As she stared at the pretty creature, it too looked over at her. It froze for a second under her gaze, and it only recovered when one of the other creatures shook him a bit. The pretty creature then started asking questions, occasionally pointing at her and then doing weird gestures with its hands. Curious, the catkin imitated him, however, nothing came out of it except all of the creatures looking at her with weird faces. Noticing the setting sun and feeling a little overwhelmed at their stares, she tried to smile at them, however, she gave up almost immediately, feeling immensely embarrassed for some reason. Giving up, she turned around and vanished. The eyes of those creatures couldn''t even see herthe blur she left behind, proof of the fact she could easily kill them if she wanted to. But she didn''t, because she actually quite liked those creatures. They were strange, but at the same time very interesting. Arriving back at her home, she felt particularly tired. It had been a lot of stress and excitement, so she decided to simply go to sleep. She was fully planning on going back to talk with the creatures tomorrow, and perhaps they could communicate without both parties ready to kill each other at a moment''s notice. Chapter 10 "That was strange," Sara said, torn between finding the whole situation funny or finding it extremely dangerous. "Quite so." Sirus nodded. The strange catkin had thoroughly confused them all. Her aura was dangerous. No, dangerous would be a serious understatement. It felt as though she had walked over the bodies of monster they couldn''t even begin to imagine. However, if one ignored her aura, she looked like an ignorant princess, completely innocent and with looks that, although not particularly sexually attractive, were very cute. Even more so, her friendly attitude showed that she at least didn''t intend to kill them. Although they were somewhat distraught at the thought of being stuck in an island with such a dangerous and cute monster somewhat creeped them out. Sirus was especially affected. The catkin had looked at him in a way he had long since become accustomed to, but right now, and in this situation, if she forced his hand he might have no choice but to accept. Normally, he could protect himself thanks to his strong magic and physical abilities, as well as status as the second son of the Karloman patriarch. Unfortunately, sometimes his status only worsened his situation. There were tons of women who harassed him daily, and even men. Some tried to force themselves on him, others tried any way they could to get in his pants. He had the body of a Greek god, yes, but the main reason for his troubles was his charming nature, and it reflected in his very aura. Even a complete stranger would feel infatuated with him. This had caused him a ton of problems in his childhood, forcing him to hide behind his father far more often than he liked. However, in this godforsaken island, surrounded by people of questionable loyalty and with no father or older brother to help him when he finds himself in a pinch, he truly felt helpless. "Young Master Sirus, when do you think the ship will be ready to sail again?" Sara asked him. Turning to face her, he thought for a moment before replying. "If we''re lucky, a couple weeks. The shields broke but didn''t shatter, so it won''t take too long to repair them. On the other hand, the hull of the ship was damaged quite badly. Realistically, it will take a month for the ship to be ready once more. Of course, that is if that beast doesn''t decide to break the ship. In that case, we''d be stranded here forever." In reality, there was no need to add the last part. But he needed every ounce of loyalty from these men that he could squeeze out. By making subtle threats that, if the catkin ever got angry, they would be stranded here, it at least promised cooperations from them. And indeed, the five Raven''s faces turned sour at the thought. They all had a differing opinion on the catkin, whether they liked her or not. However, they all agreed on one thing. She was dangerous. Dangerous beyond belief. They didn''t know the full extent of her power, but even just the tip of the iceberg that she showed freaked them out. "... Alright. We''ll help with repairing the ship." The Ravens said. Sirus nodded with a smile and asked them to gather some supplies for the various working sailors, who were all unaware of the perilous situation they were in. If the Ravens had the option to sacrifice them all in order for their safe return, they would gladly murder all the sailors that they had been with for months. This was the true nature of mercenaries: cold, unfeeling machines that ran on money and the sweet promises of a comfortable life when they retire. If they live long enough to do so. However, Sirus was different. He truly cared for his men, which many of his friends and even his family told him was a very dangerous thing. Nobles had to be very picky when choosing who to care for, for love and affection was a weakness in the eyes of enemies. ~~~~ Days passed. The catkin would occasionally drop by, sometimes observing from hiding spots, sometimes following the Ravens or Sirus around. She was especially happy to observe Sirus working on the ship. The sailors were confused at who this strange beastkin was, but Sirus simply told them she was a native of the island and avoided any further questions.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The first time she had visited Sirus, she had come stark naked, just like the first time they had seen her. Seeing this, Sirus had been forced to call Sara. Seeing the naked catkin, Sara could just sigh and take out some clothing from her storage ring. They all had those rings, even though they cost a fortune. After all, none of them were of a low status, so they could easily afford a good storage ring. Amongst those belongings were several of her smaller clothing. Even then, she had to cut them down quite a bit before they fit the catkin, who luckily was quite interested in the strange skin that the creatures wore and took off occasionally. The Catkin thus now wore a simple short-sleeved shirt, along with a pair of black shorts. Sara had struggled for quite a bit to put underwear on the catkin, who refused to ever let herself get caught in any way shape or form. Eventually, she had to show how to put them on by repeatedly putting them on herself, then giving it to the catkin. She eventually got the memo and put them on. Sara had for the first time in her life thanked god at that moment, feeling even happier than the day she got her platinum badge. After that mess, the catkin had quickly grown to like the creature''s skin. Or, as they called it, clothing. She had even gone as far as to start making her own, although the attempts she made were often unsuccessful. However, if there wassomething the catkin was really, really good at, it was patience. Hence, she never got discouraged. Instead, she studied from the creatures and sometimes even tried asking them for help. She had personally captured and skinned alive a whole pack of wolves, all of which had good quality fur. As days passed, she started to make some progress on learning the creature''s language. She learned that the pretty creature was named Sirus, and he was a ''hooman''. The other creatures tried to introduce themselves but she didn''t bother learning them. When they tried to ask for her own name, she could only stare blankly at them. Name? She didn''t have that! She was following Sirus as he repaired the ship, watching his every move with good interest while he made small talk with her, knowing full well she couldn''t understand him. It was then that he realized that she didn''t have a name when he tried to ask her for it. She understood what he was trying to ask, but she didn''t know what to answer. Feeling somewhat helpless, Sirus thought for a moment before smiling and stopping what he was doing to turn to the catkin and pat her head lightly while he spoke, his voice containing no small amount of amusement. "Although I absolutely despise racism and prejudice, I think that Luna would be a good name for you since your everything just screams ''I''m white'', and Luna means moon in the ancient tongue, and the moon is technically white. Creative, right?" He laughed slightly. He was somewhat surprised when she both didn''t shrink away from his pats, marking the first time any human had ever touched her, and also at her saucer-wide eyes staring at him. The catkin looked at the screen that had popped up in front of her, then looked at the human. She switched her looks between the two things several times, before smiling dumbly and parroting "Luna!"
Welcome to your Status Card, Luna
Name - Luna Age - 24 year
Strength -8325 Constitution - 10
Vitality -6135 Intelligence - 10
Dexterity - 16639 Wisdom - 10
It only took a couple moments for another screen to appear, further surprising the catkin, now named Luna.
Notification~CHAAAAAAAAAN to the RESCUEEEEEEE~
Because you have finally obtained a name, you are now qualified to leave the Starting Island!
Because you have finally obtained a name, restraints on Anima absorption have been removed. You may now absorb Anima in ways other than killing.
Luna was somewhat confused at what the notification screen meant, but after mentally asking a bunch of questions, she was quite pleased. Although she likely wouldn''t use this function, it sounded fun. Ideas started popping up in her head, some very scary, and some rather dumb. She was shaken out of the trance when she felt something approaching her. She swiftly retreated back, seeing Sirus'' hand floating in the place where she previously was. He awkwardly took his hand back and went back to his work, not saying anything on the event. Feeling a strange emotion she had never felt before, she quickly went back to where Sirus was. She studied him for a bit before pulling on his sleeves to get his attention. Suprised, Sirus turned around to see the small catkin, now named Luna thanks to him, staring at him with blinking eyes. She reached for his head and patted it, just like Sirus had done to her. She then said in her high-pitched voice that often cracked, making it sound comical "Tank!" Sirus couldn''t help but smile widely and shake his head, keeping in his laughter. "It''s ''thank'', not ''tank''. Tanks are a class, while thank is to... thank someone?" Realizing just how bad of a language teacher he was, Sirus just stopped talking. Luna had taken a step back from him now and was looking at him with a proud look. She then turned around and vanished, her faster-than-light speed somehow not leaving behind even a trace of a sound nor an afterimage. Seeing her leave, Sirus sighed. He didn''t know whether what he was doing was right or wrong, smart or dumb. He simply went along with his feelings, and he knew that the beast... No, Luna, was not a bad person. She might be a monster, but she obviously wasn''t evil. He had seen what evil looked like, and it did not look like a head-patting ''tanking'' girl that barely reached his chest in height. Sirus wasn''t wrong, but he wasn''t right. What he failed to realize was that, to Luna, evil and good didn''t exist. She had grown without any influence from human society, so her way of thinking was very much different from their own. Was it a good or bad thing? Who knows. Only time will tell. Chapter 11 Days passed by quite slowly for the many sailors and the Ravens. Constantly on the lookout for monsters, both from the sea and land, as well as constantly having the thought that their ship might be destroyed at the back of their minds, made for a hellish week. Luna had almost vanished. Sirus and the rest only saw her once during the week, and that was when she came to take back the two wooden statues she had left behind. They reluctantly gave them back to her. Then, she vanished once more, with the crew having no idea where she was since they still hadn''t discovered her home, which was quite funny considering they once came less than 100 meters from it, but still missed it. It''s not like Luna was trying to hide it either. The giant statues and sculptures, as well as many other hints lying around, would normally be enough for anyone to find it if they got close enough, but not the sleepless adventurers apparently. Each day slowly trickled by, leaving the Ravens and impatient sailors more and more frantic. It felt like they were on a timer, and if they didn''t finish before that timer ended, they would all die. Sadly and yet happily enough, that was not the case. With Luna around, monsters from the sea were more than afraid to approach anywhere near where her senses reached, for she had already thoroughly terrified those underwater beasts by cutting thousands of them to pieces when they got too close to the island, even though they were in their natural habitat, water, and she was completely out of her element. Even then, they couldn''t escape the fate of turning into sushi. On the 16th day since Luna received her name, Sirus finally finished repairing the cannons, shields, and hull. All that was left was the main mast and sails, and then they would be ready to set off. During this time, Luna had visited the humans (hoomans) a couple of times but had mostly kept to herself. She was packing up her favorite toys and a couple of things she liked since she intended to leave with them. As for their choice on this? Since when did ants get a choice on whether a giant stomps them and all their friends? Besides, Luna was strong. Everyone likes strength, so they must like Luna. That was her mentality, and while definitely flawed, she wasn''t totally wrong. Although they had complex feelings on Luna, most of the sailors and Ravens quite liked the catkin. After all, she was friendly, funny and cute. She was also starting to get the hang of the human language, and could now say a few basic sentences and understood most common words. Granted, she was still far from fluent, but hey, not everyone is a language god. Luna was good at killing things until they die, and she was only okayish at everything else. The only reason she got good so fast was because Luna''s world was several thousand times faster than a normal person''s. She could read an entire book by the time someone had finished reading the first sentence. Currently, Luna was simply laying down on the roof of her small house. She had stripped it of everything she liked, which mostly consisted of things that killed things until they die. And also shinies. Everyone loves shinies. Luna loves shinies. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Luna sneezed as she felt something strange. She looked around in confusion, seeing nothing and her senses picking up nothing unusual. She wondered at what that strange feeling was, then remembered that she had felt it some time ago when Sirus made a really unfunny joke that she didn''t understand. She thought about it for a moment before giving up on it and going back to being to her half-asleep state. The following day, Luna looked back at the house she had lived in for over 5 years. Her feelings were far too complex regarding this island, and she wasn''t experienced enough in the whole ''feeling'' department to comprehend what they meant. But she did understand one thing. Despite this being the island she had been dumped in from god-knows-where, and the monsters on it having almost ripped her to shreds or eaten her several times, it was still the only place that she knew and was familiar with. She looked at the towering trees, the high grass that reached her waist and the beautiful flowers that were always the first thing to be ruined whenever a fight occurred. Looking at all of this, Luna truly felt sad. She couldn''t understand why, but deep in her heart, she did know. She simply refused to admit it, afraid she might lose her courage. And so, she did as she always did. She slapped her cheeks a couple times, puffed out her chest and ran to Sirus to bother him so she could take her mind off her own problems. ~~~~~~ Yet another week had passed, and finally, the ship was completely repaired and ready to sail once more. The previous day, Luna had arrived carrying a giant amount of things. Furs, skulls, gold, silver, statues, carvings, and even a couple of paintings. Seeing it, Sirus could only sigh and use his storage ring to put all the stuff away, after promising her that he would return the stuff to her once they landed back on the continent. Hearing the word ''continent'', Luna had immediately gotten excited and nodded, but not before demanding a ring for herself. Sirus and the Ravens, as well as a couple nearby sailors, had all gotten a pretty good laugh when Luna called the extremely expensive storage rings ''rings that eat stuff and poop it out''. Sirus had then spent quite a while lecturing her on word choice, and that she should be more mature. Luna had listened seriously at first, but got bored quite quickly and instead stared very intently at a butterfly. Naturally, Sirus was quite miffed. Finally, however, everything was ready. The sailors were in their positions, the Ravens had helped push the ship back into the water, and Luna was jumping around everywhere, looking at all the interesting runes. "Lift the sails!" Sirus roared, and his order was quickly obeyed. After a bit, they were finally moving. Looking at his compass and map, Sirus could finally allow all the stress that had built up in the past month to fade away. Seeing Sirus go back to his cabin, Luna smirked and followed him, careful not to make any noise. Not that she would even if she didn''t try, of course. She watched as Sirus basically fell face-first into his bed. Being a rich noble, the bed naturally wasn''t bad, so instead of the pained grunt Luna expected, Sirus just sighed in happiness. Luna looked with a strange, but pleasant interest as he changed into his captain uniform from his previous warrior clothing. She felt especially interested when he took off his clothes, watching in rapt attention through the small opening of the door. She had classified humans into two categories: those with a meaty rod and those with a hole. Those with a hole had meaty sacks on their chests, and those with the rod had more fur. As she peeked, curiosity overcame her. Was she a rod or a hole? She checked and didn''t find any rods, so she either was different from humans or had a hole. After a bit more searching, she found said hole. She had seen humans stick rods into holes before. She had seen Sara do it with two of the humans that hanged out with her and had seen the other two humans doing strange stuff to each other, like putting the other''s rod in their mouth. Author note - I, the author, approve of all consensual and legal-age sexual activities. Please don''t pitchfork me. Before she could think much further, she saw Sirus coming to the door, so she quickly vanished and hid behind a couple boxes. However, despite her speed being absolutely mind-blowing, she was still too late and Sirus saw a split second blur leaving. His face quickly got red and he started shouting after her. Luna''s face paled from behind the boxes. Oops? Chapter 12 "Oh, the things I wouldn''t do to get rid of that bastard!" A somewhat fat man with the face of a pig screamed in excitement as he slapped his knee in obvious glee. "M-master! We''re still in old man Karloman''s territory!" A middle-aged man with a suit and tie said, trying to calm down the fat man. "Who cares! That ancient thing can barely move his old bones, much less compare to me. His first son is a complete magical cripple, and his second son hasn''t come back for 3 months when the trip was only supposed to take one. If he''s actually alive, then... that would suck." The fat man''s face turned even uglier at the thought. "Whatever. His Majesty has already given me approval. As long as we don''t fuck up serious time, I can finally get that old man''s territory." The fat man mumbled to himself before sighing. He was fully aware of the incredible risk he was taking, but he still thought it would be worth it. He and old man Karloman were once sworn rivals, battling each other through intrigue, duels, and war. However, now, one had grown to be so old he struggled to stand and the other had turned into a fat pig. Thinking about their sad fates, the fat man could only grasp his head in exasperation. His health was already failing. After his two daughters were brutally raped and murdered by a criminal, he had fallen into depression and his already high calory intake had skyrocketed. In truth, he would likely die in six or so years. Hence, the only reason he was bothering with this and not just enjoying his last days was that his ego was too big, and he would refuse to lose to old man Karloman, who still had ten or so years to live. Or maybe, he was just sad. Sad and lonely. He looked up at the clear sky, his eyes closing as the harsh rays of the sun tried to burn his pupils. The fat man sighed and moved his titanic frame forward, the middle-aged man trailing behind the fat man with a look of sadness. People quickly got out of the way and bowed to him, not daring to lift their faces in front of such a famous noble. Unknown to both men, a ship was currently sailing through the ocean at a fast pace. On top of it stood a perfectly healthy Sirus Karloman and an also perfectly healthy Luna, who was currently sitting at the edge of the boat, her legs kicking randomly in boredom. In her hands was a long fishing rod, and she was trying to fish. Unfortunately, it seemed as though all the fishes were spooked away by the boat, so she could only groan as she added yet another couple hundred meters to the line. She had learned how to fish from a kind group of sailors who had offered to teach her in exchange with some help on the boat. At this point, everyone knew of Luna''s tyrannical strength, so Sirus hadn''t said anything to the sailors. Luna had readily agreed and helped. As with most things she did, she did it quickly and neatly. The various sailors had then shown her various fishing techniques and tools, including nets, rods, spears and even electric shocks. She had taken a couple days to get the hang of it and a month of on-and-off practice to become just as good as the sailors at it. She had also learned quite a bit about the boat and the language during that time and had even convinced Sirus to teach her some navigation. "Sirus! Sirus! Look! Fishy!" She yelled as she felt the line furiously pull down the rod. She stood up in excitement and started reeling, hoping for a big fish. Rolling his eyes from his position at the back of the ship, Sirus walked over to Luna and looked over to where the line seemed to go. He smirked and pointed out at the sea. "What''s wrong, Luna? I thought you said your senses could tell you everything?" Confused, Luna looked at him before poking her head further out the boat to look at her own line. Trailing behind it was a giant seaweed, several dozen meters in length and god knows how many meters going down. Seeing that, Luna''s face instantly turned red because of a mixture of fury and embarrassment. "Stupid grass! Stupid! Stupid!" She stomped her feet in anger and cut the line with a swipe of her claws. Still angry, her body flashed and disappeared. Sirus blinked and looked over at the seaweed, only to see various blurs breaking the surface, tearing apart the seaweed. After a couple seconds, Luna reappeared in the ship, her whole body dripping wet. "Ugh, clothes uncomfortable. Sticky to me, annoying." She said, her voice had gotten a lot better since Sirus first met her. She had lost the squeaky tone and the constant voice crack and it had instead turned into a beautiful sing-song voice. Naturally, there was still room for improvement, but Luna hadn''t had the time yet to learn singing. After all, even though she was millions of times faster than a regular human, she wasn''t omniscient and her brain could only handle so much information at once. Besides, there wasn''t anyone good enough at singing on the ship to teach her. Sara was okayish, but she wasn''t willing to teach Luna. All the Ravens, as Luna had learned they were called, had somehow developed a quite heavy dislike towards Luna and Sirus, which was understandable. One was an extremely annoying monster that could kill you with a poke and had multiple times played some pretty bad pranks on them. She had stopped now after Sirus had talked some sense into her, but even though she apologized, the Ravens had never forgiven her for tearing all their clothes while they were sleeping and dropping them on the middle of the ship. As for Sirus, well, he extended their mission time from a couple weeks to 4 months. Furthermore, the gains they had personally gotten were quite meager, as the only real ''loot'' from Sirus'' expedition was a lot of maps and a crazy beastkin with a taste for murder. All the Ravens got were a couple interesting stones they picked up from the island, and even those were more or less worthless.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Therefore, Sirus could only act apologetic to them and do his best to let their return trip be comfortable. As for Luna, she was confused about why the Ravens were being mean, but Sirus simply explained to her that they were in a bad mood until they reached the continent. Luna nodded in understanding while not understanding anything. Sirus snorted as he tried to hold his laughter in. Luna gave him a stinking eye and humphed before vanishing, likely having run off to Sirus'' room to dry off. Sirus had to put in a lot of effort to get the catgirl to, if not comply, at least understand some of society''s basic rules of conduct. Things like ''Don''t murder everything just because you can'' and ''Don''t run in front of the creepy old men naked''. The latter one was done more for the sake of the old men though, since it was highly, highly unlikely anything would ever be able to touch the catkin if she didn''t want them to. Luna instantly arrived in Sirus'' room and quickly took off her sopping wet clothes. Annoyed, she threw them on Sirus'' bed and threw herself on her own bed that she had built after getting bored of sleeping outside, deciding that pestering Sirus for the whole night was much more fun. Although, admittedly, there were very few ''fun'' things on the ship other than Sirus. Only now did she realize that she kind of missed her little island, for while it was boring and dull, it was very peaceful and she had all the space she needed. Here, she felt cramped and limited. Her tail that she usually kept wrapped around her leg when she was not using it for balance shot out and grabbed the blankets and pulled them over her head as her hands hugged a pillow. She was tempted to vent her frustration on the soft thing but eventually decided to wait and find something better to vent herself on. Like a fish. That wasn''t algae. At first, Sirus thought that she liked fishing because she liked eating fish, since she was a catkin and it was common knowledge that a catkin''s favorite food was fish, but as it turns out, Luna had stopped eating altogether a long time ago, her body basically producing enough energy that it would rival the most powerful nuclear powerplant of our world. After a while of some light snoring, Luna woke up to the pitiful sound of a door opening. She peeked out from under the covers to see Sirus trying to navigate his way in the room. Although Luna had night vision, Sirus obviously didn''t, and there was not a shred of light in the room. Usually, they would get some from the oil lamps, but they had burned out and needed to be replaced. Smirking and still feeling quite miffed about her earlier embarrassment, Luna creeped her way out of the covers and behind Sirus. When Sirus felt something brush his back in a strange manner, he quickly froze up before murmuring "Jesus, Luna. Don''t creep me out like that." He relaxed, knowing full well who was trying to prank him. However, when he felt the warm touch of skin on his back, he froze up again and slowly said, his voice calm but serious. "Luna, are you naked right now?" Although he couldn''t see it, Luna smirked and poked his back with her finger, having retracted her claws. "Yes. Clothes wet, your fault." "How is it my fault!?" Sirus said, exasperated. He tried to shake her off but she refused to detach from his back. "Luna, come on. Get off." "But I like!" Luna whined as she curled her legs around his stomach and grasped his shoulders with her hands. Even her tail wrapped around his waist, completely securing her position on him. An idea quickly popped into Sirus'' mind and it was his turn to smirk. He sat down on his bed and then laid down, his back facing the bed. Naturally, Luna was still there and ended up getting crushed between Sirus'' body and the bed. She laughed as he then tickled her feet. Finally, after a lot of effort on his part, always having to be careful not to hurt her, lest her instincts take over, he finally peeled her off of him. He had only seen her instincts take over once when a particularly rude sailor tried to punch her after she playfully threw him down a set of stairs. The end result of the sailor wasn''t pretty, and it had left a deep impression on everyone. Unfortunately, the sailor didn''t survive the incident. Luna looked down sadly as Sirus forcefully dressed her. He had grown quite used to seeing the catkin naked, so he had developed at least some resistance to her body. However, he still had to ask her to wear her underwear by herself. Truthfully, handling Luna was like handling a young child. A steroid-crazed child that never ran out of energy and could kill you in an instant, but still a child, as Sirus had quickly learned. It was funny and yet sad. Sirus hadn''t decided which one it was yet because it made for some pretty funny shows sometimes and her unrestrained attitude made her a very good crewmate, at least as long as you''re not the target. However, seeing her obviously struggling to learn things even a ten-year-old would know, like language or etiquette, or even just seeing her depressed look whenever she got moody and stared back at the island they came from made Sirus feel a bit empty inside. After dressing Luna, Sirus ordered her to either go back to sleep or go outside to play. He needed to finish his maps, and quickly. They were only a couple days away from the continent at last. Luna nodded sadly and, after a short debate, chose to just sleep. Hiding under the covers once again, sleep quickly claimed her. ~~~~~~~~~~ On the continent, an old woman with a long staff and some mediocre robes were walking up and down a corridor, occasionally hitting her head with her staff. "Fuck me I''m growing old. I must have failed the spell... Yes, it must have failed..." She said, anxious. She cast the spell again, a torrent of mana swirling around her before revealing a mirror. Inside the mirror were giant monsters, each one of them had enough strength to shatter kingdoms, some powerful enough to destroy everything on the continent. What made it even more terrifying was that they were all working together. The woman stared with wide eyes. She could only see a mind-boggling fast blur speed through the monsters, it''s speed far too much for them to handle. She watched as every single one of those terrifying creatures was torn to pieces. Limbs littered the floor, heads rolled and a bloody ocean was formed as a result of so many giant creatures perishing. At the end of it, a creature baked head to toe in blood stood. Its image was distorted, it''s power obviously not something a mere spell could decipher. The next instant, the figure turned to face the old woman. Seeing this, the old woman instantly ended the spell, her heart beating so fast it threatened to rip out of her chest. "... Well then, it''s not a mistake." The old woman trembled. She cast another mysterious spell and another mirror appeared. In this mirror, the same creature that she couldn''t make out seemed to be in a boat. Surrounding it were several humans, all going about their daily business. "No... It can''t be..." The woman murmured, her hand trembling. This time, the monster in the mirror turned towards her, staring straight into the old woman''s eyes. The world seemed to stop at that moment. Gathering up all her courage, the old woman ended the spell. The mirror vanished, and the old woman fell on her knees. Several nearby guards saw this and quickly ran up to her, helping her get up. "Quickly, call His Majesty. I believe that something truly frightening has just come into the world..." The old woman said. The guards quickly nodded and one of them ran off while the others helped the old woman. Unknown to the old woman, it wasn''t that Luna was so powerful she could see such a spell. Instead, she had merely felt a strange disturbance in her senses and looked at where it came from but saw nothing. Those two events confused her, but Luna being Luna, she had forgotten both of them after a heartbeat. Chapter 13 "Patriarch! PATRIARCH!" An old man ran into a room, screaming. His face was one of pure joy and relief, and upon entering the room, he almost threw himself on his knees. "Patriarch, Young Master Sirus has returned!" He half-yelled, trying to calm himself. In front of him, an ancient man that looked more like a skeleton than a man widened his eyes. "Truly? Haha, quickly, let''s go!" The patriarch said, pushing himself up from his chair with some difficulty. Seeing this, the old man quickly went and helped him. "Faster... I must see my son..." The patriarch anxiously said, trying to walk faster but almost tripping. The old man at his side could only sigh as he carefully helped the patriarch. Meanwhile, at the dock, a large ship was being pulled over to the docks, where it was then tied and anchored. After a brief moment, several long wooden planks were put to act as bridges. The large crowd that had gathered for the return of their hero began to cheer. First, sailors ran down and went to their families. Others were carrying down large, heavy crates. At last, Sirus too walked down the bridge. Seeing him, alive and healthy, the crowd began to cheer and praise him. Sirus smiled and thanked them for their concern. After him, the Ravens went down, but unlike Sirus, they didn''t stop to talk to the crowd and pushed their way out of the docks and into the city, their goals unknown. Just as the crowd was about to overwhelm Sirus, the patriarch''s guards forcefully dispersed them. Sirus watched in amusements as the guards brought away a huge number of women who refused to leave Sirus before dumping them outside of the docks and then forming a literal shield wall as many, refusing to give up, tried to force their way through. "Sirus." An old voice called, and Sirus instantly turned towards the source, finding the patriarch walking towards him at a slow pace. "Father!" Sirus yelled and rushed towards him, hugging him the moment he reached him. The patriarch laughed and hugged his son too. "I''m glad to see you''re alive and well. You almost gave your old man a heart attack, you know?" Looking ashamed, Sirus could only try to explain. "I''m sorry, dad. It''s just... we had unforeseen events. I''ll tell you all about it later." The patriarch nodded with a smile as he patted his son''s back. "Come, come. I''m sure your brother is dying to see you, you have no idea how anxious he was the whole time you were out." Sirus nodded and followed his father. The old man who acted as a butler and caretaker for his father handed him several pieces of paper, and after skimming through them as they walked, he could only clench his teeth in fury. "Father, that old pig is trying to take us over! Why isn''t His Majesty doing anything?!" Sirus said, trying to contain his anger. The patriarch laughed sadly as he explained. "The bastard promised His Majesty several huge concessions, as well as offering him four million platinum coins in exchange for his silence on the matter." Sirus'' eyes bulged at the amount. "So much money!? How is he so rich?" The patriarch shook his head, "The bastard might be a bastardly, treacherous pig, but his intellect is nothing to scoff at. He does run the biggest legal slave market in the country, after all." At the mentioning of slaves, Sirus frowned. He was one of the growing number of people that absolutely despised slavery, having seen its horrors and inefficiency.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. When they reached their family mansion, the patriarch and butler went in, and Sirus stood back. The patriarch turned with a confused face and looked at his son. Sirus smiled awkwardly and asked "Uh, can I have a minute? I just need to do something real quick..." The patriarch was confused but still nodded and went back to his office as the butler rushed into the depths of the mansion to tell Sirus'' brother of Sirus'' return. Looking around and seeing nobody, Sirus sighed and said: "Come here, Luna." Instantly, the petite, white-haired girl showed up. In her hands were two chickens, both of them held by their throats. They weren''t moving, so Sirus guessed she had likely killed them for some reason. Said reason was immediately explained when Luna brought one of the chickens to her mouth and bit into it, feathers and all. A silent crunch came as the bones were crushed, and the meat quickly swallowed. "..." Sirus looked at the young catkin eagerly devouring raw chicken, trying to decide whether tostop her or just wait for her to finish. He decided on the latter, mainly because the two chickens disappeared after a couple seconds, a satisfied Luna smiling at him. "Good bird. Taste good. Haven''t eaten in long, long time!" She exclaimed and caught Sirus'' hand. "Catch birds me with?" Sirus looked at her with an amused smile but shook his head. "Luna, remember what I told you..." Luna frowned as she thought for a moment before repeating the rules he had explained to her hundreds of times, "No stealing, no kill, no leave city, no be bad and no naked. Yes?" She asked, looking at him with puppy eyes. "Yes! Good job, you got them all." Sirus nodded and rubbed her head. Luna''s eyes half-closed at the gesture and she tried to push her head into his hand, but he quickly took it back. "We can go buy you stuff later, but for now, come with me. I''m going to introduce you to my family, we might need your help after all." Sirus said, his voice soft, but even Luna could sense the anger in his voice. She grabbed his hand again and said, "Humans bad things do? Kill bad humans?" Sirius spent a moment trying to find a way to word it in a way that wouldn''t result in a massacre. "Yes, there are some bad people who want to do bad things, but they didn''t do them yet, so there is no need to worry..." Luna nodded in understanding. Sirus only sighed, "You don''t get it,do you?" Luna nodded again, this time, her face was somewhat red from embarrassment. "Don''t worry. For now, come with me." As they entered the mansion, several servants came and greeted the returning Young Master. Most were surprised to see him coming with a beastkin, and many wondered where she came from. After a couple minutes of walking, Sirus pushed open a large door, revealing his father''s large office. In that room was the patriarch, a man in his 30''s and a young woman dressed expensive robes. Seeing him enter, the man ran up to Sirus before hugging him and lifting him up, swinging him around as they both laughed. "Big brother, please, have some restraint" Sirus begged although he was still laughing. "What the hell!? You vanish on me for such a long time, and then ask to ''have restraint''?? Has your mind turned to mush at last from all the girls chasing you?" The brother said, putting down Sirus after a couple seconds. As the two brothers talked, the young woman merely shook her head and looked. Her eyes suddenly narrowed when she noticed a peeking figure from the entrance. "Patriarch..." She whispered. He looked at her and then at the direction of her eyes. He saw a small eye looking at them before it moved away, not letting them see it. Sirus noticed his father''s serious gaze and quickly said. "Don''t worry, that''s a friend. She''s just shy... Luna, come over here!" The brother stopped talking when he heard Sirus'' words, moving backward to give him some space. After a couple hesitant moments, the door was slowly pushed open as a small figure with long, white hair peeked her head in. "Hi...?" She said with an awkward smile. The room fell silent as the three people who had never before seen Luna looked at her with strange eyes. Seeing the silence, Luna slowly entered and then quickly ran behind Sirus, using him as a shield. Seeing her actions, the brother''s eyes widened and he looked at Sirus, then at Luna. He frowned and put his hand under his chin before breaking the silence "Well then, little Sirus. Has the forbidden romance finally been achieved? I always thought you were more a melon-lover, but I won''t judge..." He leaned into Sirus'' ear, scaring Luna into the other side of Sirus'' body. "Have you done it already?" Sirus'' face instantly turned red and he shouted "Fuck off, Mark, of course we didn''t! It''s not like that!" Mark scoffed and looked away. His brother had the best looks of the kingdom and could have any girl he wanted, and yet he, with his mediocre looks, couldn''t even get one no matter how hard he tried. The world isn''t fair, Mark lamented in his mind. Chapter 14 "What this?" Luna asked as she appeared next to a shop with the words "Blacksmith" on top of its entrance. After Sirus caught up with her, he had to take a moment to breathe. Running around for 30 minutes while trying to keep up with the insanely fast catkin was an impossible task. "It''s a blacksmith. They make weapons" Sirus explained. Interested, Luna peeked her head through the door and found a room filled to the brim with weapons, each one having a nametag and price tag next to it. "Weapons?" She asked, confused. She had her own weapons, a.k.a her claws, so she had never before needed external objects to fight with. Except maybe stones to throw and distract. Sirus rolled his eyes, although Luna couldn''t see it. He was hidden inside of a large black cloak that covered his body from head to toe, and he even wore a black mask to hide his face. "They''re things you use to kill things" Sirus explained in words Luna could understand. Luna made a small ''o'' and looked inside the shop again. "We go see please?" She asked and pulled on his robe. Sighing in annoyance, Sirus entered, quickly followed by the catkin who looked around in amazement at all the strange weapons. "Welcome," A giant, middle-aged man grunted from behind a counter. His feet were on top of the table, his chair leaning backward while reading a newspaper. He barely glanced at his customers before returning to his newspaper. Luna walked around the shop for a good twenty minutes, constantly asking what each weapon was and how it worked. When Sirus tried to buy her one in exchange for a promise to not cause trouble for the day, she scoffed and said, quote, "Weapon weak. Trouble fun. Weapon not worth, but good food is." Her radiant smile when she said it impressed even Sirus, who had long since grown used to her antics. Hearing her, the blacksmith actually glanced up and stared at the petite catkin before laughing out loud. Both Sirus and Luna turned to look at him. Seeing their looks, he stopped laughing, but a smile was still on his face. "Boy, although I don''t know much about beastkins, I''m pretty sure any weapon I make is far stronger than any weapon they could ever have, natural or not." He turned to look at the catkin and smirked at her. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, confused at his words. She looked at a random sword and poked it before saying innocently, "Weak!" The blacksmith scoffed and stood up before walking over to her position and looking at the sword she poked. He pulled it out and examined it before saying, "What are you on about, kid? It''s not an excellent sword by any means, but it''s still a pretty decent quality sword." Hearing the blacksmith start to get annoyed, Sirus quickly said, "Sir, please don''t mind her. She''s lived in... seclusion, for her whole life." Looking at the masked boy, the blacksmith snorted before mumbling something about people not knowing what they''re talking about. Seeing the retreating blacksmith, Luna suddenly had an idea pop into her mind. Smirking, she called out. "Look!" Turning around, the blacksmith saw Luna tracing her finger around the sword. He looked in a mixture of annoyance and just plain confusion at what she was doing. When she finished tracing her finger, she shook the sword a bit, and the sword neatly split in half. Sirus snatched the sword from her hands and immediately apologized to the blacksmith, who was looking at his sword with saucer-wide eyes. "Hot damn, lady. I know catkins have some strong claws, but damn." He said, impressed. Interested, he then carried her around the shop, having her try to do the same things to a bunch of swords, axes and other weapons. As the small catkin and towering blacksmith walked around, Sirus could only stand at the entrance, awkwardly looking at the two of them. Every single weapon Luna touched would split apart without fail, and at the end of it, the blacksmith felt like he had just gained a whole new view on the world. As he and Luna returned to Sirus, he slapped the young master on the shoulder while saying, "Kid, I don''t know where you found this girlfriend of yours, but she sure has some scary weapons in her hands. If I were you, I''d be careful with what she touches." Sirus choked on his saliva as he desperately said, "She''s not my girlfriend! We''re friends! Just friends! And what do you mean with that!?" The blacksmith laughed as he returned to behind his counter, not giving an explanation. Seeing Sirus depressed, Luna grasped his hand and smiled at him. Usually, that would get rid of his bad mood, but this time, it only made it worse for some reason. Ignoring the moodiness of the man that had taken care of her for the past months, she pulled him over at several other shops after Sirus, with much insistence on his part, paid a couple dozen gold coins for the ruined weapons. It had only been a day since they reached the continent, but to Sirus, it felt like years. Luna had basically dragged him all over the city, marveling at all the new things she had never seen before.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Even the simplest of things looked like the most amazing things to her. Sirus had also seen her eat more than any person should arguably be able to, even when he had never before seen her eat. As he idly wondered where all the food went, Luna dragged him through the slums, which made him cringe severely. He hated the slums and what they stood for. He had tried to help several times in the past, but the gang presence in the slums and the general poverty was just too strong. Besides, even if they destroyed these slums, more would just pop up. It was truly a headache. Furthermore, the slums were extremely dangerous. Granted, Sirus was incredibly strong, so it was very much unlikely he would ever be harmed by any common thug, but for most people, they weren''t as lucky as him. As they ran through the empty streets, trash littering every corner, Luna''s ears suddenly perked up a bit and she turned towards another smaller street. Sirus looked at her, confused. "People... Slapping? Crying? Are killing they doing?" She asked. He frowned, trying to decipher his words before quickly understanding what was happening. "Motherfucking unholy bastards, let''s go, Luna. Make sure you don''t let any escape." Sirus said, his face contorting in rage. Luna looked at him, a little confused, before nodding and vanishing. Sirus ran towards the street Luna was just looking at and entered. Soon enough, he heard the cries of a woman and dirty laughter of men. His speed only picked up as he found 4 men, all of them naked, raping a woman. It was a scene that happened every day, in multiple parts of the slum. Nonetheless, seeing this made Sirus'' eyes bloodshot. Seeing him, the men quickly threw the woman off and pulled up their pants before facing the intruder. "Oh look, a hero has come. Whatever will we do?" One of them, likely the leader, said. "Oh, I know! Kill him, boys!" Looking at the naked, trembling woman who was bleeding all over, Sirus simply ignored the men and walked forward. He dodged them and quickly reached the woman. Applying the only healing spell he knew on her, his hands occupied, he turned towards the men who were staring at him with fury in their eyes. "I don''t have time to deal with scum like you," Sirus said, his voice sharp. The leader laughed and roared, "Scum like us? You''re the scum here, retard. KILL HIM!" The men roared and charged at Sirus. Sirus merely closed his eyes and whispered, his voice just loud enough for them to hear him. "Luna. Kill them." The next instant, blood splattered everywhere as the men suddenly found their limbs detached from their bodies. Then, those limbs were shredded as if they had been thrown into a meat grinder, and then their bodies followed. Blood and entrails, as well as pieces of bone flew everywhere, but none landed on Sirus or the woman, who was still trembling and in a state of shock. The following minutes, screams began to ring out from everywhere on the slums, as well as the sound of blood splattering everywhere. Sirus'' expression didn''t change at all during this time, his face strangely calm. After the spell finished, he picked up the woman in a princess carry and ran off. Sirus knew he wasn''t a hero. He''d be a hypocrite if he claimed he was, for no noble could claim to be one. The very definition of a hero was wrong to him, for saving one person often meant the demise of another. Everyone had their own reasons to do things. Desperation, revenge, anger, sadness, greed, pride... In his mind, he knew he had harmed a lot of people during his life, directly or indirectly. However, even then, he was still weak. It was just as his family said, his heart wasn''t meant for a noble in this world. He was nothing more than an adventurer, wishing to explore the unknown. And yet, still, when he found Luna and saw how lonely she was, he had instantly taken her under his wing. He brought her back to his home, he followed her around everywhere, and he adhered to most of her wishes. While Luna could be counted as a special case, it showed Sirus'' attitude towards strangers. If he could help even a little, he would. Running through the streets, he left the slums and reached the nearby branch of the Healer''s guild. He left the woman there, after paying several gold coins for her treatment and lodging. Only then did his heart relax. He walked through the streets for a while, waiting for Luna to return. He knew that she could find him anywhere, her senses were simply too good for her to miss him. And indeed, after half an hour, a blood-soaked Luna appeared in front of him while he sat at a dock, staring out into the ocean. It was obvious the blood wasn''t hers. She had tried to clean herself slightly, but had given up and returned to Sirus, her face though to decipher. "Welcome back, Luna..." Sirus said, not looking at her as he stared out into the ocean. His eyes were downcast, and his whole body somehow portrayed his deep sadness. "I... kill them. I kill them all." Luna said, fidgeting in place. Sirus didn''t move as he whispered, "I know..." "I kill them. I kill family, I kill friends. I kill everything..." Luna said, her voice turning venomous. Sirus didn''t say anything as he kept staring at god knows what. "I kill them... For you. Please... No sad..." Luna said, finally breaking. She hugged Sirus'' back as, for the first time in her life, tears came out of her eyes and she sobbed slightly. Sirus shivered slightly at the feeling as he turned around and looked at Luna''s face that was buried in his back. He sighed and brought her over to his lap, where he hugged her too. "You... not mad?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes with her free hand. Sirus shook his head and looked out into the wide ocean. "I''m not mad. I''m just... sad. It''s not your fault..." He sighed. Luna looked at him, his handsome face that looked out at the sunset made for a beautiful picture that gave Luna a strange feeling. It was like she wished she could somehow have this moment forever in her memory. She didn''t know what to say to him. She grasped his hands and leaned back into his chest, her head running at light speed to figure out what to do. Eventually, a couple of minutes later, she finally found an idea. She had seen the Ravens do so before, and they had then seemed quite happy. "... Sirus?" Luna asked. "Mm?" Sirus grunted softly. Reaching up with her head and facing him, she put her forehead on his. "What... are you doing?" He asked, looking into her deep blue eyes. Before he could say anything, she reached forward and gave him a quick kiss. He was stunned while Luna looked quite smug. Smiling, she put her head back on his chest and ignored his dumbfounded expression. After a couple dozen seconds, Sirus'' face turned redder than a tomato. He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn''t find the words. Eventually, he gave up and wrapped his arms around the catkin that was resting on his chest. He had to make quite the effort to ignore the fact she was completely ruining his robe with all the blood on her, but seeing her sleepy expression, his heart could only soften. They stayed like that for a long while. When the moon was already in the sky, Sirus carried Luna back to his father''s mansion and deposited her on his bed while he went to shower. Unknown to him, Luna had just caused a huge uproar in the slums. Although, even if he knew, he wouldn''t care. Chapter 15 It had been a week since Sirus came back to his home continent. Compared to his first day accompanying Luna, the others had been relatively dull as he attended to his duties as the second son of the Karloman patriarch. Luna had run off to god knows where while claiming she was going to ''kill bad things'' and ''train her new amazing toy''. He hadn''t seen her since. Sirus didn''t mind that much. Sure, he was a bit lonely and missed her antics, but he really needed a rest from the craziness of the crazy catkin. Especially after she kissed him, which he still wasn''t sure what to think of. He had become quite the introvert because of his looks. The only people he felt like he could truly act as he wanted with were his family, and sometimes even with them, he found it difficult. He had been seriously traumatized as a child by the constant harassment of adults and children alike, all of whom tried to get in his pants or to get him in their pants. Of course, not everybody was a sexual predator, but Sirus truly made it difficult on himself. He was basically a walking aphrodisiac. Back on the ship and island, he had genuine fears of being raped by Luna. Even the crew and Ravens weren''t off the dangerous people list, but he had investigated them thoroughly beforehand so he could somewhat trust them. However, Luna never really did anything bad. At worst, she played some childish pranks on him, and even those were just that, childish pranks that didn''t really harm anyone. Unless she was in a bad mood, in which case the death risk was quite high, but she never did those on Sirus. It might have been because she was immature to a fault, or simply too powerful to care. Or maybe she wasn''t used to it. Sirus certainly had no idea, hell, even now after he had known her for months, he still struggled to understand how her head worked. Sirus shook his head as he looked out of the window, watching the busy street. After a moment, he turned back to his desk, where a literal pile of paperwork sat. It was nothing compared to the work his brother and father had to do, but it was still a lot for him. Gathering his nerves, he got back to work. Meanwhile, Luna was speeding around the world, trying to find something interesting. She had even visited this weird place called the ''Capital'', but she didn''t really like it. The humans there were bad, especially those in shiny clothes or those in armor. She had seriously debated whether to kill them all. However, remembering how much ''work'' Sirus had to do after she had single-handedly wiped out the entire slums, she decided not to. She didn''t want to his butt-load of work, after all! However, that didn''t stop her from visiting this ''Capital''. It was truly fantastic, buildings decorated in amazing artwork, some reaching up to 30 meters in height. She awed at all the shinies in them too. She really wanted not to, but eventually couldn''t restrain herself and ended up ''borrowing'' all the shinies from a whole bunch of buildings. She ran all the way back to Sirus and hid them in her room, along with a couple other piles of shinies. Although, since her room was also technically Sirus'' room, it didn''t take long for him to find her shinies. At which point he took and put all of them in a top-quality storage ring, which he left on the bed with a note saying "Don''t cause trouble" When she came back with another pile of shinies she ''borrowed'' from some loving merchants who were really eager to give her all their stuff after she slaughtered a whole bunch of trolls using her new ''toy''. They even asked her if she could, to meet them again at their office at some random location. She had forgotten it almost immediately though. It really didn''t take long for word to travel across the country, and into neighboring countries too, about a strange blur that caused chaos wherever it went. Some claimed it to be a monster born in the deepest parts of the abyss, while others praised it as the shining angel of goodness and love. Both of those kinds of people were idiots, thought Luna as she still took their Shinies, now not even having to travel back to Sirus'' place to store them! Eventually, she decided to stop after she noticed how many armored people were running through the streets now, placating the masses and searching for the ''unholy thief''. She could easily continue, but she really didn''t want to cause more annoyances to Sirus. She didn''t like it when Sirus was sad, because it also made her sad for some reason. She quite liked it when he was happy though. Thinking back on the events a week ago, Luna''s face turned slightly red as she stared at the sky above while lying down on the roof of the tallest building in a small village, likely a church. She still had a lot of trouble understanding the language, but she had gotten much better. She could easily carry out a conversation, even if her word usage and choice was a bit odd and her syntax could really use some work. Not that she spoke with anyone beyond some nods or smiles, of course. She''d been collecting information about this kingdom and it''s culture the whole time she was here, and it was honestly much easier learning it by herself like this than listening to Sirus lecture. It was hard to listen to him when all she could see were his beautiful eyes. She could hear basically anything and everything tens of thousands of km around her, even further if she strained. Hence, it wasn''t hard for her to hear the thundering of hooves as hundreds of knights in golden armor came pouring down from the sides and into the village. Luna briefly wondered whether they were bandits, but seeing their leader talking politely with the village mayor, she clenched that thought. Not that she would care if they were bandits or not, but at least she could have a reason to carry out a massacre to further improve her new toy in battle. She huffed in annoyance and looked at the knight leader. Based on their conversation, he was likely a commander of the Royal Guard, somebody with quite a bit of political power. She wondered why such a person would be here, but then she realized her general lack of understanding of how politics and anything more complicated than ''kill it until they die'' worked, so she gave up.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Suddenly, her ear perked up and she flashed a grin. Perhaps a massacre wouldn''t be so out of place after all? A second later, a shadowy figure appeared behind her and slashed at her, completely silent. Luna looked like she hadn''t seen the man coming, or at least until her hands flashed and the poisoned dagger that was supposed to kill her disappeared. The shadowy figure quickly retreated to the other side of the roof and blew a whistle by putting two fingers in his hands. Hearing the loud noise, the leader at the bottom looked towards Luna and the shadowy figure, and Luna could see his face hardening. After a small ''sorry'' to the mayor and a command to his soldiers to defend the village, he jumped up and landed all the way up at the roof where the wannabe assassin and Luna stood and laid respectively. He cautiously observed Luna for any movement, and then whispered at the Assassin, "You failed." The assassin, obviously pissed, hissed back, "No shit Sherlock. What did you expect?" Luna looked at the two men and yawned, her sharp teeth flashing a creepy image. She then got up and stretched slightly before facing the two men and smiling. "Hi. Me not happy see you, but me happy you come to play. I like playing, but others no like playing. No know why, me very funny. And cute. Me cutest." Luna winked at the two men, and before they could say anything, she suddenly frowned and pointed at the general. "You important, no?" She demanded. The general looked at her with a raised eyebrow and didn''t answer as he raised his sword and shield. Luna''s frown deepened. "You no answer? I ask question. You answer.Or I kill you, family, friends. I kill you and kill you and kill you again. And then I break dead body." A ferocious aura erupted from Luna''s body. So ferocious, in fact, that it straight up made the ground tremble, and the building they were on almost gave in. The general and assassin looked at her with shock as dark clothes rolled and seethed in the sky, while literal cracks appeared on the ground. Glass shattered, children screamed as people ran. Luna''s body suddenly seemed so much more terrifying than before. Her eyes looked like an endless abyss, rivers of blood flowing through them. To the two men in front of her, who had already backed up all the way to the end of the roof, she looked like a demon god. Just as quickly as this phenomenon appeared, it ended. However, the crying children and broken ground was proof enough that whatever happened was no mere illusion. Back to normal, Luna smiled at the man and, without any resistance from him, grabbed him by the neck and dragged him away while the assassin was paralyzed in fear, his instincts screaming at him not to make a sound. "Me no likey not knowing. Me like knowing, is fun and is good. Sirus say I no cause trouble, so I no cause trouble. But if trouble causes trouble, then I not causing trouble, trouble is causing trouble. So I kill trouble until it dies. And then kill its family and friends. It is good way to make trouble not take Sirus away." Luna nodded to herself, laughing internally as the man trembled in her hands. She had already stripped him of all armor and weapons without him being able to resist at all. "Now, troubly human. Tell cute lil'' me who send you, so I have excuse to play..." Luna whispered into the poor man''s ears. He woke up from the trance and grit his teeth before shouting, "I will never give away that His Majesty sent me here!" Luna frowned, "Why not? I no kill you if you tell. Pinky promise." She said, casually setting the man down and crouching in front of him, following him as he scuttled backward until he hit a tree. Unable to run anymore, the general yelled, spitting all over her face as he shouted. "My loyalty to His Majesty is unsurpassable! I will not tell you it wasHis Majesty that sent me to scout this area for your presence, and that it''s only thanks to the court mage that we knew where to find you!" Annoyed, Luna wiped the spit from her face and, after thinking for a moment, slapped the man, slamming him into the ground. "Tell me or I do bad things to you. Like killing you." Struggling to get up, the general spit a mouthful of blood as he glared at the catkin in front of him. "Are you really this stupid? Good lord." The catkin puffed her cheeks and glared at him. "Me not stupid! Me really smart!" Gritting his teeth as he felt his eyes burn at the pure stupidity of Luna, the general grasped his head in his hands as he said. "Idiot... It was the king, dumbass... Now I''ll never get a chance at being promoted..." The general sighed. Luna perked up, curiously. "King make trouble? But king important. I no can kill him, or Sirus mad. Stupid general is big useless!" The general felt like a thousand swords stabbed into his heart at once, as the single dumbest person he had yet met in his life called him dumband useless. "Just kill me already..." The general sighed, giving up. He raised both his hands and waited for death. Luna frowned at his gesture. "General more useless than I thought." The general gave her a look as if she was speaking another language. Sighing, Luna began speaking. "Live! Struggle like a madman, kill bad things. Destroy trouble, break enemies. If world pulls you down, break the world apart. If chains tie you, kill chains and then kill family and friends of chains. Ants fight giants and survive. Humans fight, humans live. Humans and ants and me all same, we fight to live. No point in living? Point of living is living. Is point of living good at killing things? No. Kill things with sharp sticks or hit them until they die. Surrender? Surrender is good, if live longer. But ask for death? You no family have? No friends? No desire? Stupid general is stupid. And useless." Luna said, her simple words and ideas hitting the general like a raging river. He stayed silent for a while before sighing. "You''re wrong, but you have a point. Please let me live?" Luna nodded with a happy smile. "Ok!" Done with all the bullshit of the world, the general simply got up and walked back to his soldiers, who were rushing everywhere, trying to find him. Of course, he had been brought all the way out into the surrounding lands, so despite their efforts, they would never have arrived in time. As his soldiers ran to meet him, he pushed them off for a bit. Looking into the sky, he yelled, "Ma''am, if you''re looking at us right now, please tell my family I''m not dead." Although he received no answer, he didn''t mind as he recalled the wannabe assassin and got back on his horse, now armorless and weaponless. Meanwhile, in the king''s castle. The old woman, along with a whole bunch of other mages all looked at each other with downcast eyes. "So... Not even our strongest general and best assassin can do more than beg to be allowed to live?" A general murmur, incoherent and unorganized ran through the group of mages. After a couple minutes of discussing amongst each other, a couple mages stepped forward. "Ma''am, I believe that negotiation would be in our best interest. From what we have investigated, that creature isn''t particularly interested in conquest nor destruction. Even if we have to pay a hefty price, I think that getting in its good graces would be our best course of actions." Another mage, much younger than the previous one, also spoke up afterward, looking at the old woman with a disdainful gaze. "How could we ever hope with monsters? Filthy animals, all of them. Our only hope is through summoning a hero, even if it means we have to pay a crippling price." A whole bunch of other ideas were discussed, but the main two ideas were always the same - cooperate or summon a hero. Shaking her head, the old woman finally announced. "It''s not our duty to decide. Report our findings to the king, also, send someone to the Karloman patriarch. Ask him to meet with me as soon as he can." WIth curt nods, the mages dispersed and all went about their separate ways, while a couple lower-ranking ones went to write up the reports. Situation? Disastrous. Danger? Possible annihilation. Enemy? Unknown, mostly. But hey, at least the old woman had baked some cookies, and they were on sale! Chapter 16 Sirus looked onas a man in his 40''s took out a small scroll and gave it to him. Glancing over it, Sirus frowned before walking over to the garden of his home, where the sun shined down on the plants. "Luna, come over here right this moment," Sirus yelled at the sky. The man beside him looked at him with confusion, but that confusion quickly disappeared as a figure suddenly appeared right in front of them. Sirus looked at Luna with a frown as he asked, "Is it true that you attacked a general and threatened to kill the king?" Luna looked at Sirus, then at the weird man beside him. She thought for a moment before answering. "No." "What do you mean ''no''? What happened exactly?" Sirus asked as he eyed the man beside him. The man was a messenger sent directly by the king. He had summoned all nobles and powerful people in the state for a great meeting over what he called a ''threat of a scale unprecedented''. After hearing a couple of events, like how the monster population in the country had basically disappeared overnight, and how a general was attacked by the monster responsible for it. Luna looked at Sirus and puffed out her chest, "He attacks, I defend. Ugly man try to attack from shadows, and I defend. I no kill because you ask, not happy?" She asked, somewhat annoyed. Sirus sighed and rubbed his head. "No, it''s not that I''m unhappy. It''s just... can''t you please not go around causing so much trouble? Your very existence causes chaos." Luna humphed and looked away. In her opinion, Sirus had been acting completely unreasonable for the past weeks. She had done everything he asked and had even promised to not kill without reason. She was honestly getting tired of being bossed around this much. "How fault is it mine? Humans weird. King is mean person, general idiot and magic woman ugly and perverted!" Sirus rolled his eyes. "I''m not saying it''s your fault. I just... Don''t know how to handle you. I took responsibility for you back then, and now I feel responsible for your every action..." The two bickered back and forth, something that they had started doing ever since Luna''s initial awe over the tons of new things had disappeared, and she had reverted back to her usual state. On the island, Sirus didn''t really care what Luna did, but in his home, he just wanted her to settle down while Luna wanted to run around and do all sorts of weird stuff. Seeing the two talking about stuff he probably shouldn''t know, the man quickly excused himself and left. He had the gut feeling that the so-called monster that had arrived was likely related to those two. And he wasn''t wrong... "Sorry..." Luna said, after around an hour of bickering. Both she and Sirus hated discussing like this, mainly because it solved nothing. Sirus sighed and shook his head. "You shouldn''t be. It''s my fault, and I admit I''m being a bit of a patronizing bastard. It''s just... I don''t know." He turned and walked away. Luna quickly followed him and tried to grab his hand, but he didn''t let her. Seeing his obvious bad mood, Luna too got depressed as she followed him back to his room. The Karloman mansion was huge, but even then, it only took a couple minutes for Sirus to reach said room. Luna looked with downcast eyes as Sirus shut himself inside. She honestly didn''t know what to do at this point, as her instincts of freedom and thirst of power and destruction told her to simply run rampant and destroy everything, while the strange feeling she got every time she was with Sirus told her to not to do anything. The two opposite feelings clashed with each other constantly, tearing away at her psyche. Honestly, it was a miracle she hadn''t fainted from stress. She knew that she couldn''t continue like this forever, though. She had already learned everything she could, and at this point, there was very little she didn''t know. Her language skills had already become perfect, and the only reason she still talked in broken phrases was by habit and because she thought it sounded funny. Hence, there was technically no reason to continue lingering in this place. She had already slaughtered everything that was worth murdering for it''s precious Anima, something that she had titanic plans for. However, something was still binding her to this place, and she wasn''t dense enough to not realize it was Sirus. She had seen ''love'', and although she still struggled to understand it, she doubted that was what she felt towards Sirus. She really liked him, yes, but her view of him would align more with what a student would see their teacher as. A really hot teacher that lived with her for months and that she kissed once, but still a teacher. Nonetheless, no matter what she said to herself, it was obvious she liked him quite a bit. Otherwise, she would never have treated the humans as well as she had when they first met. Hours passed as she stared at the door, her mind lost in her own world. Eventually, Sirus opened the door again, looking at her with emotions she couldn''t quite decipher. They looked at each other for a bit before Sirus gave in and brought her into the room. They both sat on Sirus'' bed, side-by-side. It was awkward for both of them, and Luna hated it. She didn''t know when this shift in their relationship had begun, but she had an idea. Whispering just loud enough for Sirus to hear, she asked, "Do you... hate me?" "No, of course, I don''t. I''m just... angry at myself. I feel like a bastard for forcing my morals and ideas on you." Sirus answered as he looked into her eyes and smiled, although it was obviously fake.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Luna sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she too stared into his eyes. "I go explore the world. I want to see things, want more power. Come with me?" She asked, already knowing his answer. "I''m sorry..." Sirus shook his head. Luna smiled sadly and, before he could react, she threw herself at him and hugged him, quite strongly at that. "We''re not made for each other, Luna. I like you, and I think you like me, but our situations and positions are too different. Chance got us together, and reality separates us. Reminds me of a book I read a long time ago," Sirus laughed slightly as he too wrapped his arms around Luna. "..." Luna looked at Sirus silently, resting between his arms. "Sirus..." she whispered, feeling strange. "What?" He asked back. "Let''s have sex," She asked suddenly, stunning Sirus as she pushed him down on the bed, her mouth going for his own. He was so shocked by her words that he couldn''t muster up a response. First, he tells her that they aren''t meant for each other, and then she asks to have sex. He honestly didn''t know what to say anymore. "Luna, stop. Didn''t you hear what I just said?" He asked after he recovered from their kiss. Luna looked at him with a grin that almost seemed sad as she hooked her smaller arms around his neck. "Just once. To break off with a big bang." Luna whispered in his ear. Sirus shivered at the hot breath in his ear, and before he knew it, she once again pushed him down, completely abusing her overpowering strength to suppress any resistance from him. { Short sex scene that I wrote cuz I just want to try my hand at it. Likely only time I''ll ever do something like this } Warning! Cheesy as hell, read at your own risk! As Sirus was roughly kissed by an obvious amateur, he eventually had no choice but to give up resisting. His room was soundproof and orders were strictly given for nobody to enter here, so rescue was impossible. Deciding to go along with Luna, he grabbed the back of her head and kissed her on his own accord. She moaned as his tongue explored her mouth. It took them a good couple minutes before they broke off, with both Luna and Sirus breathing heavily. Luna smiled at him and whispered, "Not... first time?" Sirus seemed a little flustered but still answered honestly. "No. Nobles require to have at least some skill in bed, so father forced me together with another noble girl and we did it together a couple times..." Luna merely laughed at him and dragged him on top of her on the bed while saying "That good... Because I have no idea." As the two returned to kissing each other passionately, Sirus'' hands snaked their way around Luna''s back and held her waist, while her own hands seemed a little lost on what to do. "Since we''re doing this, I might as well teach you how to do it properly. Don''t do things fast, or it''ll be no fun." Sirus snickered at her embarrassed expression as her hands just sort of hovered there, not knowing what to do. He nibbled lightly at her catkin ear, making Luna''s face heat up even more than before. Then, his hands slowly wandered around her body, making Luna feel a shiver running down her spine. She hastily removed her own clothes, taking care not to rip them apart as Sirus helped her in this endeavor. He had helped her dress multiple times, so he was naturally experienced in this aspect. Now naked, the catkin urged Sirus to take off his own clothing too, and although still a bit reluctant, he complied. The two naked bodies hugged and touched, exciting Luna to the point of no return. Luna grabbed one of Sirus'' hands and put it on her chest, while tightly holding the other as their passionate kissing continued. She moaned particularly loudly when his kissing shifted from her mouth down to her chest, as his free hand caressed her thigh before one of his fingers carefully entered her. Luna let out the loudest moan yet when he did. Luna pressed his head against herself, while also grinding her body against his own. Her free hand took hold of his penis, and she slowly moved her hand up and down. Although Luna technically didn''t even need to breathe, she still found herself out of breath. After a short bit longer, Luna suddenly started shaking violently as she grits her teeth together. After a dozen or so seconds, Luna finally relaxed before sighing heavily. Sirus smirked at her as she sat on his hips, her hand carefully holding his penis. Slowly, she lowered her body and, with her guidance, had his penis enter her. Both of them let out loud moans the moment they connected. After a short moment to get used to it, Luna began to carefully ride him, as he held her waist and gave her yet another long, passionate kiss. As minutes passed, their intensity only picked up. After a dozen minutes, they both climaxed, ending their little session. Luna slowly slid down from Sirus, catching her breath. "Don''t worry, I used an infertility spell on myself beforehand..." Sirus said from her side. Luna looked at him for a bit before nodding. { End sex scene! } After they washed themselves up and got dressed, Luna looked at Sirus with a bit of reluctance before giving him a quick hug and then vanishing, all of her belongings stored up in eight top-grade storage rings. She only really needed one, but since she had so many to spare from her escapades, she ended up using them more of a decoration than a tool. Sirus stared blankly into the spot where Luna previously was before letting out a long, sad sigh. They had promised to see each other again every now and then, but it was clear that their paths had now separated. Running at around a dozen kilometers per second, Luna couldn''t help but stare back at the Karloman mansion. After a bit of thought, she changed direction and headed towards a specific city. In that city, a large castle stood right at the center. It wasn''t as grand as the capital, but it was still impressive. Nonetheless, the moment Luna appeared, she unleashed her full aura, causing the world to warp around her as her steps shook the ground. After an hour, Luna left behind a ghost of a city, buildings completely ravaged and blood splattered across the streets. She had mainly ignored those she deemed too weak to fight while focusing on all the warriors and mages, as well as a specific man. A large, obese man, to be specific. His body had been ripped apart quite violently, but he died with not a desperate look, but merely a sad smile. Luna had admitted to him that she was here because of the Karlomans, when he asked her. Strangely, he wasn''t shocked at her appearance, almost as if he knew she would come. Which he did. Alas, dead men tell no tales. Luna left the now empty city and headed towards the capital. It would take her five to ten minutes to cross the large distance, but if she truly wanted to, she could shorten that to under 30 seconds by using her maximum speed. As Luna distributed the strangely large amount of points she had gotten from all the slaughter she had carried out during her time in this continent, she saw a large pillar of light descending from the distance, as well as a holy feeling wash over her and her surroundings. Her eyes sharpened and she stopped, her blank expression that always came up whenever she brought death to others changing into a somewhat curious one. She thought for a moment before resuming her march to the capital, but this time, her speed was much, much slower than before. It would take her at least a week before she reached it. She felt the strange feeling of something watching her once more. A long, long time ago, the first time she felt it, she had shrugged it off as it was extremely weak and barely sensible, but now, she clearly felt it. She frowned and her body flickered, slashing at the source of the strange feeling. She heard a loud shattering sound, akin to that of breaking glass. She scoffed slightly, having overdone her attack. Oh well, if that strange person behind the thing was still alive, she would very much like to know what kind of magic she was using. After all, she had big plans to bring her power to a whole new level, and magic would be a nice addition. Chapter 17 "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHH" The old woman screamed, her skin literally exploding as she fell to her knees, and couldn''t contain the blood and vomit that came out of her mouth. "Old Seer!" A teenager dressed in expensive clothing rushed to her, soon followed by a dozen guards. They all looked at her with pale faces, but before they could say anything more, the old woman, who was the Kingdom''s great seer, yelled at all of them while blood bled from her eyes, ears, and mouth. "Fools, all of you! Quickly give the evacuation order, there''s no time. Tell His Majesty that the Calamity is coming, and it''s heading straight for us!" The young man, Prince Leopold, nodded at the old woman with a pale face and a shaky heart, but he obeyed her nonetheless. Running like a madman, he rushed over to his father, the king. Breaking into the great throne room, where his father was currently consulting with several nobles and powerful warriors, he yelled, forsaking tradition and rituals that were custom to entering the throne room. "Father, the old seer! S-she''s hurt, badly! She said to tell you that the Calamity is coming!" He yelled, falling to his knees the moment he reached his father while bowing down his head. The king was seen as a truly amazing figure by the common man and noble alike. His eyes held a wisdom that told of tales impossible to comprehend, while his majestic and well-built body contained an aura of power that shook the hearts of men and women alike. However, hearing his son, the king''s face hardened up and he looked at his many subjects. Gritting his teeth, he nodded at them all and roared, "Do it, summon the damn hero!" Understanding the gravity of the situation, the many nobles and magicians quickly got to work. They had been preparing for this day for a long time now, and while they wished they could have had a bit more time, it seemed as though the worst case scenario had come. Forming a giant circle of men and women, every one of them began chanting as acolytes and servants dragged several ancient scrolls and expensive materials into the circle, throwing them all in. Every time an object hit the ground of the circle, it would evaporate at lightning-fast speeds. Meanwhile, the king himself rushed deeper into the castle, reaching his living quarters. He quickly found his precious daughter''s room and slammed it open. He found her fragile form looking out of a window while combing her hair. She slowly turned to face her father, but upon seeing his rugged form and tense expression, her calmness was quickly lost. "Move! We need your help, the hero is being summoned." The king shouted as he grabbed her arm and rushed back to the throne room. "What? So soon!?" The young woman was startled. However, she was very intelligent, so it didn''t take long for her to figure out what happened. "Did that Sirus guy lose control of the Calamity?" She looked into her father''s eyes as they both ran as fast as they could. "I don''t know the details, but it seems likely. I asked my spies what they thought, and they all said that Sirus and the Karloman Patriarch are fine, so it''s unlikely he lost control. It''s more likely that the Calamity had enough of being suppressed and chose to break the chains..." His teeth ground against each other, thinking about the mess that the kid had caused. They had known of the ''special passenger'' that Sirus had brought since they first arrived. Upon receiving terrifying reports on the creature, the king was thoroughly lost on what to do. Hurting Sirus in any way seemed like a sure way to earn a one-way ticket down to the Abyss, probably torn to shreds by that monstrous devil. Hence, they had chosen to bide for time, preparing to summon the hero while trying to understand the creature''s motives. Unfortunately, it seemed as though even the famously charming Young Master Sirus couldn''t contain the creature. It had come out of the Karloman territory a couple times, but every time it did so it obviously held no real interest in destruction or death. However, the king knew that this time was different. He didn''t know how, but he just did. It was a sentiment shared by the Old Seer, as well as most of the most experienced warriors. They could almost feel the calamity coming closer and closer. Reaching the summoning circles, the king and princess looked as the many people in the circle reached their highest pitch of the chant, before a great torrent of light flew down into the skies, seemingly piercing through the roof of the castle and filling the entire circle with light. A holy sound echoed through the entire kingdom, filling all those who heard it with a strange sensation. For those in the room, the feeling was especially intense as they all fell to their knees and prayed to their god. After a dozen seconds, the light slowly disappeared, leaving behind three confused teenagers in weird clothing. They looked around with fear as their bodies froze up. The magicians in the circle saw their fear, and according to custom, quickly left the room, leaving behind only the king, the prince, and the princess. "Welcome to Hetera, Heroes." The king said, eyeing the three newly summoned heroes. They all looked back at him with different emotions, although all them felt awe and some fear. They were two boys and a girl. One of the boys had short, black hair as well as a pudgy face. He looked quite weak to the king, but he read that all of the heroes did when first summoned. The other boy was slightly taller, but he too had the same hair as the pudgy boy, as well as a slightly more reserved look. The girl had long hair, and just like the other heroes, it was black. All of their eyes were a black color, and they all wore a strange black and white suit. The boys had pants, while the girl had a skirt that reached her thighs. "W-who are you?" The pudgy hero asked, obviously scared and lost. The king smiled at him before shoving both of his kids forward, forcing them to do the honors.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Esteemed Heroes, I am Princess Lanoire Nofksgvn, and this is my dear brother, Prince LeopoldNofksgvn. We are the children of His Majesty, the king of Arcadia." She bowed to the heroes, her brother quickly following suit. "P-please, there is no need to bow!" The girl said, flustered. The boys quickly nodded, obviously not used to this. The king frowned slightly at their behavior, but said nothing, "Oh, but you are the Esteemed Heroes! How could we mere mortals not bow to your esteemed presence?" The girl said, her innocent eyes speaking flattery like it was nothing unusual. The king snickered inwardly, knowing that these childish heroes stood no chance against her daughter''s wits and charm. "U-Um..." The heroes fidgeted in place. They all had their ownideas and perceptions on what was happening, but they all felt as though they were in a dream. However, despite the possibility of this being a dream, the pudgy hero still stepped forward, and with an embarrassed face, asked: "P-princess-chan, are heroes like us special?" Smiling ear-to-ear, the princess nodded sagely as she explained, "Of course! Heroes are amazing people who come from a different world than ours, and they all hold amazing abilities that can make us normal people ashamed. Furthermore, all heroes have inhuman rates of growth, and they have always been paragons of goodness and justice!" Except when they weren''t. In that case, they would ''go back home''. "R-really?!" The pudgy hero shouted, his face lighting up. "I can be amazing! Princess-chan, are there a lot of beautiful women in this world? Are there catgirls?" He asked, his smile reaching his eyes when he finished. A loud crunching noise echoed in the hall, silencing everyone. The two royals felt their backs stiffen as they slowly turned around, seeing their father sitting on his throne. His hands that had previously been holding a small stone had tightened around it, crushing it completely. His eyes were closed, but even then, one could basically feel the fury within. "Catkins..." His whisper echoed around the room, making everyone within shake from the raw hatred in his voice. The pudgy boy looked at the king with wide eyes, doing his best to not pee himself. The two other Heroes were also shocked and terrified, while the Royals could only look down on the ground, their eyes filled with hate as well. Catkins were good-natured beastkins. Friendly and loyal, they made excellent pets, friends, and slaves. However, one catkin, in particular, filled their hearts with hate beyond words. A couple minutes passed before the king calmed himself down. He apologized profusely to the Heroes, who were a bit shaken from his outburst. Still, after answering a couple more of their question, he sent them along with his children, outside of the room. There, they were quickly taken by servants, who showed them around and gave them a rundown of what was expected of them. The next day, the Heroes began their training, and much to the chagrin of the King and the nobles, they turned out to be fairly average. Sure, they were stronger than most commoners and nobles, but they didn''t really compare to those heroes from ancient times. The tall boy had an innate ability he called ''Heart of the Sword'', which apparently made him really good with swords, while the pudgy boy called his own ability ''Divine body'', which despite the name, was anything but divine. All it did was make his body really strong and slightly enhanced his senses. The girl was even more depressing. Her power merely allowed her to control plants, and even though it wasn''t bad, it really wasn''t anything special either. The King could only sigh and order his subordinates to hide their disappointment and train the heroes, for they were the last hope. Of course, he could always use the Final Solution, but he really did not want to, for it came with an impossible price. As days passed, the heroes all made friends with a lot of people in the castle. The pudgy boy learned that catkins weren''t actually bad people, so he quickly made it his goal to find a catgirl and kiss her. The taller boy dedicated himself to his sword (and a couple women), while the girl spent most of her time in the gardens. They progressed very rapidly, but the king knew it wouldn''t be enough. They could have a hundred years to prepare, and still, he wouldn''t be confident in facing that monster. As he read the reports of his spies, he grimaced. The Calamity was approaching. He could almost smell the aura of Chaos that the monster held. Everywhere it went, it slaughtered without restraint, leaving behind ghost villages. The army he had sent to halt its advance had been wiped clean, not a single survivor. It had acted restrained all this time, and only now was it showing it''s true form. The king looked outside of his office''s window and shook his head. Instead of training, the Heroes were leisurely talking with the servants. The two boys were flirting with groups of girls, while the Hero girl was with a commander yet again. He hadgiven the heroes personal trainers, but even under their insistence, they refused to work like madmen and madwomen. In the Heroes'' eyes, they were growing at a monstrous speed, but to everyone else, it wasn''t enough. However, nobody dared to say it out loud. Hundreds of kilometers away from the Capital and the Heroes, Luna slowly walked forward. Behind her stood yet another ghost town, every single living thing within it now nothing more than Anima for Luna''s power thirst. She looked forward with a frown. The destruction she had caused wasn''t without reason, unlike what the king thought. She was trying to exasperate him, put stress on him. After all, he was her ultimate goal. Heroes? They were nothing more than slightly bigger bugs in her eyes. However, the king was something else entirely. He was the key component in her grand plan that she had set up. She giggled slightly at the thought. He was an ant, but an ability he held made her lick her lips. It would be dangerous, possibly deadly, however, if it worked out as she planned, her power would skyrocket, and she would finally be able to fully unlock her ultimate ability. Her hand flickered and grasped the neck of a young woman who had been playing dead in front of her. Luna lifted the young woman up, looking into her desperate eyes as she tried her best to struggle. Luna held no ill feelings toward this woman. At best, she felt pity towards such a weak and pathetic ant. She reminded of Luna of the weakling she was back when she first awakened. Crushing the woman''s neck, Luna threw the corpse off at the side. Pity was all good and dandy, however, as of right now, every single unit of Anima counted. She needed as much as possible for her plan to work, so mercy was off the table right now. She clasped her hands together, unleashing the full power of her aura. Her previously crude abilities bad been refined through studying the people of this continent, and she learned a lot of things. Luckily, she was able to integrate those new techniques and concepts into her old style that consisted mainly of a simple concept: Murder the enemy, kill its friends and tear to pieces their family, before enjoying their Anima. Was she a monster? Maybe. Her time on the continent had certainly opened her eyes as to how ruthless and vicious one could be, and while she didn''t like it, she liked the idea of having more Anima. Had Sirus chosen to stay with her, she might have slowly changed and become more and more like a human, however, her break-up had deeply hurt her, despite not showing it. She wasn''t mad at Sirus. On the contrary, she was glad he had been honest with her. But still, she was hurt. And despite her relatively calm feelings towards him, she still considered this whole ''murder the hell out of this kingdom'' as payback to him. Her downcast eyes returned to her ''distant'' target. With a sigh, her body flickered and disappeared, as she ran towards the city. She would give them 7 more days to prepare, and then, she would shatter their dreams and destroy their foundation. She would break apart the chains that tied her to this place, finally freeing her of any still remaining attachments to this place. "Heroes, oh heroes, I wonder if we come from the same place. Oh heroes, what will you do when I tear you to shreds? What will you do when I devour your Anima?" She sang, practicing her voice. A small squirrel nearby screeched in pain before exploding. Luna wasn''t sure whether to smile or frown. Sure, it was technically an attack, but still, her voice wasn''tthat bad, right!? Chapter 18 Each day passed by extremely slowly for the people within the capital. All civilians and those unable to fight had been evacuated to the countryside, along with all of the new recruits. The only ones left in the capital were the nobles, high-ranking knights and generals, and merely a couple thousand elite soldiers. The Heroes failed to realize what was going on, merely thinking it was a local tradition. As most heroes did, they forced their own cultural values upon those they met, and would always get angry whenever someone didn''t abide by their own values. The king himself felt exasperated. He had read that heroes were hard to handle and often were very self-centered, but these ones exceeded his expectation by a long shot. They had progressed a lot during their time here, with the chubby hero, named Hiro, being able to fight 2 generals to a standstill using his strong body. The tall boy, named Hattori, could do the same, but he held the advantage of actually using a sword to fight instead of his fists. The king didn''t think they were weak, but he also knew they were far from strong. Only the girl interested him, for her power was very strange. It was like a combination of nature magic and life magic. She could grow any plant she touched, and the plants would obey her. She could do a vast number of tricks and attacks using them, so much so that she was likely stronger than both male heroes combined, despite her seeming weak at the start. The king sighed and shook his head. He would love to have more time to prepare and train his heroes and generals, but unfortunately, he knew that it was time. Archers lined the section of the wall where it was predicted the monster would arrive. It wasn''t that hard to predict, considering it was going in a straight line towards the capital. Soldiers anxiously watched from the top of the walls. Standing on the highest point of the wall were the Heroes and the two royals, along with 5 other common-looking girls who huddled around the two male heroes. The princess looked at the heroes for a split second before looking away, trying to hide the disgust in her eyes. While polygamy wasn''t technically a crime, it was still heavily frowned upon. Not that the heroes would know that considering the extent of their learning was limited to ''how do I swing a sword'', having completely ignored any political, geographical or cultural classes. "Lanoire-chan, when is the evil monster coming? We''ve been here for an hour already!" Hiro said, getting closer to the princess than she was comfortable with. She had to remind herself that, no, he was not trying to be rude, he just had no idea that what he was doing could get you executed. "Hiro...kun. I don''t know when the big bad monster will come, but father said that he can feel it coming." She said cutely. Hiro''s face became red as a tomato and he quickly nodded before trying to strike up more conversation. However, as the two talked, a loud explosion came from somewhere far away. The next second, another one resounded, and then another. Hiro shut his mouth at last and stared at the direction of the sound, his fists tightening. "I will defeat the evil monster and protect my friends!" He shouted. Hearing him, the other two heroes did the same with serious faces. A couple of seconds after they finished their cheesy lines, an explosive roar shook the earth once more. This time, it was so close that they could actually feel the shaking of the ground. "IT''S COMING!!" A mage with his eyes closed shouted. His teeth clenched as he tried to cancel the low-grade scrying spell he just cast, but before he could do so, his eyes suddenly exploded, quickly followed by his head. Fortunately, the heroes didn''t notice the event as they were too focused on the source of all the shaking. As each minute passed, the shaking became only more intense, before finally, a figure burst through the far-away forest.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The moment it appeared, all hell broke looseas the defenders unleashed everything they had. "I can''t see it!" Hiro cried out as he squinted his eyes, trying to focus on the blur heading towards them. However, his words were suppressed by the thundering roar of cannons and archer fire, as well as extremely powerful spells rushing towards the incoming blur." The ground shook even harder as the tens of thousands of cannonballs, enchanted arrows and spells reached the being and tried to hit it. Large-scale explosions rattled the earth yet again, as thunder fell from the skies and struck the location of the monster. Because of the unexpectedly overwhelming barrage, the monster was forced to stop as its body flickered and dodged everything. After the barrage ended, a ruined battlefield laid in front of the towering walls. The monster stood there, unmoving, but obviously unhurt. Not a single spell or attack had so much as grazed it. Finally, it''s form was revealed to the many defenders. A relatively small catkin stood in the middle of the ruinous and destroyed field, her tail slowly moving side to side as her blank expression stared straight at the wall. "Wait, that''s the evil monster!?" Hiro and Hattori both screamed at the same time. "But it''s a small girl! And it''s a catkin!" Prince Leopold suddenly turned towards them and snapped, "SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GET READY FOR BATTLE!" Along with his shout, generals all over the wall too began screaming at their men as they readied up for another possible barrage. Instead of attacking them, the catkin stood still as she stared at the men and women on the wall. Her blank expression impossible to decipher. Suddenly, the soldiers felt their hearts tremble as they looked back at the catkin, abandoning whatever they were doing. An overwhelming aura erupted from her body, far surpassing the aura she showed beforehand. Along with her aura, thundering words erupted from her. "Little King, there is no need for you to hesitate. Come forward and die, and I might spare your people..." As her words washed over everyone present, their expressions finally revealed their true emotions. Fear, anger, hate, and more importantly, loyalty. At first, it was one person. But soon, the capital seemed to be in unison as they roared together, "Long live the King, death to monsters! Hail the king, fight back the darkness!" Back at his castle, the king felt his heart tearing as he looked at his subjects and friends. He didn''t want to... Maybe the heroes could still win... "Good. Fight me, and die!" The catkin whispered, and yet, that whisper traveled through the entire area. The next moment, cannon fire and magic started shaking the ground once more, however, it was entirely pointless, for the catkin was no longer there. Screams erupted from a section of the wall as people suddenly felt themselves be split in half at best, or in thousands of pieces at worst. Generals roared and tried to fight back against the threat they could barely see, but they too ended up in pieces. Seeing the intense bloodshed, the heroes, who had been too far away from where the massacre took place to participate, started to vomit at the gore. "COME OUT, KING! I WANT YOU!" A roar shook the entire city as the blur sped away from the wall and towards the great castle. "Shit! We need to stop it!" Hiro shouted but didn''t actually move as his legs trembled. Beside him, the other heroes were in the same situation, just as the royals and harem members were. "Fatheeeeer!"Lanoire screamed, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, Lanoire and Leopold both started to glow. They looked at their glowing bodies with wide eyes, as did those around them. "W-what?" Leopold murmured, his heart clenching. The next instant, their bodies began to dissolve into motes of light. "Lanoire-chan! NO!" Hiro screamed as he tried to grabLanoire, who couldn''t even answer him as she vanished away. Leopold received the same fate and disappeared as well, despite the screams of the heroes. Within the empty halls of the castle, two figures stood. The king on his throne, and Luna at the entrance looking at him with a blank expression. Getting up, the king slowly said, "You... I hope you suffer in hell for all eternity. You planned this, didn''t you!?" He roared but didn''t move from his position. "Planned? No. I am not that smart. I only heard rumors..." Luna said, her expression not changing at all. "Hurry up and sacrifice your family. I''m curious as to what exactly the so-called ''Final Solution'' is." "Y-you..." The king said, grinding his teeth. The next moment, his body too turned into light particles, and after a couple seconds, he was gone as well. Luna stood there awkwardly for a moment before looking around, using her senses to check everything in the city and beyond. "So... nothing?" Her blank expression quickly changed, however, when she felt an impossible presence swoop down from the skies. She quickly left the castle, and the instant after she did, it exploded as a torrent of magical flames turned it to ashes. With a pale face, Luna stared at the new arrival that had arrived from the skies. A giant dragon. Chapter 19 40 meters of muscle and death, scales harder than Mithril, teeth sharper than the sharpest legendary sword and magic capable of bringing empires to their knees. They are legendary creatures spoken of only in legends, creatures thought for a long time extinct, or at least somewhere far, far away. Dragons. An earth-shattering roar erupted from the dragon''s mouth. The gale it caused was so strong that it literally uprooted buildings, and the sound alone caused severe damage to everyone nearby. Being right in front of it, Luna couldn''t dodge the soundwave. Her ears quickly folded in her head and she fought off the dangerous wind. Even then, she was still thrown back and sent slamming into the ground. She slowly got up as the dragon eyed her, it''s characteristic draconic pride clearly showing on its face. It obviously regarded her as nothing more than an inconvenience. Luna coughed out some blood before eyeing the various cuts on her body. They stung a little, but they weren''t dangerous. She could be stabbed in the heart and still survive thanks to her extreme vitality. Despite the pain, she couldn''t help but show an inhuman grin that revealed all of her sharp teeth. She began laughing loudly as she readied up for a serious battle. "A dragon! I would have never imagined it would actually be a real, ancient dragon! How lucky!" She roared before vanishing. The dragon quickly tried to turn, but it was nowhere fast enough. The next instant, thousand of slashes hit the dragon''s back and neck. Each one of Luna''s claw attacks was enough to split an armored paladin in half, but even with well over a couple thousand hits, the dragon''s scales only seemed a little dented. It roared and swiped it''s tail at her, which she had to quickly dodge. It wasn''t as fast as her, but it was still much, much faster than anything she had ever seen before. It reared it''s head back before blasting a torrent of flames at her once more. She quickly jumped away, feeling the scorching heat right behind herself. Frustrated, the dragon lifted it''s massive wings and flew up to catch her mid-air. Luna frowned before kicking into the air, somehow hitting a solid surface. Her body vanished once more and reappeared further off. Feeling its prey disappear, the dragon let out a frustrated roar and turned towards her once more. A set of runes appeared from the void and began to circle around the dragon, and after an instant, those runes began emitting light. Luna felt an intense sense of danger and had to flee once more. The next moment, a pillar of destructive light fell from the skies, pulverizing the area Luna was previously in. Luna grimaced. She was completely outmatched in this battle, as a single well-placed hit would mean her end. Furthermore, her quick and deadly attacks weren''t effective against the dragon, and although she could dodge, she couldn''t do so forever. However, this only served to further excite her. She licked her lips as she stared at the dragon, feeling the desire to devour this dragon alive. Her body flickered right before another flame torrent arrived at her location, carving a path of destruction in its wake. A moment later, Luna reached the giant dragon that was trying to aim his flame breath at her, but it wasn''t fast enough. She was able to land another couple thousand slashes all across its body, trying to find a weak spot. Unfortunately, every inch of its body was covered by impossibly hard scales, so it proved quite hard. She had to furiously dodge as the dragon struck the ground with its tail several times, almost hitting her. The ground shattered with each strike, and Luna couldn''t help but feel a bit of fear towards that terrifying tail. As she was thinking this, the dragon suddenly turned towards her with its mouth open. She was just about to dodge the expected fire breath when, instead, it reached out and bit down on her. "Shit!" She screamed as her body flickered. Normally, nothing would even come close to comparing to her, however, the dragon was still 1/3 as fast as her, and that was enough. She twisted her body away from the coming teeth, but despite her efforts, the dragon still latched onto her right arm. She grit her teeth and her left hand flashed, severing her own arm and quickly fleeing backward. She watched in silent fury as the dragon, probably on purpose, slowly ate her arm. She felt her anger spiking upwards when it even had the balls to burp after swallowing it. "You fucking lizard, I''ll eat YOU alive!" She roared, her voice filled with hate. However, just as she was about to charge at the dragon, she felt a strange barrier in her mind and body shake, before collapsing. Her wrath almost instantly disappeared. Her furious expression switched in an instant as she began laughing madly, feeling particularly giddy.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "Dragon, oh dragon. Didn''t you know it''s a bad idea to anger your opponent to the point of breakthrough?" She snickered. The dragon looked at her as if it was looking at dead meat. "Oh my, I''m going to enjoy this way more than I should..." Luna said, feeling the ability that she had sought after for so long finally come to her. She had unlocked a portion of it some time ago, but she had never really unlocked it enough to use it in combat seriously. Now, however, she felt as though she could finally use the technique she had been dreaming about ever since her fights with those giant Kings and Emperors. She crossed her only remaining arm in front of her chest and looked up into the sky, standing perfectly still. The dragon curiously looked at her, not doing anything. It had basically already won, so why not have some fun while it could still stay in this place? After a couple seconds, Luna''s body began shaking violently. She spasmed randomly, a strange blue mist leaving her body through every pore of her body, before dissipating in the air. Despite being somewhat weirded out, the dragon still watched, opting to do nothing. After all, everybody knew that it was basic war ethic to let your opponent finish its final move without interrupting it. Well, at least for dragons it was. For everyone else, who wasn''t as powerful, they would naturally never let their opponents do such a thing. After a bit, Luna''s body finally stopped spasming and she fell to the ground, her eyes devoid of any light of life. The dragon frowned and looked around, trying to see what exactly had happened. It walked forward, intending to eat the corpse. Just as it reached the body and bent it''s neck down to bite into it, it suddenly felt a strange force grab onto it and dragged it up into the sky, much against its will. The dragon''s eyes narrowed as it struggled with all it''s might, trying to find out why this was happening. And it did, quite quickly. A strange, blue mist covered the skies, and a large tentacle made of the same mist had latched onto the dragon and carried it up. The dragon watched with wide eyes as the mist slowly gathered together, condensing into a now much more detailed figure. After a couple seconds, a gigantic, humanoid figure towered above everything, reaching the skies. Even the large, 40-meter long dragon was only as big as an ant in front of it. "Dragon... How does it feel? How does it feel to be so small!?" A voice reached the dragon''s ears as it struggled against the strange giant''s grasp. In return, the giant reached out with another hand, and then another, and another, and another, etc. Tens of giant hands grasped the dragon and suppressed it, completely blocking any resistance from it. The dragon could struggle, it could break the hands, but it was pointless. They would simply reform in an instant the moment it did. A couple minutes later, the giant figure, still a strange blue, finally took its final form. A titanic Luna formed entirely of the blue mist stood there, looking at the dragon with a bloodthirsty grin. "Dragon, dragon. Thank you, for letting me finish this technique. Had you attacked me, I would have died a million times over, you know?" The titanic Luna laughed as another newly formed hand reached down onto the ground and grasped her body, still devoid of light in its eyes. "I think I will call this... Anima Titan, the ultimate Anima technique." Anima techniques. The dream that Luna had sought after for so long, and yet could never fully grasp. Ever since she got her name, she had struggled hard to understand what the system meant with ''getting Anima in more ways'', and only recently did she understand a part of what it meant. She could actually control her own Anima, to an extent. The power was intoxicating, and while such an extreme technique left her vulnerable, it was virtually impossible to beat unless you took out the real body. Her thunderous laugh shook the ground, and the hundreds of arms tying the dragon brought it right against Titan Luna''s face. "Say, how should I murder you? Wait... I have an idea!" Titan Luna said with a wide smile. The next moment, that smile turned grotesque as the Titan Luna''s mouth opened to an impossible degree, basically as if her skull was cut into two parts. The hundreds of arms shoved the still struggling dragon down the titan''s throat, forcing it further and further down into the abyss that was the Anima Titan. The Titan Luna looked at her own body with a wince as she felt the dragon trying to escape. "Damn... I''m going to die if I do this most likely... But if I succeed..." She struggled for a long time to decide. She wanted to devour this dragon. She had seen many many kings who strengthened themselves through devouring opponents, and she was always fascinated by the idea. Technically, she could do so by absorbing their Anima, but in reality, it was kinda meh. She only obtained something like 5% of their Anima if she got really lucky, and less than 0.1% if the enemy was far weaker than her. "Fuck it, let''s try it. System, what are my chances?" She asked.
SYSTEM-CHAN IS BACK, BABY! I MISSED YOU, PLEASE CALL ME MORE~!
Chances of successfully Devouring { Ancient Fire Dragon Kafmark Sukmedik } are ~70%
Seeing that even the System was at least confident in her, Luna''s mind was set. First, she escaped away from the absolutely annihilated city, the titan''s gigantic frame somehow becoming almost invisible as it fled away. After ten minutes, she reached a completely empty portion of a forest. Laying down her real body on the ground, the Titan Avatar began to distort and turn back into the blue mist, before rushing into Luna''s body. Luna''s face turned red and was instantly filled with sweat. The moment the entire Anima Avatar had returned, the real fight began. Scales and draconic features tried to explode out of Luna''s body, fighting back against her will. She fought desperately within herself to suppress these features, while the Anima in her body fought viciously against the Dragon that was desperately trying to burst out of her body. It was a battle of Anima and willpower. Perhaps it could be called a soul battle, but that wouldn''t be exact, because, in truth, the dragon had very little chance to win. It was stuck in Luna''s body, suppressed both by her strong willpower and Anima, while the Dragon was stuck in Luna''s stomach, that currently seemed like an endless abyss to the dragon. The battle would last for months, and the victor would win everything, and the loser loses everything. Luna was able to wake her body up and hide herself deep underground by digging a hole and shoving herself into it. Thankfully, food and air were unnecessary, allowing her to dedicate herself completely to the battle. Draconic features tried to rise and rebel, only to be suppressed by Luna. The dragon fought against the waves of Luna''s attacks that constantly weakened it, stripping it of parts of its body and soul. It was a hopeless battle for both parties, and the pain each one suffered was indescribable. However, there was one major difference between the two hopeful devourers. One could heal, and the other could not.